Electrical Suggestion!

[Brantime]

Greetings!

I have a 1976 Coleman Gettysburg that is in relatively good condition; and I have an electrical question concerning this unit!

I am to order a new canvas from Bearcreek tomorrow so I want to make sure that all repairs are completed prior to the arrival of the new canvas.

Electrical- This unit was purchased from a private party and the wiring leaves something to be desired! The unit has two large cables that constitute the entire wiring of the trailer.

Cable one is a 30' cord, probably 30 amp capacity that simply has a double metal box on one end and a 110v plug on the other.

Cable two is the same as cable one in size. The cable has a 110 v plug on one end that goes into a breaker box (15 amp) that is fastened under the dinette seat.

The breaker may have been straight wired at one time into a 110v air conditioner that the previous owner had, however, it is not wired into anything at this time! The breaker is wired to the ext. cable, just nothing out of the breaker!

Question- What would be the best way to handle the wiring/electrical in this old of a unit? Leave it as it is and just plug in the four-way at the campsite?

The electrical items that we have been using is limited to;
1) a clamp on, plug in, 60 watt lamp that we have used in the past
2) 110v room size AC unit that I cut in to the end of the trailer
3) a small 110v, plug in, floor heater (when needed).

The AC & Heater are generally plugged into a seperate, designated ext. cord used just for that one item.

The electrical is very limited and generally I just use what we need, not what I would like to have In the trailer, there are NO fixed plugs or ceiling lights. I just have to run a power strip up onto the back of the galley for the electrical!

Believe it or not, the trailer is very solid and still has some of it's original 70's color schemes, lol!

Suggestions are always appreciated!

[CAPEd CODger]

The wife and I had a '76 Valley Forge,  and I don't remember anything like you are describing. If memory serves, we had the "usual" 30 amp AC cord coming out of the rear dinette bench which was wired directly to the converter. The converter fed a ceiling light, and had an auxillary outlet. Again I think that's how it went.

Anyway, if you are up to the challenge, go ahead and restore the wiring to the converter, if it's been "modified" in a way you don't like or feel is unsafe.

If it's not posing a saftey hazzard or bothering you, save youself a headache and leave well enough alone.

Hey, you asked for opinions!!

Bob

[Brantime]

The wife and I had a '76 Valley Forge,  and I don't remember anything like you are describing. If memory serves, we had the "usual" 30 amp AC cord coming out of the rear dinette bench which was wired directly to the converter. The converter fed a ceiling light, and had an auxillary outlet. Again I think that's how it went.

Anyway, if you are up to the challenge, go ahead and restore the wiring to the converter, if it's been "modified" in a way you don't like or feel is unsafe.

If it's not posing a saftey hazzard or bothering you, save youself a headache and leave well enough alone.

Hey, you asked for opinions!!

Bob

Thanks Bob!

This particular camper has had the converter pulled out from the looks of it and just a simple single breaker installed...

It did have the setup that you described at one time (the single overhead light) however, the light has been disconnected!

I can't imagine being able to convert this old camper back to vintage electrical condition as I guess the cost would be the deciding factor. I would have liked to been able to dry camp some and be able to run lights when needed...

Bob, do you think it would be better to reinstall a converter, batteries, rewire the camper and install fixtures, or simply just purchase a generator and run the setup just as I have with the cords and power strips?

Thanks for your thoughts!

[Recumbentman]

Brantime
Since the original wiring as been hacked up, this would be a good time to just updated your elect. service. You can check out the top of this site and visit the vendor "Bestconverter.com" or you could find out what Fleetwood is presently installing in there PU's. you can place and locate your outlets were you want and install a battery for your overhead lights. the beauty of restoring your PU is that you can have it your way !!

[wavery]

Thanks Bob!

This particular camper has had the converter pulled out from the looks of it and just a simple single breaker installed...

It did have the setup that you described at one time (the single overhead light) however, the light has been disconnected!

I can't imagine being able to convert this old camper back to vintage electrical condition as I guess the cost would be the deciding factor. I would have liked to been able to dry camp some and be able to run lights when needed...

Bob, do you think it would be better to reinstall a converter, batteries, rewire the camper and install fixtures, or simply just purchase a generator and run the setup just as I have with the cords and power strips?

Thanks for your thoughts!

If it were me (and it's not), I would install a battery with a 45a circuit breaker right to the positive post. I would run a 8g neg battery cable directly to the frame from the neg battery post. I would then run the 8g positive battery cable (from the circuit breaker on  the battery) inside and attach it to a well protected battery post (make sure to protect the wire, where it passes through any panels). Attach a couple of in-line 15a fuses , all in a protected box. You can run that positive wire from the fuse to any accessory that you want. You can also add as many fuses as necessary. The key is to have all of your positive connection in a well protected box so that nothing can touch that pos post. They make special panels for that job but they are expensive (pretty) and do no more than what I have just described.

If you are wiring lights (for instance), run a pos wire from the light to a fuse. Run a neg wire to any good ground or directly to the frame. Make sure that you label each fuse (as to what it controls).

If you buy a generator (which I would recommend) you can also get a 25a Smart battery charger (for under $50) that will run off of the generator. That will charge your battery. You can also run a 10g extension cord from the generator to the PU and add a power strip as you mentioned.

That will totally set you up for dry camping. If you camp where they have electrical hook-ups, you are set as well. Instead of having the converter (which I think is a joke IMO) just leave the battery charger hooked up.

You could even install the battery charger inside the camper permanently. Put the charger near the power box. Run the pos connection to your "fuse box" and the neg connection to the frame. Plug the charger into your power strip and every time that you have 110v (generator or shore power) your batteries are being charged.

[Brantime]

If it were me (and it's not), I would install a battery with a 45a circuit breaker right to the positive post. I would run a 8g neg battery cable directly to the frame. I would then run the 8g positive battery cable (from the circuit breaker) inside and attach it to a well protected battery post. Attach a couple of in-line 15a fuses, all in a protected box. You can run that positive wire from the fuse to any accessory that you want. You can also add as many fuses as necessary. The key is to have all of your positive connection in a well protected box so that nothing can touch that pos post. They make special panels for that job but they are expensive (pretty) and do no more than what I have just described.

If you are wiring lights (for instance), run a pos wire from the light to a fuse. Run a neg wire to any good ground or directly to the frame.

If you buy a generator (which I would recommend) you can also get a 25a battery charger (for under $50) that will run off of the generator. That will charge your battery. You can also run a 10g extension cord from the generator to the PU and add a power strip as you mentioned.

That will totally set you up for dry camping. If you camp where they have electrical hook-ups, you are set as well. Instead of having the converter (which I think is a joke) just leave the battery charger hooked up.

You could even install the battery charger inside the camper permanently. Put the charger near the power box. Run the pos connection to your "fuse box" and the neg connection to the frame.

Thanks for the suggestions!

You guys are great!

I have just made a new committement to this old 1976 camper (ordered my new canvas yesterday) so I am at a point of trying to decide the best route for the electrical for the next 4-5 years, lol!

Most of our camping will be in campgrounds that have full hookups, so that type of camping is pretty easy to determine and prepare for...it is the times that we go where there is no electrical that I have to decide on...and I am not an electrician!

I was a pretty good homebuilder (carpenter) so I feel secure when it comes to any mods that need this type of TLC. The wiring on the other hand is a little more tedious when it comes to planning the system, lol!

Thanks again guys!

[lmack]

being charged.

I second what Wayne said....I installed 4 battereies (gel cell 75A each) and mounted a smart charger near them. ran the DC power leads to the 12VDC circuit of the camper and the ac power cord to the outside so I can charge at home on shore power or at the campgroud with my generator, since my Orginal AC power circuit is ok I use the orginal 30A cord when camping with ac power.

Dry camping I plug (using an adapter) the 30A cord into an inverter so I have all the ac plug ins working too...

Built in power converters are not a good battery charger, but if it works keep it.

[wavery]

I second what Wayne said....I installed 4 battereies (gel cell 75A each) and mounted a smart charger near them. ran the DC power leads to the 12VDC circuit of the camper and the ac power cord to the outside so I can charge at home on shore power or at the campgroud with my generator, since my Orginal AC power circuit is ok I use the orginal 30A cord when camping with ac power.

Dry camping I plug (using an adapter) the 30A cord into an inverter so I have all the ac plug ins working too...

Built in power converters are not a good battery charger, but if it works keep it.

I use an inverter too. I found a unique way to mount it. I didn't want it inside because it needs airflow and It takes up space. This works out well:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/wkavery/PtMuguMMorlDay011.jpg

The inverter is held in place by 4 twist locks. It takes about 3 minutes to mount and I can reach the switch from the inside by sticking my hand through the canvas, under the bunk. That way, it doesn't need to be left on all the time.