Dedicated Nav Station Inverter
May 7, 2011
A small, dedicated 110V 60hz inverter was needed in the nav station to allow using off the shelf low power computers, flat panel displays, and other equipment. This inverter needs to be small enough that when powering small computers and displays the idling power draw is not significant.  A 350 VA inverter from Victron Energy was selected as the ideal drop in. This inverter now powers the socket in the nav station, two sockets inside of the locker forward of the nav station, and the two displays in the nav area (one in the nav station, one where the old weatherfax unit used to be installed.

I partially selected Victron Energy to see what their customer service was in the event that there were issues installing the inverter.

Victron Energy Inverter
Here is the Victron Energy inverter hooked up sufficiently to be sure that the unit works prior to installing it in the back of the cabinet
Selected installation location for inverter
There is considerable room behind the old CRT based radar unit and the amount of space will be larger once a new LCD / LED based display replaces it someday.
Inverter Wiring Close Up
Here is a close up of the inverter wiring. Note that since this inverter is completely independent of any shore power wiring it is vital to connect AC ground to case ground so that the GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interupter). Due to the small size of the inverter and the large size of the AC wiring the DC circuit fuse is considered sufficient to provide overload protection for the inverter. The two plugs are wired in parallel inside the unit, thus I used one of the two to provide positive bonding between AC neutral and ships ground.
Another look at the inverter
The other power line is conencted to the two independent circuits, one for the navigation computer and two navigation displays, the other circuit powers the AC plug in the nav area as well as computers, network switches, etc which are in the adjacent locker. Both are independently switchable and have independent GFCI controls. (This is necessary to avoid someone plugging a defective device into the nav station plug, tripping the GFCI, and bringing down the entire navigation system)
Locker forward of nav station
This is the locker just in front of Nav area, the two holes through the bulkhead provide for AC power to come into this locker as well as computer connections to go back and forth.