using hook up thru an inverter?

happy campers

Guest
in our camper, we've made a battery bank with 2 x 270AH batteries, powered by solar panels, so that they're constantly charged, and then i run 5000W/10,000Watt inverter off them

what i want to know is....you know the hook up cable that you would normally plug into the 240 supply on a site so you can power lights, tv etc...can i plug that into the inverter, as i have the 3-pin adaptor that goes with it, or will it blow fuses? and is it safe to do it like that?

cant really describe it very well, but i know what i mean! instead of putting the hook up cable into the camp sites 240 supply, will it still work if i plug it into the inverter,then the other end into the camper socket, and then use it as if it was plugged in on-site?

thanks :)
 
Theoretically, it would probably work - but I'm interested to know why would you want to do this? :confused:
 
happy campers said:
in our camper, we've made a battery bank with 2 x 270AH batteries, powered by solar panels, so that they're constantly charged, and then i run 5000W/10,000Watt inverter off them

what i want to know is....you know the hook up cable that you would normally plug into the 240 supply on a site so you can power lights, tv etc...can i plug that into the inverter, as i have the 3-pin adaptor that goes with it, or will it blow fuses? and is it safe to do it like that?

cant really describe it very well, but i know what i mean! instead of putting the hook up cable into the camp sites 240 supply, will it still work if i plug it into the inverter,then the other end into the camper socket, and then use it as if it was plugged in on-site?

thanks :)
Click to expand...

They seem to be power full inverters enough to run a house or two Do you mean 500w instead of 5,000w (5 Kilowatt) or 1000w (1 Kilowatt) instead of 10,000w (10 Kilowatt).

Why not just connect the inverters into your 240v circuit through a switch instead.

John
 
it should work as said but why not just run an extension lead off the inverter to the items apliances you want to power. the inverter as fuses . personally i think its starting to get more complicated .keep it simple . the extension lead is inside at all times and you can see and monitor its welfare. you probably have a couple or three 3 pin outlets from the inverter . why run a lead outside to come in . i keep my inverter inside then if you get low on power you hear it scream out. then you turn it off.becare full having it on a switch in line to the 240v ,i have known people hook up gennies or ehu and blow up the inverter. cheers alan.
 
Is it a case of great minds think alike ... or fools seldom differ ...??

Hello happy campers,

I too suddenly had the same brainwave this morning of plugging our 240v 3 pin lead into orifice in side of motorhome, then running it round through the window to plug into our inverter. We also have 2 leisure battereis hooked up to a large solar panel on the roof.

We only ever wild camp and our problem is the *$*&*£**?**@* fridge, which is so temperamental when on gas that it doesn't work 99% of the time. 12v is a good as useless too. Being a 3 way fridge, it doesn't have ana actual plug on it to plug into the invertor, hence the circuitous route!

My hubby says he's heard of revolving credit "paying off your Visa with your Mastercard", but never of revolving power!!!!!

I think we are going to have an experimentation ... and will post result ... make sure you post yours too if you have a go!!!

Tracey (one of the Ts in the Teapackets)
:cool:

It's only the fridge we were thinking of running off 240v
 
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i run my 240v household fridge all the time when away . except for when its very cloudy and the inverter sqeals. when at home i run a lead into the house and power my house fridge ,sometimes the freezer as well. but why run a lead outside .cantyou have a plug on the fridge ,i used to have one on my 3 way. but then i supose i built it that way .you may have just got what you were given so to speak, cheers alan.
dont like things outside too much when wild camping no stealth then.
 
this was one of hubby's ideas :rolleyes: i think its because we have 240v lights inside as well as 12v, and it was also to try and do away with using extension cables

and yes i was right....it IS a 5,000/10,000 watt inverter :)
 
happy campers said:
this was one of hubby's ideas :rolleyes: i think its because we have 240v lights inside as well as 12v, and it was also to try and do away with using extension cables

and yes i was right....it IS a 5,000/10,000 watt inverter :)
Click to expand...

Well yes it will work but bear in mind that the Plug, cable and fuse are only rated at 16amp x 240 volt = 3840 watt (3.8Kw). This was why I queried the size of the inverters.

I have 2 x 110ah batteries plus an 85ah battery making 300ah and I run a 1600w inverter which is wired into a set of 240v sockets in the van. I fitted cream sockets to this system and changed the original German sockets for white ones that run directly from the hookup. When on hookup I can run both circuits but only use the cream ones while off hookup. My van is tripped at 10amps from the hookup. The inverter delivers about 6 amps.

A normal house maximum draw on a cooker circuit is 40 amp.
5kw is 20 amps and 10kw is 40 amps at 240v

A domestic Kettle draws about 2.2kw so 5kw or 10kw seems a bit of overkill.

Remember the inverter draws a current from your batteries just to work before you get any output, and will continue to do so even if you are not drawing any power off it.

John
 
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I have a quality 1000 watt Victron pure sign wave inverter hardwired into our toad car,engine running at idle and plugged in to hookup om side of mh provides power for everything including charging mh batterys, ideal for power generation when the charicteristic noise of a generater (i have a Honda 2.0i) might be noticed when wildcamping
 
A 5000W inverter running at full power will draw about 450AMPS out of the batteries.

Apart from the fact that even two of the largest 12V batteries available will be dead flat in well under an hour, the very high current will permanently damage the batteries internally.

Then there is the problem of using heavy enough current and protecting the cable against faults.

Bigger in an inverter is rarely better and most motorhomes just don't need such big inverters. Normal microwaves require a 1500W inverter and any appliance much bigger than this is rarely practical.

As for powering 3 way fridges (or even a domestic compressor fridge) from an inverter - it is rarely the most efficient method. Three ways need a certain amount of heat to operate and that usually means something like a 150 Watt element running off 240V. Including inverter losses, results in a current draw of at least 15 Amps. Doesn't sound like much but to keep it running on a normal fridge duty cycle will require a lot of solar panels and large batteries.
 
Just a thought - would the van's charging system kick in, as there is effectively a "mains supply" plugged into the external socket, and also charge the batteries (at same time as being drained by the inverter feeding the "mains supply"!?)?
:confused::confused:
 
bevdrew said:
Just a thought - would the van's charging system kick in, as there is effectively a "mains supply" plugged into the external socket, and also charge the batteries (at same time as being drained by the inverter feeding the "mains supply"!?)?
:confused::confused:
Click to expand...

Yes it will unless it is isolated. There is no benefit in this happening as the power used to create the charge will be greater than the power provided by the charger.

John
 
thanks guys...just thought it was worth asking :) the thanks button seems to have vanished by the way!
 
hi all i to have an inverter in my van, and i found a wiring diagram to run the mains power from hook up via a relay to change the supply from mains to inverter, so what happens the when on mains power the relay kicks in to sends the power through to the rcd/ sockets etc, then when the mains is unplugged the relay brings in the inverter to power rcd / sockets etc, so either way i have 240v in the van.
 
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