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Old 08-17-2015, 01:52 PM   #1
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Help with inverter design for Thor Vegas

Hi
I have a new Thor 26' Vegas with tv and Dish box that run on AC. We independent camp most often, and do not wish to run our generator at night, so an inverter is needed. The problem is that no wiring exists for this.

My best guess so far is to take one AC circuit that has most of the TV's on it and wire that circuit to the new inverter. I would have to change the power to the fridge, but that is the only user of that circuit that is a hog.
I was wondering what others have done to solve this??
Any ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks much
David
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Old 08-19-2015, 12:03 AM   #2
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Inverter install can be complex or simple...your choice.

Complex is typically adding a second power panel with a transfer switch and moving the desired circuits to a feed from the inverter.

Simple can be 2 ways, "point of use" or a whole house (or mixture of these).

Point of use inverters involve getting 1 small inverter per device and wiring them as allowed by RV design.

For a Whole house, acquire the inverter of the max load anticipated, wire it to the house battery bank (keep DC cables as short as possible)...then bridge between the inverter and the shorepower cord/bin with an extension cord of the proper gauge. Plug the shorepower cord into the extension cord (with the required adapter blocks as needed for 50amp, 30amp, etc.), turn-on the inverter when desired (be sure to avoid any hot, sharp, or spinning parts when running the extension cord)...viola', off grid 110AC without running the gennie.

This set-up is SO simple. There are no transfer switches that can fail, the RV's electrical system remains unchanged, and it is impossible to run the inverter when on shore power (no waste of the inverter's finite lifespan)

There are 2 things that you will have to remember with these simple set-ups...no AirCon (of course, unless you get a BIG inverter and add lots of batteries) and you should switch off the converter/charger to prevent a loop that discharges the batteries trying to charge them. We just flip the breakers on the main panel for the AirCon and converter/charger.

If you do not want the fridge to run on the inverter, most dual power units have a selector for "Auto" or "Gas" to force it to stay on gas...select Gas.

Best luck
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Old 08-20-2015, 10:15 PM   #3
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Thanks Scarab
I am trying to go somewhere in between the all or distributed option. Distributed sounds good other than finding the 12 V to source the distributed small inverters.
Thanks for the heads up.
David
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Old 09-04-2015, 01:11 PM   #4
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I ended up using one of the lightly used 110 volt circuits. The only significant load was the fridge, which I wired directly to the breaker, and put the rest of the 110 circuits switched thru an inverter. This allows the TV's and the dish to run off the inverter when switched on. It works great so far, only a 5 amp load on the battery.
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Old 09-04-2015, 02:00 PM   #5
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I followed the wire from the breaker that ran the TV outlet and cut it.

I picked up a 20 amp auto transfer switch from West Marine and wired it between the cut wire.

I then plugged the supplied cord, from the transfer switch into my 1000 watt inverter.

When plugged in or running the generator the power pass' thru the transfer switch. When I unplug the shore cord or shut down the generator, it transfers to the inverter.

The circuit is still protected by the original breaker while on shore or generator power and protected by the overload protection of the inverter when in inverter mode.

Hope I made sense.
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Old 09-04-2015, 02:35 PM   #6
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Yes, I understand. That sounds like a good solution. I used a switch so it only runs on the inverter when I switch it.
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