30 amp inlet Pic's or Video

[Chris Dempsey]

Hey - Bought my NV a few weeks ago and finally was able to do something today. I very nervously cut a 2 3/4" hole through the side of the van. I then plugged it with a 30A inlet to power the eventual inverter and charge the eventual batteries. Ultimately, I will be turning my NV into a mobile showroom and very basic cabinet shop.

 

I have two questions: although I've learned a tremendous amount from this site, among others, I'm still unsure of what brand of inverter to purchase. I'm fairly certain I will be buying a 2K watt pure sine inverter and am considering Tripp-lite and Xantrex. Anyone out there feel strongly for or against, or have a recommendation? Also, probably going with sealed AGM batteries, but am open to any input.

 

Last- I know it's three things now- I'm considering documenting this conversion from beginning to end; are you folks interested? If so, is there a preference for video over photos or is that unimportant?

 

Thanks and I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

 

Chris

 

 

[mattandbrook]

My preference is photos!  It's hard for me to view videos at work, lol. 

 

I have not bought this sort of thing in the past but have bought lots of Tripp Light stuff over the years - UPS units and PDUs and the like and have had good experiences. 

[Chris Dempsey]

Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it.]

 

Chris

[MrOlaf]

amazon reviews are pretty reliable.  After cutting into the body I would seal up the bare metal from the cuts with some paint or clear nail polish or something, just as an added layer of protection against possible corrosion.

[Chris Dempsey]

Thanks, Mr. Olaf. I did everything I could think of to prevent future rust: I filed the hole smooth, cleaned it with denatured alcohol, double-primed and painted it. My old E-250 had holes everywhere from the up fitters- not a single one was painted, they couldn't even be bothered to use a rubber washer.

 

I did check Amazonwith varying success. Some folks one-star products because of shipping damage; doesn't really reflect on the product. I think I'm going to go with the 2K Tripplite.

[NoEffinMini4Me]

I did not use the invertors, but I used to have a direct account with Tripplite and sold their UPS and surge protection units, along with network

controlled outlets.

Anything that had a power cord died. 100%.

 

Took me 4 years to learn my lesson. YMMV.

[Chris Dempsey]

Thanks for the input, but ended up with the Trpplite 2000W inverter. Seems to be a crap-shoot with inverters; I couldn't find one that had either consistently good reviews or enough reviews to be reliable. Time will tell.

[RICK]

I too have used inverters for my contracting business. They are fine for a while and then they seem to overload overheat. Finally got smart and purchased a 2000 watt honda inverter generator that's as quiet as a whisper. Between the extra batteries and charging off the alternator, remember to get 2000 watts, you need to supply about 170 amps of 12 volt current. Inverters are not 100% efficent. So a honda is actually less room and money for a 2000 watt surge, 1600 watt continous honda.

 

Of course if you have the room and don't mind the noise, larger and less expensive generators can be had for 300. Or more.

 

Rick.

Edited January 4, 2015 by RICK

[Chris Dempsey]

Thanks, Rick. I just built the cabinets and am starting on the van's electrical soon. Hopefully, will have the electrical up and running in a couple of weeks and will be able to report back. 

[Chris Dempsey]

Ok - I finally added some pic's in the photo gallery. Probably won't be able to add more for a while; this working for a living gets in the way of working on my NV.

[ZekeB]

I'm about to do the same thing.  I have decided to go with the Go Power! products.