BobnSofi
San Diego, Ca
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Joined: 12/23/2003
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Hi all,
There are so many posts on Inverters, searching the forums was not fun, so...
We have an original 1996 Dimensions Unlimited 100W inverter that is hard wired about 15 feet from the house batteries.
Upgrading: I presume that it matters how far and what size 12v wire feeds to the inverter. So, in an upgrade to a large unit (1,000+ watts), I likely need to consider the location of the new unit from the house batteries and 12v wire size????
What is the most popular size and brand of inverter?
A link for inverter installation instructions and advise?
If I bore any of you with these questions that may have been answered many times before, I apologize!
Thanks for your help! With 100w, we need an upgrade!
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BFL13
Victoria, BC
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Joined: 02/15/2006
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What is it you want to run off the new inverter? How many watts for how long? What is your battery bank?
You might get by with a portable inverter say 400w no need to worry about wiring, or need a hard wired big inverter.
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Gdetrailer
PA
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Joined: 01/05/2007
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Really depends on your plans, if just to power TV and DVD then shouldn't need to upgrade if current inverter is working.
If planning to power Microwave, hair drier and such you will need to up size to 2,000W and upgrade your current batteries.
Also then would want to upgrade converter/charger, possibly add solar and so on.
Get a plan of what it is you would like to power then the answers will get more helpful.
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wa8yxm
Wherever I happen to park
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Joined: 07/04/2006
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Well... You have the basics down... Yes, 10x the inverter needs 10X the current (You spoke of going from 100 to 1000 watts) so I would try and put it closer to the batteries because... Well.. Coppper = $$$$$$$$$ these days. And go to a much larger cable as well.
You might consider going to 2,000 watts if you have the batteries... Recommended is at least one pair of golf car batteries (or a bit over 200 amp hours) per thousand watts. Minimum is 1/2 recommended. (Golf cart pairs are 232 amp hours)
I favor true sine wave inverters for several reasons and have posted those many times. Mine is a Xantrex Prosine, a very good one as it turns out, it also has power pass through and is capable of charging the batteries if a source of 120vac (other than itself) is handy.
Tripplite is another good company
And I'm sure there are a few more out there.
Nothin adds excitment like something that is none of your business
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Gary Franks
Pacific Northwest
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Joined: 02/24/2008
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In selecting a new inverter I assume that you want an inverter/charger in one unit, correct?
How much battery power do you have? You'll want to match the inverter size to your battery capacity. Have you considered new batteries too?
Getting the right cabling can be a challenge. Most place want to sell you something smaller than you'll want. I had to search and search to find a place to custom make cables for me when I upgraded my batteries.
When sizing your cables, consider not only how much current you'll draw, but also how much current will flow through when you're charging.
Are in a motorhome? If so, is your alternator properly sized to your recharge you battery bank? This will help as you move from campsite to campsite.
Xantrex has some helpful documents. Also, this site has a good selection of inverters and if you call them, they are very helpful.
* This post was
edited 10/06/08 08:20pm by an administrator/moderator *
'05 Fleetwood Bounder Diesel 39Z | Datastorm F2 Satellite Internet | Toad1: '03 Lincoln Town Car | Toad2: '08 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited 4WD
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BobnSofi
San Diego, Ca
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Joined: 12/23/2003
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the 100w comes up too small sometimes.
A few years ago, I had upgraded to a great 75amp converter and ran new thick #4 wire to our 2 Sam's club 6v batteries. Major Upgrade!
As for the Inverter. We use the coach alot. This last weekend we were trying to run 2 laptops off the 100w Inverter. NOPE! So I run one off the 100w inverter and the other off a small portable 400w inverter from a "cigarette lighter" plug at the other end of the coach. It seems the main converter has it's own fat 12v wire. Seems the system was strained and it was trouble with load alarms beeping (likely from the lack of thick wire to the portable 400w inverter) So I lowered the brightness of both laptop screens and we squeeked thru the experience.
I am concerned that any replacement upgrade to the 100w may create the need to run 15' of newer fatter 12v power wire, and that may be tough. So perhaps a quick and easy cigarette receptacle fished in from the house batteries to service the small 400w unit is the easy solution?
I would like to add 2 more sam's club 6v, but the weight and rack engineering seems excessive for our current needs. We already can be easily overloaded in weight capacity.
Seems I need to upgrade.
Here we were yesterday after the inverter shortage, on the first cool (85 degree) desert Fall weekend day in borrego spings. Nice! Need more boondocking power!
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BFL13
Victoria, BC
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Joined: 02/15/2006
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Seems like the 400w inverter is plenty for your needs. But you are using it wrong by not having it clamped to the battery bank. Instead you are using the cig plug and getting alarmed off.
IMO just clamp the inverter to the batteries outside and plug your shore power cable into the inverter (first disconnect your converter to avoid back feed) Plug the laptops into your 120ac receptacles.
You will have to recharge your batteries frequently. When recharging unclamp the inverter and reconnect the converter, use the same receptacles for the laptops while recharging.
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Oswald38
3rd Rock
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Joined: 12/04/2007
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I've not seen a 100 Watt hard wire inverter in my life but don't doubt they exist. I guess you have one but most have one AC receptacle and no GFI till you get to about 600.
I can't see that useful for more than charging a cell phone or a tiny TV. You have some good advice but stopping at 1000 watts seems a little strange in my thinking because 600 would run anything not heat related but yet a 1000 will run nothing heat related like a hair dryer, toaster, micro, curling iron (yes I'm married)
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w6pea
San Diego, Mexifornia
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Joined: 09/08/2006
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Well I have 6 Interstate U2200 6v batterys. I have 2 100w panels. I am going to add an Xantrex Prosine 2.0 2000 Watt Sine Wave Inverter/Charger,to the system. I want to be able to run my micro wave and a couple of commerical sewing machines. I know I do not need a pure sine wave, but when you have a $6500.00 sewing machine that has a computer in it. You need a pure sine wave inverter.
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