Hooking Up A 1500W Inverter (Wiring Question)

[56Nomad]

I purchased an XPower 1500 Watt Xantrex inverter and want to install it into
our 5th wheel which is on order.

First I'll wire the inverter to my Aux. batteries with a 80-100amp
circuit breaker on the (+) side 12V wire (as per instructions). This will be a
Push-To-Trip (OFF/ON) Circuit Breaker.
BTW... the Push-To-Trip Circuit Breaker can be seen at
http://www.wiringproducts.com/en-us/dept_29.html

I just edited this string with what I believe
is the way to solve this wiring question.

Here are some instructions I received in a private message. I then diagramed it along side the
diagram provided in the instruction manual provided with the 1500 Watt inverter

"Very simple to do. You will need the DPDT "center off" 20amp toggle switch, an electrical box, a cover plate made for toggle switches (or just get a blank one and drill the correct size hole) some romex wire (14/2 if it's a 15amp circuit) and a wire nut.

Mount the box where you want the switch.

Unhook the romex that comes off the breaker feeding the circuit you want "inverted" (unhook all three wires...white, black and ground) Now hook it up to the center contacts of the DPDT switch with black on one side, white on the other and leave the ground hanging free for now.

Then take a new piece of romex wire and hook it up to the same breaker you just unhooked in the same fashion with the black wire going to the breaker and the white going to the neutral bus bar and ground to ground bus. Take the other end of this wire and hook it to the bottom contacts on the switch with the black wire going to the same side as the previous, white to the other side and ground hanging free.

Then take another piece of romex and hook it to the top of the switch in the same fashion. Now you can wire nut all the grounds together. Then on the other end of this wire that you put on the top contacts attach a plug end and plug it into the inverter.

That is it. So, if you flip the switch up you will be feeding the center contacts (wire to outlets) from the inverter and if you flip the switch down you will be feeding from shorepower. There is no need to turn off the converter when using the inverter because you are only powering that one circuit and the converter will already be off as it is on another circuit. Just make sure the switch you get is "center off" so that it breaks the connection from one source before it makes the connection to another."

[56Nomad]

I purchased an XPower 1500 Watt Xantrex inverter and want to install it into
our 5th wheel which is on order.

First I'll wire the inverter to my Aux. batteries with a 80-100amp
circuit breaker on the (+) side 12V wire (as per instructions). This will be a
Push-To-Trip (OFF/ON) Circuit Breaker.
BTW... the Push-To-Trip Circuit Breaker can be seen at
http://www.wiringproducts.com/en-us/dept_29.html

I just edited this string with what I believe
is the way to solve this wiring question.

Here are some instructions I received in a private message. I then diagramed it along side the
diagram provided in the instruction manual provided with the 1500 Watt inverter

"Very simple to do. You will need the DPDT "center off" 20amp toggle switch, an electrical box, a cover plate made for toggle switches (or just get a blank one and drill the correct size hole) some romex wire (14/2 if it's a 15amp circuit) and a wire nut.

Mount the box where you want the switch.

Unhook the romex that comes off the breaker feeding the circuit you want "inverted" (unhook all three wires...white, black and ground) Now hook it up to the center contacts of the DPDT switch with black on one side, white on the other and leave the ground hanging free for now.

Then take a new piece of romex wire and hook it up to the same breaker you just unhooked in the same fashion with the black wire going to the breaker and the white going to the neutral bus bar and ground to ground bus. Take the other end of this wire and hook it to the bottom contacts on the switch with the black wire going to the same side as the previous, white to the other side and ground hanging free.

Then take another piece of romex and hook it to the top of the switch in the same fashion. Now you can wire nut all the grounds together. Then on the other end of this wire that you put on the top contacts attach a plug end and plug it into the inverter.

That is it. So, if you flip the switch up you will be feeding the center contacts (wire to outlets) from the inverter and if you flip the switch down you will be feeding from shorepower. There is no need to turn off the converter when using the inverter because you are only powering that one circuit and the converter will already be off as it is on another circuit. Just make sure the switch you get is "center off" so that it breaks the connection from one source before it makes the connection to another."

[MrFixit454]

This requires a little thinking but first off have you made shure your fridge and water heater are not on those circuits??

[56Nomad]

I've updated the photo. The inverter will only
be hooked up to the 15 amp circuit breaker
dedicated to the wall plug outlets.

That will be for the TV and maybe the toaster
once in a while.

The frig, micro & heater are on different
circuit breakers.....

Am I getting closer to making this work?

[Gary RVRoamer]

May I suggest a single pole, double throw switch at the connection to the house circuit breaker? Tie the line feeding the branch circuit to the center pole, the inverter output to one switch pole and the normal hot feed from the circuit breaker (shore power) to the other pole. Flip the switch to change power for the branch circuit from shore power to inverter. This guarantees you can never have the branch circuit powered from both inverter and shore power at the same time, even if you have a bad day and forget to do things in the right order or if someone else tries to use the inverter when you aren't around. Trust me, you don't ever want that circuit to get fed from both at the same time. Only bad things can happen!

[56Nomad]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by RV Roamer:
May I suggest a single pole, double throw switch at the connection to the house circuit breaker? Tie the line feeding the branch circuit to the center pole, the inverter output to one switch pole and the normal hot feed from the circuit breaker (shore power) to the other pole. Flip the switch to change power for the branch circuit from shore power to inverter. This guarantees you can never have the branch circuit powered from both inverter and shore power at the same time, even if you have a bad day and forget to do things in the right order or if someone else tries to use the inverter when you aren't around. Trust me, you don't ever want that circuit to get fed from both at the same time. Only bad things can happen! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks..... I was also advised by PM that if I was hooked up to shore
power, the plug from the 110V circuit breaker to the inverter would
be HOT. If unplugged a dangling hot wire. Not good. I think that is what you are saying.
Still working on it. Thank you for your advice.
Electric circuitry is not easy for me...

[Ken Lenger]

See my webpage at http://www.klenger.net/arctic-fox/inverter/index.html for info. This setup has worked very well for me.

[56Nomad]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by RV Roamer:
May I suggest a single pole, double throw switch at the connection to the house circuit breaker? Tie the line feeding the branch circuit to the center pole, the inverter output to one switch pole and the normal hot feed from the circuit breaker (shore power) to the other pole. Flip the switch to change power for the branch circuit from shore power to inverter. This guarantees you can never have the branch circuit powered from both inverter and shore power at the same time, even if you have a bad day and forget to do things in the right order or if someone else tries to use the inverter when you aren't around. Trust me, you don't ever want that circuit to get fed from both at the same time. Only bad things can happen! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Here are some instructions I received in a private message. I then diagramed it along side the
diagram provided in the instruction manual provided with the 1500 Watt inverter

"Very simple to do. You will need the DPDT "center off" 20amp toggle switch, an electrical box, a cover plate made for toggle switches (or just get a blank one and drill the correct size hole) some romex wire (14/2 if it's a 15amp circuit) and a wire nut.

Mount the box where you want the switch.

Unhook the romex that comes off the breaker feeding the circuit you want "inverted" (unhook all three wires...white, black and ground) Now hook it up to the center contacts of the DPDT switch with black on one side, white on the other and leave the ground hanging free for now.

Then take a new piece of romex wire and hook it up to the same breaker you just unhooked in the same fashion with the black wire going to the breaker and the white going to the neutral bus bar and ground to ground bus. Take the other end of this wire and hook it to the bottom contacts on the switch with the black wire going to the same side as the previous, white to the other side and ground hanging free.

Then take another piece of romex and hook it to the top of the switch in the same fashion. Now you can wire nut all the grounds together. Then on the other end of this wire that you put on the top contacts attach a plug end and plug it into the inverter.

That is it. So, if you flip the switch up you will be feeding the center contacts (wire to outlets) from the inverter and if you flip the switch down you will be feeding from shorepower. There is no need to turn off the converter when using the inverter because you are only powering that one circuit and the converter will already be off as it is on another circuit. Just make sure the switch you get is "center off" so that it breaks the connection from one source before it makes the connection to another."