[DannyG]

We are putting an Inverter into our Patrol on a semi permanent basis.

We have 6 B&S cable running from our deep cycle second battery in the engine bay to the anderson plug on the rear.

Our 12v sockets in the rear of the Patrol are tapped into this large wire. I was going to also tap the Inverter wiring into it.

The inverter specs claim its no load draw is 1amp.

Am I understanding it correctly that the Inverter is going to draw an amp all the time when not in use?

If that is the case I need to be able to switch off the 12v power lead to the inverter or use some plugs and only plug it in when it is needed.

Or I have a heap of dual battery type solenoids floating around so perhaps I could run its power through one of those and make it so it only switches on when the ignition is on?

What do others do in this situation?

Thanks for any advice.

Danny

 

[OILRIG]

id just have a switch on the dash running a relay to turn it on/off

 

[Squalo]

Yep, what I found out was that in general the cheaper the inverter was, the higher its no-load draw would be. The worst are upwards of 1.5a, the best are 0.3a or so. Some have a function that shuts down the inverter altogether until it senses a device being powered up.

I think the standyby function isn't completely necessary for camping - the only reason for it is so that full power is immediately available when you plug something in, but it's not hard to just turn it on when you need it.

Mine (Waeco PP402, 350w) has a three-way switch - on, off and remote. With remote you can run wiring off a terminal on it to a remote switch somewhere.

There is a good inverter guide here: http://www.12vinverterinfo.com/

Mine checks all the boxes for protection and functionality, it can be had for around $120 - good value I reckon for average camping requirements.

 

[gros21]

ive got a xantrex 1800i and in my truck is also 1 xantrex 1800i (24v)

mine will swich of when volts are 2 low with still heaps of grunt to crack teh work truck.

mine also has a on/off swich.

there is no reason u cant turn it off/on when needed depending on wattage either usinga realy or dumb dual battery controller.

 

[DannyG]

Thanks for the replies gents, as it turns out the switch on the front of it may be an on/off switch for the actual inverter. I figured it was for the 240v side only!