Latest Project

When we bought the motorhome I installed a 400 Watt inverter in the front of the motorhome to run the TV, Starchoice, DVD player and computer when we are boondocking. I connected it to the batteries with about ten feet of #10 wire. Over the winter I discovered this was not working as it should. When I turned the TV and/or the computer on, the inverter would go into alarm and shut down. I would then have to restart the inverter with the load applied and after a couple of tries, it would stay on and carry the load with no problem. It just seems to be the initial startup of the equipment that causes the problem.

I suspect my problem is that the ten feet of #10 wire is simply too light for this application. The voltage drop created when the load is applied creates a situation where the inverter thinks it is drawing from a dead battery and shuts down (as it was designed to do). I am going to replace the #10 wire with #6 cable and hope this is sufficient to overcome the voltage drop. If this does not work I will relocate the inverter to the battery compartment under the stairs and run an extension cord under the motorhome to the TV area. This is the recommended way to do it but it means I would be unable to turn the inverter on and off without removing the stair to get into the battery compartment. The end result would be that the inverter would remain on for several months at a time creating a continuous small drain on the batteries.

My plan was to do this job today but it will not quit raining and the project involves crawling under the motorhome to run the cable. I may just sit in front of the computer and TV and think about it for another day... or two...

Life Is Good!