Bypass in storage compartment door

[DavidK2017]

Hey everyone,

I was thinking of putting an inverter in my trailer this year, I was looking to install it in my front storage compartment, but of course that would mean if I want to plug into it I have to open one of the access doors and run a cord in. I was thinking about some sort of a bypass that could be cut into the storage door to run the cable through. Does anyone have any mod like this or any other thoughts?

Thanks

[kgburns1]

Could you mount something like this in the wall next to the door?


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e?ie=UTF8&th=1

[Winemaker2]

Originally Posted by kgburns1

Could you mount something like this in the wall next to the door?


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e?ie=UTF8&th=1

I debated about something like that but thought I'd still have to seal the other compartment (mine each had a wall with open space between).
I used a PVC conduit fitting through a large drilled hole to connect the two compartments. ran a short extension cords (120V and 12V charge line) between the compartments and stuffed some soft foam around the cord to fill the hole and hold the cord in place.
This allowed me to keep a batty maintainer in a sealed compartment next to the open batty compartment and keep the maintainer away from any acid fumes. (since replaced baty w/ AGM so less of an issue)

Did the same to power a compressor, I leave in place, from the engine block heater outlet in adjacent compartment (ftg not as visible but you can see the extension cord)

Again employed the same approach to route an air line w/ quick connects from compressor compartment to opposite side of MH. Lets me use a 25 ft air hose to reach all 6 MH tires & Toad one side at a time.

[DavidK2017]

@KgBurns1 That is a great idea, almost exactly what I wanted, I think I have enough space beside as well, need to bring the trailer home from storage next week so will take a looking.

@winemaker2 that is impressive setup, I don't have that much space though

[Tomahawk]

I mounted an inverter in my storage compartment. My dilemma was I didn't want to power the entire TT with a its parasitic draws and didn't want to create a loop with the converter trying to charge the battery. I had 2 outlets I wanted powered from the inverter, one behind the TV and one next to the bed. What I did is less then ideal but it works. I moved an outlet with shore power into my storage area close to the inverter. I placed 2 new outlets at the locations I inverter power to supply and the supply lines into the storage compartment. When I am on shore power I plug the supply lines into the shore power outlet in the storage compartment. When I am on the inverter I plug the supply lines into the inverter. The new outlets are effectively extension cords that get plugged into either the shore power outlet in the storage area or the inverter. If for some reason I wanted to power the entire TT off the inverter, I can flip off the breaker to between the TT and the battery and plug the TT shore power cable into the inverter.

[Winemaker2]

Originally Posted by Tomahawk

I mounted an inverter in my storage compartment. My dilemma was I didn't want to power the entire TT with a its parasitic draws and didn't want to create a loop with the converter trying to charge the battery. I had 2 outlets I wanted powered from the inverter, one behind the TV and one next to the bed. What I did is less then ideal but it works. I moved an outlet with shore power into my storage area close to the inverter. I placed 2 new outlets at the locations I inverter power to supply and the supply lines into the storage compartment. When I am on shore power I plug the supply lines into the shore power outlet in the storage compartment. When I am on the inverter I plug the supply lines into the inverter. The new outlets are effectively extension cords that get plugged into either the shore power outlet in the storage area or the inverter. If for some reason I wanted to power the entire TT off the inverter, I can flip off the breaker to between the TT and the battery and plug the TT shore power cable into the inverter.

Same idea as RVs without an auto transfer sw for powering from shore power or gennie. Power cord gets plugged into different source.

[Tomahawk]

I forgot to add this and it is my favorite part. I spent quite a bit of time thinking about this and came up with this idea and was all proud of myself. A week later a video showed up in my youtube feed of a guys that had done the exact same thing a year or two before. So much for an original idea. Made me laugh that I thought I had an original idea and could have saved some "thinking" time if I'd seen the video.

[astrocamper]

I have a large Spartan 2200 watt PSW inverter in my front storage area. It is hardwired to the trailer using the inverter transfer switch. I did put in a dual 20 amp outlet on the side wall of the trailer near the access door for when I want a power cord outside and the storage area locked. I used a power pigtail to plug into the inverters dual 20 amp outlet. The dual external outlet has a weather cover the flips up for access to the outlets.

The inverter 50 amp transfer switch is feed from a new master breaker panel that's attached to the external 30 amp power plug. The output of the transfer switch is mounted to the trailers original breaker panel. The original converter/charger has been removed from the system.

I also have a pair of 140mm quiet Noctua fans that blow air in from the inside of the trailer and out a vent on the other side. I often run my inverter to power shift load from my house's 10 circuit generator transfer switch. I wanted the inverter to get a supply of air to keep it from overheating under load. The fans are quiet enough that I can sleep on the bed above the storage area and not hear them. Before I put in the vent I would have to leave the access doors open on both sides to help cool the inverter.

I use the inverter to power anything in the trailer, just not all at the same time. I run my air conditioner off the inverter/batteries/solar without using a generator as long as the sun is shining. The inverter can surge to 6600 watts to handle the compressor startup without issue.