Inverter/charger vs converter/charger

Hello Everyone,
I am new to the forum and Im in need of help/advice. I recently purchased a new Wilderness 2575RK and my plans are to get rid of the house and everything I own in the next 12 months and pack only what's needed and set off and do full time rving. It's just me so the power consumption will be minimum, but want to make sure I have it when I need it. I am trying to do some upgrades while I am still employed and I feel the electrical is a good place to start. I plan on doing dry camping from time to time and also hit RV parks as well. I will have 2 Yamaha 2000w that I can run in tandem when needed, but would like to run on batteries when I can. I have read many articles on solar, inverters, generators, inverter/chargers, converter/chargers and so on. I am now officially overloaded...no pun intended. Should I have a solar setup to help charge the batteries and run an inverter? Or maybe the generator with an inverter/charger? I am open to any help/advice that you may have.

Thanks
Kevin

Hi Kevin,

Welcome to the Heartland Family. We have a great group of people here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge when needed. So you will be getting some great info soon.

Be sure and check out the Heartland Owners Club and join us at a rally when you can. You will meet lots of great folks and make friends for a life time.

Enjoy the forum and your new unit.

Jim M

Navy said:

Hello Everyone,
I am new to the forum and Im in need of help/advice. I recently purchased a new Wilderness 2575RK and my plans are to get rid of the house and everything I own in the next 12 months and pack only what's needed and set off and do full time rving. It's just me so the power consumption will be minimum, but want to make sure I have it when I need it. I am trying to do some upgrades while I am still employed and I feel the electrical is a good place to start. I plan on doing dry camping from time to time and also hit RV parks as well. I will have 2 Yamaha 2000w that I can run in tandem when needed, but would like to run on batteries when I can. I have read many articles on solar, inverters, generators, inverter/chargers, converter/chargers and so on. I am now officially overloaded...no pun intended. Should I have a solar setup to help charge the batteries and run an inverter? Or maybe the generator with an inverter/charger? I am open to any help/advice that you may have.

Thanks
Kevin

Click to expand...

Kevin,
Having the generators are great but I would recommend some solar to keep the batteries charged with a small inverter. The trick to getting this correct is to figure out just how much power you need before you have to fire up the generators. If you can design a system that allow you to grow as needed is the best way to go in my opinion. You have a great start. There are many others that can add a great deal of advice to help with your project.

Regards,
Steve

When my wife and I first started a few years ago, we boondocked most of the time. We used a generator when needed, but then the weather didnt require an A/C. The only thing that didnt work in our first camper was the TV, the microwave, and 120v outlets. We used the generator when we wanted those items to work. When first started using campsites, some parks would not allow generators ( seems like the Paniment Springs Death Valley didnt). When we moved into this camper, we kept the 3500w generator and I plan to buy another one in the future if the need arises so we can parallel.

I too have researched solar to the point I confuse myself at times. But, when considering solar the basic knowledge you will need is the kwh you will need to power. I have not been able to find many online calculators on the web, but there are some really good youtube videos to help. When I added up all the current, calculated out to the needed kwh, I realized I would need a rather substantial solar set up, and good battery bank to store power. Currently, I have a dual battery set up at 65 ah each with a total of 130 ah. Not much when it comes to solar storage when you take into account they are lead acid. It would be a good idea to size the battery bank with some qualify 100 ah batteries.

The camper we have now has a residential fridge that runs on 120v only. That alone draws 4 amps and will drain my batteries within 8 hours. Since you have done some research, you know you need enough storage to run when its dark, or when during the day you have clouds, storms, or high heat when the system is less efficient.

Since you have a propane/electric water heater and fridge, you can most likely go with a smaller system unless you plan to run your A/C. You will need somewhere in the 30 amp range for start up, keep that in mind as you do not want to under voltage your compressor.

I know you wanted to get some of this completed while still working, but unless you have money to sink into the system, you may be better off with the generator/generators and see how that works for you. You may be content with what you have. Good luck and let us know how it plays out.

I am still on the fence myself, I would like to power up my fridge the day or two before we leave for trips, but since it sets in storage when not in use I will have to have solar, and I have not decided if the cost of the solar set up is worth being able powering the inverter to cool the fridge down.