FAQ:12v Wire sizes and Fuses Made Easy

[Bogo]

What do you do about grounding the trailer battery? Is this grounded to the trailer frame?

Yes.

[droid_ca]

I can get to Skidder batteries that are 12 volt would they be safe to use I know they are a little on the heavy side (80LBS) just wondering how you feel as I van get two for less then the price of a marine battery from the store and I was thinking of connecting them in a series to help increase my time on them

[Bogo]

I was thinking of connecting them in a series to help increase my time on them

Do you mean parallel? If you connect two 12VDC batteries in series you get 24VDC. Now if the skidder batteries are 6VDC, the two in series would be 12VDC.

The only real way to save on weight on batteries is smaller capacity, or to change battery chemistry.

[droid_ca]

I was thinking of connecting them in a series to help increase my time on them

Do you mean parallel? If you connect two 12VDC batteries in series you get 24VDC. Now if the skidder batteries are 6VDC, the two in series would be 12VDC.

The only real way to save on weight on batteries is smaller capacity, or to change battery chemistry.

Ya that is what I meant was in parallel not series..I do understand that there is some weight involved in them but since my build is going to be taller I'm thinking any usable weight down low might be a good thing to keep it shiny side up, as well as the places I plan to go there is no hook ups and I don't want to be running my vehicle as a charging system all the time, I have considered solar but I'm afraid the price doesn't justify the amount of sunlight power that I'll receive from it as I'm in a valley and limited to that amount of usable light and if I go to some other places then I could be in a shaded forest for the most part and there again will be limits on my light, a generator is another option but I'd like to just remain with battery power for the time being

[IslandStorm62]

Are there any issues with the different types of wires...I had just saw the electrical wires at HD (not the motorcycle guys) and then did a search through eBay and a little of googling there appears to be a few different types. From what I've gathered, stranded is better than solid. What about the following differences

Tinning, THNN, TWHNN and Audiopipe.

I found this on eBay "4 Rolls 100' Feet 10 GA Gauge AWG Audiopipe Primary Remote Wire Auto Power Cable" the price seemed fair. Is this wire ok for the TD?

[eggsalad]

In these days of LED lighting, the chart can (and should) go to smaller gauge wire. My trailer uses all LED lighting. In modern technical parlance, LEDs don't draw squat.

My highest-drawing LED is a strip of 15 SMD LED in cool white. That is my general cabin lighting, and it's almost too bright! The draw at 12.6 volts is 0.03 amps!

All of my lighting wiring, from the switch panel out, is done with 20/2 red/black zip cord. At the amperage level I'm drawing, even 20ga is overkill. I tried some 24/2 zip cord, but it proved to be too delicate, so I went with the 20ga.

LEDs are amazing when building a small trailer. The fixtures themselves are lighter. The wiring is lighter. If all you're doing is lighting, you don't even need much battery to do it. The total weight of my battery package (2@ 6v, 12Ah batteries wired in series) is <9 lbs.

[IslandStorm62]

That is very interesting. Everything I've read about the electrical wiring has been for 10 of 12 gauge wire. I guess LED lighting and USB charging ports are so new that we may not have adjusted the wiring requirements in the trailers. I suppose it doesn't hurt to continue using 12 gauge wire for these applications.

I suppose a cigarette lighter type port will still need the 12 guage wire for things like poratble heaters...

Speaking of heaters, anyone use one of these to heat their TD in the morning?

http://www.my12voltstore.com/Koolatron_12V_Auto_Heater_p/koolatron%20-%20401060.htm

[bdosborn]

I defer to the experts on the forum.

[MtnDon]

Speaking of heaters, anyone use one of these to heat their TD in the morning?

http://www.my12voltstore.com/Koolatron_12V_Auto_Heater_p/koolatron%20-%20401060.htm

Nowhere can I find the amps draw or the watts on tat heater. I have trouble believing it produces much heat. Add to that to produce meaningful heat requires more watts than a single 12 volt battery is likely to be able to supply. Amazon has several reviews on that heater; mostly negative 1 stars.

[GerryS]

I had a jetta TDI (diesel) - Diesels don't produce a lot of heat. I needed one of these to de-fog my windows until the engine warmed enough to blow warm air. The 12 volt heater was worthless. Warm not so much. Lots of electricity..absolutely. One of these will suck a battery dry in relatively short time.

The 120 volt solutions or powered by LP are your only real options. Since breathing is a priority, I pass on LP.

Personally I have a 400 watt space heater that is about the size of 6 packs of cigarettes that does the trick very nicely. The 1200 watt units will cook you out!

The best solution of a good sleeping bag, a good knit cap, and making sure you are clean and dry when you tuck in for the night.

[Shadow Catcher]

One of the problems I see with using smaller gauge wire is that what happens when another owner uses a conventional tungsten bulb. The wiring for CR is all RV standard 14ga black and white which drives me nuts, and it is more like short putt than a long drive.

[IslandStorm62]

I can get to Skidder batteries that are 12 volt would they be safe to use I know they are a little on the heavy side (80LBS) just wondering how you feel as I van get two for less then the price of a marine battery from the store and I was thinking of connecting them in a series to help increase my time on them

Not sure if this is a year too late...but it might help for any future decisions regarding batteries.

http://www.trailerlife.com/trailer-how- ... ry-basics/

[IslandStorm62]

In these days of LED lighting, the chart can (and should) go to smaller gauge wire. My trailer uses all LED lighting. In modern technical parlance, LEDs don't draw squat.

My highest-drawing LED is a strip of 15 SMD LED in cool white. That is my general cabin lighting, and it's almost too bright! The draw at 12.6 volts is 0.03 amps!

All of my lighting wiring, from the switch panel out, is done with 20/2 red/black zip cord. At the amperage level I'm drawing, even 20ga is overkill. I tried some 24/2 zip cord, but it proved to be too delicate, so I went with the 20ga.

LEDs are amazing when building a small trailer. The fixtures themselves are lighter. The wiring is lighter. If all you're doing is lighting, you don't even need much battery to do it. The total weight of my battery package (2@ 6v, 12Ah batteries wired in series) is <9 lbs.

Can you tell me what brand/model converter you use? and what size fuses for your LEDs? Most of what I read are 30 and 20 Amps blade fuses.

[Bogo]

On wires.

Waytek Wire (http://www.waytekwire.com/products/) is where I buy low voltage automotive wire now. They have Automotive Primary GPT wire in 100 foot spools, but all else is in 250 foot or larger spools. They currently have a Gray 10AWG wire under Overtock for $75 plus shipping for 250 feet. I picked up a couple spools, and it is top quality. I use permanent markers or colored heat shrink to mark the wire color.

Waytek is geared more for supplying the custom vehicle or trailer builder so they deal in small volume bulk quantity parts. They'll sell you 100 feet of 7 wire trailer cable. Unless it is expensive per unit, they usually want you to buy more than one at a time. For some mil spec battery terminals I bought a few years ago, they were min three quantity, but they charged around half the best price I found elsewhere. Usually the minimum is somewhere around $5 to $15 worth of the part, but it may be more for some things. What is funny is a switch body may have a minimum of 2 the rocker cap for it 20.

They are also a good place to look for what is available, then search for it elsewhere.

[RandyG]

I just got 250ft of 16awg speaker wire for $35 shipped on amazon. It's just got a jacket over the 2 stranded wires. All of my lights will be led and since they pull so little, I will use a 5 amp fuse. For all of the smaller stuff, good speaker wire will work fine.