Phillips Industries introduces inverter

SANTA FE SPRINGS, Calif. (March 19, 2001) — Even the biggest sleeper on the road is hardly a home if you have to make due with take-out coffee and a cold lunch. Heating up a meal in a microwave or brewing your own cuppa joe are indulgences reserved for days off the road.

There’s a push for change, however, coming from producers of power inverters. Inverters convert DC electrical power coming from the truck’s batteries to ordinary 110/120-volt alternating current, just like in your home. Many have battery chargers built in, giving your truck’s batteries a recharge when the inverter/charger is connected to a power source. Of course, supporting the move toward “shore power” are environmental regulators, who want to find ways to curb engine idling.

Some truck makers are hard-wiring inverters into the vehicle’s electrical system and incorporating a charger that refreshes your truck’s batteries when the inverter is connected to the power source.

Retrofitting is another option. Phillips Industries, maker of electrical connectors and wiring for heavy trucks, introduced a 120-volt AC system for sleepers that takes about four hours to install. The Qp3 Shore Power System consists of a power receptacle mounted to the outside of the truck sleeper and wired to a junction box inside. From there, outlets on the sleeper walls are wired. A bonus: not only does Qp3 provide a wiring system for 120 volts in the truck, it has provision for a phone-data-fax port and a TV antenna.

Phillips says it will provide Qp3 kits to OEs-Freightliner is offering it in the new Coronado-and at the electrical upfitter or even in the aftermarket.


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