power

[munchkin]

Hi!


Survived 1st pop-up trip great. Only 1 problem. Ours is a 1982 Viking and only has a Baseler electric 15 amp power converter. We'd like to upgrade to between 40 and 60 amps. We don't plan on any boondocking, so the battery connectors and chargers aren't a foreseeable issue. We also need to supply the 12-volt DC through this. What do we need exactly and where do we find it?

Thanks again!

Munchkin and GrumpyCamper

[wavery]

Hi!


Survived 1st pop-up trip great. Only 1 problem. Ours is a 1982 Viking and only has a Baseler electric 15 amp power converter. We'd like to upgrade to between 40 and 60 amps. We don't plan on any boondocking, so the battery connectors and chargers aren't a foreseeable issue. We also need to supply the 12-volt DC through this. What do we need exactly and where do we find it?

Thanks again!

Munchkin and GrumpyCamper

In case you want to understand what a converter is and what it does. Try reading this:
http://www.rversonline.org/ArtTipsConverter.html

Then if you really do want a 60A converter (I can't imagine why) take a look at these:
http://www.bigdiscountrv.com/power_converters.htm

[mike4947]

If you're talking 120m volt AC amps then standard campground power sources are 15/20 amps @ 120 volts AC, 30 amps @ 120 volts AC, and 50 amps @240 volts AC.

Standard PU supplies are 30 amp on the AC side and can vary from as little as 12 amps to a high of 60 amps @ 12 volts DC.
 
 
http://www.bestconverter.com/ These folks are very good at helping RV electrical novices.

[munchkin]

looks like a 30 amp is all we'll probably ever need. The problem was that if more than 2 items were used, the circuit breaker in the camper tripped.

[wavery]

looks like a 30 amp is all we'll probably ever need. The problem was that if more than 2 items were used, the circuit breaker in the camper tripped.

If you are talking about 110V and you plugged in the toaster and hair dryer at the same time (2- 1500w appliances) you would be trying to run 30A on a 20A circuit. Doing that at home will also blow a circuit breaker.

You just have to remember not to try to use 2 high draw items (anything over 1000w) at the same time. That's why they call it a "Camper" and not a "Home".

[AustinBoston]

That's why they call it a "Camper" and not a "Home".

We lived in ours for 5-6 weeks between houses.  If it wasn't a home, then we were "homeless."  

Austin

[munchkin]

Thank you, Austin. Sorry I'm such an idiot with this--at home we never encountered these problems (with the fridge, a coffeemaker and a fan plugged in at once and then encountering a tripped circuit) and are seriously in learning phase of "pop-up camping"--1st pop-up and 1st trip just this weekend. Thanks for your patience and advice from all of you. Someone sent a link to best converters.com and we e-mailed them. As the brand we have is totally unknown to the staff, they suggested we replace it with a 25 amp. Might also have to redo wiring, not sure yet. Another summer project--at least the roof rebuild is over.

[ScouterMom]

Most of the places we camp have more than one power outlet in the hookup box - since we used to have one of those electric coolers, and now we have a dorm fridge (which we haven't used yet) and I also have only 15 amp service, I just figured I would run a heavy extension cord to the fridge, and continue to just run lights and fan off the camper lines.

I have also thought of upgrading the box to 30 amps - then we could run the fridge and a small AC unit if we really wanted to. ( I think) But I would also have to add outlets somewhere.

laura

[munchkin]

We've come to the conclusion that the extension cord idea is the best for the time being. Thanks to Waverly's website suggestions, I now understand that in order to use more power, we'd need to upgrade to a 30 amp and add outlets. Not worth the trouble this year. 1 of the outlets uses 10 of the amps and the rest is in the 1 we tried. So, more evenly divide the power load, run an extension for the fridge if needed and be more careful. Thanks!!