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  1. #1
    Rolling Along Rgpracer's Avatar
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    How to choose an Inverter and how to incorporate it in my 230RL

    To pull my own string......I can build a dirt stock, a drag car, i work wood and metal, I can even build an F16 fighter jet.....but knowing about watts, volts and how to figure all that to know what inverter I need for my 2020 230RL.
    I have the capability to do all of my own work, but just don't have the know-how to know where to start or or how to calculate the proper figures to know if I need a 1000 or 2000 inverter or whatever.

    I am also going to add (as another post says) another (second) 12v battery.
    Could i bother you all for a little help please or a few links to a wiring schematic to help me?

    Thanks to all.
    Msgt Ray (Ret) and Margie Parker
    2022 GD 303RLS w/Gen-Y gooseneck
    2020 Ram 2500 HD Cummins 6.7/3.73 gears

  2. #2
    Setting Up Camp
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    From my research 30amp rig 2000w and 50amp 3000w. But really i think it is based off of your battery bank. You need 200ah to “fuel” a 2000w inverter. I am planning a 300ah/3000w setup with 200w solar. Now I am just working out the details on how I can phase it in 3 steps. But really the batteries are overkill w/o the inverter. So I think my phases are

    - Batteries / inverter
    - solar/controller
    2021 F350 6.7
    2021 Momentum 353G

  3. #3
    Seasoned Camper goodoz's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rgpracer View Post
    To pull my own string......I can build a dirt stock, a drag car, i work wood and metal, I can even build an F16 fighter jet.....but knowing about watts, volts and how to figure all that to know what inverter I need for my 2020 230RL.
    I have the capability to do all of my own work, but just don't have the know-how to know where to start or or how to calculate the proper figures to know if I need a 1000 or 2000 inverter or whatever.

    I am also going to add (as another post says) another (second) 12v battery.
    Could i bother you all for a little help please or a few links to a wiring schematic to help me?

    Thanks to all.
    Do you have a 30 or 50A electrical service? If 50, do you need to light up both sides of your electrical panel (go and look at it...you can rearrange circuits from one side to the other). Figure out if you want to power both sides (legs) or if you can live with just one (much less expensive if just one). If you're going to all of this trouble, forget 1K and 2K...3K inverter is minimum and go for more if you need more. YouTube is your friend...watch a bunch of videos to help you figure out what you want to do then come back here to ask for advice on specifics. Good Luck, Bro!
    GoodOz

    2019 Reflection 297RSTS
    2018 F250 6.7 w/2219 available payload

  4. #4
    Big Traveler boyscout's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rgpracer View Post
    knowing about watts, volts and how to figure all that to know what inverter I need for my 2020 230RL.
    I have the capability to do all of my own work, but just don't have the know-how to know where to start or or how to calculate the proper figures to know if I need a 1000 or 2000 inverter or whatever.
    It's a big subject with so many ways to bake the cake.

    A good starting point is to analyze your needs. Why do you think you need an inverter? What devices need to run to satisfy that need? How much power does each of them draw? Which ones might be running at the same time?

    For example a microwave may draw up to about 1,500 watts of power. A coffee maker may draw that much too. Run them both at the same time and you have a demand for as much as 3000 watts. If someone turns on a hair dryer or air conditioner at the same time while the microwave and coffee-maker are running your system will likely shut itself down.

    When you've compiled an idea of the demand you have to support it narrows your choices of inverter. There are lots of people going whole-hog with 3000-watt inverters. You can save a few dollars by reining in your expectations of usage and get a lesser inverter in the 2000-watt range. Some people get even lower-rated inverters (1000 or 1500 watts) because they're only interested in running the TV and fridge.

    All choices you have to make and calculate. Here's a calculator to help you figure things out; it's just the first one that popped up in a search, I haven't used it, there may be better ones out there.

    https://www.rapidtables.com/calc/ele...alculator.html

    Here's some information specific to calculating how much 12V DC battery you need to supply required 115V AC. I know that in another thread you've posted about adding one more modest battery to the factory battery - again depending on your needs and expectations you may find that a couple of ~100amp 12V batteries won't give you enough "gas" for the things you want to do with 120V AC power.

    https://www.batterystuff.com/kb/tool...-inverter.html

    Again, it's hard for anyone to point you to your solution without knowing more about your needs.

    There are other threads here about this topic. IIRC some of them include simplified schematics or concept illustrations showing how those owners baked their cakes.

    I'll offer a lengthy close by telling you what I have done.

    Back before we even picked up our first trailer about four years ago - when I knew even less than I know now - I bought four Trojan T-105 6V golf cart batteries and a GoPower 3000-watt sine wave inverter. (A "true sine wave inverter" is important; the power is much easier on many things you'll run off the inverter. A "modified sine wave" inverter can shorten the life of those devices.)

    The batteries are rated at 225 amp/hours. They are of course configured in pairs as 12V batteries so I have two 12V batteries in parallel giving me a total of 450 amp/hours. For me about 450ah was the minimum for off-grid living for more than a couple of days; I don't want to be running the generator for hours every day. We're not as carefully-miserly as some are with power, and I use a CPAP machine at night, so our batteries last us maybe four days WITHOUT using the inverter much. Every 3-4 days we have to run the generator for hours.

    This is our generator - we love it because it is reasonably quiet and it runs on propane (as well as gas, but we'll never put gas in it). It also has enough power to run the whole trailer on its own (possibly with one air conditioner too, but that would be stretching it, I haven't tried.)

    https://www.championpowerequipment.c...fuel-inverter/

    Inverter use hits the batteries pretty hard. As the batterystuff.com page above will show you, running a 1,500-watt microwave requires roughly 120 amps from your batteries so if you've got the 200 amps of battery you've been thinking about then running the microwave for an hour (which of course you would not want to do) would run your batteries lower than the 50% you should run them before recharging. Five minutes of microwave would use about ten amps or 1/20th of your batteries' capacity. (All calculations are rough and simplistic for illustration only.)

    I installed the GoPower inverter years after I bought it (my wife resisted boondocking for a while). By the time I installed it I already knew it was not the best option, but I didn't want to lose a thousand or more dollars selling it and buying another one so it went in. It works OK, although when under heavy load (heavier than usual) it is EXTREMELY noisy, sounds like a jet engine in our basement.

    I have it wired into the generator transfer switch we already had in our trailer because our trailer came with generator preparation but we didn't want to buy the Onan 5500 generator for which the prep option is installed. We just plug our generator into the shore power input on the trailer wall.

    Two brands of inverters that come with their own transfer switches, and many other very nice features that I don't have on the GoPower inverter, are the leading brands Victron and Magnum. Today it seems that Victron - even though big and bulky - is winning more installations than Magnum but both lines include products that are highly-configurable and -adaptable to various situations and needs.

    Hope this gets you started. A lot of the thinking and advice can be found already here and elsewhere on the internet, but you'll first have to define what you want from your inverter installation before all the advice can be whittled down to what's important to you.
    Mark - 2018 Solitude 310GK - 2017 F-350 diesel SRW short box - Pullrite Superglide hitch

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