PigTrail wrote:I am by NO means an electrician, so please tell me if I'm doing something stupid or misguided. By my calculations (watt = volts * 15 amps) I can run a max of 1650-1800 watts through the plug. This means I can run either the oven OR the air conditioner OR the battery charger, but not any two of the three. Your thoughts?
Your calculations are correct and you have the right idea for load management. Make sure you have a 15A main breaker coming in to protect your wiring and extension cords to the Shore power. If you get absent minded and click on too many appliances, it will just pop and limit you to the 15A.
I am running the same type 15A receptacle into my CTC. So with the AC running and Fridge running (about 750-800w) and the battery charger which I may flip on sometimes when the generator is running to top off batteries (400W)... I have to be careful about turning on the microwave (largest draw at 900w) as it will throw me over the top and pop the breaker . If I were to turn it on while not thinking, the breaker will pop before anything bad happens. I rarely run the microwave, so no big deal to shut the AC off a few minutes if needed.
Bottom line, I manage the AC appliances and all the other stuff (lighting, fans, water pump, etc.) run off the 12VDC system. .
When using the inverter (1500W with 3000W surge) ,I do not run the AC or the battery charger (duh), so just the Fridge and Microwave mostly unless I have the TV on or etc.. I could have wired it for 30A and had no issues when on shore power.. but I like the idea of running on solar and a small generator as I built my CTC to be a boondocker.
Something to consider if you ever wire up for solar and something to take maximum benefit of solar supplemented by the small generator. IMHO this is ideal for boondocking and something I thought hard about when I designed my CTC electrical system.
I did wire my CTC a 15A Main with 2 other 15A breakers after the main with separate circuits for the charger and Air Conditioner, and another breaker which gets it power through the main or transfer switch to inverter. On a hot day (usually means sunny), if I want to run the Air Conditioner via the generator, I can flip the transfer switch internally to isolate from the generator fed panel to run only the Air Conditioner and Charger. The remainder (fridge, all outlets, microwave) will then run off the batteries/inverter. So basically, on a sunny day, I can run it all with the generator and Inverter.
Excess generator power not being used by the Air Conditioner is also charging batteries in conjunction with the solar panels, so the DC system never really discharges while it runs the fridge, lighting, microwave or anything else I plug into an outlet... it is a beautiful thing. :-) I have 500W of permanent panels on the roof and a 100W portable panel I can throw in if needed.
Just throwing all that out there so you can ponder it if you ever go solar. I have schematics I can share if you decide to ever go that route
Good luck!