Power Inverter

[JDK_MN]

I was just given a new in box Vector Power Force 1000 power inverter from a friend who decided not to use it. I want to put it in my 1980 Ericson 30+.
Question 1. Should I only connect it to one battery? I don't want to hook it up to both and then find I have run both down.
Question 2. Do people just attach a plug in to the end that connects to the inverter, no permanent connections?
Question 3. Is there anything I need to be careful of? I want to add one outlet near the nav station and one in the galley area for a microwave or small coffee pot.

Jon
-Impetuous-

 

[Loren Beach]

DC to AC...

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/recalls/inverter.html

I went looking for information on the 'net and found this recall information... might be worth checking out.

I would assign it to a separate circuit breaker on the main DC panel. I have a small inverter with a 12 volt plug-in that I use for the shaver, iBook, radio charger, etc. It plugs into a 12 DC outlet with a dedicated circuit breaker and is switched off most of the time. It's worth noting that we have a separate starting/emergency battery in case we run the main/house bank down too far.

It sounds like you are going further into this with hard-wired AC outlets. Will these be separate from your shore power AC outlets? These installations can be dangerous to both the unsuspecting crewperson as well as to the life of the battery... Just something to keep in mind. [It's possible to get a lethal shock even when not on shore power.]

Best,
Loren
Olson 34 Fresh Air

 

[valentor]

Jon;

You should only connect it to your 'House' battery. But...

A 1000 Watt inverter is going to draw more than 80 Amps from your 12 Volt battery. Even a huge fully charged 105 AH battery will only run a microwave for less than 30 minutes before the battery needs a full recharge.

For wiring, you will need to connect it to your battery system through a suitable breaker for at least #6 (or bigger) wire, depending on the length. You can find a wiring chart in the West Marine or Baot US catalogs.

Be certain to buy a low power microwave. The smallest microwaves are about 700 Watts, which will use virtually the entire output of your inverter. There is a significant efficiency drop in the inversion.

You can wire 120 V outlets, but be certain that they are ground fault interrupt outlets and that the wires you use to connect them are well insulated and protected by a 15 Amp breaker (assuming #14 wires).

AC pwer can be very deadly - even in low current - be very careful to ensure that you cannot accidentally touch any connections while you are grounded.

Finally, you might want to consider an AC source-select switch which allows you to choose between shore power or the inverter to power your outlets. Running the microwave will drain the batteries in short order - you'll want to run the engine to run the microwave. And when you are hooked up, you'll want to use shore power to run your AC devices.

I installed such a system in my E-34 and it really works great, but like I said, we run the engine when we run the microwave while away from the dock.


Regards;


Steve