Cheap inverter install question...

[sande005]

In my old 5th, I installed 2 6v, and ran them to a small-ish inverter. From there, I snaked essentially a HD extension cord up into a cabinet. This allowed me to run my cpap at night, and the TV when desired, although of course there was a cord strung around the inside. Stupid cpap is 24v, and I'm trying to avoid buying a new one that does 12v directly. On the current 2670MK, it looks like doing the cord thing might be harder to accomplish. So, am pondering what it would take to run the inverter to the nearby main outside power inlet on the trailer, using a dogbone. YES, I am very aware that use of 120v would be very limited, and doing this can easily lead to trying to run things that shouldn't be run - and either overloading the inverter, or draining the batteries very quickly. But at least I won't have to snake wires for cords or dedicated outlets.

I've downloaded manuals for the WFCO converter and distribution center I probably have. They were not very clear. Trailer is under 4 ft of snow in storage, so can't actually look at anything. A prior post mentioned just turning off the breaker to the converter, so I wouldn't be trying to charge the batteries using the inverter (a very bad thing). Is there a breaker for that? If I do so, will the distribution center still get 12 and 120 volts to all the things that use them? Of course, if I want to charge the batteries, I'd have to unplug the inverter, and turn the breaker back on.

Will this kind of "kludge" work?

Our dry camping use is pretty much only for at most 2 days once a year, so not yet ready to jump into big power/recharge scenarios. But, as we get more accustomed to being off grid, we might want to begin scaling things up..so am hesitant to jump in buying too many things that might have to be replaced later.

[TucsonJim]

That is exactly how I run power from my inverter. And the "kludge" works great. On my unit, there is a breaker that is dedicated to the converter. Simply turn off the converter breaker and turn on the inverter and viola, the whole coach is powered. If I try to use too much power on my 2000W inverter, it will automatically shut down to prevent any damage. But I have enough battery power to run the TV and satellite dish all evening and still have enough to brew a pot of coffee the following morning.

Here's the pigtail adapter I use:

Pigtail

Jim

[Cate&Rob]

Hi sande005,

I have done exactly as you describe (on both boat and RV) running inverter output to a couple of dedicated outlets. We seldom dry camp and when we do, most things that we need are 12V or propane. On the RV, I have two deep cycle group 27 batteries, so I know I don't have much inverter run time and I keep that in mind. The most that we have used this system for is to recharge laptops and tools. I like that I don't have to remember the whole power management scheme if I were to plug the whole trailer into the inverter. On the boat, we have an older 12V TV . . . would kind of like of find one of these for the RV.

Rob

[sande005]

Thanks Jim and Rob! Then I think a plan has been hatched!

I had previously pm'd Jim for details about his solar setup, which looks pretty attractive for the future. I then ran across this blog entry: https://www.thefitrv.com/rv-tips/how...need-on-my-rv/
That got me thinking it would be better to move into the subject slowly, rather than jumping whole hog for a solar rig we may not really need.

(BTW - look for James videos about testing toilet paper, and cleaning black tanks, among others. He does a great job with RV related topics.)

[J&G garage]

In our trailer we have a breaker for the converter. It's marked Receptacles.