Harbor Freight 2000 WATT Power Inverter????

SusieQ did you mean the one you have from Advanced Auto was twice that much money or half that price? Im all about stock piling parts that I will use in the future for the camper so I thought that I would buy this one and save it for when the time comes to figure out the wiring.

Thanks SusieQ! I think Im going to get myself a christmas present!

Thanks for the input Vikx, what brand/type of inverter do you run and do you have a battery charging suggestion to go along with a specific size inverter? Just trying to learn about electronics in these trailers and figure out what I need to have before I get to that stage!

Vikx that is a perfect set up and what I want to do with my Shasta, except I'll add a quick connect for my solar panels.

I too, get three days off of a deep cycle but my present trailer is not wired for 12v thus the inverter. That is running a fan, sometimes TV, laptops, a string of LED lights outside and charging my phone.

My trailer and main tow vehicle is set up with a flat four pin connection, not a seven so I have 80w solar panels that I charge the battery with during the day when I have sun. With continuous sun, it will keep the battery charged. If the battery gets depleted (bad thing to do, and I've done it) the solar panels will not completely charge it. I carry a small charger for charging when I'm not boon docking.

My deep cycle battery (ok, I stole it from my husband's boat), has an awesome case which has two 12v plugs. I have used the 250 watt inverter from my car, plugged it into the battery case and powered all of the above when I was boondocked. I had blownd up a brand new 1500w inverter and had to come up with something else. It worked just fine. So for low voltage stuff, 2000w is overkill.

For my fridge, I have a separate gel cell battery and I kept them both in my tow vehicle for use while I was on the road. I plan on a battery bank for my Shasta ($$ ching, ching) but I will use gel cells and put them in the trailer rather than on the tongue.

And I haven't known anyone yet with any kind of electric heater that doesn't drain a battery in a very short period of time, so you better have a really big bank and bank roll for that!!!

I do know people with 12v ARB refrigerators and they are low voltage and work great but pricey:
www.amazon.com/ARB-10800352-Fridge-Freezer-Quart/dp/B004P9C032/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1387346778&sr=8-1&keywords=arb+fridge+freezer

Sorry if this is posted somewhere else, but I ran across this site about banking batteries a couple of years ago and it is great simple info:

www.batterystuff.com/kb/articles/battery-articles/battery-bank-tutorial.html

"6 volt golf cart batteries work well but are expensive."

I got two, 230ah, 6-volt golf cart batteries at Sam's Club for $220. I love 'em. While one 75ah AGM Group 24 battery is $142, has a third of the capacity of mine, and it's not deep cycle, it's a starting battery. If a battery is rated in cold cranking amps it ain't deep cycle, and won't last like it should in a camper, not in regular use at least. Might be fine if you only camp twice a year and don't discharge it deeply, but starting batteries are just not made for repeated deep discharges.

The thing you have to watch with inverters is that they need 9 amps DC out of your battery to make one amp of AC. So one 60-watt bulb that takes half an amp AC (60w/120v=.5a) takes 4.5 amps out of your battery. A 75ah group 24 "marine" battery (which is NOT a deep cycle battery, whatever the sales literature says) will reach 50% discharge (maximum recommended for long battery life) in about 7 hours running just that one light bulb. Not that you should run AC lights from an inverter when 12v LED lights save so much electricity... My 900-watt coffee maker would take 7.5 amps AC (900a/120v=7.5a), but 67.5 amps DC out of your battery! The Group 24 battery would hit 50% discharged in 33 minutes. Not good if you want to do anything besides drink coffee...

To figure out how large a battery bank you need, you must:

Take the amp usage of every appliance and light (from the data plates, if in watts divide by the voltage) and multiple each by the projected amount of time you will use each per day, to get the total amp-hours for that appliance per day. For example, if you run the above-mentioned 900-watt coffee maker for an hour per day, it would require 7.5 amp-hours AC per day.

Multiply all AC-through-inverter appliances by 9 to get the amp-hours DC they need out of your battery. Coffee maker jumps up to 67.5 ah/day @ 1 hour usage.

Add all the appliances' daily subtotals all together to get your total amp-hour needs per day.

Multiply by the maximum number of days you want to be able to go without charging, sit down in case you faint, then double it (to keep your batteries above 50% charged). That's the size battery bank you need.


Also, using too large an inverter for a small load costs you, in increased losses in the inverter. One man I respect uses a small cheap car-type inverter (300 watts or so) to run the small stuff like phone chargers and laptops, and saves the big inverter for stuff like power tools, sewing machine, coffee maker and microwave. I have a 1000-watt inverter that runs my TV/antenna, computer, shop vac, and corded drill for a weekend without any issues so far (along with a hot air furnace running 24/7 and 12v lights and boom box). I haven't bought a fridge yet, so I have no data there.

I charge with a 210-watt house solar panel (big flat-roofed '76 Shasta 2250 with 2.5-inch rafters), which keeps things charged in the summer and between winter weekends no problem (again, no fridge yet), but would not allow full-timing without another charging source. I'll probably add another panel when I can afford it (tax refund will most likely go for another panel and a new charge controller).

And as Bill mentioned, wire size, if too small or two long, will ruin every attempt you make to be energy efficient. I used 4 gauge from battery to inverter and solar charger to battery, and they are both less than six feet long.

That cooler looks pretty nice. It has a compressor, which means it's a "real" fridge and not one of those almost-useless thermoelectric coolers. It says it takes up to 2.3 amps DC. If you can afford the $700, you could run it for about 16 hours on a Group 24 battery, or about 50 hours on my golf cart batteries...

Thanks for all the input Cowcharge and Pathfinder! I have quite a ways to go before I get to the electrical part of my build but I am trying to learn and absorb as much as I can about the different electrical systems that I could install in our camper. I actually just finished welding up and painting my new wheel wells and hopefully will be installing the new floor this weekend! Once that is in then it is on to sanding the coat closet and refinishing that. I really appreciate your input with the inverter and my motto has always been since cub scouts, be prepared, and so I want to be sure that I am OVER powered rather than underpowered. I want to be sure that if my amazing wife wants to pull out the griddle and make pancakes, hashbrowns, scrambled eggs, and bacon that she has enough power to do it even 5 days into a trip! So I need to do my homework and every little bit helps!