I have limited electrical knowledge. Curious how the inverter works and what it’s capable of? Could this power a 13,000 btu camper AC unit? Would the LC motor fire up to recharge the battery as it nears depletion?
2400 Watt Inverter
- Thread starter Midmarkwest
- Start date
- Moderator
- #2
The camper A/C unit would have to comfortably draw below the rated 2400 watts of the LC inverter. Yes, it is my understanding the LC motor would start up to recharge the battery, but hopefully somebody can confirm this. Personally, would use a Honda inverter generator, as they are very quiet, and idle down when the demand drops.
- Moderator
- #4
Yes, the vehicle A/C uses an electric compressor, so the engine does not have to be running. A well-engineered system in my opinion. As I understand it, no alternator either. The only disappointment is a conventional water pump, belt-driven. Don't know the logic behind this. AND, the engine is normally started with the electric motor. Love it! Now, if ours would be on its way...
Your trailer AC is probably peaking at about 20amps for 13kbtu. The LC is 2400/120 - good for 20amps. Running a trailer AC, maybe. With the startup load for the AC, I personally think the LC would be overloaded. The worst that may happen is you pop the LC breaker. Then you may need to use an external generator. Now, I’m considering that only the trailer AC is on, nothing else. The LC could not supply the 30AMP service your trailer uses. I’m assuming that your trailer is 30 amps?
See page 511 in the owner’s manual.
See page 511 in the owner’s manual.
Last edited:
Is there a direct plug the charge the LC's battery with solar panels?
Negative
- Moderator
- #8
The LC's hybrid battery supplies the inverter, and I believe it is in the 400V realm. Typical solar panels, albeit they can be manufactured to supply 400V, do not commonly exist for that voltage. I think probably not practically feasible.
288V
Can anyone that has taken delivery weigh in here? I’ve gotten mixed information about the inverter regarding if you have to “turn it on”. From what I’ve been able to discern, there is a button on the dash that turns the 2400W inverter on and the truck has to be “on” as well. However, do you need to do that every time you start the truck or does the plug stay on (as long as the long is on) until you push the button on the dash?
I’m asking because I was hoping to keep my Jackery plugged into it to keep it topped off while overlanding. Would be a pain if you have to remember to turn on the inverter every time you get in the truck.
I’m asking because I was hoping to keep my Jackery plugged into it to keep it topped off while overlanding. Would be a pain if you have to remember to turn on the inverter every time you get in the truck.
The button needs to be pressed every time you start the vehicle.
We can run our Coleman Mach 10 13.5 BTU with a soft start just fine plugged into the LC. Among other things it’s one of the main reasons we got it.
This video helped me out.
I’ve been traveling for about a week now and have some thoughts.
I have an Anker power station that I use to run my fridge 24 hrs. I’be set up a temporary power supply directly cook the 12v battery in the back that is hooked up to a relay so that it is only powered up when the truck is running. This prove provided between 105 and 125 watts and is usually enough to keep the Anker topped off unless I need to draw some more juice to charge my Ebike battery or other electronics.
So, what I’ve ended up doing is running an extension cord from the 2400watt inverter to the Anker and only hit the button when I need to charge more quickly than can be done via the 12v supply. The really nice thing about the Anker is that via the app, I can force the wattage from the standard 700’ish being input to over 1100 watts to charge that sucker up quick. It’s been a great solution for me to this point of my trip.
I have an Anker power station that I use to run my fridge 24 hrs. I’be set up a temporary power supply directly cook the 12v battery in the back that is hooked up to a relay so that it is only powered up when the truck is running. This prove provided between 105 and 125 watts and is usually enough to keep the Anker topped off unless I need to draw some more juice to charge my Ebike battery or other electronics.
So, what I’ve ended up doing is running an extension cord from the 2400watt inverter to the Anker and only hit the button when I need to charge more quickly than can be done via the 12v supply. The really nice thing about the Anker is that via the app, I can force the wattage from the standard 700’ish being input to over 1100 watts to charge that sucker up quick. It’s been a great solution for me to this point of my trip.
Last edited:
I'll be running a similar setup, except with ecoflow delta 2 max.
I'm curious though, does the car maintain 2.4kw output while driving? I'd like to be able to charge while driving.
I'm curious though, does the car maintain 2.4kw output while driving? I'd like to be able to charge while driving.
I would assume the 2400 would be available at all times that the truck is “running”. I’ve noticed that the truck will still shut the engine down periodically while sitting even if the inverter is powered on. I would have assumed that it would keep the engine running if the inverter is drawing power but I guess the system is keeping track of when it needs to run the engine and not. It also implies to me that the inverter is being powered INdirectly from the engine and is probably passing through the hybrid battery, so to speak.
Sorry, the reason I asked is because on older Toyotas with the 400w inverter, it steps down to 100watts while driving. And, those won't charge the Ecoflow batteries either. I was just wondering if the LC will maintain the 2400w while driving.
FYI, I took the LC camping up around 10,580 feet and the vehicle would not shut the engine off at that altitude even with the inverter not drawing any power. Something to consider for people who might be expecting the engine to cycle on and off to heat the cabin overnight or use the inverter with an electric blanket. I couldn't get the cruiser to provide power to the inverter without the engine running. it wasn't an issue for me because I only needed it briefly to connect to my Starlink Mini for a quick video call with my family and to drop a pin for location so they would know where I was at. I was prepared with all the warm sleeping gear I needed so the cold wasn't an issue but good to know for future use if going to high elevation. I'll be curious if in cold weather the vehicle has similar tendencies even at lower elevation
definently does sustain high output. Don't know about 2400W. But it charges my Bluetti at 900W and runs starlink without complaint
Almost everyone is going to want to run an ecoflow type powerbank in front of the inverter. That type of device will run a 12V electric blanket all night.
The hybrid battery simply cannot be used in the way many of us would prefer while the vehicle is parked.
Our experience is different. We used the LC to charge and run our camper several times up to 6,000 feet elevation. If we were running the AC in the camper the LC had pretty short cycle
times. I didn’t measure them but I’d guess about 5-10mins before the engine turned on. Without the AC on, meaning we were just charging the camper and running the fridge plus a few lights or fans the LC would run about 15 minutes an hour to charge. I imagine it depends on the state of charge of your battery when you start. We probably used the inverter in this way for 30 hours or more. Next time I’ll get more precise measurements.
