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WillThrill View Drop Down
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Posts: 298 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Inverter installation???
    Posted: 13 Nov 2017 at 4:23pm
Originally posted by Pod People

I don’t necessarily want a 750watt inverter, but haven’t found one that is smaller except a cigarette lighter style that was 20-25 watts. We want to recharge cell phones, ipads, computers and such. I think we need 50-100 watts or so.

Is there a reliable unit that is smaller?
Thanks
Vann

Cell phones, tablets, and any other USB powered devices can be powered with a little 12 volt USB charger plugged into a 12 volt socket.  These are very easy to wire up directly into your converter.  The wattage used by such chargers is negligible.

Laptop computers can draw 100 watts or more, but you may have to purchase a special cord for your computer, if one is available, to run it straight from a 12 volt socket.  I just plug a small 150 watt inverter (I like the PowerCup inverter available on Amazon, but any will work) into the 12 volt socket, then plug my computer's normal cord into the inverter.

I can't say enough good things about having 12 volt sockets inside your Pod.  You can plug a wide variety of lights into them, use any car charger, a small (150 watt or smaller) inverter, a voltmeter to help you keep track of how much power is left in your batteries, etc.  It's unfortunate that FR doesn't install these as standard equipment in the Pods, but it's an easy task to install them.  I'd say you want at least two, and it's a good idea to also have a 3 or 4 way splitter that can be plugged into one of your sockets and give you even more.
"Not all those who wander are lost." Tolkien

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TheBum View Drop Down
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Posts: 1407 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Nov 2017 at 11:14am
I put in a 400W inverter, which is still overkill for what we need. I was actually looking for a 300W but didn't find one I liked.

Here's the one I installed:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EUF1XWU/
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JandL View Drop Down
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Posts: 364 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 Nov 2017 at 9:54am
You would be better off to get a plug in Dual-Port USB Car Charger. I have 2 Cigarette Lighter Power Plug Sockets installed in my trailer so when I need to charge the phones I plug in the USB chargers. It's a lot more efficient and uses less power from the battery.

Here is the one I got from Amazon
Sea Dog 426053-1 12V Power Socket
JandL
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Pod People View Drop Down
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Posts: 1078 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 Nov 2017 at 8:57am
I don’t necessarily want a 750watt inverter, but haven’t found one that is smaller except a cigarette lighter style that was 20-25 watts. We want to recharge cell phones, ipads, computers and such. I think we need 50-100 watts or so.

Is there a reliable unit that is smaller?
Thanks
Vann

Vann & Laura 2015 RPod 179
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GlueGuy View Drop Down
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Posts: 2654 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Nov 2017 at 6:14pm
Originally posted by TheBum

Why such a large inverter? 750W requires more than 62.5 DC amps by the time you include losses in the inversion process, which means your battery won't last very long if you're drawing maximum current. IMO, you'd be better off with a 1000W generator.
My thoughts exactly. To hook up that size of inverter, would require 4 AWG wire on the 12V side. The other question would be how many minutes your battery would last with that kind of draw.
bp
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TheBum View Drop Down
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Posts: 1407 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Nov 2017 at 10:11am
Why such a large inverter? 750W requires more than 62.5 DC amps by the time you include losses in the inversion process, which means your battery won't last very long if you're drawing maximum current. IMO, you'd be better off with a 1000W generator.
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Pod People View Drop Down
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Posts: 1078 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Nov 2017 at 8:54pm
Thank you!!
That is exactly the specific information I was looking for
Vann

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JandL View Drop Down
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Posts: 364 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Nov 2017 at 8:08pm
12 volt inverters require approximately one (1) amp of DC input for each 10 watts of AC output.The closer the inverter is to the battery the better. A starting point for a 750 watt inverter that is less than 3 feet from the battery use a 6 gauge, 3 to 6 feet from battery use a 4 gauge and 6 to 10 feet away use 2 gauge. The bigger the gauge you can fit in the space you have the better, you can't go wrong by using the 2 gauge, even it's a short run. Don't forget to install an inline fuse in the cable to the battery. A 750 watt inverter is going to output about 6 amps so the 12 gauge wire for the outlet is more than enough .
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Pod People View Drop Down
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Posts: 1078 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Nov 2017 at 7:11pm
we are considering installing a 750watt inverter in our 179. I know that the inverter should be located as  close as possible to the batteries. Our batteries are located at the bed end, so I can easily locate the inverter in the storage area under the bed. However, that means that the electrical receptacles  that would be powered by the inverter would have to be placed about 5-6 feet from the inverter. 

I can locate either the inverter and the receptacle in several places. I can move the inverter further from the batteries and make it closer to the receptacles. I can also move the inverter closer to the batteries and further from the recptacle.

My question is this:
Is it better(less voltage drop in the wiring)to have the 8 guage 12volt input wiring from the batteries to the inverter longer or have the 12guage 110 ac wiring going from the inverter to the receptacles longer?

Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance
Vann

Vann & Laura 2015 RPod 179
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