Has anyone out there changed over from the OEM converter to an inverter/charger? I have a 2004 model 1130. I am thinking of installing a inverter/charger. I've been doing a bit of research and it sounds like the way to go. I run two 12 volt batteries and I would like to have the inverted AC available at all of my OEM outlets. Any comments or suggestions will be appreciated.

I am wondering if there is a unit that will fit in the OEM space Lance has provided.

Regarding water in winter:

We carry a five gallon water container and use that for toilets and sinks. We do not use the fresh water tank until the outside temps stay above 28 at night. The holding tanks have not been a problem. I keep plenty of anti freeze handy and make sure to treat the traps when we are ready to turn off the heat. We also use an electric heater when possible, being careful to have the furnace kick in periodically to keep the holding tanks warm.

We have fond memories of our 820. We took a new one to Alaska in 2001 and spent 75 days seeing the sites. Great fun!

:We have a Lance 820. When you camp in the winter do you carry fresh water? Curious about how you manage the camper in cold weather.

quote:

Originally posted by Artole:
Dennis:

Thanks for all the detail on your install. You really helped me on this one. The 1130 is terrific! We started with a '01 Lance 820. That has a wet bath as well. The big bathroom on the 1130 is a true luxery, one I do not wish to give up. We use our 1130 all winter in Minnesota and out West for skiing; no complaints on the insulation. Going into our 9th season, we think Lance is the greatest.

Art

[/QUOTE]

Dennis:

Thanks for all the detail on your install. You really helped me on this one. The 1130 is terrific! We started with a '01 Lance 820. That has a wet bath as well. The big bathroom on the 1130 is a true luxery, one I do not wish to give up. We use our 1130 all winter in Minnesota and out West for skiing; no complaints on the insulation. Going into our 9th season, we think Lance is the greatest.

Art

Art - I placed the transfer switch downstream of the breaker panel. On my unit the fridge and outlets connect as two wires to a single breaker, so all I had to do was replace the single breaker with a double to split out the fridge, run the outlets feed through the second half of the breaker then through the transfer switch. Having said that a purist would caution that under inverter power the outlets have no current overload protection - true enough except the inverter won't deliver 15amps so in a crude sense it acts like it's own breaker, except that it continuously resets itself (I think, though I've never tried shorting the thing out. It may require a reset to turn back on)- not a perfect solution and definitely not UL approved, but it works well for my applications.

TV's - hmmm I bought a 19" Sharp HD that draws 35 watts according to the nameplate. I like the unit a lot and keep it on it's stand so that I can move it around inside or out. Someone else might have insights as to what TV is good for an 1130. I had considered a smaller unit to mount in the cabinet door where the CRT TV sits and there are some archive posts on this site that have some excellent mods, but decided against that in favor of flexibility.

BTW how do you like your 1130? I've had a '99 1020 for several years now and really don't like the wet bath, nor do I care for the poor wall insulation.

Dennis

Thanks for the reply Dennis. I have questions; Did you have to run additional wire to the outlets you are using or did you access the outlets from the distribution panel? I am running an old analog TV, it eats about 100 watts, a DVD player takes nearly 60 more, any suggestions on 15 to 17 inch flat panels?

Art

I think you have a good idea. A replacement unit to the charger/converter would be great if it has the 110 v output capacity. I added a separate 1500 watt unit and an automatic transfer switch under the sink in my 1020. It took a while to get just the outlets I wanted wired in (no A/C, fridge, or micro), but it works fine. There is just enough power to run the coffee maker. I ran double #8 stranded from the battery but really would like to have run heavier even though it's less than a 24" run. I have a solar controller with a battery voltage monitor so I can keep an eye on the draw down when the inverter is running something and thought it surprising how quickly a fully charged group 27 bleeds off. The 55 watts of TV plus satellite receiver can pretty much drain the beast during the longer winter nights.

Good luck and be sure to post your experience. Sounds like a good mod.

Dennis