"Michael Robison" wrote in message
.. .

I'm thinking I want a 2000W with 3500W surge. That should handle a small
microwave or coffee pot. I notice there's a no-load drag that increases
with the wattage.

Yep, sounds right. The 2000 watt inverter should do nicely. You would
probably do fine on a 1500 watt unit as well. Neither one will allow you to
make coffee and microwave something at the same time, but the 2000 watt unit
will be more likely to allow you to keep coffee warm and microwave at the
same time.


Can I fix it so that it's got an on/off switch but automatically kicks off
when I go to shore power?

The easiest way to rig this is to buy an inverter that is also a battery
charger and you will get the cross over function for free. I have a
"Xantrex" inverter/charger. If there is shore power then it passes the
shore power on to the output. If there is no shore power then the inverter
kicks in and provides the power. Mine even has a "load sharing" function so
that if the load is drawing a lot from the shore power it will back off the
battery charger so that it won't trip the circuit breaker.


Are there any special features associated with a marine-specific inverter?
I figure GFI might be one.

I don't know of any GFI functions built into the inverter itself. Just
wire the inverter output to a GFI outlet.


Are there any models you would recommend? Any web sites to find out
about how to do an installation?

I am very happy with my Xantrex Freedom charger. It is a "modified sine"
wave output, which is better for battery efficiency but could create
problems for some equipment. My microwave, coffee pot, TV, VCR and various
chargers (cell phone, camcorder, etc.) all operate just fine on it.

Installation is pretty easy in concept, but can be a real bitch in practice.

You need to isolate the outlets for the devices you want powered by the
inverter. With luck this will be a single circuit breaker on your
electrical panel. With slightly less luck it will be more than one circuit
breaker. With bad luck you will need to rewire your boat.

It should be obvious what you DO want on the inverter: microwave and the
outlets for the coffee pot.

What may not be obvious is what you DON'T want on the inverter: Battery
charger, water heater, refrigerator.

You will want to mount the inverter as close to the batteries as possible
but NOT in the engine compartment. The farther away from the batteries the
larger the wire you will need to connect it up.

Speaking of batteries, you will want big ones. A 2000 watt inverter can
draw about 200 amps from your battery. At that rate you will get about 10
minutes of operation from a standard 27 series battery.

The inverter will generate a fair amount of heat and will need cooling so
don't bury it in a spot that will become an oven .



My batteries are going on 4 years old. Should I bail on them before they
start giving me problems? I've thought about maybe seeing if I can find
room for one battery that's bigger than the installed one so that I'll
have
a
little more reserve. Is this a good idea? Is it practical?

What do you have for batteries now? If those are good golf cart batteries I
wouldn't bail on them yet.

For a 2000 watt inverter I would recommend a minimum of 400 amp-hour battery
bank. I would also recommend a separate battery for starting your engine.


Are there any other issues that I should be aware of?

Keep in mind that the inverter is probably not "Coast Guard" certified and
can not legally be installed in the engine compartment. You probably
wouldn't want it there anyway because of the heat from the engines could
seriously damage the inverter.

You will definitely want to be able to turn the inverter off. If the
inverter is mounted some place that is awkward to get to then you will want
a remote panel to control it.

Rod