Thread: Inverters
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Old 02-15-2009, 07:01 PM   #10
Bob E
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Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: OKC, Ok.
Posts: 109
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As Dr Fun mentioned, "Different strokes for different folks,"
I kinda liked the idea of being as versatile as possible. We occasionally go to Northern Minnesquito in the summer and Yuma in the winter, with a lot of dry camping in route & when we get there.
Good insulation is a must (in keeping the electrical load to a minimum).
I liked having a choice of power options, so,...
I opted for a 10K Onan diesel for primary power, 400 watts of solar, and a 3600 Trace inverter/smart charger. My house bank consists of (8) 6V golf cart batteries, the chassis runs on 4 group 31's.
I also carry a Yamaha 2000 inverter/generator (for cloudy days when I need to charge batteries, etc,...) I try not to run the house batts under 11 to 11.5 volts and don't let them sit any length of time in a discharged state. It seems they last for quite a while if I take care of them.
I also set up an inter-connect of sorts, so I can charge both sets of batts from shore or gen power and charge the house batts from the truck alternator. This is manually controlled so as not to overload the alternator.
I have a high efficiency (110V) house refrigerator, convection-microwave, coffee maker, mostly LED lighting, (2) 13.5 BTU AC's, etc,... The inverter will run everything except the AC's (actually, it will run 1 AC for an hour or 2) and I can dry camp, when the weather is reasonable, almost indefinately.
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