Power convertors in parallel ?

[birol]

As you all know we re-did the roof of Finally with Lee, and put on lights, a fan and two jacks for additional stuff ......

I was hunting for power converters and they are so expensive, a 30 amp unit is around 245 bucks !!!

I found a 5 amp unit at 39 bucks but I think I need a 10 amp unit at least .....Can I connect two of those units in parallel and have a  10 amp unit ?

I am so disappointed that it costs so much for a convertor

[K-man]

I don't think that would be a good Idea. Electricity is not something you want to play with.  If you buy the right converter, you will never lay in bed wonering is my converter going to start a fire?


Just my 2 cents.

[tlhdoc]

Maybe you can look for a used one.  I don't think it would be efficient to put that much money into a PU that old.

[birol]

ma'am ! EXCUSE ME, BUT, The roof is brand new !!!!


 :p

Maybe you can look for a used one.  I don't think it would be efficient to put that much money into a PU that old.

[Gone-Camping]

Birol, just by an automotive battery charger, does the same thing and most of them have 2 or 3 settings for amps you can use. Best part is, they don't cost much, and likely more reliable!
 
Best part is, you can still use to recharge the trailer battery if you put one in, and can also use to recharge the Windstar battery too!!!

[topcat7736]

Here's what I would do.

Forget the converters. Form separate circuits for everything (lights, fans, outlets, etc.) and run them to an inexpensive fuse panel giving each circuit its own fuse. Allow some extra ones for growth. Connect a group 27 battery to the panel, through a 30 amp fuse, to run all the devices. Buy an automatic battery charger to recharge the battery.

The fact is that you'll mainly be using the 12v at night. A group 27 battery will easily handle things for a 12 hour period. For the other 12 hours, the battery charger will re-charge it. Plus, if dry camping, you won't need to ADD a battery!

And, don't forget that the battery, wire, fuse panel and charger will all be NEW to go along with the NEW ROOF!  

[Martorious]

Speaking of New Roofs, When are we going to see some pics of the new roof?
 
And I like Topcat's answer, in fact if I do get this 'new-2-me' 1971 Starcraft Starmaster 1220 that I'm looking at, that is probably the route I'll be taking.

[birol]

Two converters are 80 bucks, I gotta buy a group 27 battery, have something welded to the hitch to put it on, buy the smart trickle charger, it will cost a lot more the battery way. Lee also suggested that I get a battery and  a charger but, it is too expensive right now And I need it to work this weekend

Here's what I would do.

Forget the converters. Form separate circuits for everything (lights, fans, outlets, etc.) and run them to an inexpensive fuse panel giving each circuit its own fuse. Allow some extra ones for growth. Connect a group 27 battery to the panel, through a 30 amp fuse, to run all the devices. Buy an automatic battery charger to recharge the battery.

The fact is that you'll mainly be using the 12v at night. A group 27 battery will easily handle things for a 12 hour period. For the other 12 hours, the battery charger will re-charge it. Plus, if dry camping, you won't need to ADD a battery!

And, don't forget that the battery, wire, fuse panel and charger will all be NEW to go along with the NEW ROOF!  

[topcat7736]

B,
You can use a Group 24 battery as well ($40usd at any Walmart). An auto charger is also about $40. The Group 27 is $50 at Walmart.

I don't have anything to mount our battery on. I just stick it on the tongue when I arrive at the destination & carry it inside the door of the popup (in a box that won't tip over) when traveling. The group 24 or 27 model to get should say Deep Cycle Trolling on it.

For this weekend, just install the circuits & fusebox and use the charger as Cliff suggested. Don't waste money on the low end converters that you won't need in the future.

[birol]

I saw one battery charger which can charge at 12 Amps at 12 volts, can't I just use that permanently that is till I get a battery

B,
You can use a Group 24 battery as well ($40usd at any Walmart). An auto charger is also about $40. The Group 27 is $50 at Walmart.

I don't have anything to mount our battery on. I just stick it on the tongue when I arrive at the destination & carry it inside the door of the popup (in a box that won't tip over) when traveling. The group 24 or 27 model to get should say Deep Cycle Trolling on it.

For this weekend, just install the circuits & fusebox and use the charger as Cliff suggested. Don't waste money on the low end converters that you won't need in the future.

[birol]

This good ? or something equivalent to this ?

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=AUTO&pid=02871222000

[Gone-Camping]

If you're talking about using the battery charger as a converter to make 12vdc power, yes it will work. However, 12 amps is a bit too much for charging deep cycle batteries, and not enough amps to run too many lights. If I were in your shoes, I'd find a medium priced battery charger that has amp setting at 2amps (for slow charging deep cycle batteries) and a boost setting that will provide a whole lot of amps (30-45+), plus a setting inbetween (somewhere around 10-15amps).
 
If you're not going to use for more than one or two lights, the 12amp charger will work fine. The Sears unit you linked to would be perfect, most RV converters are 45-55amp units. That 50 amp setting will allow for several lights at the same time!

[birol]

Cliff, you scare me now ...... Those which can produce 30 amps on a rgular basis cost a lot of money. The 50 amp setting is only to start a car, I guess it is not meant to be continous use.

The lights are I guess around 1.5 or 2 amps (I have two) The fan is two amps maximum, I was guessing that 10 amps would be more than enough. They all seem to have 2 amps, 10 or 12 amps and 50 or 75 amps .... 2 amps is for trickle charge I assume.

Do I really need 30 amps to run a  few lights and the fan ?

[Gone-Camping]

Well, 50 amps on a battery would fry it. But 50 amps available to power various 12 items is good. The 12vdc converter in my Hybrid is a 45amp unit, newer ones I'm seeing (bigger trailers) have 55amps. You don't have to use the 50 amp setting, but it's great to have if you gotta lot of stuff to power. And even when you do use it, it won't hurt it to stay on (unless the battery is hooked up too).

The likely hood is, the 12amp unit will do fine for the couple of lights you have in the trailer. Trouble is, it'll be too much for slow charging your battery once you get it. You need to make sure what ever you buy has a trickle charge capability as well as enough amps to power your lights as needed.
 
Question, how many lights do you have? You know how to figure out amps required to run them?
Total Watts divide by volts equals amps...

[Gone-Camping]

In other words, if you got (I'm just throwing numbers out)...
 
2 lights drawing 75W at 12v
 
1 fan drawing 100w at 12v
 
total 175w