Will this work?

[FlyingFrik]

I was thinking of purchasing a $310 1000W inverter/charger but got to thinking I could save some money doing it this way . When using shore power, surge protector is plugged into GFCI, and battery is charged with a battery tender pro. When dry camping surge protector is plugged into a 700 to 1000w Inverter, and battery is charged with a 7w solar pannel. (I know 7w is not much, but i got the whole thing for $20 at northern tools.)

Power Flowchart

20A shore Power
⇓
Tongue Box
⇓
Inline 30A breaker
⇓
GFCI Outlet ==> Battery Tender Pro to battery

⇑
Surge Protector (To 2 Cabin Plugs & 1 Galley Plug)
⇓

700-1000w Inverter
⇑
Battery (To 1 12v Galley Plug and Lights & 2 12v Cabin plugs and Lights )
⇑
From GFCI ==> Battery Tender Pro / 7w Soler Pannel
^( Shore )________________________________^( Dry )

Will this work, and if so Are there any thoughts on making this cheeper?

[GuitarPhotog]

Your 7W solar panel will neither charge your battery nor supply any power for your appliances. Sorry, it's a waste of money.

You need to total your electrical loads (watts) and then figure out how large a battery that requires.

For example, my LED lighting totals 19 W, and my fan consumes about 3 watts for a total of 21 watts. At 12 VDC, that's ~2A. Which means that if I run everything for 6 hours, I've used 12 AH from my battery

Common wisdom is that you should not draw more than 1/2 your battery capacity. So my 60 AH battery should power everything for two or three 6-hour days (30 AH / 12 AH).

Your 1000W inverter will draw about 84 A from the 12 VDC supply. That means that to run it for 3 hours will require ~250 AH of battery power and require 500 AH of total battery capacity. And I don't want to know how much that'll weigh

Your 7 watt panel will replace that 1000 watts in 6 days, if it runs 24 hours a day (an impossibility with solar!).

Unfortunately inverters are total power hogs and should be avoided at all cost. If you really need 1000W of 120 VAC in your trailer, get a good Honda 2000i generator and make it easy on yourself.

<Chas>

[FlyingFrik]

After a lot of research this is my revised plan

20A shore Power
⇓
Tongue Box
⇓
30A main breaker in the converter/charger
⇓
Converter/Charger AC power distributer (WFCO 25a WF-8725-P) http://www.adventurerv.net/wfco-amp-power-center-converter-wf8725p-p-14339.html {1 20 amp GFCI plug for galley and 2 15 amp plugs for cabin}
⇑
Battery {(1 12v Galley Plug and Lights & 2 12v Cabin plugs and Lights ) I dont know what fixtures i will be using yet so i cant put a # on wattage. 3 lights in cabin and 1 for the galley}
⇑
7w Soler Pannel( Dry Camping ) Ok i know its not going to do much at all but it will look cool

How does that look?

[Shadow Catcher]

WFCO has a really bad reputation, a number of folks on this form have had them fail, you would be better off with the battery minder. The 7W panel will keep your battery from going dead while in storage but little more. The least expensive Progressive Dynamics would be a much better choice.

[GuitarPhotog]

I second Shadowchaser's warning off the WFCO 8725. Mine failed twice. I'm in the process of replacing it with the Progressive Dynamics PD4045. More expensive but worth it,

<Chas>

[Bogo]

YYour 1000W inverter will draw about 84 A from the 12 VDC supply. That means that to run it for 3 hours will require ~250 AH of battery power and require 500 AH of total battery capacity. And I don't want to know how much that'll weigh

5 * 75lbs Group 31 batteries = 375lbs plus framework to hold them. Call it 425lbs.

BTW, that's enough for a DC based air-conditioner to keep an insulated sleeper cab on a truck cool for 8 hours. Depending on where you are in the country that is a minimum of 6 to 9 200W solar panels to recharge it during a clear sunny day. When using that much power, go to 24VDC and gain the extra 8% to 12% efficiency it gets you. Using a slightly bigger battery bank you can recharge it using a 1000W or 2000W inverter generator powering a large converter/battery charger. Only put enough gas in for the amount of recharge wanted and let it run out of gas. The last 10% recharge will take allot more time to do than the main bulk of the recharge. So, to be most efficient using recharging by a generator, plan on only using 40% of the battery capacity, that is from the 90% to 50% charge capacity points. When the battery is down to 50%, recharge it only up to 90%. You don't need to do a full recharge daily, just once every two weeks or so. In fact the batteries will last longer if you do this. When recharging, the most damage happens in the last 10%, and when discharging the most damage comes in the last 50%.

On generators. Most national park campgrounds and some state and local campgrounds have quiet hours where you can't run your generator. That means no air conditioning at night unless there is an electrical hookup.

[FlyingFrik]

That should do it. I hope.
20A shore Power
⇓
Tongue Box
⇓
30A main breaker in the converter/charger
⇓
Converter/Charger AC power distributer. Progressive Dynamics Converters PD4045 (http://www.bestconverter.com/PD4045-45- ... Uh6BltJJm2{1 20 amp GFCI plug for galley and 2 15 amp plugs for cabin}
⇑
Battery {(1 12v Galley Plug and Lights & 2 12v Cabin plugs and Lights 1 Low Power Draw water pump { http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-RV-Marine-1 ... vi-content } ) I dont know what fixtures i will be using yet so i cant put a # on wattage. 3 lights in cabin and 1 for the galley}

I took the 7w solar pannel back to Northern tool.

[GuitarPhotog]

Sounds a lot like my trailer now

As long as you don't mis-wire something or start running every 12 VDC appliance west of the Mississippi you should be good to go.

<Chas>

[Shadow Catcher]

To feed the PD you will want a 30A cord/inlet. This is where I give the plan for what you may want in the future not for what you think you want now

[len19070]

Your 7W solar panel will neither charge your battery nor supply any power for your appliances. Sorry, it's a waste of money.

No, a 7W solar panel will neither charge your battery nor supply any power for your appliances.

But, there is something any solar devise will do...And, Depending on what you pay for it! It is worth it?

One of the suttel things a solar panel will do is it will create activity in a battery.

And no matter how slight it will keep a dormant battery active thus extending its life.

And that's all a lot of them are made for. Not raising the "Dead".

I have one of these,

http://www.pepboys.com/product/details/9311725/00013/

When I leave the trailer stored I just connect it and put it in the window

Happy Trails

Len