I just found out the 1990 Barth 38' Regency 300HP Cat I might be buying does not have an inverter. It was disabled for some reason by the original owner and removed by the current owner. My question: what will it take to put an inverter back in? Do I need to buy a specific type of inverter? Do I need to buy a control panel with it? How much do I even need an inverter? Thanks, Bill

You only need an inverter to run a 120 volt appliance if you are not plugged in and do not want to run the genset. We just have a little one for the laptop and other chargers. And the cat's heated bed.

Look at your appliances and their usage to decide what is right for you.

An inverter converts 12VDC to 120VAC. Some inverters double as a converter and battery charger.

It sounds like the one removed was soley an inverter, and unless you want to run 120VAC things off the battery, you won't need one. There would be no specific type of inverter, but running the required 12V wiring and hooking up the 120VAC wiring might be tricky, depending on how much of the wiring was removed along with the inverter.

You would want an inverter capable of running the appliances from the battery, and of course, battery capacty has to be considered. You would probably find that it's just as convenient to run the generator when 120VAC is needed.

I have two small (250W) inverters: One to run the laptop power supply (150W) when underway and another to run the reefer (~100W) from the battery instead of propane.

You do need to ascertain the there's still a converter in there.

We have a trace (now xantrex)2000 watt (2500 start up)inverter with built in 3 stage charger in our Barth. We are backed with 2 L-16 lifeline house batteries. We like to boondock when traveling quickly (cheaply) to a destination. It will run anything we want outside of air conditioners.
There was a trace in ours when we bought it but it had been installed incorrectly and it's a wonder we didn't burn the coach up using it.
Like others have said you really don't need it but it is a nice add on.
We found ours new in the box for $800. another $800. for batteries and about $400 to install correctly. Yes we have the control panel which was included and ours is upgradable in that we could stack another on top for 4000 watts continious power and that MIGHT run one air for a short time. We make coffee, run the sat. and tv, fridge, computer,wifes hair curler etc...going down the hiway or parked. if we conserved energy we could last for at least 3 days without starting the genset.
Many of you folks could install yourself but not me, no talent in this area. For most of what you might use it for Rusty has the right idea.

Towguy,

If you had an inverter before, all the wiring is in place. You should only need to replace the inverter and and wire it appropriatly. Do you have any literature or manuals that show what brand or wattage the original unit was? That would help a lot to determine how it was wired and what it was wired to power up. Not everything in your coach would have been designed to operate off of the inverter.

Bill G

My guess is that a 90 Regency had Trace Freedom 20 inverter(incl. converter). And it is a guess.

If so, wiring should be in place. But it can be difficult to id the wiring if it is not labeled.

One should be a little wary about wiring integrity as the unit was removed and not replaced for some reason with remote possibilty of wiring problems.

Do you have two ac breaker panels, one large with several breakers for the shore and gen (probably grey metal), and a smaller one with just a few a/c breakers on it (probably black plastic box)? If so, the smaller one is probably the breakers for the circuits powered by an inverter when not plugged in, implying that the Barth once had an inverter.

If you can get a digital picture of the equipment area and post it, there could be clues there.

You have options of buying a Xantrex or equivalent at high bucks, or Freedom model for less, or individual charger and inverter.

As someone stated, you can live without an inverter. But that is going to depend on your use style. Weekend camping with emphasis on "camping", quick runs to destinations, or full or 1/2 full time meandering as I do.

I travel 6 months of the year and could not survive without charger/inverter/genset and now solar. I do not consider my style of travel to be camping, though I usually use areas without hookups, sometimes boondocking.

If this is your first RV, consider what you will want to do as you decide about the inverter/charger question.

Wow! I love this site! Our style of "camping" will be at RV campgrounds with full hookups if at all possible. Keep in mind, I don't actually own this yet. In fact, I placed a bid on a SOB very similar to the Scalzo's new coach. But, if I end up with the 90 Regency, I will most certainly want a inverter. The current owner (great guy) felt it had been a small inverter. My concern was that there was an electrical issue. Hopefully, it was nothing more than the inverter itself failing. Since the original owner did not fix it, it makes me wonder what else he neglected to fix.

quote:

Since the original owner did not fix it, it makes me wonder what else he neglected to fix.

I would not wonder too much about the inverter and its meaning. It is possible that he was like you, almost always plugged in, and decided he did not need an inverter.


It is also possible that he was like me, needing only a small, portable plug-in inverter.

I own a larger inverter, but decided installing it is not worth the bother.

We'll see what happens because I have decided to buy it, The Barth seller has made this a pleasurable buying experience. He responded to a rather long list of questions and took care of my concerns as best he could. As long as the coach turns out to be as expected upon arrival, I don't think I could have asked for more even though co-workers said I should have. After I see it and, assuming I go through with the purchase, I'll send particulars and pictures. I'm fairly certain you'll be seeing pictures. Bill - About to be a "Newsed" Barth onwer in Colorado!

I am sure that you will be ok. You can do as you wish with the inverter/charger issue. Just be cautious with first power-on after installation!!!!!