mena661
Southern California
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BFL13 wrote:due to the 70ft of #6. That still cracks me up thinking that somewhere some electrician thought that was ok to do.
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vcallaway
On the road.
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Joined: 09/06/2010
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I've done inverter installs in a bunch of semi-trucks, a couple of RV's and about a dozen off-grid locations.
This is a brain spew of things I've found.
MSW works fine for most modern electronics.
Power bricks like cell phone chargers and inductive loads like refrigerators and microwaves get really hot on MSW. A lot of wasted battery power goes up in heat.
Always go one size wire larger than you think you will need.
Many cheap inverters will kick off with over voltage when using multi-stage chargers. Check the ratings before you buy.
Of the cheap inverters, Vector (black & decker) has the best warranty. Had one die due to operator error, just exchanged it at a service center.
The worst is AIMS Power. Had several failures, hard to get anyone of the phone for repairs. Have one unit we gave up on getting repaired.
Xantrex always seems to be in transition. I have a couple of the ProwattSW inverters in use. We bought them on sale at Camping World and purchased extended warranties. Only way I would trust them to get fixed. So far no failures. When on sale they are the best bang for the buck.
1989 Honey Maxum
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Learjet
Louisiana
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This is from someone who had to replace the power supply board in a 26 LCD TV after using a MSW inverter, I now run a 300w Samlex from Best Converters. I have 50 amp Anderson connectors on my 2 GC 6 volts on my trailer, I can quick charge the batteries with them or plug in my inverter. I have the inverter in a weather proof box, plug it in and I plug the whole trailer in with all the breakers off except the main and the receptacles I want to use. If I need to run the generator, I just unplug and plug into the generator. This process works great for my few times of dry camping per year.
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mikestock
Vestavia Hills, AL, USA
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Joined: 12/01/2002
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I like the Xantrex PSW 600W id ea. I have a 650W Xantrex that is about 7 years old. I power my entire fifth wheel with it. That is to say, I have all outlets and lights available. Of course that means no ac or microwave, but it is great for two tv's and DirecTV receivers and a light or two. I have to kill the breaker for my converter/charger and switch the refrigerator to gas only. All of my ac lights are fluorescent so they don't draw much. I have four Trojan golf cart batteries which allow me to go for quite a while without my generator.
I personally prefer the flexibility this gives me that I wouldn't have with 300w. I have considered going to a bigger PSW but just to run the microwave. I don't think it would be any better and would decrease efficiency.
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Grub
Pierre
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Quote:
Because most of those 12V only TV's are cheap junk. I wanted a well made TV.
I've had one for 2yrs now and I just bought another, no issue and it came with a 2yr extended warranty. To each their own!
Any day enjoying the great outdoors beats any day enjoying your 8x8 office cube!
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BFL13
Victoria, BC
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Joined: 02/15/2006
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mena661 wrote:BFL13 wrote:due to the 70ft of #6. That still cracks me up thinking that somewhere some electrician thought that was ok to do.
OTOH, every time I look at rewiring the converter-battery run, it turns out not to be worth it. I would get little improvement if any in running things when on battery, which all work ok now with that 70ft, and the 7355 converter isn't much for charging anyway.
I have Salvo mOhmed the situation to death and find it very frustrating that my great schemes to improve the wiring actually wouldn't do any good in terms of AH saved or any other benefit.
So the guys who did this trailer weren't entirely stupid, but they did ignore any idea of battery charging off-grid using the converter and a generator. Not that any other trailer makers seem to care about that either. 
2003 Chev 2500HD ExtCab, LB, 2WD, 6.0/4.10 Gas
2003 Komfort 26FS 5er (28.5 Ft-RK-10,000lb GVWR)
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bill h
coastal reconquista
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RJsfishin wrote:There is only one good reason to have a PSW, and thats for a Microwave.
A number of other devices will fail to operate or slowly destroy themselves on a MSW inverter. Unfortunately, some of us have learned this the hard way, as there is no other way to learn this for sure.
NOTE: Any incorrect spelling is intentional to prevent those annoying popups.
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Snowman9000
IL
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Joined: 01/07/2009
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colliehauler wrote:I was thinking of a small trailer and boondocking. I like the new LED/LCD tv's around 22" with DVD. At night I do not want to run the generator. Space is a issue, the TT I'm looking at has almost none. I could try the cheep 12 volt tv/dvd and if I don't like it I'm not out much. I will look at the Morning star (never heard of them) with a LCD/LED/DVD player as well. Thanks for those that took the time to reply.
Unless the situation has changed in the past year, the 120v LED-lit LCD on an inverter will consume fewer watts than a 12v TV does. It seems the 12v units are not very efficient.
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SCVJeff
Santa Clarita, CA.
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bill h wrote:RJsfishin wrote:There is only one good reason to have a PSW, and thats for a Microwave.
A number of other devices will fail to operate or slowly destroy themselves on a MSW inverter. Unfortunately, some of us have learned this the hard way, as there is no other way to learn this for sure. Ditto
I've lost several appliances to my now ex-MSW inverter. With the exception of purely resistive devices, nothing likes MSW inverters. They tolerate it.. The question is always how well?
Jeff - WA6EQU
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mena661
Southern California
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Joined: 03/21/2009
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Snowman9000 wrote:
Unless the situation has changed in the past year, the 120v LED-lit LCD on an inverter will consume fewer watts than a 12v TV does. It seems the 12v units are not very efficient. Some of the LCD TV's have an external 120V to 12V brick. Some here use those TV's with a DC voltage brick. You can find them on ebay. I just run mine through the inverter.
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