Quick update with a video to show how and why we added a small inverter to our power system. We chose a Victron Phoenix 250 watt inverter specifically for small, always-on loads.
We love our Victron Multiplus 3000 Inverter/Charger, but its a little bit of overkill when we don’t have any big loads to run (such as : microwave, coffee maker, air fryer, instant pot, etc.). It also has a pretty high standby usage (about 20 watts), which means, its just using power when in inverter mode and doing nothing.
Adding a small second inverter means we can turn off the Multiplus 3000 inverter when not in use, and rely on the Phoenix 250 watt for small stuff like Starlink Router, A/C plug in chargers, laptops etc.
Turning the Multiplus on and off is super easy via the Cerbo GX screen in the camper, on the Victron Smartphone/Tablet App, or via the VRM (web or smartphone).
The Phoenix 250 watt inverter was built for heavy duty use and has a standby power of less than 1 watt, when on eco mode.
Also in this video, we show how we added a 4th battery to our system, expanding the original design from earlier this Spring when we started moving all of our components from our broken Rockwood Mini Lite over to our Outdoors RV
Finally, one thing I failed to explain in my video : we chose the location for the Phoenix Inverter dedicated power outlet near the slide, because this is near the location of where our Starlink cable enters the trailer. We simply pass the cable through the slide as there is a pretty big gap that makes it easy to pass the cable (between the router and the dish). Therefore, the perfect place for the router in our trailer is near the slide, keeping the Starlink cables and all the power cables tucked away in a corner.
misterioso 