Reddit reviews Xantrex 8080915 PROwatt SW Auto Transfer Switch

I did just that. I added a 1k MicroSolar Inverter (here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F4TP3AE/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 )

I added this directly to the battery, ran the remote to my door light switch area, and then added an outlet and romex. Using the romex, I wired it directly to a relay ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004S5Y158/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ) to prevent backfeeding of the circuit breaker panel. Then I wired that to the 120 outlets inside the camper [No 13.5k AC Unit power, just everything else in the unit]. When the shore/generator power is on, EVEN if my inverter is on, it'll prioritize shore/generator power over the inverter. When the shore/generator power turns off, it'll now draw from the inverter and the batteries. I put a cheap APC battery backup on my DVR to avoid having to relocate signals. Everything else in the camper is unaffected.

I run a 25 foot Lance Truck Camper. It has 2 solar panels for an unknown amount of power (installed before me). I have two deep cycle interstate batteries. A 2500 watt LP Onan Generator on board & 2k Honda EU2000i that I put on the ground. I don't have much room for anything else. At night, using TVs, DVR, charging devices, lights, etc, I can go more than 12-14 hours before I run out of juice. If I have sun light in the morning, I'm fine. If I don't, I start the generator. If the batteries are too dead, I start the truck, which powers the charge controller, allowing me to start the generator.

On my last rig, I took the easiest way out. I wired up a 1000W inverter (Xantrex ProWatt 1000) and then plugged an extension cord into the inverter's outlet. I then ran the extension cord to a 50amp twist lock to 15amp male adapter and plugged the camper directly in. The biggest thing to this is using the breakers inside of the camper to control what does and doesn't run - namely your converter. If you're lucky, the converter's charger will overload the inverter and will pop the GFI on it; if you're unlucky, you'll send yourself into a charging/discharging death spiral!

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It's cheap and easy and just worked. With a 1000W inverter, you have about 7-8 usable amps and have to be careful about what you run.

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Here's a diagram for how I wired the batteries and inverter:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dougsetzer/37028550501/

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Sticking with a small inverter like this 1000W inverter, I am looking at an alternative solution so that I don't have to constantly move cords around. I have mapped out the outlets in my rig and have determined which outlets are on which circuit breakers in the camper. For the most part, it's really just 2 breakers with a couple of outliers. I am going to take one or two of these Xantrex Transfer Switches. (One or two depending on which circuit breakers I want to have hot from the inverter.)

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The way this Xantrex Transfer Switch works is you run an extension cord from the inverter to the transfer switch. Then you UN-wire the breaker in the circuit panel and connect it to the Xantrex Transfer switch's input. You take the transfer switch's output back to the circuit breaker that you un-wired. It gets power from either inverter or from shore power.