Trailer Inverter Installation?

[Arizona Griz]

I am curious how many of you have installed an inverter in your trailers and did it work very well. I am planning on putting a 1500W inverter in and feeding it with a separate battery than the two batteries that feed my trailer. I am going to put a switch between the inverter battery and the trailer batteries. The switch will be turned on when the generator is running or the trailer is hooked up to shore power to charge all three batteries but it will be opened when I have the inverter turned on so the drain is on only one battery. The inverter will be mounted inside of the trailer as close to the feed battery as I can get it with a 150 fuse between. My plan is to have the inverter feed one receptacle which can be used for a TV or any thing else.

[rrino]

I have a 1500w inverter in my 5er the entire trailer is 120 volts with the inverter on. We use tv, sat and microwave all at the same time. If you only want tv you can use a smaller inverter. If you need help hooking it up send me an e-mail i have hook up several.

[Arizona Griz]

Thanks for the info rrino, I have all the wiring diagrams and am familar with the hookup. Sounds like yours works fine. I have been thinking about doing this for quite some time.

[duneflyer]

In my motorhome I installed a 1200 watt for that purpose. I didnt install the seperate battery though. I just connected to to the coach batteries, and it works great. Now I can watch tv, PS2, xbox or whatever without having to run the generator. but just flick on the generator if I start to get low. The kids can play xbox for several hours without having to start the generator. Whats your thought process on using another battery?

[Just Ride It]

I have a 1200watt in my toy hauler and it is hooked straight to the 2 12 volt batteries in front. I had to run about 12 feet of cable from the bats to the inverter which is inside by the TV and DVD setup. I plug wright into the inverter and it has worked great. My kids have watched 2 or 3 movies in a row and the batteries have never dropped below 2/3 full.

[gdavis]

For me a small 400 watt inverter mounted inside my electrical box, (where the AC and DC fuses are)wired straight from the DC bus and then wired to a 110v plug mounted outside on the trailer frame and another one inside the trailer under the TV table is working great.

I can run my laptop, my boombox, TV and satelite receiver all at once (if I need to) with power to spare. A 1500 watt inverter on a single battery, if you plan on using most of the capacity of the inverter, won't get you far. I think you're spending more than you need to for a high capacity inverter on a single battery, you just wont be able to use it.

Fact is, is the more appliances and entertainment devices you run off an inverter, the quicker the batteries will drain and the longer you have to run the generator to just partially recharge them. Running a 800 watt microwave off an inverter will drain your batteries quickly. We will start the generator for short periods of time if we need to run a coffee pot or microwave. Saves the batteries from that big drain and also puts a little boost in them.

Just my way of doing it and it works well.

[Arizona Griz]

Thanks for the information guys. I don't need the 1500W but they are always at a low cost at Sams Club. I would really only run the TV off of it.

[gdavis]

Costco has the smaller ones for $25 - $30. Then you won't be supporting WalMart. :D

[Railman]

1500 watts at full output will drain a Gr. 27 deep cyle batt. in about 30-45 min. 500 watts will run any tv, x-box etc. with power to spare.

[steveb]

Hey Griz, Add that extra battery if you will, but you may as well add it to the other batteries.
That inverter will drain (1) battery in no time at all.

Good Luck,
steveb

[Brianv]

I'm also playing the inverter game, and have come across the following:

I bought a 400W inverter to run a 13" TV and a small DVD plater. Wattage-wise I ought to be good. The receptacle in my toy hauler (2006 Desert Fox) is rated at only 6.5 amps and is protected by a 7.5 amp fuse which promptly blows when I turn the whole mess on. So, obviously I need to direct wire the inverter to the batteries. The trouble with this is the fuse panel is down on the floor, and I don't want to run the cords from the TV/DVD to the inverter on the floor. Anyone know how I can invert just those two outlets in the TV cabinet?

[Arizona Griz]

If the outlet is separated from the other A.C. circuits, which it is probably not, you could remove the wiring from the A.C. panel and tie it into the inverter.

[pufferfish]

More of a lurker here, but this topic caught my eye. This upgrade with Trojan batts was by far the best upgrade I did to our toyhauler. With all the advice already I would also add a couple things. Make sure you run the shortest dc cable of appropriate size from the batts to the inverter(with breaker or fuse) and make sure you put a switch in to turn off the converter when the inverter is on. I made a batt tray (removable) that sits over the stock 12 v batts in the front to hold up to 4 6v and have run 7 days of tv, dvd, stereo and even some coffee pot(quiet hours at Coral Pink) BEFORE running the genset to recharge. I too separated the coach batts from the house batts due to being stranded with dead batt and couldn't start the genset. Now a solenoid and 12v switch and I have a batt boost as well. An Iota magnetic switch also allows the automatic switching between genset and inverter without unplugging anything. Magnetized side was genset, spring side(default) was inverter.