Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Found this light for a porch light for the rear of my camper. 10 bucks at Lowes. Same one was 20 bucks at Home Depot. It is wired to the electric eye beneath it and has a switch just inside the door. The door will open from the left illuminating the interior a bit so's you can get in the camper at night without steppin' on somethin' or somebody when the lights are off inside.




I had to put some tin foil inside it across the middle to tone down the glare similar to those deflectors you put in Coleman lanterns. Worked great. This thing might stick out a little too far for installing on the side of a tear but it might be used in the interior. I cut the housing off about an inch to make it not stick out so far. 110V though.

Sweet!

and you can't beat the price!
What's your entire wiring schematic look like? I'm wondering about what to do with mine since I can use the plug in the back of my truckbed if I need power. Here's a picture. Trouble with that is I have to have the truck running I think, I haven't used it yet.

My camper is rigged for 110V shorepower only. No DC. Below is the diagram I drew to show to an electrician friend of mine to see if I wasn't gonna mess up somethin' or hurt somebody. As you can see I'm not an electrician but from a couple of basic housewiring books I had around the house I came up with this.

Basically I have a box inside the camper that provides three circuits. 2 15amp and one 20 amp. I plug in everything. Most of the receptacles are housed in one cabinet along with the service entrance box. All the lights just plug into these receptacles. Real simple. The microwave and AC also just plug into these receptacles. I do have two outside 20 amp outlets and two 20 amp interior receptacles that are accessible from the interior. Three of the interior flourescent lights have 10 amp receptacles also. So I gots plenty of plug in places.






So behind door number 1




My little service entrance box with all the receptacles and stuff plugged in. This is the way you do it when ya don't know much about whatcher doin'....but it all works....at the same time...no smoke...no sparks....all grounded and no one hurt.



Shore power comes in from underneath through this little entrance box. Da rain can't get to it here. I carry a 50 foot shore power line with two male plugs.

GeorgeT wrote:My little service entrance box with all the receptacles and stuff plugged in. This is the way you do it when ya don't know much about whatcher doin'....but it all works....at the same time...no smoke...no sparks....all grounded and no one hurt.


Shore power comes in from underneath through this little entrance box. Da rain can't get to it here. I carry a 50 foot shore power line with two male plugs.

George,

I'm not an electrician either but, One thing that kinda scares me about your setup is the 50'cable with the two male ends. NO WAY would I ever make up a cable like that, IMHO you should replace the trailer end of the cable with a female plug & try to find a receptacle for the trailer with a male socket or whatever else you can find. There's a good reason why you'll never find an extension cord sold with two male ends.

Yeah, I thought about that too. Couldn't find a male setup at the camper like you say. On the side of the in-box under the trailer is a label I put on it that says "Unplug from shore first" and on both ends of the cord I have a round of duct tape that says "Plug to trailer first" to remind me. Good point and observation though!

Hmmm...dont' know whahoppen to my remarks, so I'll try again.

The answer to the problem lies here: http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... storeNum=9

Boaters have had to deal with shore power issues for a long time. Ever wonder why it's called "shore power" even on a Teardrops forum?

Ralph

Terbeau wrote: Ever wonder why it's called "shore power" even on a Teardrops forum?

Ralph

Probably because a bunch of the people on here are boat builders. No, it's because that's what they are called when you buy them.