Inverter for dual lithium/solar Patriot X1 camper

[2Jeeps&PatriotX1]

As the title states, I have a new Patriot X1 GT camper with dual lithium battery, 200w solar panel option, vehicle charging via anderson plug when towing and the Redarc BMS30 w/ Redvision TVMS.

Originally I was going to go with a Xantrex PROwatt600 or the 1000w inverter but now my wife continues to talk about a coffee maker. So knowing she will be much happier not having to boil water or spend time prepping the coffee, was thinking of getting her the Keurig K-Mini Plus (single cup) which states it uses 1425watts. So sounds like I’ll need to look at the 2000w model? Hate to spend that coin for something to power a coffee maker, I don’t drink coffee, but happy wife happy life as the saying goes.

Cant imagine anything else I’d need to power using that many watts while camping. I could easily get away with a smaller inverter for drone batteries, macbooks, phones etc..

The TVMS which I can control (turn functions on/off) from the panel or my iphone is only able to communicate with the Redarc inverters, so Id have to install a seperate on/off remote switch to only turn the inverter on for coffee making.

Any other ideas besides leaving the wife at home and just taking the dogs camping?


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[dreadlocks]

This runs just fine off my 1k inverter: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079BVWVQS

Bonus because it has no holding tank, you fill your cup up.. pour it in the top and it brews til empty.. no forgetting to drain it before hitting the ole dusty trail and finding it made a mess at your next stop.

This is the consumption AT the battery w/my 1200VA Victron running just the coffee maker.


With Dual Lithium you might consider re-wiring em into a 24v setup, it draws half the amps with a big inverter.. but then you need 24v charge for your solar/shore/vehicle

 

[john61ct]

I'd become designated coffee maker, learn how to get it just the way she likes it every time over a propane burner.

 

[2Jeeps&PatriotX1]

This runs just fine off my 1k inverter: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079BVWVQS

With Dual Lithium you might consider re-wiring em into a 24v setup, it draws half the amps with a big inverter.. but then you need 24v charge for your solar/shore/vehicle

Thanks for the link. I’ll give that coffee maker a go for $39.99 before I become the official coffee maker.

Im thinking of going now with this inverter (Cotek SP-1000-112) for a couple reasons:
- found out that this is the maker of Redarc inverters just rebranded and cheaper
-reason thats the main driving factor is it’ll communicate with my Redarc Redvision TVMS and can be controlled and monitored through the redvision screen and app
-appears to run efficient based on numbers, see specs and let me know if you think otherwise

Also, this whole dual lithium setup is new to me but what’s the advantage of going 24v vs the 12v? Way its setup now, with fridge/freezer, led lighting, some various electronic charging its showing I can 8 days on batteries without my solar panels plugged in. Obviously thats before using an inverter.

I have my garage outlet providing shorepower to charge as 120V, my anderson plug on truck & jeep is 30A from one main battery in the tow vehicle to charge when towing and solar plugs into the 2nd anderson connector at side of trailer (removed the controller) since the redvision TVMS and BMS30 are smart controllers and sense whether to switch to tow vehicle, shore, solar or battery.


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[dreadlocks]

I see nothing wrong with that inverter, cant give any feedback as I've never used it.. GFCI can be an issue for some power tools but should be fine for coffee maker.. not really impressed with its peak or its idle consumption.. my Victron has 2400W peak, consumes .6A idle and .08A in eco mode for +$65, but it wont plug into your existing control panel..

buy the coffee maker first and use it at house, if your wife is satisfied with its performance.. then buy the inverter, otherwise thats alot of money if she hates it.

24v cuts the amps in half.. 1000W @ 12v = ~84 Amps, 1000W @ 24v = ~42 Amps (IRL its actually higher than that because inverters pull so much load that your battery voltage will fall below 12/24v).. less amps means you can use smaller cabling, fuses, monitoring/protection hardware and have less losses to heat and voltage drop.. it also reduces wear and tear on batteries, for lead acid users higher amps results in significant capacity loss but thats not an issue for lithium really... When you get up to the point of 2000-3000W inverters your talking about 200-300A of current you can cut in half with 24v setup.. but you need chargers that can do 24v, inverters that can do 24v and likely a regulator creating a 12vdc circuit for any consumers you have that dont support 24v out of the box.

 

[2Jeeps&PatriotX1]

Good idea about buying the coffee maker first to see if she likes it before going inverter. I don’t think Id be using any power tools as I wouldn’t be bringing any besides my cordless impact and my garage outlets are all GFCI and no issues this far with the plethora of power tools I do have. Maybe on an inverter its a bit different.

I’ll hold off on 24v for my needs right now since the inverter is only going to be used to make 1-2 cups of coffee a say when camping. I know my camper TVMS can do the 24v setting but sounds like Id need to add several other items to make sure other items work.

Hell, I haven’t even got this thing out yet since picking it up in March.


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[dreadlocks]

I think its motors w/brushes in em, which would be pretty uncommon now days since brushless motors are so cheap and efficient for a while now.. Ive got tools that span generations and Ive had several pop a GFCI the moment I plug em in, but I cant even recall what ones gave me issues because its pretty rare.. they probably are not safe, but hey they still work heh.

yeah 24v would be kinda overkill for only coffee, usually something you want to account for in the beginning when designing an electrical system and the cost ends up not being that much more than 12v, but after the fact its an expensive conversion.. most 12vdc inverters that promise 2k+ never actually deliver that because actually pulling that much amps out of an electrical setup requires careful design or could end up being quite dangerous, I wouldn't trust cheap Chinese equipment to that kinda load.