25amp service

[sentence]

Hi, and thanks for all the replies on my bearing question.....I was doing a little winter camping a coulpe of weeks ago and lost all power one morning. On the way home I dropped off the pup at a dealer for a look over. The technician called me and said my 12amp converter/charger had blown. He also told me that he would replace it with a 25amp service. His price including labour was way too high for me and being fairly handy, I bought an Elixer 25amp c/c and plan on insalling it myself this weekend. Any tips? :canada:

[AustinBoston]

Most converters have a single line to the battery that carries current either to the battery during charging, or from the battery when dry camping.  Make sure that wire is heavy enough to carry 25 amps.  It probably is, but it needs to be at least 10 gauge wire (smaller numbers are better).

Make sure there is plenty of circulation for the fan.  Today's converters are relatively efficient, but they still generate some heat, and heat + electronics = failure.   Circulating into a closed compartment is not usually adequate.

When I replaced my converter, I was able to make a simple improvement in the 120 volt wiring.  Each of the converters had a dual breaker (one 15 amp and one 20 amp in a single device).  Other than the colors, the breakers were the same (same footprint, manufacturer, service rating, and part number).  The new converter had space for two devices, but only had one installed.  It was wired with the 20 amp breaker on a single outlet intended for an air conditioner, adn everything else (fridge, converter, and two outlets) on the other breaker.  I think I calculated the fridge and converter at a combined 8 amps, which only left 7 available to those two outlets.  It was a no-brainer to add the old breaker to the new converter, and wire the fridge and converter to the added 15 amp breaker.  I left the additional 20 amp breaker unused and turned off, then labeled all of the breakers.  

The net result is one 20 amp circuit with a 20 amp outlet, one 15 amp circuit with two outlets (one is a GFCI outlet that protects both outlets), and a dedicated 15 amp circuit for the fridge outlet and the converter.  If you are able to do something like this, keep in mind that you are still limited to a total of 30 amps by the power post.

Austin

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Thanks for the reply....I have niether a fridge or an air conditioner so no problem there. I am hopeful that the two 15amp breakers are transferable.