General Electrical Layout -Feedback wanted

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General Electrical Layout -Feedback wanted

Postby sgtpepperaut » Fri May 30, 2014 12:49 pm

Hi guys,

currently converting my cargo trailer to a camper and have drawn up a quick sketch before i start wiring up stuff:
I am looking for some feedback if i am missing something or what issues i could run into with this set up.

one of my primary concerns is if its OK to leave the 12V power supply (actually at 13.8 connected to the battery for long periods of time. if am somewhere were AC is available and i leave it plugged in for several days can the 13.8V harm the battery for long periods of time? I can downregulate the voltage if necessary but for initial charging around 13.8V is good so id rather keep it there...

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Re: General Electrical Layout -Feedback wanted

Postby GuitarPhotog » Fri May 30, 2014 5:54 pm

Don't use that 30A 12 VDC power supply to charge your batteries, you'll kill them quick! Get a proper 3- or 4-stage smart battery charger to protect your investment. It will still provide 12 VDC from shore power for your other stuff.

And you will need a 20A circuit for that 1.2 KW air conditioner (1200 w @ 120 V = 14.4 A, start up surge current will be higher yet). Don't forget to calculate the 15-20% loss in the inverter. i.e., for 800 W @ 120VAC your going to draw ~100A @ 12 VDC. Size your wiring appropriately.

<Chas>
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Re: General Electrical Layout -Feedback wanted

Postby MtnDon » Fri May 30, 2014 9:11 pm

You may have a reason as I did to not use one of the PD chargers / converter / breaker / distribution centers.

I have questions / comments. I am unsure of a couple of things I see pictured. Maybe it's my interpretation, but some things are not clear.

Look at the AC side of things. Starting with the generator and the pictured "15A AC outlet". I believe that means either the generator OR the shore or park power can be used. Not at the same time but one only, at a time. So I believe to make things more clear re-label the "outlet" as an Inlet and replace the image with something like this.... That is a safe way to introduce generator or shore power to an RV. That is simply the first one I found, there are many to choose from.

It is unclear to me how the air conditioner is connected to the system. It appears that it could be possible to activate the inverter and try to power the A/C from it. Unless you get a larger inverter and a larger battery bank there is no way the A/C can be powered from the inverter. So make it impossible by locating the outlet that will power the A/C to just inside the 120 VAC inlet connector. That way only the generator or shore power can power up the A/C. Use a GFCI outlet there, 20 amp size would be perfect. A 2.2 kW generator can put out nearly 20 amps.

From that GFCI feed the incoming 120 VAC power to one side of the transfer switch. The other inlet port of the transfer switch would receive 120 VAC power from the inverter. The outlet port of the transfer switch would feed your circuit breakers for other 120 VAC circuits / outlets.

I'm curious about what 120 VAC appliances you plan on. Microwave? You may not be aware that a microwave that advertises as "700 watt" uses more power than that. The highly visible wattage rating on a microwave is normally the cooking power. The magnetron that produces that cooking power uses more watts to do that. My 700 watt microwave uses 1050 watts of 120 VAC. The home microwave at 1100 watts cook power draws 1500 watts. You might want to rethink that 800 watt inverter if a microwave is in the picture.

Another microwave note; sorry about drifting off the topic as asked. I have had abysmal luck with running a microwave off modified sine wave inverters. They have made more noise than heat. They still used a lot of power according to the meter I have, but performance was very bad. On pure sine wave inverter power they work just like at home on the grid. My experience only includes three different names, but the results have all been the same for me. Maybe I'm unlucky in my choices.


I strongly ditto the comment about using a DC power supply to maintain / charge a battery. You will cook the batteries if left unattended. A battery charger like the Iota Engineering I mentioned in another thread would be vastly superior. They are used a lot in off grid and marine applications when a combination inverter / charger is not used. Those are my favorite as many also include an automatic transfer switch.

On the DC side; PV thru charge controller to batteries. Install proper fuses in the input and the output legs of the CC and a large type T in the DC output to the inverter. Large enough to carry the maximum surge load. Type T are extremely quick to blow on a short circuit and are built to handle the thousands of amps that a battery short circuit can produce. Lesser fuses can arc and burn a while before disconnecting. In fact a Type T right at the + terminal with all battery inputs and outputs connected thru it is a great idea.
Our 6x12 deep vee nose cargo trailer camper conversion... viewtopic.php?f=42&t=58336

We have a small off grid cabin we built ourselves in the NM mountains; small PV solar system; 624 watts PV, Outback CC & inverter/charger ... http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=2335.0
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Re: General Electrical Layout -Feedback wanted

Postby pchast » Fri May 30, 2014 9:20 pm

IMHO Fuses at the battery before any wire run are a good precaution.
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Re: General Electrical Layout -Feedback wanted

Postby sgtpepperaut » Fri Jun 06, 2014 12:23 pm

thank you for the feedback guys.
there would have been a fuse at the battery in any case. no 12v project without it...

here the whole thing a little more detailed:
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