inverter

[Mustang65]

No a 600 watt inverter would drain the battery in a VERY short time if used for coffee or other high amperage devices, but if you do decide to go with a 600 watt inverter... read on.

I am not sure how your 400Watt inverter is wired or how many outlets it supplies 110VAC to, but you will want to make sure that your 600Watt inverter is wired directly to the battery(s) and that you increase the wire gauge to an acceptable size based on the amperage (50 Amps for about 5 minutes, for 2 cups of coffee, which may also blow the 600 watt inverter fuses) that will be flowing through those wires. I am not sure, but I would think that the current 400Watt inverter has a 10 or 12AWG wire connecting it to the battery. I would recommend replacing the existing wire with a 4 or 8AWG wire between the inverter and the battery. Better to play it safe!!!

Personally, stick with the 400 watt inverter and boil the water and pour it into the coffee grounds basket of the electric coffee pot (works great).

Just my thoughts,

Don

[Todd Klassy]

The most popular 600 watt pure sine wave inverter for sale on Amazon.com is the Power Bright APS600-12. With no load it draws less than .85 amps and it has an efficiency rating of 90%. 600 amps is not enough to handle most coffee makers. My coffee maker, for example, needs 1500 watts. But as far as its draw on your batteries, I think it is an exaggeration to say it would drain your battery in very short time.

With NO load and running continuously it would need roughly 10.2 watts (.85 amps x 12 volts) or 244.8 watt hours (10.2 watts x 24 hours) and 20.40 amp hours (244.8 / 12 volts). Of course, if you turned your inverter on only when you needed it, or shut it off before bed, you would use MUCH less electricity stored in your batteries.

Now throw in why you need an inverter:

You said lights. Well, I thought lights in a RV are DC, which means you don't need an inverter for that.

You also said TV. The Jensen 28" JE2814 LED Television in my new RV needs 35 watts and 120 volts AC. So that's 0.291666667 amps (35 watts / 120 volts). However, that TV now needs the inverter. The 600 watt Power Bright APS600-12 (for example) has an efficiency rating of 90%. So the inverter will consume 3.89 watts (35 watts x 90%) or .32 amp hours per hour of usage, or 0.611666667 amps/hour COMBINED (TV + inverter). In other words, if you run just your TV AND 600 watt inverter you will be get 163 hours of TV from 100 amp hours of battery storage at 80 degrees F (BUT REMEMBER, to preserve the life of your battery you should not use more than 40 or 50% of your battery's capacity).

However, there are other items that will consume battery power regardless of your inverter: lights, CO/LP detector, refrigerator, etc.

So, that's how I understand the math. If I am wrong then I'm sure someone will correct me. And I hope they do, because this is how I calculate my own usage.

[Todd Klassy]

Want to clarify, when I say: "But as far as its draw on your batteries, I think it is an exaggeration to say it would drain your battery in very short time," I was referring to the inverter, not the coffee maker.

[thecampingcat]

Thanks Don and Todd, After consideration for now I will consider the limitations of working with the inverter that came with the rig. We have yet to boondock. We mostly cg full hookup thanks again!