enclosed trailer

[wrknman]

I have an idea about "finishing" the inside of my 7x12' to be used at motorcycle rallies and possibly take the kids camping. I'm probably going to have a very basic finish (no potty) I need room for 1 or 2 bikes....with that said I want to give my background. I have done electrical work, mostly industrial motor control wiring troubleshooting. I'm not an expert, just good at making things run. I'm starting at the bottom here with wiring my trailer. I dont have a camper and very little experience in one so please be patient.......My question is do I need this converter? I feel I can run some recepticles and 120 VAC lighting (I have a generator) but I cant run generator all the time and occassionally will be at rallies with no power. Do campers typically have 12VDC lighting?....somebody set me straight and in the mean time I'll be reading the forum. Thanks in advance.....Don

[Miriam C.]

It is yours---make it to suit what you need. I have both and no converter...that was just too much for me...Really I wasn't going to do electricity but Mike wanted air conditioning. Now the kids really love being able to plug in the First Up lights and play on the computer... It is nice to see at night and make coffee.

[wrknman]

Ok, I should've said it this way. I want to have 120vac so I can run my A/C and maybe a small refrigerator when I'm connected to shore power or have my portable 4500watt generator running. More importantly I want lights all the time and maybe run a air pump for my mattress and be able to recharge my battery or batteries.

[wrknman]

I feel like there's an all in one device for this sorta thing just not sure what to be looking for.

[Miriam C.]

First you have almost everything you need now...An converter is AC to DC. If you get one you can make all your lighting 12vdc and don't forget the LED's. I have a battery and one set of lights in the cabin that are 12vdc. The power switch panel ( http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops%C ... 62/-503579) has a 12 volt receptacle so I can charge stuff or run the computer... It also acts as a shut off. I have a cheap battery float charger.



And can add other lights as needed. I run AC florescents most of the time. Does that help?

http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=20164

[ERV]

You need to look into a ' power center" or what is called a converter. All your ac 120 runs into it. You can run 12v. or 120 lights and plugs out of it. It will also charge your battery. Most trailers use 12v for lights, that way if you are off some where with no power you still have lights. It also has fuses and breakers in it to protect your trailer.
If you go to the top of the page you will see a lot of info on wiring your trailer.

[bobhenry]

If you want to keep it super simple just toss a 12 volt battery in where ever you can and while wiring your 120 volt lights add a 2 wire extention cord or color coded 12 gage stranded wires for DC hot and ground. A small 12 volt socket and bulb can be mini clamped or hot glued in the common fixture. For wiring I put a 12 volt disconnect on the hot side of the battery then fed to 4 glass fuses for right side, left side, front wall, and galley area protection then feed as needed to fixture via a switch. Toggle switches are small and lightweight and can be grouped in the same 1/2 depth electrical box.

We camp at a small local conservation club w/o access to electric and just use the 12 volt for an O 2 Kool fan and the occasional flipped on light. We are not trying to run major appliances or light up the neighborhood just see enough to not fumble around in the dark for a few brief moments.

[ilbigredtruck]

I work on enclosed trailers, and horse trailers with both living quarters and no LQ. From my experienced all the living quarters have 12V lighting in them for the main lighting. Then to make things easier they have a converter installed in them that will operate the 12V lighting when you are plugged into shore power or running off the generator. The converter will also trickle charge your trailer's deep cycle battery. I strongly suggest that you also install a master disconnect switch right off the main battery lead no matter what you decide to do. We have 2 travel trailers on our lot that don't and they are a pain to keep charged, seems the discharge fairies are always in them. Good luck on the adventure!