12v/120v automatic switch

[fxvielander]

I've got a little flatscreen TV in my 1985 3270 that I run off the regular 120v house power. When underway if my daughter wants to watch TV (heaven forbid she looks out the window or something) I unplug the TV from the 120v outlet, plug it into an inverter, and plug the inverter into a cigarette lighter 12v outlet. Is there something I can buy and install that will do this switchover automatically so I don't have to keep switching cables and plugs back and forth? This would basically be the same thing the refrigerator does when going from shore power to power when underway, but I've not run into a standalone gizmo that keeps me from manually plunging and unplugging for something like the TV. Thanks!

[Wild_Blue_Yonder]

Buy a 12 volt tv.
Jim

[Pcpete]

The most common way is to install an inverter. If your battery charger is really old then a combined unit may be something to think about. This would set off a whole series of dominoes the Admiral may be interested in. We ran our microwave, coffee maker and toaster oven off ours on our previous boat. Of course that means bigger batteries, some switches and a slight modification to the AC panel.
The cost of convenience I guess.

[brad4550]

Hi Matt
I would recommend a pure sine wave inverter(your appliances and electronics)will run much better and one around 2000 to 2500 watt,these will come with 100+ amp smart charger built in to them and yes more batteries and now you have all the convenience of home.
Good luck Brad

[fxvielander]

I've got an inverter, and I suppose I could just start to run it off of that all the time, rather than switching back and forth from 12v to 120v when using shore power (especially knowing when I'm on shore power it is of course charging the 12v batteries). Its a nice household TV, I hadn't found a 12v TV with similar features (but must admit didn't go very far down the path of looking for a 12v TV). I guess my thinking had been when connected to shore power I should be running it off a 120v boat outlets, but there's no reason I have to do this. A good inverter can be plugged in and powered up 24/7?

[Pcpete]

What you could do is add a shore/ship power switch near your electrical panels. Put your inverter output wires, all three of them on a separated bus, effectively creating a sub panel. If it’s a charger-inverter, you don’t really want the incoming neutral, white and ground, green wires from the shore to be directly connected to the inverter output neutral and ground. My 120v panel has an inverter master breaker to manage the inverter output with only the outlets, microwave and refrigerator on the sub panel. That way I don’t have to worry about shutting down things like the hot water tank that would drain the batteries in no time.

[MidnightSun]

I've got an inverter, and I suppose I could just start to run it off of that all the time, rather than switching back and forth from 12v to 120v when using shore power (especially knowing when I'm on shore power it is of course charging the 12v batteries). Its a nice household TV, I hadn't found a 12v TV with similar features (but must admit didn't go very far down the path of looking for a 12v TV). I guess my thinking had been when connected to shore power I should be running it off a 120v boat outlets, but there's no reason I have to do this. A good inverter can be plugged in and powered up 24/7?

This is the most effective and economical method to use and is what I have done on the last 2 boats. A small inverter (mine is 400w) allows me to run the satellite receiver, the TV, dvd player. Large loads such as toaster, stove top, hair dryer, are much better served with the generator assuming you have one. 4x 6v batteries for a house bank will go a long way and a huge bonus if you can hook up around 300w + of solar panels to it.