Inverter - Where did you mount yours?

[kuleinc]

What would one buy to charge the batteries and run 12 volt things off of the 110 plug when plugged in, if one already has an inverter, that I don't think does such things? Or do all inverters charge the batteries?
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http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=496946 1987 VW Vanagon Westfalia with 1.8T

[msinabottle]

I think it would be very inefficient to plug into an inverter to charge a battery.

You'd want a special-purpose battery charger for whatever batteries you wanted to charge, for shore power, and you wouldn't use the inverter at all. You can charge things such as cell phones and even computer batteries off a DC socket while you're driving, if you have the right adapters.

Best!
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'Winston,' '84 1.9 WBX Westy
Vanagon Poet Laureate: "I have suffered in
many ways, but never, never, never in silence."

[derekdrew]

Many inverters have very high quality and efficient battery chargers built into them. When my inverter senses shore power (110V at the plug on the side of the van) it immeidately throws an internal switch so that the devices inside the van begin to use this shore power instead of inverted battery power, without any interruption. The inverter also kicks into battery charger mode and begins charging the batteries at that time. Because it has a 3 stage charger, the first stage really stuffs the amps into the batteries to get them up quickly, but then drops down to the two subsequent stages to properly charge them without cooking them. The inverter even has a temperature monitor that you affix to the battery so it can accurately determine how much charge to give at any given time.

[Mundopacheco]

Derek, that was like a big tease and I'm biting.....what inverter do you speak of?

[derekdrew]

Look at page 3 of this thread (back one page) to see a picture of it. Here is the manual (you might have to repair the URL by copying and pasting it through to the PDF) : http://www.xantrex.com/documents/Inverter-Chargers/PROsine-2/PROsine_2.0_User's_Manual(445-0089-01-01_rev-C).pdf

You can set the charge algorythum to AGM, Lead Acid, or even your own custom program. The inverter also outputs 30 amps of pure sine wave current, a load's dream source of power. Of course, if you really throw 30 amps at it, you'd be lucky to get 30 minutes off your battery before it dies (depending on your battery bank configuration and amp hours). But this just communicates the idea that no matter what you want an inverter to do, this one can do it. There was an interesting post today about a method to stuff a gigantic supply under the vehicle here though: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1313994 I won't be doing exactly that, but I think they have an elegant thing there. The one downside I could see to this inverter is that it is so fancy internally that it is a complex system, and you can guess what that means.... some owners report failures of it in use on boats and complain about this. That's one reason I used 6/0 sized wire (250MCM) to reduce the strain on the unit when under full load, something the manual is adament about. In the way I mounted it, heat output from the unit goes up through the grate behind the sink, so it has its own ventilation system. But that's a two way street because it means that some extra shielding might be needed to keep dishwash water from going down the back of the cabinet through the ventilation grates and into the inverter. If it wasn't so small relative to its power, I would say it is totally overkill for a camper like ours. But it is not that expensive in terms of space for what it provides.

-- Derek Drew

[axf7228]

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1982 Vanagon Westfalia
Subaru ej25 conversion into aircooled

[Steve in Sunnyvale]

We use a rice cooker when camping:

... so I installed a small (400W) inverter, sufficient for this 3-cup model. Since the Winnie Camper's battery is in the back and largely inaccessible when camping, I wired the socket in the galley:

The inverter didn't come with a remote switch, so I took it apart and installed a Molex socket so I could remotely mount both the switch and status light:

The remote switch closes a small relay I mounted inside the inverter, because I was worried that extending the switch 15 feet would generate radio interference from the switching frequencies. The switch and light connect using 4-conductor, 24-gauge cable I had lying around. The power comes over a 15-foot 16-gauge extension cord, which has the end cut off and connected to the panel-mount socket that I found at a surplus electronics store.

Both cables run in 1/2" plastic to match the rest of the wiring in the camper. In order to get the plastic jacket from the right the the left side, I drilled 3/4" holes down from the battery box and from behind the fuse panel in the back (I didn't take pictures).
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2001 Eurovan Camper

[shagginwagon83]

What do you guys think about installing in this location? Having a remote toggle and led, tapped into one of the stock outlets?

[jimf909]

It's a fine location. But do you really need an inverter? I've had a 400 watt inverter in my van for 20 years and can count on one or two hands the number of times that I've actually used it (mainly for charging camera batteries as a convenience). You, however, may actually have a need for an inverter. BTW, mine is mounted behind the driver's seat.

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- Jim

[panel]

Any ideas where to buy a remote socket like in the post above? Would prefer a round one then cutting a hole is easier
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My '65-Subaru EJ20 Turbo conversion

[tristessa]

Square, snap-in type:
https://vetco.net/products/panel-mount-snap-in-ac-...gIYy_D_BwE
Round, requires mounting screws:
https://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=409

[panel]

^^ thx
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My '65-Subaru EJ20 Turbo conversion

[panel]

What I'm looking to do is have a receptacle up front. Is it better to:

A) Mount the inverter at the back closer to the battery and run the AC/120v up front

or

B) Mount the inverter up front and run the DC/12v from the battery (near the back under seat) to the front ?
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My '65-Subaru EJ20 Turbo conversion

[davevickery]

Here is where I mounted mine. It's convenient and mostly out of the way. It doesn't get used too much, mostly to charge my laptop. Behind the front seat is a good location but I added a 12V power port to the right side of stove panel and can charge anything with a USB cable there.

This is a cheapo SNAN 300 Watt/400 Peak but the reviews were good and I like it. It has 2 always on USBs that don't draw any power when not in use (no led light for them). It has a cooling fan that hardly ever comes on and is quiet when it does. 300 Watts is enough to charge my laptop and charge up my dewallt power packs for a battery powered saw that I sometimes bring.

[tencentlife]

[panel]

tencentlife........I'm going to read that over and over so it sinks in.......much appreciated!
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My '65-Subaru EJ20 Turbo conversion