After much contemplation have purchased a cheap 1000w pure sine wave (PSW) inverter with remote and inbuilt display from ebay. An EDECOA :
It is available from Amazon eBay and others selling for around 110-120 gbp, arrived quickly very well packaged with all the bits, seems very solid, love the fact that they supply spare for the connectors. Having got a Sunshine Solar 2000w inverter already then these spares are really appreciated. The manual is well written and comprehensive another surprise.
Our inverter history
Our inverter use over the years varies from nothing to full on with extra batteries. At its height we had a seperate bank of 220Ah batteries powering a 2000w PSW, this was for our coffee machine, hair dryer, etc… We then paired down to nothing relying on EHU once a week and 12v for everything. When fulltiming we purchased a small 300w PSW inverter from Bestek which was great for laptop, toothbrush, vac, etc… but due to plugging into 12v socket could only really manage 110w.
Having completed a couple of long tours 3 months and fulltiming for 7 months we have decided that being able to charge more than the Bestek can manage would be really handy specifically the eBike and Ryobi batteries.
Ideally
We have been for a long time considering Lithium and when we do switch will get a inverter (1500w) cabled in properly to existing sockets with decent battery/usage monitoring. As we will likely have to change the chargers and solar controller at the same time.
What type and features?
Has to be pure sine wave, cannot see the point in risking modified, it saves money granted, but limits what can be charged specifically toothbrush, shaver etc…
We would have got an 800w (maybe 600w) but could not find one that had 2 sockets, one for the garage (bikes) one for the hab area, USB sockets, display, remote control decent efficiency and that looked reliable. We could have bought an expensive one that we could use with the future Lithium setup with an app etc… but we do not know what kit we are going for yet. Victor, Voltronic and NDS all being contenders.
The display is probably fairly pointless but we wanted a way to check on the draw by the inverter, to make sure we are not doing something stupid. Attaching the unit directly to batteries means the inverter draw is not reflected on the existing van display panel which is a real shame, it can be done but to do so calls into question the wiring used by the manufacturer (not designed for inverter) where to connect, access, warranty etc… so something we shall leave to a competent installer.
USB sockets there are a couple of items that we use in the van garage Mifi/Wifi that can be run/charged from USB.
Remote control as we want to be able to turn the inverter on and off easily, we had one with the previous sunshine solar setup and it proved invaluable.
Why not reuse the sunshine solar?
It is 2000w, bulky, one of the connectors was damaged when delivered (supplier was not helpful) it has been repaired but … also requires 2 cables for the poles doubles the cable required and the routing of 4 cables is alot more tedious. And it is being used to supply power in the workshop along with a couple of batteries and solar panel (first lockdown project)
Power supply
We are not really concerned about the batteries and power as we only intend using an inverter when driving for charging larger items and there is spare amperage for this. We have solar not alot (120w) but by 10am the batteries are usually full. We have 2 Gel 80Ah batteries that gives us if required a max of about 100Ah to actually use, we never get anywhere near this maybe 20Ah used before sun or a drive tops us up. In practice everything but the bikes and Ryobi can be charged by solar during the day and we will not notice.
Where to fit?
Have found a massive void above the batteries in the garage that is crying out to be used, have considered lots of ways to fit the inverter securely into this space, shelving, on the floor, putting somewhere else. But every solution has some cons the easiest most convenient is attach to the side wall in this void using bolts to hold it secure and allow removal if required.
Directly above this void is the under seat space which is also ideal, but we use this space so would have to partition an area off.
How to fit?
Decided on 4 bolts with wing nuts, may change to locking nuts once in place but we shall see.
New panel cover with cut out for inverter access to controls and sockets
Connecting up?
Have 2 batteries have decided to use the connectors that join batteries together to connect up the inverter queried the sense of this on MotohomeFun and nobody said it was a bad idea.
Cables just using those provided by EDECOA, they seem thick enough and they state they are rated for the inverter.
To be honest when it came to fixing and connecting cables it proved easy partly because we had given it alot of thought.
Inverter switched on and with the cover off.