Inverter Help

dasuriano

Member
Sep 14, 2010
120
Colorado
We are in the process of converting a school bus into a rehab unit and I've been tasked with working out the electronics parts.

-The bus has a 200amp alternator and two batteries wired in parallel.
-Bus will get LED lighting and a siren. We're wiring in a 100 watt siren right now, with prewiring for an EQ2B later on.
-Bus will have 5 mobile radios for different agencies around the area we cover. 2xCDM1250 VHF, 1xCDM1250 Lo, 1xXPR4550 UHF, 1xXTL1500 UHF. We are in the process of submitting grant paperwork to upgrade radios, which will hopefully trim down this number of radios.
-We are also adding LED scene lighting around the bus, which are cheaper style LED sticks. I know there was also talk of getting HD style contractor lighting for scene lighting away from the bus.
-The big one is that they want the bus to be cool in the summer for firefighters, but it has no AC. They have rigged up two AC units, one front and one back, both household units. We have gotten 2 inverters donated, one 1500w, and one 1050w. They want to run one AC per inverter with plans to have both running if we are on scene at an incident.

I'm comfortable wiring in the lights, radios etc, but I am not sure that the bus can handle all of the emergency warning, plus two inverters. Especially, if we are sitting at a scene for a while.
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,578
Shelbyville, TN
better off buying a 5 - 10k generator them burning invertors running those...

there are many videos on you tube on how to run one off na invertor but your 2 stock batteries will not make it very long... (even with vehicle running)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sparky_911

Sparky_911

Supporting Donor
May 15, 2013
2,646
Central Illinois
Those window style units don't have enough BTU to cool a space that big/uninsulated. Plus you'll drain 2 batts in about an hour, even with the bus running. You're best bet is to use the roof mount camper style ac's and a generator. One of those pulls 3-4kw.

Poke around in the skoolie forums and you'll see what I mean.
 

Forum Statistics

Threads
53,869
Messages
449,604
Members
19,083
Latest member
DOHCZC

About Us

  • Since 1997, eLightbars has been the premier venue for all things emergency warning equipment. Discussions, classified listings, pictures, videos, chat, & more! Our staff members strive to keep the forums organized and clutter-free. All of our offerings are free-of-charge with all costs offset by banner advertising. Premium offerings are available to improve your experience.

User Menu

Secure Browsing & Transactions

eLightbars.org uses SSL to secure all traffic between our server and your browsing device. All browsing and transactions within are secured by an SSL Certificate with high-strength encryption.