2.0 Pro Power Onboard

[Will]

Anyone use the pro power inverter on travel trailer off grid? Just wondering if it’s worth the money for what it puts out and the space/extra weight?

 

[FaKtor34]

Anyone use the pro power inverter on travel trailer off grid? Just wondering if it’s worth the money for what it puts out and the space/extra weight?

Well the extra space it takes is minimal, the area under the rear seat where they have the built in pocket is the only space taken up. As for usefulness, I really don't regret it being on my truck other than the issue they caused on it with the update. I use it far more than I thought I would.

 

[Bannerman]

I have not used it offgrid yet but it was handy the other day when we lost power for 5 hours and the wife wanted to warm up dinner for the baby.

 

[Troy]

Anyone use the pro power inverter on travel trailer off grid? Just wondering if it’s worth the money for what it puts out and the space/extra weight?

It doesnt seem worth it to me. Seems like most 120v chargers are more of a trickle charge. So youd have to run your truck for hours to get any real charge. Also going 12v dc to 120v ac back 12v dc to charge seems pretty inefficient. Better to get a dc to dc charger imo and push like 30 amps into the batteries when its running.

 

[Bannerman]

It doesnt seem worth it to me. Seems like most 120v chargers are more of a trickle charge. So youd have to run your truck for hours to get any real charge. Also going 12v dc to 120v ac back 12v dc to charge seems pretty inefficient. Better to get a dc to dc charger imo and push like 30 amps into the batteries when its running.

This confuses me.

What are you basing this on? Most inverters are pretty efficient these days, roughly 90%.

Did I miss where he mentioned what he was powering in the travel trailer? Most trailers run on 120 so why would you go back to 12V?

 

[Troy]

This confuses me.

What are you basing this on? Most inverters are pretty efficient these days, roughly 90%.

Did I miss where he mentioned what he was powering in the travel trailer? Most trailers run on 120 so why would you go back to 12V?

Ok, Fair. I made some assumptions.

He said offgrid so I assumed he’s running a 12v battery system and wants to charge those 12v batteries using a shore power charger on the trailer.

I have a offgrid trailer with a 12v battery system. There is tons of 12v stuff out there for camping. I got pro power thinking it might be nice for 120v needs offgrid but have yet to use it. On my trailer the shore power charger pulls a max of 300 watts out of the truck. I’d have to run the truck like 24 hours to go from 50% to full. I can recharge much quicker with a dc to dc charger.

 

[Will]

Ok, Fair. I made some assumptions.

He said offgrid so I assumed he’s running a 12v battery system and wants to charge those 12v batteries using a shore power charger on the trailer.

I have a offgrid trailer with a 12v battery system. There is tons of 12v stuff out there for camping. I got pro power thinking it might be nice for 120v needs offgrid but have yet to use it. On my trailer the shore power charger pulls a max of 300 watts out of the truck. I’d have to run the truck like 24 hours to go from 50% to full. I can recharge much quicker with a dc to dc charger.

Yes, for a travel trailer that would be charging a double 12V battery system, that in return would power the travel trailer. Propane can be utilized for certain things but nice to have electrical as well.

 

[FaKtor34]

https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/threads/can-pro-power-onboard-be-used-while-driving.10864/

This should help some.

 

[Bannerman]

https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/threads/can-pro-power-onboard-be-used-while-driving.10864/

This should help some.

I’ve charged my 36v/12v batteries on my boat on the way to the beach.

 

[Troy]

Yes, for a travel trailer that would be charging a double 12V battery system, that in return would power the travel trailer. Propane can be utilized for certain things but nice to have electrical as well.

I just found it to be too slow for my needs and I think I have a pretty fast ac to dc charger. I don't want to idle the truck for multiple hours to top off. If I had to do it again I would not pick up pro power in my truck. I don't really have other use cases for the power though.

If you think you'll charge this way very often I think you'd be way better off just buying a little honda generator for about the same and then you're not running the truck. Or solar for even a cheaper & quieter but not quite as full proof option.

 

[Troy]

https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/threads/can-pro-power-onboard-be-used-while-driving.10864/

This should help some.

One interesting thing, the 7pin trailer connector does have 12v aux power in it. I hooked that to my trailer batteries to charge while towing for now.

Not sure how many amps ford will send through it, it's not an amazing charge but its decent enough (maybe 10-15 amps?). Not sure how smart the ford system is, but I always disconnect mine when I'm stopped for more than a few hours. In theory its a dumb direct correction to the car battery so using the trailer would drain the car battery if you left it connected. Also probably not wise to use with lithium since they are higher voltage. A DC to DC charger would solve all of these things.

 

[Will]

Well the extra space it takes is minimal, the area under the rear seat where they have the built in pocket is the only space taken up. As for usefulness, I really don't regret it being on my truck other than the issue they caused on it with the update. I use it far more than I thought I would.

Have they fixed the issue since update? …thanks

 

[FaKtor34]

Yes it caused an issue on my truck and they wound up having to replace the module because the old module wouldn't take the programming. I made a post about it.

 

[Will]

Yes it caused an issue on my truck and they wound up having to replace the module because the old module wouldn't take the programming. I made a post about it.

Thanks…trust me appreciate it

 

[Rabidtastic]

Ran a couple fridges post-Ian while I fixed the generator

 

[bigredaggie]

Has anybody opened these? What’s in them? Assuming it’s the 2kW inverter on the driver side, and some sort of additional battery/electronics for the pro power system on the passenger?

 

[taxgod4u]

Works great on our 5th wheel but cannot handle the AC.

 

[Bannerman]

Works great on our 5th wheel but cannot handle the AC.

Depending on the draw you could possibly make the AC work with a soft start kit on the compressor.

 

[zimm]

Has anybody opened these? What’s in them? Assuming it’s the 2kW inverter on the driver side, and some sort of additional battery/electronics for the pro power system on the passenger?

Inverter on one side, then 2, 12 volt AGM batteries on the other side to power the inverter with 24 volts. That's why didn't get the pro power, I didn't want 2 more batteries under the seat plus a second alternator.

 

[bigredaggie]

Inverter on one side, then 2, 12 volt AGM batteries on the other side to power the inverter with 24 volts. That's why didn't get the pro power, I didn't want 2 more batteries under the seat plus a second alternator.

Thanks for the info! I was eyeing this space for a HAM radio install on a 1x4 spanning the brackets. I was leery of putting the radio up against the inverter side as it surely puts out a ton of RF noise while running. What I hadn’t thought about though was powering the HAM radio from those typically unused batteries that are just sitting there being charged… any thoughts on this use case?