Inverter

We just ordered a 14 ERA70a and want to put a 1000-1500 watt inverter in for hair dryers, coffee, electric mattress pads. Has anyone put a 1000 watt or larger inverter in their ERA?

My cousin had one installed in her Era, however, she had it professionally done.

You might get more responses if you post this in the RV section.

Trying to run 1000-1500 watts off a small battery bank is going to be tough! 1500 watts is more than 125 amps at 12 volts. A typical Sprinter sized battery bank is ~200 ah. Trying to deliver that simply from the battery will most likely send the inverter into LVD, as the battery can't deliver that current for long.

There are some very good 12 vdc mattress pads out there that are much more efficient than using 12 volts, inverting it to 120 with 20% loss, probably reduce it down again with a power supply. Avoid all the inefficient "middle men" and go 12 vdc.

For coffee, consider a French press, or a pour over cone, heated on the stove top. 1200 watt coffee maker will draw ~250 WH, or about 10% of your battery in 20 minutes, a big draw. (see above).

As for hair drier, all I can say is, use nature or run the genny for the same reasons.

Good luck,

Icarus

It can be nice to have a larger inverter just for items that have a high startup demand (like motors), but as icarus stated, it's a lot of draw on the batteries.

I'm currently running a 4 battery bank with a Xantrex 1000 watt pure sine inverter and I'm very pleased with it - am using it with some solar panels at home as a test bed and backup power when the grid goes down, with the plan of eventually transferring the whole system into an RV. I'll expect to have 4-500 watts of PV charging the battery bank, and have no need for a generator at all. With a gas stove / heater and LED lighting, this should easily handle all of the electrical needs we'll have (stereo, flatscreen entertainment system, microwave, blender, toaster, electric blanket, lighting, fans, computer and wireless, charging gadgets, etc) - but not AC.

I wouldn't consider running a large inverter on any less than my 4 'golf cart' battery bank - 4 6 volt batteries wired up as a single 12v bank.

You'd also want to locate the inverter right next to the batteries, I have 1/0 cable feeding the inverter - this is fat, heavy, expensive wire!

I have a Magnum MSS1012 1000 watt inverter/charger transfer switch with the ME-RC remote control and ME-BMK battery monitor kit. Been very pleased with the purchase. I am able to run a 600 watt microwave (700 would not work) and have a Dometic 80 liter 12v/120v refrigerator. The battery is a Lifeline 8D 255 amp-hr. The solar panel has 205 watts and is controlled by a Morningstar Sunsaver MPPT 15 amp controller. The house 12 volt system is completely separate from the Sprinter electrical system. House system uses two wires to every load and is not grounded to the chassis. I just changed the solar panel from a 135 watt panel to the 205 watt panel. With the 135 watt panel I could easily go for more than a week traveling in sunny weather and never deplete the battery lower than 86% SOC with just the solar panel charging. I do not have TV or audio.
The system has preformed very well and when I build my next conversion I will select the same items. The only change will be the "vehicle" pure sine inverter that I use as a backup source of 120 volts while driving for charging if necessary. Seldom required. I also use the "vehicle" inverter to electrically heat 5 gallons of water for the shower. The change will be to increase the size of the "vehicle" inverter from 600 watts to 1000 watts. That way I can increase the charge rate from 30 amps to 50 amps, heat the shower water in 40 minutes instead of 1 hour and install a 750 watt electric heater in the back of the van to use while traveling.
I use a 12 volt heating pad for winter bed heating. The refrigerator runs less when inside of van is cold and that less running offsets the power used by the heating pad. Use the OEM Espar diesel heater before going to bed and when I get up.

This seems to be the right thread...

I plan to build an INEXPENSIVE. portable battery pack for our van and I am hoping someone can suggest an reasonably priced but decent inverter.

While driving in our 144 low roof I intend to use an inverter (wired direct to the main battery and mounted on the driver's seat box) to run a Battery Tender charging a Sears Diehard Platinum Marine group 31 (appears to be an Odyssey based on my research). I also need to run a 9 in house fan. At the same time, I will be running a Dometic CF 50 portable fridge from the aux power supply outlet.

Once stopped, Dometic will be unplugged from the aux power and the battery will supply the power for the Dometic for 12 hours, no more. The fan will not be run.

I know charging a battery from an inverter while driving is not efficient but we are not traveling far enough, often enough to justify the cost of installing an aux battery system. Making it portable allows me to justify the cost as part of our 72 hr emergency kit.

The battery pack may see my Mac on rare occasions so I am thinking pure sine wave.

I would also like to have the possibility of adding a controller and a portable solar panel somewhere down the road.

Essentially I guess I am trying to build my own Goal Zero system but I want to start with a bigger battery and spend a lot less.

I am handy enough but I am not an electrician. I am basically cobbling together components that I am familiar with from my motorcycle days.

Any suggestions? (Be gentle!)

First step is to buy a "kill-a-watt" meter. Available at HF for about $30.00. Plug each item you want to run into meter in your house to determine the power usage. With that information you can determine the size inverter required and the size of the battery. I would size the inverter at about double the calculation and probably the same for the battery. You can only use half of the battery amp-hrs without shortening the batteries life.
The solar panel and controller can be added at anytime. Panel wires to controller and controller is wired directly to the battery posts.
You could also consider a inverter/charger instead of two separate boxes.

Just the math I was looking for! Thanks! I ran the kill-a-watt last year on the Dometic. I'd need to find my spreadsheet to confirm the exact numbers but I confirmed the group 31 would be enough to do the job for our infrequent overnights and only reach about 50% dod. I plan to check the fan this weekend. Any recommendations of quality brands?

If you want a 12 volt roof fan, then I would get a Maxxair for two reasons. It has two support arms so can be open while you drive and it is designed so it can be open in the rain. I just leave my Maxxair open all the time and almost never power it. I do have a vent hole in the floor to get airflow. I do close it when sleeping in cold weather.

When you install the inverter be sure you include the relay that prevents the inverter from running if engine is not running. The 12 volt fan could also run from that source of 12 volt power. Turn inverter off if you do not need 120 volt power to conserve energy.

No roof fan for now, thinking about the 4x4 so no plans to cut into the shell. Van is insulated so we just need to circulate the a/c. We have tried some 12v fans but they are all poorly made and tend to fall apart (although I expect the roof mounts are much better). I found a simple all metal 9 inch fan that seems to work quite well. Sticker says .5A. If remember the Dometic hit 1-1.5 A max.

Graphite Dave said:

If you want a 12 volt roof fan, then I would get a Maxxair for two reasons. It has two support arms so can be open while you drive and it is designed so it can be open in the rain. I just leave my Maxxair open all the time and almost never power it. I do have a vent hole in the floor to get airflow. I do close it when sleeping in cold weather.

When you install the inverter be sure you include the relay that prevents the inverter from running if engine is not running. The 12 volt fan could also run from that source of 12 volt power. Turn inverter off if you do not need 120 volt power to conserve energy.

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Sorry Dave, I just realized I asked my question poorly. I meant to ask if you have any brand recommendations for inverters. Sorry for the confusion!

No recommendation on inverter. My only experience is with the 1000 watt Magnum which is very good.
For the fan you might consider a 12 volt radiator fan instead of a 120 volt fan. That way you do not have to have the inverter on to run the fan. Save maybe 15% due to inverter losses. I bought a 12 volt Derale Performance 7" fan (www.derale.com) from etrailer.com to circulate air in my van. 4.8 amps DC draw and is not silent. 400 cfm. The fan you were looking at draws 5 amps DC or around 6 amps after inverter loss.

Radiator fan...smart!