I Just purchased a Xantrex pure sine inverter and after reading the install directions I'm somewhat stumped as where to install it. The directions call for extremely heavy gauge wire and no more than a six foot run. If I run it off the battery in the front of the van, six feet of wire will only get me to below the passenger side seat and I've got a swivel seat so there's no room.
My van did not come stock with the second battery so I should probably find a mount for the second battery and from reading the forums it looks like the second battery is located somewhere below the passenger side cargo doors. From there I could certainly do a run as short as three feet of wire to get up into the back of the van. Do most of you just drill a hole through the floor to run this wire?
Any input would be appreciated.
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Anywhere I roam. Where I lay my head is home. Follow my 4x4 van build at https://4wheeldrivevan.com
My Inverter was installed by SMB during build under the rear bench seat passenger side RB50. It is right next to the circuit breakers and I do have a second battery. Hope that helps.
You shouldn't be running your inverter off of the engine battery.
info from this web page:
Quote:
2. Basically there are two types of lead acid batteries (along with 3 sub categories); The two main types are Starting (cranking), and Deep Cycle (marine/golf cart). The starting battery (SLI starting lights ignition) is designed to deliver quick bursts of energy (such as starting engines) and therefore has a greater plate count. The plates are thinner and have somewhat different material composition. The deep cycle battery has less instant energy, but greater long-term energy delivery. Deep cycle batteries have thicker plates and can survive a number of discharge cycles. Starting batteries should not be used for deep cycle applications because the thinner plates are more prone to warping and pitting when discharged.
You need to start thinking about a second battery.
You can increase the distance by going up in wire size. It is basically a matter of physics which I wont give you all the formulas for but here is a great link that gives you a quick look-up/reference as a guide. There are some specific applications where the resistance of the specific distance has been calculated into the system and wire length is an issue but I would guess that on the input side of a converter its not an issue.
Would I be better off sticking my house battery under the passenger side cargo door or in the rear where the spare tire used to be which would be a much longer run (almost 15 feet) vs 9-10 feet to the cargo door area?
Then I also have to worry about the wires coming from the solar panels (4 gauge) to the Charge Controller and the shortest run possible from the charge controller to the house batteries.
I did not see the link on wire gauge but I'm sure I can Google it. I'm guessing something large like 1/0 or 2/0 would do the trick.
My power inverter is calling for no more than a six foot run of 1/0.
This is a lot to think about for a non electrician like myself, but I'm pretty good at following directions and have a huge set of tools :-)
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Anywhere I roam. Where I lay my head is home. Follow my 4x4 van build at https://4wheeldrivevan.com
Twelve gauge wires from the solar panel will work just fine; 4 gauge wire is overkill. Your larger gauge wires are usually used as batter inter-connects and for runs to the inverter. Here's a chart with some explanations about wire gauges:
I have two house 115Ah 12 volt batteries. The Trippe Lite 1000 watt inverter is located just above the battery compartment and connected to the batteries with twin 4 ga. wire that is 36 inches long. See pic below. I stripped the controls out of the inverter and mounted them on the face of the storage box.
This is an old picture. Since then I have added a second 100 watt inverter to conserve battery power when dry camping.