Inverters and how you use them?

[Delboyarapaho]

Hi all. Just in the process of changing my leisure batteries to Lithium and considering whether to invest in an inverter.

We (think) we would get use out of one for the following tasks:
Charging bike batteries
Charging laptop, phones, toothbrush and shaver
The occasional use of the microwave (800W) so would intend to get a 2KW inverter

Question for you all is: Do others find other uses for the inverter (and please do say hairdryer) I haven't got any!
And also do you just have one socket in the van connected to the inverter or are all the sockets connected so you can work as if you were on hook up?

I really am in two minds, particularly regarding the microwave, as it drives the size of the inverter and I have been told it isn't easy to connect to all the sockets so if I have to have an extension lead running across the floor when we want to user the micro I don't know If it is worth it?

Grateful for information on what others use inverter for and how it is integrated into their vans please? Many thanks

 

[funflair]

All sockets and would not be without one, coffee machine, microwave, electric kettle, people will tell you that you can get 12v charger for lap tops and phones etc but it just convenient having power at wall sockets just like home, ours is a motor home not a camper van.

It was built in at the factory and is a network compensating inverter/charger, in other words if you are plugged into say 3A hook up you can still run 8A or more as the inverter will supply it from the batteries and then charge them up again at leisure.

On more than one occasion I have used ours to charge up the batteries on friends vans parked next to us.

 

[Richard n Ann]

It's great having mains available because everything uses it.
Our small one powers, vacuum charger, toothbrush charger, fan, hair clippers, TV (massive choice of cheap mains TVs )

Or you can buy and replace adapters for everything, the thing is to buy a small efficient inverter that won't use much power itself. Ours has a standby of only 0.2 amps.

I definitely wouldn't bother with a microwave.

 

[Lenny HB]

Only really use ours for charging the e-bikes, occasionally gets used for a kettle for a brew on the Chunnel or ferry port when the gas is off.
Laptops, tablets, phones, toothbrushes etc., we use 12v chargers as it is more efficient.
Can't see the point of a microwave in a Motorhome.

I wired mine with a changeover relay so all the sockets are connected to the inverter and when you plug EHU in they swap over to the mains input. Fridge & charger are connected so they only work with EHU.

 

[funflair]

Only really use ours for charging the e-bikes, occasionally gets used for a kettle for a brew on the Chunnel or ferry port when the gas is off.
Laptops, tablets, phones, toothbrushes etc., we use 12v chargers as it is more efficient.
Can't see the point of a microwave in a Motorhome.

I wired mine with a changeover relay so all the sockets are connected to the inverter and when you plug EHU in they swap over to the mains input. Fridge & charger are connected so they only work with EHU.

We use ours every day without fail.

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[Wissel]

Our's is wired to all sockets in the van and on 24/7 as we use a 240v fridge.

Our EHU only powers one socket for the 240v charger. Works for us.

We use our fridge, a few cooking gadgets, active speakers (they don't like being powered via a voltage regulator and hiss), printer, hairdryer, plus a few other bits.

 

[Lenny HB]

We use ours every day without fail.

The main use for the one at home is for warming milk for the coffee quite happy to use a saucepan in the van. We can't see the point of pod coffee makers either they make crap coffee.

 

[funflair]

The main use for the one at home is for warming milk for the coffee quite happy to use a saucepan in the van. We can't see the point of pod coffee makers either they make crap coffee.

I don't get many complaints

 

[rosalan]

Buy Pure Sine Wave inverter if you can although the cheaper sine waves will power almost everything, beware! they will destroy an electric toothbrush like mine did.

 

[funflair]

Buy Pure Sine Wave inverter if you can although the cheaper sine waves will power almost everything, beware! they will destroy an electric toothbrush like mine did.

Our old modified sine wave one wouldn't run the microwave, the table went round but heating was non existent, the coffee machine wouldn't even light up.

Wouldn't entertain anything other than pure

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[Tombola]

I have one and it switches over when on EHU so all sockets are live, then back again when unpplugged.
Though if you ony have need for one from it socket then adding a permenanet extension suitably. Even fridges now arent as bad as once thought with a decent inverter.
Sterling did a test and the difference in power consumption for a 240v fridge even after taking into account the amount used by the inverter was negligable versus a 12v compressor.

 

[two]

Don't use an inverter for any form of heating. Your battery bank capacity may be more than before but it is still very finite and there are alternative ways. I have a microwave on a boat with huge batteries but hardly ever use it. The inverter is only used to charge my laptop (no 12V alternative).
E-bike batteries may require a mains supply. Get a (pure sine wave) inverter large enough to drive two of them (assuming you may get two bikes) and charge whilst on the move.
Try to see life differently when on your travels. The change is part of the experience. I don't think that attempting to live as if at home is the way to go.

 

[TCG]

We are having two lithium's fitted next week, currently have 2000 inverter to all sockets, cant wait for the extra flexibility

 

[rosalan]

We have two electric bikes and our 1000w impure inverter has no problem charging them both at the same time. (I ordered a pure sine wave inverter but this one turned up. no problems so far except electric toothbrush being killed.

 

[Delboyarapaho]

All sockets and would not be without one, coffee machine, microwave, electric kettle, people will tell you that you can get 12v charger for lap tops and phones etc but it just convenient having power at wall sockets just like home, ours is a motor home not a camper van.

It was built in at the factory and is a network compensating inverter/charger, in other words if you are plugged into say 3A hook up you can still run 8A or more as the inverter will supply it from the batteries and then charge them up again at leisure.

On more than one occasion I have used ours to charge up the batteries on friends vans parked next to us.

Thanks that sounds very clever. I wonder if that is possible as a retro fit?

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[Delboyarapaho]

It's great having mains available because everything uses it.
Our small one powers, vacuum charger, toothbrush charger, fan, hair clippers, TV (massive choice of cheap mains TVs )

Or you can buy and replace adapters for everything, the thing is to buy a small efficient inverter that won't use much power itself. Ours has a standby of only 0.2 amps.

I definitely wouldn't bother with a microwave.

Thankyou very useful

 

[Tombola]

Thanks that sounds very clever. I wonder if that is possible as a retro fit?

100% is as a retrofit, have it hard wired in via an auto switchover relay to the 230v cable section from the fuse box. Fused correctly of course

 

[Delboyarapaho]

Only really use ours for charging the e-bikes, occasionally gets used for a kettle for a brew on the Chunnel or ferry port when the gas is off.
Laptops, tablets, phones, toothbrushes etc., we use 12v chargers as it is more efficient.
Can't see the point of a microwave in a Motorhome.

I wired mine with a changeover relay so all the sockets are connected to the inverter and when you plug EHU in they swap over to the mains input. Fridge & charger are connected so they only work with EHU.

thanks Lenny very helpful

 

[Delboyarapaho]

We are having two lithium's fitted next week, currently have 2000 inverter to all sockets, cant wait for the extra flexibility

Thanks thats very helpful. Is it difficult connecting to all the sockets or did you get a pro to do it for you?

 

[Tombola]

Thanks thats very helpful. Is it difficult connecting to all the sockets or did you get a pro to do it for you?

One of these wired into where your EHU comes in will power everything, (240v socket fridge etc too so be careful if you dont have enough battery power/solar)
Or you can find just the 240v socket circuit cables for the PSU/Consumer unit and wire to the circuit you want
Amazon product ASIN B073PRZGN2

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[Delboyarapaho]

One of these wired into where your EHU comes in will power everything, (240v socket fridge etc too so be careful if you dont have enough battery power/solar)
Or you can find just the 240v socket circuit cables for the PSU/Consumer unit and wire to the circuit you want
Amazon product ASIN B073PRZGN2

Thanks again

 

[Richard n Ann]

Thanks thats very helpful. Is it difficult connecting to all the sockets or did you get a pro to do it for you?

You can wire a changeover switch yourself, it's pretty simple. Just a double pole switch.

You have to switch the battery charger off and make sure the fridge is on gas before switching over to inverter though.

 

[Delboyarapaho]

You can wire a changeover switch yourself, it's pretty simple. Just a double pole switch.

View attachment 486115

You have to switch the battery charger off and make sure the fridge is on gas before switching over to inverter though.

Thats brilliant thanks

 

[Raul]

I strongly recommend to go for a victron multiplus inverter charger. It will make your investment worth as you will have plenty of use out of it. Plus a strong re sell value if you will change in the future. It will make life easy for installation, and is very reliable. It will do the ehu change over automatically, so you can wire the existing 230v circuits at its output. Meaning, no separate sockets. You will use your existing ones. We had a 1600va and upgraded to a 2000va. If you got lithium and decent solar, you will be amassed how much you can do with extra power. We cook on electric most of the time, toaster, grill, mini oven, kettle, hot water and pretty much use it as in a off grid house. Of course, without the big appliances like in a house, but low power, more suited to the van.
Get a cheap one, and you will waste your money as you will be limited in use. Get a decent one and will serve you well.
Pick of the bunch would be a 1600-2000va multiplus compact.

 

[autorouter]

Thanks that sounds very clever. I wonder if that is possible as a retro fit?

The only one I know of is the Victron Multiplus inverter/charger, various models of different powers. If you will also be buying a new charger for the lithium batteries, you could consider buying a combined inverter/charger. These have advantages beyond simply having them both in the same box. They will coordinate, and automatically switch from hookup to inverter when the hookup is disconnected.

Separate inverters can't be used in combination with the hookup supply, but inverter/chargers can. You can set a limit on the hookup power draw, say 6 amps, and the inverter will allow a load of more than 6 amps by boosting from the batteries while the load is high. When the load is reduced, the charger tops up the batteries again, keeping within the 6 amp limit.

If you don't get a combined inverter/charger, you will need to wire in a relay (or a manual switch) to switch the mains charger off when the inverter is on.

A big consideration for an inverter is the no-load power draw. For the cheaper inverters this can be quite high, and hidden in the small print of the specs. If you only use it for short bursts of high power, and otherwise switch it off, that's not a problem. If you intend to use it for long-term loads like a fridge, battery charger or laptop charger then it's important.

I have a complicated setup, with separate inverter batteries, but to answer your question, all the sockets of the MH are connected to the inverter.

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[Delboyarapaho]

I strongly recommend to go for a victron multiplus inverter charger. It will make your investment worth as you will have plenty of use out of it. Plus a strong re sell value if you will change in the future. It will make life easy for installation, and is very reliable. It will do the ehu change over automatically, so you can wire the existing 230v circuits at its output. Meaning, no separate sockets. You will use your existing ones. We had a 1600va and upgraded to a 2000va. If you got lithium and decent solar, you will be amassed how much you can do with extra power. We cook on electric most of the time, toaster, grill, mini oven, kettle, hot water and pretty much use it as in a off grid house. Of course, without the big appliances like in a house, but low power, more suited to the van.
Get a cheap one, and you will waste your money as you will be limited in use. Get a decent one and will serve you well.
Pick of the bunch would be a 1600-2000va multiplus compact.

is this the one for 2KW?

CMP122020000​

 

[two]

Victron multiplus is certainly the 'best' way to go but way above what I think is necessary. 2kW is also more than should be required. A simpler way would be a 1kW (unless you really want to run heavy stuff) PSW inverter and run a separate (different appearance) set of sockets from that.
A problem with auto switch-over is that you may not know a bollard has been tripped until your battery bank is exhausted. You also need to be wired such that the fridge is not tricked into switching form gas.

 

[donkey]

The main use for the one at home is for warming milk for the coffee quite happy to use a saucepan in the van. We can't see the point of pod coffee makers either they make crap coffee.

OK Lenny, so how do you make non-crap coffee in your motorhome?

Geoff

 

[Raul]

Victron multiplus is certainly the 'best' way to go but way above what I think is necessary. 2kW is also more than should be required. A simpler way would be a 1kW (unless you really want to run heavy stuff) PSW inverter and run a separate (different appearance) set of sockets from that.
A problem with auto switch-over is that you may not know a bollard has been tripped until your battery bank is exhausted. You also need to be wired such that the fridge is not tricked into switching form gas.

Do you have any comparison points to make between the 1kw and the 2kva? I haven’t said 2kw, victron does not have one. It’s 2kva, 1,6kw and the stand by load is only 1w more than the 1kw -1,2kva. Also, it will run cooler, quieter and better surge and overload capability.

 

[Raul]

is this the one for 2KW?

CMP122020000​

I don’t know what that is,
Search for victron multiplus compact 12/1600/70 or 12/2000/80

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