Hi, I'm a single female Newbie.  Just bought the most gorgeous (to me anyway)
small motorhome called Matilda.  Done a few short trips in her as well as one

1000 klm trip interstate. Being a total technophobe, could someone please

explain to me in words of one syllable what an inverter is, what does it do, and do I need one?

first up congratulations on your purchase and welcome to a whole new world, weird and wonderfull as it can be, basically invertors take a 12 volt charge (battery power) and convert it to 240 volt ( mains power) so you can run things like tvs and dvd players off your battery. the more things you want to run, or the bigger the things you want to run,  the bigger the inverter and the more battery power you need. you also must take in to consideration the means to "repower" your battery if you are staying in the one place any length of time, if only overnight watching a little tv and a couple of lights ( which should be on 12 volt) then a 300 watt inverter on a single battery of say 100 amp hours will do you, driving for a couple of hours the next day will recharge your battery,  if staying longer in one place then you need a bigger (or dual system with a redarc battery isolater)  and perhaps a solar panel to recharge, you may already have an "onboard" automatic inverter, try plugging something in to a socket when not attached to mains, if it runs then you are laughing.  this is a whole world unto itself and really you need to see an auto electrician and tell him (or her) what you wish to do and he will give you the best advice. anyway dont be frightened of "the road" and all its strangers, the next people you will meet may be your best friends for life, we have yet to meet the "bad guys" after nearly 20 years of forays into this fantastic land that we call aust. and many tens of thousands of kilometres. just as an afterthought I think you would benefit greatly from joining the c.m.c.a. or caravan and motorhome owners club of australia, there you will find friends who are more than willing to help in an invaluble way, hundreds of years (collective) of experience and a wealth of information, you can go on tours with them and go to the rallies, all over australia, and when you get to a fantastic spot you are with friends, they have "helpers" like me all over the place who for no charge will "help" with breakdowns or little mishaps like busted cupboard doors or welding jobs. the website is www.cmca.net.au I know you will enjoy the company, we do.  

-- Edited by dave06 at 17:57, 2008-06-30

Good advise, dave06. My only caution would be that, in my experience, few auto electritions seem to know anything about solar systems, or motohome systems in general for that matter, better to find a specialist with motorhome experience. Extaff, the CMCA aso has an excellent forum and good technical advise is always available very quickly. Great camper. You will have a ball! Cheers, Peter.

yep agree with that pete but one must start somewhere

Thanks for all your advice - I did try plugging something in when not attached to mains power, but it didn't work, so I guess I don't already have an inverter.  Will look into it tho - my biggest problem is that I have a straight 240v fridge, not a 3-way, so only able to manage one night without power. 

I've applied to join the CMCA, as recommended - they certainly have a very interesting and helpful site.

I'm looking forward to getting on the road as soon as the weather warms up a bit.  I've been living in Qld for a few years, so feel the cold down here in NSW.  I know what a wonderful life it is because my parents were Grey Nomads for 20 years.  They certainly managed to spend my inheritance, so I'm planning to do the same for my kids!

bad luck worth a try you never know, as soon as you join the cmca look in the help section, maybe in the forum and see if there is a person who works on motorhome electrics, or knows anything about them, , there may be a "helper" not far from you. there is a lot of info available in there that you will find extremely interesting it would also pay to replace the fridge if you are going to free camp as they are notoriously power hungry. did you notice the special piece just on the single travelers

yes I totally agree we should have a SKI club...Can I have a rant about my kids? There called "I" and they all were adopted from the "Want" family who could not keep up sufficient cash flow to keep them in the manner they were acustomed...
Seriously, yes seriously duck out to Bunnings or Aldi and buy a Generator....I know all the purists are loading their shang eyes to pelt me but unless you are going to stop in places that provide power and have a fortune to spend on solar panels, wind generators etc then a Generator is a great as a stand by, occasional use thing. I have an Aldi one and it is very quiet, cost $149 and gives 1200 watts surge 850 cruising which is not much but it is enough to keep the fridge running and lights, or if I just runs the lights it's like the "Blackpool Illuminations"..... Runs for 6 hours on a fill....
Lots of HUBRIS around about these cheap Gennies, but you do not need to spend $2000 to get one....

A handy little booklet called "Ten things you should know about Inverters" is available for approx $5.00 from www.Life-Positive-Energy.com. which I found extreemly handy and informative. Hope this may help you.sorry I did not reply earlier
but i have just joined and this is my first reply.
Foxy.

Hi Foxy, thanks for the advice - it's a very interesting looking site, tho some of the ideas are a bit way out and impractical for me.  I've joined up so that I can get the booklet on inverters.  Just been thru the exercise of finding out what wattage my fridge and microwave are.  Getting there!  Learning as I go.
Extaff