dedicated AC outlet with inverter

[jlsalani]

I am sure someone has posted but couldn't really find the right one... did our first rustic (no hookup) camping with our 2600RB... no real issues, did have a generator, but I did not want to use it if I had a neighbor or before 9:00ish am. The only thing I would like is to be able to make toast, coffee with coffee maker and charge our phones.

simplest way seems to be a dedicated outlet or two connected to an inverter?

I was thinking of adding a 2nd battery up front and a single inverter to a few outlets?

for the dual battery, is it best to connect them in parallel all the time, or have a switch to use one or the other?

can I simply connect the inverter and wire to dedicated outlets without any other concerns?

everything else worked just fine, fridge on propane and enough 12V to do other things

thanks.

 

[Ynot4me2]

I am sure someone has posted but couldn't really find the right one... did our first rustic (no hookup) camping with our 2600RB... no real issues, did have a generator, but I did not want to use it if I had a neighbor or before 9:00ish am. The only thing I would like is to be able to make toast, coffee with coffee maker and charge our phones.

simplest way seems to be a dedicated outlet or two connected to an inverter?

I was thinking of adding a 2nd battery up front and a single inverter to a few outlets?

for the dual battery, is it best to connect them in parallel all the time, or have a switch to use one or the other?

can I simply connect the inverter and wire to dedicated outlets without any other concerns?

everything else worked just fine, fridge on propane and enough 12V to do other things

thanks.

What you want to run off of the inverter is extremely power hungry. Toasters, coffee machines, ac and hair dryer are the absolute worse. Oh, and microwave. For those particular times, I use a French press for coffee and toast over the stove. You'll need a good battery bank. If you don't want them in parallel, you'll most likely need something like this https://www.bluesea.com/products/7650/Add-A-Battery_Kit_-_120A and like you say, run a inverter off of the second battery. Another option is lifepo4 battery or batteries.

Sent from my SM-P610 using Tapatalk

 

[goducks14]

Yes you can run dedicated outlets off the inverter. I did that in a previous 5th wheel we had. I used 14-2 which is good for 15A I added some shallow surface mount 2 gang boxes in 3 places. Had a remote switch in the bedroom so I could turn the inverter off and on without having to go outside.
Word of caution though, you'll drain the snot out of your batteries running the coffee pot or hairdryer. The coffee pot cycles on and off after the coffee is brewed so it will be constantly draining your batteries big time.
If it were me and you wanted to go a cheap easy route you can just run the GD shore power cord directly to your inverter. That will power up all the AC outlets. Just make sure your flip the breaker on the converter/charger or you'll create a circle of discharge.

 

[Rick B]

Yes you can run dedicated outlets off the inverter. I did that in a previous 5th wheel we had. I used 14-2 which is good for 15A I added some shallow surface mount 2 gang boxes in 3 places. Had a remote switch in the bedroom so I could turn the inverter off and on without having to go outside.
Word of caution though, you'll drain the snot out of your batteries running the coffee pot or hairdryer. The coffee pot cycles on and off after the coffee is brewed so it will be constantly draining your batteries big time.
If it were me and you wanted to go a cheap easy route you can just run the GD shore power cord directly to your inverter. That will power up all the AC outlets. Just make sure your flip the breaker on the converter/charger or you'll create a circle of discharge.

GoDucks - your suggestion, running direct from inverter to GD shore power outlet, is what I'm in the middle of doing. I'm using a 2200W inverter (Giandel) which has an AC hardwire block so I'm running 10AWG stranded wire to a 30A outlet in the basement of our 5er. I've added an ON/OFF switch between the batteries and inverter but choose not to add a fuse. The Giandel folks told me the inverter was fused and no other fuses were necessary. I appreciate the reminder to flip the converter / charger off. Anything else?

 

[goducks14]

GoDucks - your suggestion, running direct from inverter to GD shore power outlet, is what I'm in the middle of doing. I'm using a 2200W inverter (Giandel) which has an AC hardwire block so I'm running 10AWG stranded wire to a 30A outlet in the basement of our 5er. I've added an ON/OFF switch between the batteries and inverter but choose not to add a fuse. The Giandel folks told me the inverter was fused and no other fuses were necessary. I appreciate the reminder to flip the converter / charger off. Anything else?

Looks like you got it covered.

 

[sande005]

An average toaster consumes 1200 watts. Divide by the 12v source (battery), and it will consume 100 amps. Assume 5 min for toast, and means 20 amps consumed. It gets complicated, as a "100 amp-hour" battery won't really last that long under that kind of load. More like 3 hrs till dead, so 1 1/2 until the nominal 50% discharge generally recommended. Or, for a 2 slice toaster, 36 slices of toast. Which sounds like a good number, but we haven't factored in the coffee maker, phone chargers, efficiency loss due to the inverter. All-in-all, you'd be lucky to make it through breakfast....
A camp stove toaster, and french press/melita/aeropress/other pour-over for coffee is the way to go. And search Amazon for a 12v phone charger.....

 

[Rick B]

An average toaster consumes 1200 watts. Divide by the 12v source (battery), and it will consume 100 amps. Assume 5 min for toast, and means 20 amps consumed. It gets complicated, as a "100 amp-hour" battery won't really last that long under that kind of load. More like 3 hrs till dead, so 1 1/2 until the nominal 50% discharge generally recommended. Or, for a 2 slice toaster, 36 slices of toast. Which sounds like a good number, but we haven't factored in the coffee maker, phone chargers, efficiency loss due to the inverter. All-in-all, you'd be lucky to make it through breakfast....
A camp stove toaster, and french press/melita/aeropress/other pour-over for coffee is the way to go. And search Amazon for a 12v phone charger.....

I'm new to the electrical piece. Is the calculation above correct? If power is coming out of the inverter I thought it would be 1200W divided by 120V so 10 amps. Thanks.

 

[JKellerJr]

and it will consume 100 amps. Assume 5 min for toast, and means 20 amps consumed.

Wouldn't 5 min equate to 8.3 amps consumed (at 100% conversion) with those numbers? 60min/12 = 5 min, 100amps/12= 8.3 amps? 5 min for toast sounds like a long time

Though the premise still stands a standard 100AH is only good for 50AH at best and will deteriorate over time. Most inverters are only 80-85% efficient. IMO I would go with 2 reg. batteries hooked in parallel for what you want to do. Or a 100AH lithium would work also.

Make sure you get a big enough inverter also.

 

[Jon651]

Allow me to offer an alternate suggestion - a different generator.

We have a Wen 56235i portable inverter generator that is rated at 1900 watts running and 2350 watts surge. They have several of these "suitcase" style inverter-generators and the prices for this style run under $450 directly from Wenproducts.com. It is quiet enough to stand next to and have a normal conversation and will carry a full load of just over 15 amps which is more than enough for what you want it to do. If you put it on the opposite side of your camper from your neighbors then they may not hear it inside theirs.

These suitcase generators also commonly have a 12v outlet and one or two USB charging ports so charging your batteries and your phones will be easy as well.