Switch to turn inverter on 6ft away?

[Svenn]

I want to turn my inverter on from the driver's seat, 6ft away from where it sits in the rear of my vehicle.  Do I really have to buy 12ft of heavy 2AWG wire to make that happen or is there some easier way??

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

I want to turn my inverter on from the driver's seat, 6ft away from where it sits in the rear of my vehicle.  Do I really have to buy 12ft of heavy 2AWG wire to make that happen or is there some easier way??

Put a continuous duty solenoid in the positive wire between the battery bank and the inverter.  Control the solenoid with a simple toggle switch mounted wherever you like.  And of course, leave the inverter "ON" all the time, with the solenoid controlling when it gets power and when it doesn't.

 

[Trebor English]

What I did was add a remote switch.  I opened the inverter and attached a small, #20 or 22 speaker wire, to the back side of the switch.  On mine I soldered the wire to the back side of the circuit board the switch was attaced to.  The other end of the wire got a switch.  If I turn the inverter switch off then the remote switch has on and off control.  If I turn the inverter switch on the remote has no effect, the inverter stays on.  It could be wired like the hallway light in a house where both switches turn on and off but there would still be the one on the inverter that could make it always on.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Do you already have the inverter?

If not, you can buy inverters with wired and wireless remotes.

 

[SternWake]

The inverter on off switch does not carry mych current at all.

Long while back I pulled the wires from the switch, extended them with 18awg lamp cord and put a switch reachable from my bed, So I could turn off inverter, powering heating pad, from bed. As this inverter would eat up 0.68 amps turned on powering nothing

I've still got the external switch in place and the lamp wire run to it, but I returned a rocker switch to inverter and use a 12v heating pad instead, as when there is a viable way to eliminate the inverter, I do so.

 

[Svenn]

Put a continuous duty solenoid in the positive wire between the battery bank and the inverter.  Control the solenoid with a simple toggle switch mounted wherever you like.  And of course, leave the inverter "ON" all the time, with the solenoid controlling when it gets power and when it doesn't.

Each one I googled seems to use power while not in use, do you have a recommendation?

I have 12V appliances that, along with the inverter, all come out of the battery.  I want to have the ability to turn ALL my stuff on or off.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Each one I googled seems to use power while not in use, do you have a recommendation?

Don't see how a solenoid can use power when it's turned off.  I'm thinking you're misunderstanding some published spec.  Now INVERTERS use power when turned on, even if they're not powering something.

As far as a recommendation, depends on what size inverter you have.  How many amps is the inverter going to draw from the batteries when it's in use?  I will say stick to a good brand like Cole Hersee rather than some nameless Chinese crap.  Amazon sells Cole Hersee.

 

[tripper]

Don't see how a solenoid can use power when it's turned off.  I'm thinking you're misunderstanding some published spec.  Now INVERTERS use power when turned on, even if they're not powering something.

As far as a recommendation, depends on what size inverter you have.  How many amps is the inverter going to draw from the batteries when it's in use?  I will say stick to a good brand like Cole Hersee rather than some nameless Chinese crap.  Amazon sells Cole Hersee.

I am using this True Sine Wave Inverter ($250) draws 600 mA on standby, 0 when off.
[img=320x240]https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71s9TrfReoL._SL1500_.jpg[/img]
and this switch ($40)
[img=202x250]https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/411B0TzP4tL.jpg[/img]
High quality and nice remote, the remote switch uses a lan cable I believe

 

[Weight]

My 2000W Samlex psw inverter has a remote. It is an option that must be purchased extra with the inverter.

 

[highdesertranger]

Svenn do you want the ability to turn everything off at once or each item individually? solenoids use no power when off. highdesertranger

 

[Svenn]

I got the Cole Hersee below but it didn't come with wiring instructions of course, and everything on the net is contradictory. I understand the big positive wires go on the sides, but what are the 2 nodes on the top? Both positive, one positive one negative, or both negative? Where does the switch go? If one is positive and requires power, can I just loop it to one of the big side nodes to get power? Thanks

 

[highdesertranger]

the 2 small terminals are positive and negative. that's how you switch it on and off. if you switch the ground then you could loop the hot to a big terminal. however doing it that way makes it harder to put a pilot light on the system so you can tell if it's on with just a glance. highdesertranger

 

[Weight]

One small terminal to the switch you will use to turn it off and on. Positive feed, to switch, to one smaller terminal. The other smaller terminal is ground. Any negative-side connection.

 

[tx2sturgis]

I'm gonna toss in a crude little drawing I just made to help you out:

HDR and others, double check my work, lets make SURE its right, no toes will be stepped on...

This is the way I would wire it with that solenoid you bought.

As an alternative, you could also wire the positive feed to the switch directly from the heavy positive side (left in the drawing) of the solenoid. It really depends on the physical locations of everything. If you did it that way, then if the main fuse blows, the solenoid control circuit will also be dead. Which might be troublesome when tracking down a blown fuse.

The solenoid needs to be continuous duty, and rated for the peak draw of the inverter.

The control wiring can be light duty, and the fuse there can be probably 5 amps or so. (depending on the coil current).

The heavy cables to the inverter and will be your heavy gauge wiring, and the fuse there will need to be sized for the inverter maximum current and the wire size.

 

[SternWake]

I am postulating that cutting the power cord, via the solenoid, to the inverter while it is powering something, could, might, perhaps, be very hard on some electronic components inside of the inverter.
Perhaps cumulatively damaging to it.

I will ask my electronics guru contact about this, and whether turning the inverter off via its power switch is less detrimental than just using a solenoid to hook it to the battery, and using that solenoid to cut power while it is in the midst of inverting DC to AC.


The one inverter that i wired up a remote switch to, well I just cut the leads at the rocker switch and ran them to a distant switch.

I'll ask my contact about the possible stress on electronic components of cutting a power cable via the solenoid while it is in use.

With alternators, this can be called a load dump, and can fry the diodes in the alternator, which is why it is no longer a wise test method to pull the battery cable with engine running to test the alternator, as the test might ruin the alternator by frying the diodes. Such a person might conclude the alternator is at fault, replace it, and find there is still no charging, as the problem lied in the voltage regulation that controls the alternator.

So while instantly removing all load on the alternator might fry its diodes, perhaps doing the same on the input side of the inverter might be just as detrimental, or cumulatively detrimental to it.

Perhaps not damaging to it on powering it up via solenoid, but removing DC power from it via solenoid while it is working might be a kick to the balls.

Since the solenoid would require a switch anyway in this usage, I'd recomend using the switch to power the inverter On or off.

 

[tx2sturgis]

SW, very good point.

Some inverters will not even do a cold power-up with a load attached, unless using the front panel switch.

As I did post earlier in this thread about buying an inverter with a remote, I would recommend that FIRST.

But the OP seems determined to control the inverter with a solenoid.

 

[Almost There]

When John installed my inverter we simply put a lighted switch in the positive line - it's in the living quarters part of the van. The outlets that the inverter powers run back to and are plugged in to the two outlets on the inverter which is permanently installed in the electrical cabinet.

When the inverter is not in use there is no draw. When I need to use something that needs 120 and I'm not hooked up to shore power I simply turn on the inverter.

The bright blue light reminds me to turn it off after I'm done.

Not sure why a continuous duty solenoid would be useful!

 

[tx2sturgis]

Not sure why a continuous duty solenoid would be useful!

As the title of the thread suggests, he wants to control the inverter from 6 feet away, maybe its in a cabinet or other location thats not handy from the bed.

 

[SternWake]

I fully understand not wanting to open up an inverter, possibly voiding any remaining warranty, just to move the On off switch to the dashboard.

Acquiring one wth a remote just for this task is also not so edsirable, especially if one already has a functional one.

The CDS on the Inverters + cable, with a switch on the dash, should work, but for how long? Will it be able to power the load or will it required to be turned off, then on by thte power switch anyway?

I've not gotten a reply yet from my electronics guru but will update when I do.

While I opened up my inverter, log ut of warranty to access the power switches wires, truthfully I could have pried the rectangular rocker switch from the face plate and crimped on new 18 awg lamp wire to it run to my distant switch.

One thing about the CDS, is it requires about 0.8 amps minimum just to hold contacts closed, so if this inverter is to be used with the engine off, then there is 0.8 amps of unneeded load on the battery.

When My inverter did have the remote distant switch by my bed, I found it a pain in the knees elbows and neck to turn the inverter on and off, when not in bed. Crawling upto drivers seat for this would also be irritating to me.

Theres more than one way to skin a cat. Without knowing the 'what fors' ?, well this adds guess work as to why this is desired, as often there is another method to achieve the same thing.

IE, once I had a laptop WIFI card, that slid into a slot on the side of my laptop early 2000's. I did extensive research finding an extension cable so I could relocate that card to where it could get a better signal. It was a 70 dollar product with 25 dollar 3 month shipping from china.

Somebody pointed out to me I could buy a new USB Wifi Dongle for about 12$ and not use the outdated product for the task at hand.

So, I ask what 120Vac appliance is needing to be turned ON and/or OFF from the drivers seat?

If it is a low amp draw item perhaps a second inexpensive inverter up front could accomplish the goal for less than tthe Continuous duty solenoid, and wire terminations and switch.

 

[Almost There]

As the title of the thread suggests, he wants to control the inverter from 6 feet away, maybe its in a cabinet or other location thats not handy from the bed.

I know that!

That's exactly my situation - my question was not about why it needed to be switched but why the solenoid was the choice of power interruption!