But I got to installing the inverter/charger. Its a 1250w inverter and a 55 amp charger. The inverter is a little smaller than I would have liked, but it was cheap and used, and the charge is well size for my generator and keeping wire size down. The charger should only draw about 5 amps at 120V Ac, so that means I can use a standard 15amp cord and plug, easy.
The inverter charger gets installed. It will have a 1/0 cable running through a 200 amp breaker and then to the battery bank. Making 120V AC takes a ton of amps at 12V DC.
For my shore power connection, I had planned to use the drivers side tool box. So I needed to run a power cable from there to the inverter. I used flextite electrical conduit for this. It protects the wire and keeps it dry.
I ran the power cable through the conduit, its the male end of the same extension cord I used to wire the truck, I have about 25′ left, that should be enough to hook up to most hookups or get the generator a ways away. I also pulled a pair of 8 gauge wires for my solar connection.
It all rolls up nicely inside the tool box.
Solar! Yes I am excited. I have two panels and a PWM charger on the roof of our old truck. They always topped the batteries up a little, but never charged all the way. They were always dirty too…
For the new truck I am going to try a portable panel. I can park in the shade and have the panels in the sun, throw it on the hood etc. I went with a folding 100W panel, its very thin and light weight, it should be easy to store, this was one of my concerns with a portable one.
I opted to spend the little extra money for the MPPT controller, I went with a Victron, having only the one panel I wanted the extra efficiency I could get using it. I will do some tests to see how the panel actually puts out compared to its ratings.