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120 V. Outlets
Posted:
Fri Mar 16, 2012 1:19 pmby mitch5252
I have a dumb question...(SHUT UP, Vickie)...
Say, we are dry camping and I'm living off my battery, charging it every morning with the little Honda.
Will my "household" outlets work in that situation - for instance, to charge my toothbrush or my iPod?
Re: 120 V. Outlets
Posted:
Fri Mar 16, 2012 1:33 pmby VickieP
mitch5252 wrote:I have a dumb question...(SHUT UP, Vickie)...
Okay, so this is just a given.
Say, we are dry camping and I'm living off my battery, charging it every morning with the little Honda.
"We are dry camping and I'm living off my battery, charging it every morning with the little Honda." Why do we have to say that????
And just for curiosity, where do you have a battery stored in that short little body of yours? Maybe the empty space between your ears?????
Will my "household" outlets work in that situation - for instance, to charge my toothbrush or my iPod?
You just want us to think you brush your teeth.
Re: 120 V. Outlets
Posted:
Fri Mar 16, 2012 1:40 pmby Bethers
No, none of your outlets will work. Some people have inverters which allow some or all outlets to work - but yours will not. You'll only have your outlets working when the generator is running or you have hookups. That's when you'll want to do anything that requires electric from the outlets. That's how you "put a load" on the generator - cuz you don't want it just charging the batteries every time.
Re: 120 V. Outlets
Posted:
Fri Mar 16, 2012 1:47 pmby VickieP
Bethers wrote: Some people have inverters which allow some or all outlets to work
How do you know if your RV has an inverter? I guess I just assumed (shut up Mitch) that all rv's had them. I don't know WHY I assumed that. (again, shut up Mitch) If you have a geny on board, does that mean you have an inverter already?
Re: 120 V. Outlets
Posted:
Fri Mar 16, 2012 4:12 pmby Acadianmom
I think most RVs come with converters instead of inverters. Maybe some of the high end ones come with inverters. Converters change 120 volts to 12 volt and charge you coach batteries when you are plugged into electricity. Inverters change 12 volt from batteries back to 120 but I think you need a bigger bank of batteries for that to work very well.
On one trip Carolyn's converter went out and nothing would work. The camp host hooked up an automotive battery charger to her coach battery and it kept the battery charged so she could run her lights and refrigerator. It saved the weekend trip until she could bring her trailer in.
Martha
Re: 120 V. Outlets
Posted:
Fri Mar 16, 2012 5:02 pmby Rufflesgurl
My 2007 Class A diesel MH DOES NOT have an inverter. It has a converter and a generator which seems to do the job.
Linda
Re: 120 V. Outlets
Posted:
Fri Mar 16, 2012 5:17 pmby VickieP
Acadianmom wrote: Converters change 120 volts to 12 volt and charge you coach batteries when you are plugged into electricity. Inverters change 12 volt from batteries back to 120
Martha
Thanks Martha!
Re: 120 V. Outlets
Posted:
Fri Mar 16, 2012 6:04 pmby Bethers
Yes to what Martha explained.
An invertor changes things back to 120 - without use of a generator - which means pulling the power from the batteries. This means you'll need more than 1 battery for sure - which is why I now have 4 batteries with my solar panels and invertor and left room to put in 2 more batteries if necessary.
Liz's last RT had an invertor. They are good things - but you do need to know how much you can use them, say overnight, without running down the batteries. You should know if your rig has an invertor - you'd need to turn it on to use the outlets (and sometimes only specific outlets work with it).
Re: 120 V. Outlets
Posted:
Sat Mar 17, 2012 2:53 pmby OutandAbout
Mitch, you can buy a portable inverter, which will charge cell phones and laptops. I have a 700 Watt inverter that I use for that purpose. It cost around $35.00 I plug it into the truck's ciggie lighter and charge away. I would use it in the camper, but the DC outlet is in an extremely dumb place. I don't know about the electric toothbrush. Inverters are expensive, so this might do the trick. They also are very light, I'm guessing under 10 lbs. I got mine at Best Buy. Linda
Re: 120 V. Outlets
Posted:
Sat Mar 17, 2012 3:50 pmby mitch5252
I have a small one, I'll go look at it - see how much it can handle.
Oh, first i should find it.
I can't stop playing with the iPad. And now I understand "damnyouautocorrect.com"
Vickie's laughing at me.
Re: 120 V. Outlets
Posted:
Sat Mar 17, 2012 4:46 pmby VickieP
When I first bought my iPhone, I told the salesman to TURN OFF the autocorrect!
Re: 120 V. Outlets
Posted:
Sat Mar 17, 2012 5:08 pmby mitch5252
VickieP wrote:When I first bought my iPhone, I told the salesman to TURN OFF the autocorrect!
I haven't run across that option yet.
ON EDIT: Found it - under Settings > General > Keyboard
Re: 120 V. Outlets
Posted:
Sat Mar 17, 2012 6:03 pmby Bethers
While my rig now has a 1500 watt invertor, I'm (right at the moment) using the little 300 watt one - which is keeping my coomputer charged. I wouldn't use the invertor much when you are just sitting - as it will be pulling from your batteries. So watch how much you do then. I purchased this one to use when on the road to keep everything charged. And now even use it sometimes like now - as there's no reason to turn the big one on. This one will take care of everything I need to charge. I save the big one for things like vacuuming (which I only do on sunny days when using solar - as it really pulls from the batteries.) But having one of these little invertors is great. Mine makes a god-awful horrendous noise when connected to the plug to the engine battery and turned on if the vehicle isn't running. I didn't know that when I bought it but like it - as it's not going to let me run that battery down on error. Right now, it's plugged into the new 12 volt outlet I had installed when I had the solar installed. Like others the only ones I had in the rig were not easy to get at - actually I think the only one was back behind the tv.
Re: 120 V. Outlets
Posted:
Sat Mar 17, 2012 11:09 pmby AlmostThere
mitch5252 wrote:I have a small one, I'll go look at it - see how much it can handle.
Oh, first i should find it.
I can't stop playing with the iPad. And now I understand "damnyouautocorrect.com"
Vickie's laughing at me.
Hijack:
Mitch, when you get time go to Youtube and watch the clips Ellen Degeneres does on texting autocorrect mistakes that people send her. Clumsey Thumbseys Its a side splitter!
Re: 120 V. Outlets
Posted:
Sun Mar 18, 2012 10:47 amby mitch5252
AlmostThere wrote:Hijack:
Mitch, when you get time go to Youtube and watch the clips Ellen Degeneres does on texting autocorrect mistakes that people send her. Clumsey Thumbseys Its a side splitter!
I could only watch two of them...I was laughing so hard, I started coughing and couldn't stop. I find it almost impossible to go to damnyouautocorrect.com any more because it hurts too much!!
Who turned us on to that site, anyway?