[T2] Coolers, Fridges, and Electricity

[Jamie]

solid / stranded....
this is an ongoing argument with people having very strong opinions... many 
vehicle[car] mfgr use a solid conductor in their wiring harness....and have 
for years..
 try to "cut in" a trailer plug these days.. you will find it difficult to 
make a good connection.. but they provide plugs for this purpose anyway.. so 
cut in isn't required.

when it comes to UL , CSA, AC type of certification... there is no 
requirement for stranded wire.... unless the lead is intended to be 
flexible...ie, the lead from the engine to the body,, or the tailgate to the 
trailer..

Many North American camper builders use romex wiring for the AC 
conductors,,, which is solid.... and that is determined by the device it is 
connected to.
Ie... if you are connecting duplex receptacle, or a breaker into the 
circuit.. and the mfgr of that device rates it for Solid Copper 
termination,, that is the wire that must be used.... most receptacles today 
are not rated for stranded wire,, or alum, or crimped on terminals,,

Also, there is a no-load spec on a lot of inverters... and there is some 
draw with no load,, like 0.6 amps,,  but the invertor only draws what it 
needs to power up the load, and the losses internal to the inverter which 
does need to be considered ...
so,,  they're a "constant draw" item - even if there is no "load" being 
supplied, as long as its on, it's drawing ...some [small amount] of power... 
but not full load..

"Bottom line - the plug (or wires, I dunno) weren't enough to  allow enough 
juice for the thing to even power up!  "
is a very good comment! ,,, if you want 1500 watts out.. you need to be able 
to supply 1800 ish watts to the unit ! .. and 1800 watts DC from a 12 volt 
battery needs VERY LARGE wire... and enough battery to supply that power.. 
or 2 batteries.. or 3...

and for the huge argument on the internet.. some folks like to use small 
wire to connect the aux battery to the starter battery ,thru a isolator 
relay, during running to provide charge to both batteries... and this is the 
correct way,, like the bus depot relay .. and like all 10 - 20 amp battery 
chargers... they use 12-10 awg
if you want to use very large wire ,, then you risk burning out the 
alternator ....

and it is a good thing to equalize your battery after a weekend of use...
now.. there are sooooo many combinations of inverter / battery / etc .... 
that some things that are very important for one style has been taken care 
of with another style..

so,, if you want to install a really nice,,, large power supply,, 
combination charger,, with all kinds of functions.. think of something like 
http://www.donrowe.com/Xantrex-806-1020-Freedom-HF-1000-p/806-1020.htm