Electrical Query

[Brantime]

Greetings All!

I know that most on the board have quite  newer units than the old fixer upper that I purchased some time ago, however, not many enjoy their PU anymore than I...so I will pose a question for the group!

When I purchased my 1976 Coleman Gettysburg PU, I did so knowing full well that the electrical service had been removed...no problem! I have been simply running a heavy duty extension cord from the old service plug hole into the camper and connecting a two way plug for inside service if needed! This system is completely serviceable, but at times, barely adequate!

I run a clamping 120 v light for my daughter to read with (and it helps to see inside the trailer also), lol, and a couple of times an electric floor heater.

Question: Would you redo the electrical service if it was your trailer? It would be nice to be able to have a couple of plug in that I could use at the same time...say a crock pot for my soups, a light, maybe a clock, even some heat occasionally, lol!

I know it is a personal choice item...just how important is it to you guys to have a proper electrical setup in your trailer?

Thanks for your opinions...I am not sure that I will change the way I connect to the electrical world...but I just might!

Keep camping no matter what!

[Beerlifter]

IMHO..It is nice to pull into a site and plug into the box and have lights and the extra 110v outlets and the 12v outlets (with converter). I don't see where setting up a PU for this would be this difficult. Converters are reasonably priced these days and wiring isn't that complicated, especially with the help from everyone here. I guess it is more of a *do I really need* type thing. I have friends that do basically the same thing in the tents that you speak of. Heck they even put a small window unit in the doorway of there tent and run it! Myself, I enjoy the luxury of plugging in one plug and having pretty much all I need to camp for the time I'm there. Sure makes for easier movement around the inside of the PU without having to step over extension cords and such.

[wavery]

Greetings All!

I know that most on the board have quite  newer units than the old fixer upper that I purchased some time ago, however, not many enjoy their PU anymore than I...so I will pose a question for the group!

When I purchased my 1976 Coleman Gettysburg PU, I did so knowing full well that the electrical service had been removed...no problem! I have been simply running a heavy duty extension cord from the old service plug hole into the camper and connecting a two way plug for inside service if needed! This system is completely serviceable, but at times, barely adequate!

I run a clamping 120 v light for my daughter to read with (and it helps to see inside the trailer also), lol, and a couple of times an electric floor heater.

Question: Would you redo the electrical service if it was your trailer? It would be nice to be able to have a couple of plug in that I could use at the same time...say a crock pot for my soups, a light, maybe a clock, even some heat occasionally, lol!

I know it is a personal choice item...just how important is it to you guys to have a proper electrical setup in your trailer?

Thanks for your opinions...I am not sure that I will change the way I connect to the electrical world...but I just might!

Keep camping no matter what!

Personally, I wouldn't bother. Although, I would use a 10g extension cord to the trailer. From that, I would merely use a power strip with a built in circuit breaker. With a 10g cord to the trailer you could even run shorter (12g) ext cords off of that, inside the trailer.

After all, the box of your camper is only 8-12ft from one end to the other. We rarely use more than 2- 110v items at one time.

I would find it more important to have the 12v service working (with a battery) than the 110v service. We do mostly dry camping and use the 12v service most of the time.

[mike4947]

To get any real increase in what you can use in the trailer you have have to increase the input. Once you plug into the smallest outlet on the shore power or at home you have a 15 or 20 amp limit no matter what you do. The circuit breaker on the shore/house end sets your limit.

A space heater all by itself draws 12 amps (1500 watts). To figure out amps you draw simply read the data tag on anything you want to plug in and if it's rated in watts divide the wattage by 120 volt to get the amps. Add them up and if they exceed the circuit breaker rating or the extension cord rating, you'll have to swap out things.
 
The option is to purchase a converter (apx $150-$200) and a 30 amp shore power cord. This will allow you to use the higher amperage outlet at a campground (but will still limit you at home as you'll need an adapter to your house 15-20 amp outlet)
You'll have two circuit breakers in the converter (one 15 amp, and one 20 amp) that you can wire outlets from to use.
You can call these folks http://www.bestconverter.com/view_category.asp?cat=63 and they can set you up with what you need and give you pricing.

[Brantime]

The option is to purchase a converter (apx $150-$200) and a 30 amp shore power cord. This will allow you to use the higher amperage outlet at a campground (but will still limit you at home as you'll need an adapter to your house 15-20 amp outlet)
You'll have two circuit breakers in the converter (one 15 amp, and one 20 amp) that you can wire outlets from to use.
You can call these folks http://www.bestconverter.com/view_category.asp?cat=63 and they can set you up with what you need and give you pricing.

Mike...

Thanks for the suggestions...I am very interested in upgrading my power. I am pertty handy, however, not quite as knowledgeable in the Electrical field. What actually does the converter do? I will be researching this myself but I thought I would ask anyway, lol! Having the double breakers with the converter sounds very appealing!

Wavery
I would find it more important to have the 12v service working (with a battery) than the 110v service. We do mostly dry camping and use the 12v service most of the time.

Wavery
I am also interested in having the 12 volt system...providing it is not to expensive to do so! I dry camp a lot in the National Parks and plan on hitting the National Park/Forrest/Army Corp of Engineers campgrounds and most are drycamping! What all is required to have a good 12 volt system? Do you have to recharge your batteries very often (I know it depends on useage) but can you get any type of charging system to use while drycamping...ie. solar, your tow vehicle, etc...?

I appreciate the response from you guys and will depend on your help here in the near future, lol, once I etermine just how I want to procede!

[mike4947]

Our converters do just about everything. I call them works in a box.
 
You start out with the shore power cord which connects to the 120 volt AC circuit breakers. A 20 amp usually dedicated to an air conditioner with a 20 amp outlet somewhere in the trailer, but it can be used for thing that are high draw like a microwave or second heater when no AC is needed.
Then there is a 15 amp circuit breaker that does EVERYTHING else. All the 120 volt outlets are off this breaker, and the transformer/recitifier that converts the 120 volt to 12 volt (hence the name). The rating you see on converters is the 12 volt amperage output. So you can have a 20 amp converter or a 35 amp converter with a 30 amp shore power cord.
Connected to the transformer is the 12 volt fuse distribution block and if it has one the battery charger. All the various 12 volt applications including the battery come off the fuse block.

[wavery]

Mike...

Wavery
I am also interested in having the 12 volt system...providing it is not to expensive to do so! I dry camp a lot in the National Parks and plan on hitting the National Park/Forrest/Army Corp of Engineers campgrounds and most are drycamping! What all is required to have a good 12 volt system? Do you have to recharge your batteries very often (I know it depends on useage) but can you get any type of charging system to use while drycamping...ie. solar, your tow vehicle, etc...?

Do you still have the 12v lights and water pump in your PU??

If you do install a converter, you need only put a deep cycle battery on the tongue of your trailer. You may need to build a bracket out of angle iron, to hold the battery. You will need to run a pos & neg 10g wire to the converter, inside the camper. The converter has it's own distribution panel.

If you just want to install a 12v system (without a converter), you will need to install a distribution panel that has 3 or 4 places for fuses. It's best to have 1 fuse for the water pump, 1 for the lights and 1 for a 12v (cigarette lighter type) receptacle etc. I assume that you don't have a 12v fridge. If you do, it will need a separate fuse also. You can pick them up at Radio Shack. Some of them even have volt meters built in. This is handy for power management.

We usually go 2 days without having to charge a single (29 series) deep cycle battery. We use our lights etc at will and are not at all careful about usage on a 2-day trip. We can go 3 days if we are careful with usage.

We decided to install 2-29 series deep cycle batteries and an "Inverter". The inverter will change 12v to 110v (house current) for using household appliances like microwave etc. That's an entirely different topic though and would add a LOT of cost to what you want to do. You could install a single battery, distribution panel and wiring for around $150.

We carry a Honda EU2000I (quiet) generator if we camp for more than 2 days. There are also solar panels but they are not reliable for camping IMHO. Too many variables can render solar panels ineffective, IE weather, too much shade etc. Charging your battery with the tow vehicle is not a safe or effective option IMO. Too much carbon monoxide and it takes a lot of fuel to run the engine for long periods of time. Also, it's just not worth taking the chance of damaging the tow vehicle by over-heating if the fan (or something else) fails.

[Brantime]

Do you still have the 12v lights and water pump in your PU??

Wavery...


Unfortunately, all the electrical was striped out of the camper prior to our purchase. I have had the PU for almost two years and have used it numerous times on outings of up to 7 days and just really enjoy the PU!

There is a single 12 volt light on the ceiling, however, the converter has been removed.

As I stated previously, I just drag a heavy duty extension cord around with me, or we just do without the electrical aspect of camping...not that bad, lol!

We spent 7 nights on July 4th in RMNP (drycamping) and just used clamp-on LED book lights for inside. We used campfires or the old Coleman stove (yes the PU has a functioning 3 burner stove in it) to cook/clean with, and my wife, daughter, and myself had A GREAT TIME on the trip!

Would it be better to go ahead and purchase a converter even if all you ever did was camp without shore power? I know tht the biggest concern is winter camping and the need to run  heater. We love to camp in the fall/winter/spring here (Texas) due to the heat and humidity.

We have been able to run an AC/electric floor heater as well as lights when hooked straight into shore power with the extension cords...

I am in the beginning phase of R&D and haven't made up my mind either way, lol!

Thanks for your imput on this thought!

Mark

[wavery]

Would it be better to go ahead and purchase a converter even if all you ever did was camp without shore power? I know tht the biggest concern is winter camping and the need to run  heater. We love to camp in the fall/winter/spring here (Texas) due to the heat and humidity.

We have been able to run an AC/electric floor heater as well as lights when hooked straight into shore power with the extension cords...

I am in the beginning phase of R&D and haven't made up my mind either way, lol!

Thanks for your imput on this thought!

Mark

If you only dry camp (no shore power), I would just install a battery and use 12v. A converter would be useless to you.

Do you have a water tank?
Do you have a water pump?

[Brantime]

If you only dry camp (no shore power), I would just install a battery and use 12v. A converter would be useless to you.

Do you have a water tank?
Do you have a water pump?

If I am using 12 volt system...just what is the actual setup that I would need? I can build almost anything...just never have been hardpressed to do any eletrical work, lol!

The trailer I have has a hand pumping water pump and is equipped with a tank. I suppose that my main concerns are hot weather and also, now I need to be concerned about my wife's CPAT machine. I do not know much about the draw of the CPAT...but I do know I would miss my AC here in Texas, lol!

Should I just forget about drycamping and focus on rewiring my trailers shore power (converter) so that I have a constant supply of electricity for the CPAT?

Thanks again for you suggestions!