inverter & surge protector for our 29RS

[utahducks]

Ok, so my wife and I are new to all this, but I have been reviewing all of the current topics, have learned a lot, so I have a few questions

surge protectors.....looks like you really should have it to protect your electrical appliances.......we have taken her out once for one night, as I have read, it seems the most sense is to install a permanent surge protection device, as a post mount can get stolen, do not want to be worrying about that when Sally and I are out fly fishing or exploring......can someone please give us some guidance on what to install and where is a good place to install it

inverter.......DC to AC.....I want to be able to have the TV, bedroom outlets and a couple in the kitchen ac ready so we can run coffee pot things like that off of ac, if we are dry camping...I am in the water delivery business, but know hardly anything about electricity, but I have a couple of son in laws who do HVAC work, who can help me......I have looked at many sites, and you can spend a little or a lot......is there something out there where you can have 5-6 ....110 outlets....any direction anyone can give me is greatly appreciated in both of the issues.
I am purchasing 2ea honda 2000i generators today, for when we are dry camping, then come spring or summer, solar power......roof or ground......
boy, there is a lot to do to get set up the way you want it...thanks in advance, if you would rather email me directly with your [email protected]


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[bertschb]

...surge protectors.......can someone please give us some guidance on what to install and where is a good place to install it

The Progressive Industries HW50C ($318 at Amazon) is considered one of the better built in electrical management systems. I saw a YouTube video of a guy installing it behind the electric panel inside the coach. That's where I plan to install mine as soon as my RV arrives.

[Cate&Rob]

Hi Dan,

There have been a number of discussions on this forum about inverters and different ways to install dedicated outlets, power certain circuits or power everything. Use the search function in the upper right corner, on key words about this topic and you will find these discussions. Important to consider if you are planning to run several things with the inverter, you will need lots of batteries and a robust plan to recharge them.

Rob

[utahducks]

bertschb, thanks for the guidance......have just researched the same you tube I believe, looks fairly easy to install, I just need warmer weather to crawl around our RV to find the Panel

Rob, I now have 2ea 6 volt batteries, thinking of adding 1-2 more batteries, maybe solar the recharge......need to look at payback of this system, I bought 2ea Honda 2000i generators yesterday. the thing is my buddy has an inverter w/ solar charge and he has generator, so no matter what he is covered on power.......I will do more research and really think hard about what I really need for AC power when dry camping, which we will be doing quite a bit of I think

thanks to both of you for the input, more thinking and research to do


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[notnsuv]

Check out www.amsolar.com in Oregon for your solar needs. I just finishing installing 420W of solar (2 160W and 1 100W panel) into 4 6volt batteries (432ah) - Rule of thumb on solar is 1W solar per 1ah battery capacity. AM Solar was very helpful on the website with 'solar education', complete kits of panels, controller and all needed wiring. They are also very responsive via email or phone with answers. I got the 45* brackets to angle the panels in winter - more perpendicular to the sun. I've had solar on 2 other RVs and don't even bother pulling the batteries out of the RV in winter (it was about 4*F last night). I did install a battery temp sensor with the solar controller. Someone else on the forum recently installed a nearly identical setup as mine so you might search that out. Says he got 2 weeks dry camping w/o running the generator and had been using the TV, etc. daily. I won't be w/o solar in an RV because we are rarely in RV parks and 90% dry camp. My Honda 2000 is quiet but not quiet enough (this from the guy who doesn't listen to music in camp).

Also installed a Victron Energy 702 (http://www.victronenergy.com) that I got from a marine store in San Diego (online) to monitor the true condition of the battery bank. This was on recommendation from someone here on the forum. If the weather is warm enough today I'll get the shunt installed and plug it in.

I went with a 2000W Xantex pure sine wave inverter from www.donrowe.com. Needed the pure sine wave for a medical device that pulls a lot of amps. Even with this setup will get only 4 hours on the batteries overnight (on paper). I purchased a Kill-O-Watt meter at Home Depot for $20-$30 (on recommendation from AM Solar) to plug the device into overnight to verify ah usage and calculate battery/solar needs.

Running only 3 Inverter AC outlets (inverter outputs are GFCI). One on the hutch for coffee, one in the bathroom for curling iron, and one in place of the basement cable TV hookup for tools or my outside 'kitchen' (coffee pot). We don't watch TV in camp or campground so didn't bother with wiring for that but might in the future since I plan to retire in 359 days.

The new AC outlets I got at my dealership are junction boxes as well as outlets so very simple installation. Installation of these is still pending warm weather but the romex is run and holes cut. I'll just build an AC plug to install in the actual inverter to supply these outlets and that will leave 1 additional on the inverter for outside use.

Of course, all romex, control wiring, charge wiring, etc. is inside wire loom throughout the basement area. Lots of pics on the forum of various clean installations.

utahducks: if you want more specifics, feel free.. after all, we're almost neighbors.

[Webmeister]

Hey there Gary, Erin, & Kitty (The Dog), we just got our 29rs and I am beginning to get educated on solar. I will go to the sites you have recommended and study up. Couple questions though:
1) Did the installation of panels void your roof warranty? I am always fearful of putting any holes in the roofs for fear of leakage....should I be?
2) I noticed a few folks running 6 volt batteries, soem even golf cart batteries, is there and advantage to those over 12. I assume they are run in series to get 12 volts...

That's a start...all for now...thanks...
Bradley

[CWSWine]

I decided against the permanent surge protection and went with the plug into the post one. My Progressive took a hit on 2nd day of 12 day trip and did its job but won't come back online. Sent it to Progressive and they fix and returned no question asked. Since there were still having thunderstorms in the area I wasn't going to plug back with some sort of surge protections so quick trip to Camping World I bought Surge Guard to use while my Progressive was being repaired. If it was built in I would have lot more hassle then running to CW and picking up a second surge protector. Now if I take a hit in the middle of the night I have a extra surge protector I can plug and keep on camping.

[Paul & Deb]

2) I noticed a few folks running 6 volt batteries, soem even golf cart batteries, is there and advantage to those over 12. I assume they are run in series to get 12 volts...

That's a start...all for now...thanks...
Bradley

6 volt GC batteries provide greater amp hours than even deep cycle 12 volt batteries. 1 deep cycle 12 volt battery may provide 50 to maybe 100 amp hours (the more amp hours, the more expensive) but 2 -6 volt GC batteries in series provide 225 amp hours (Trojan T105 series). 1 - 12 volt battery is fine for some owners, especially if they primarily camp in locations that provide shore power but for those who like to be off the grid for extended periods of time, the more amp hours in storage before recharging, the better.

[notnsuv]

Hey there Gary, Erin, & Kitty (The Dog), we just got our 29rs and I am beginning to get educated on solar. I will go to the sites you have recommended and study up. Couple questions though:
1) Did the installation of panels void your roof warranty? I am always fearful of putting any holes in the roofs for fear of leakage....should I be?
2) I noticed a few folks running 6 volt batteries, soem even golf cart batteries, is there and advantage to those over 12. I assume they are run in series to get 12 volts...

That's a start...all for now...thanks...
Bradley

2. Downside to two 6v in series is if you lose a single cell in one of the batteries you'll be without 12v completely. In my case I have 4 in series/parallel so that's not an issue.
As Poppy said, more capacity. I have 432ah with 4 standard RV batteries that are charged by 420w of solar (160W x 2 + 100W panel). Rule of thumb is 1W per ah. Someone else here has a setup much like mine and reported 2 weeks dry camping w/o running the generator. I've not been out with mine yet.

1. Dicor sealant from your RV dealer or AM Solar is recommended. It's self levelling and easy to use. Standard sealant for OEM I'd guess. If done properly you will have no leaks.

I also got the 45* brackets for winter storage and/or hunting in Montana (45th parallel). Used them at home from Oct - March. Kept the plant at 100% through the winter. Also have a good battery monitor and temp monitoring as well as the upgraded solar controller from AM.

[SanJoseDale]

I installed 4 235 AH 6 volt batteries, with a Xantrex 3KW pure sine wave inverter/charger. I wanted to power the GFI circuits in kitchen and bath, both TVs, and microwave. This required some reconfiguring of the circuits, as the inverter specifies wiring only 2 circuits. The only snag I ran into was the refrigerator could not be forced to run on propane when AC was present, this was a built in "feature". It turned out the circuit for the GFI was also powering the fridge. The solution was to add a simple wall switch on the power line to the refrigerator. Now when running on inverter power, I can force the fridge to propane. I am able to go two days of camping with this system. No Coffee pots, hair dryers or extended microwave usage though LOL.