Having a generator is nice, but there are occasions that it doesn’t make sense to run it. i.e. When we travel down the road and need to plug in a cell phone or lap top to re-charge the battery.
I decided to install a small inverter for these situations when it just wasn’t worth it to crank up the genny.
These small inverters are inexpensive and can supply 110 volts (unfiltered square wave) to many small appliances and even tools like a drill or small compressor.
DESCRIPTION
The inverter is connected to the truck battery through a relay and a 30 amp fuse. The relay is controlled by a switch on the instrument panel labeled “INVERTER”
The output of the inverter goes to a standard 110 volt wall outlet mounted in the forward TV cabinet that’s located on the doghouse (see photo). The outlet is color coded gray and is labeled “Inverter – 400 watts max”
PHOTO
1) I put the inverter behind the panel where the old TV was.
2) I installed two outlets into the TV cover panel, a standard 110 outlet that is shore power (The outlet simply plugs into the TV outlet) and a Grey colored outlet that gets its power from the inverter.
3) Diagram of how inverter is wired.
Can you explain why the need for the relay ? I am electronically challenged ! Thanks, Pat.
The relay allows me to completely remove power from the inverter.
Most inverters will have a small current drain even when they are turned off. These are called “Phantom Loads”
Over a period of several weeks, this small drain cold run a battery dead.