Hey GD,
You have received a lot of advice here. Sorry to be late to the party but I have been through the experience of upgrading our Mobile Suites for off-grid use. We have the Xantrex RS3000 Inverter/Charger and 4 6V deep cycle batteries that were installed as an option when the trailer was built. This model has a built-in 50A transfer switch. It is no longer manufactured. Extensive modification to the low voltage wiring was necessary to make this system into the efficent power source it is today. It took a while and was expensive to get that done but I am pleased with the results. If you are interested I can explain why these modifications were necessary.
I have also installed four 135W solar panels feeding into an Outback 60 charge controller and that installation does a nice job of keeping our four Trojan T-125 batteries charged.
You can find some pictures of the installation/modification I did at:
http://good-times.webshots.com/album...MdwVi?start=24
At the end of those pictures you will find a 2-page wiring schematic that I made for my installation. Ignore page 2 but page 1 will show you the necessary hookups. Be advised I have modified the roof brackets for the solar panels since these pictures were taken. I underestimated the low sun angle in December and was getting shadows from the A/C units. I have sinced raised the panels and placed them further outboard with additional aluminum angle stock.
I retained the standard equipment 'converter' for back up purposes only. It is not wired in and you can see how that works on the schematic. The Inverter/Charger is not a throw-away item and in the event of a failure it may need to be sent away for repairs. I have made accommodation in the installation for the safe removal of the inverter and insertion of the converter to provide a means to charge batteries with the inverter removed. The solar charging system lessens that dependence but I still carry the converter.
It is my opinion that the converter provided is not ideal as the primary charging device while on shore power. The design criteria for the converter output voltage and the necessary voltage to fully charge the batteries are not matched. The converter will charge the batteries but it will not fully charge them and that is critical for extended off grid use.
We have quite a bit of experience with this system now and find on an average boondocking day we typically use 165-200AH battery capacity. On good sun days the solar system will recharge the batteries fully by early afternoon. With 480AH of capacity our consumpiton is well below the 50% maximum (240AH) that should ever be drawn from the batteries.
We can run all our equipment excluding A/C, refrigerator and water heater on electric. Microwave is no problem but used sparingly -- not our primary cooking device. The refrigerator and water heater stay on propane while not on shore power. We must be prudent with the use of power but we don't sit in the dark. Entertainment system with satellite receivers is no problem and computer is low draw too. Toaster and coffee maker in the morning finishes off our consumption before a new charging day begins. We use a battery monitor to monitor the critical details of the system. This is very important. This past winter we re-lamped most of the trailer with LEDs. I routinely lock out equipment I don't want used while off-grid by flipping the circuit breakers for them.
So that is me. Just to let you know you are getting advice from someone who has been there.
I believe the product your are using is a Singerex Pursine II 2000-12. If I have that wrong please correct me.
You can find the product information for that product at:
http://www.sinergex.com/products/puresineII_2000.html
The user manual that includes installation information is at:
http://www.sinergex.com/products/fil...usermanual.pdf
The user manual covers the whole series of the Pursine II so you will have to identify your model.
This equipment appears to be an Inverter only with no battery charger component. You will have to make a decision as to how your batteries will be charged while on shore power. You have been correctly advised the device in your trailer is not an inverter but a battery charger also known as a converter. If you are serious about boondocking you might give some thought to an inverter/charger device if you have not already obtained your equipment.
There is no problem putting two inverters in the rig but the circuits must be separated and this is a major task which requires intimate understanding of the entire system. I have considered putting in a smaller inverter to power the lower power consumption devices that we tend to use for long periods -- computer and entertainment equipment qualify for that.
Why would I do this? There is a considerable overhead in power consumption of the big inverter just having the inverter turned on. We routinely shut off the inverter during periods we do not need 110VAC.
You have been given excellent advice to consult with John Palmer and since you are in Florida this is excellent advice. I have been to John's campground and they live off-grid out there all the time. John knows his stuff and does good work. He is a no BS kind of guy and does not come cheap but novice mistakes can be expensive too not to speak of dangerous. You really need to know what you are doing before working on a powerful system like this. There is potential to kill you if you don't know what you are doing.
A really good source of information is Jack Myers RV Electrical Tutorial at:
http://www.jackdanmayer.com/rv_electrical_and_solar.htm
Jack is a really good guy and was my mentor as I went through the process of installing my system. Even if you outsource this work the information Jack provides will make you an informed consumer. Pay particular attention to wire sizes -- most important. Jack discusses the optimized use of sub-panels that you were also enquiring about.
Hope this helps.