Adding a power inverter

[sqzdog]

I don't believe my 1995 Vectra has the inverter option. At least none of the electrical receptacles work unless plugged into shore or on generator. I would like for my front TV electrical outlet up above and the forward-most electrical outlet (just behind the passenger seat) to work while going down the road. TV for the kid, receptacle for the laptop, etc.

Is this very difficult? Isolating only one or two electrical outlets to an inverter? I'm new to this having only had this RV for a day. Thanks for all advice.

-Gary

[garyspang]

Hi Gary
First find out which breaker shuts off the desired outlets using a night light. Most likely one will shut off both. There are other outlets that will be affected. Identify those also. Do this with the engine ignition on and the RV plugged into an outlet. Sometimes the TV outlet is turned off when the engine is on to prevent the driver from watching TV.
The next part should be done by a qualified electrician.
Install and connect an inverter that contains a transfer relay close to the house batteries. Run a new AC power wire from the breaker to the inverter, and attach the old wires from the two desired outlets to the inverter.
Some creative wire routing will be necessary. The inverter should be sized to exeed the total wattage of the TV and Laptop by at least 25%. (Your wife may want to run a Crock Pot in the sink while you are driving).

The TV should not be viewable by the driver.

Happy traveling

[BigV]

My batteries are in front and the power connection is in the rear.

What I did is mount the inverter up front. It needs to be close to the batteries. I ran 8 ga wire in conduit to the rear and mounted a 30a rv plug. I put my battery charger on this remote plug.

The remote is mounted with some velcro next to the generator start switch. That way I can start the gen and turn on the charger without moving plugs around. If your transfer switch is like mine it disconnects shore power when the generator starts. When I have shore power I just unplug from the inverter and plug in.

Inverters with transfer switches are about three times the price. Wiring in another transfer switch for the inverter is a bit of a pain. This solution works and is not that expensive. Just don't try to fire up the A/C when on inverter

[Hikerdogs]

Before attempting to install an inverter take a look at the Vectra wiring diagrams to see if one was offered as an option, and if so where it might be installed.

Wiring Diagrams

You might already have one thats tucked away in a really obscure place and needs to be physically turned on. The one in our Adventurer is easy to find if you know where to look, but it only operates when it's manually switched on.

[wa8yxm]

There are two ways to add an inverter, Easy and Easier.. First the easiest way, This woudl be a stand alone inverter.

NOTE: if the inverter is bigger than say 100 watts (And you do need bigger) then it is best to mount it NEAR the batteries, but not in the same space, Use heavy cable (For a 500 watt or so you can use the common Starter Cables you can get at any auto parts store, when you hit a kilowatt or larger thing bigger (For a KW just double up on starter cable) NOTE 2: Tape the red and black cables together for as much of the run as you can, Cuts down on some inductance issues.

As said: put the inverter as close to the batteries as possible but NOT in the same air space (A compartment next door is good) Use heavy cables and the proper in-line fuse..

Then simply run 120 volt wire from there to where you want E-power. Use a properly sized breaker on that wire (near the inverter) if the inverter has none built in. (Some do) use RED or ORANGE outlets and covers for the Inverter powered (To distinguish from the regular) and simply plug into the inverter outlet when you need to use it.

I would not put a switch in the inverter line less it is a very heavy duty marine grade (A 1,000 watt inverter needs at least 100 amps running)

I also recommend TRUE SINE WAVE inverters, more expensive, but your electronics will thank you.

Now the less easy way.. Properly installed.

To do this one you need the right kind of inverter,, One such is the Xantrex Prosine 2.0, there are several others which are every bit as good, some may say better, I mentione the Xantrex only because.... I have one. In all cases the install is identical save for one or two features of the 2.0, These are in fact options for the most part.

First you decide what outlets/circuits you want on E-power (E = Emergency, or in this case Inverter) and remove those leads from the primary breaker box.. Also remove the breakers (Optional on that) You replace ONE breaker with the proper size breaker to feed the inverter (The Prosine is a combo unit, Inverter and converter with built in transfer switch, it is also a true sine) the proper breaker for the Prosine 2.0 is 30 amps.. NOTE you may need to "Re-balance" if your rig is a 50 amp rig.

Now... Route these wires to a new breaker box, called a "Sub Panel" this type of box has no main breaker in it, just branch circuits. Hardware, Lowes, Home Dept, any electrical supply house., Sears.

Run the proper wire (10ga in the case of the 2.0) from the 30 amp breaker to the inverter's AC-IN leads, Using a sharpie write Power IN on the wire at the inverter end. (or INPUT or MAIN power)

Run a 2nd 10ga Romex from the inverter to the sub panel (ON this one write INVERTER OUT)

You will use very heavy wire with a 2.0.. Multiple zero guage (4/0 or heavier) I suggest one grade heavier than the manual recommends (heavier won't hurt, will help) again tape the two leads together ad much as possible, and mount in the compartment next to the batteries,, The max current here is, well just divide watts by 10 so 2,000 watts = 200 amps, actually the Prosine can suck more than that for about 1 second during POST (Power on self test)

That about covers it.. It is really easy to do save for running the 120 volt wire, that can be a pain.. How to do that depends a lot on your rig.

[BigV]

One thing to add to installation.

I have mine mounted under my dash. In my case it is a big cavern with nothing in it. To run the power through the firewall I used a Moroso bulkhead connector. It is basically a metal stud surrounded by a whole lot of rubber. Bought at my local speed shop. You don't want to drill a hole and run a cable through. It will rub and short. I also use a battery fuse, google it for brands.

Big cable is a must. I bought 2/0 welding cable from northern arizona wind & sun. Nice folks. 2/0 cable runs about $4.50 a foot. Plan wisely