wiring for 12v and 110v use at same time

[dms2871]

Alot of people run power converters but they are expensive here.
Ive wired everything up 12v but with 4 x 240v outlets and a 240v shore power inlet.
One of the outlets will have a battery charger perminantly hooked up to my batteries so everytime i plug in the batteries are charging and i have acess to mains power with no complex electrical componants as electricity isnt my forte at all .

umm im not Shure what you mean 240v that would literally blow a microwave or a coffee pot up. are you from Europe? cause I had a pop up camper once well long story about that and I took converter out cause it was trashed and rewired the whole thing for 110 being we never used 12v power on anything. just plugged into campsite outlet we had power everything was 110v I replaced it all lights and everything

[dales133]

Im in australia.
Here and nz everything is 240v and 10 or 15 amp

[dms2871]

hello all I got a good question im going to get the blue sea systems 12 circuit box for my 12v stuff
like fan interior lights etc.
so heres the thing if that requires a converter to power all that by means of shore power in 12volt
so how do I wire or is there some unit I can buy to run one plug and provide 12v and 110 using 110
outlets like for coffee pot,microwave, laptop,tv etc and use the 12v lights also

I should let you all know I am very mechanically inclined not to brag or anything just don't want to sound like I don't know what im doing
just want to be shure it works correctly being you all have been there done that kinda stuff

[dms2871]

Im in australia.
Here and nz everything is 240v and 10 or 15 amp

Oh nice to meet you that's awesome....well that explains it then be the same what you said except here 110-120v

and something just crossed my mind too. I work for sheet metal company hvac heating and air and our roof top units are 220-230v and they are big units that supply heat and cooling to big buildings, just thinking wow what is the power to run those over there lol. anything here I believe beyond 240v is 3phase im not shure I know a little bit of 220-230v wiring like water heaters, clothes dryers etc. 110-120v is a breeze

[dms2871]

[quote="Jdw2717"]This is similar to what I did. The shore power 110v comes into two 15amp circuit breakers. Then one breaker hooks to one outlet in the galley that powers the fridge. The other breaker has two outlets attached. One in the cabinet with all of the power hookups for the two converters and one in the cabin for the TV and DVD player. The converters power the fan (one dedicated to this) and the other for the lights and 12v jacks for charging phones. The 12v lines go through a fuse panel with cutoff switches before they connect to the lights and 12v plugs.



This picture is before I had everything hooked up and installed cleanly but it gives you an idea of how I set it up. Also, when I don't have shore power I bypass the 110v outlets and hook a battery to the fuse panel to run the 12v items

I see your from TNN I was there in Marin TNN working over the summer at MTD that our company had work there. anyway yeah you got it, instead of running 2 converters like you did
was only going to run 1 do these fantastic fans eat a lot of power I ask cause you dedicated 1 for that

[dms2871]

hello all I got a good question im going to get the blue sea systems 12 circuit box for my 12v stuff
like fan interior lights etc.
so heres the thing if that requires a converter to power all that by means of shore power in 12volt
so how do I wire or is there some unit I can buy to run one plug and provide 12v and 110 using 110
outlets like for coffee pot,microwave, laptop,tv etc and use the 12v lights also

Thanks to all who have contributed to this:

I have been convinced after watching a video on the pd4045 converter and priced it that is the best way to go

[troubleScottie]

so this converter you talk about has enough places to run 12v set up like lights interior, the fantastic fan, usb outlets etc. then it has the capabilities to provide a place to connect 110-120 circuits such as reg outlets. then just a cord to run to shore power and the converter does the rest? is this what that does and charges battery all at the same time?

Basically, yes.

Technically there are several connections.

The shore power/AC coming to a main breaker (typically 30A) and out via one or more smaller AC breakers, generally 15A or 20A. This is what you house's electrical panel looks like. Generally one AC wire is connected to a single breaker. Typically you are using romex 12-3 wire. Each AC wire can be connected to one or more outlets or devices. If you go to HD/Lowes and get a general house wiring pamphlet, this is what you are doing. If you have a Air Conditioner(the other AC), typically that is attached to its own 20A breaker. The cord from the PD connects to the shore power. It can be 15A or 20A or 30A. Each have a slightly different plug and wiring scheme. Read elsewhere on how to handle this.

In addition the AC is connected internally to a converter. Nothing for you to do.

Your battery is also connected to the PD module. Technically a different set of circuits. There is a plus and minus 12V input. The battery is now connect to the battery side of the converter and to 12 fused DC connector. The DC outlet/connector are identical to what you would see inside your auto's fuse box. Each fused DC outlets can be connected to one or more DC loads. There is also a ground block for the DC.

When the shore power is off, the DC is drawn from the battery and no AC is present. When shore power is on, DC power is taken from the battery and converter pair AND the AC circuits are powered. If there is no DC load (nothing is drawing power), the converter is charging the batter. If there is a DC load, power goes to the load and anything left over charges the battery. Obviously, with enough devices running, the battery is not being charged. The converter is a smart converter and will stop charging the battery when the charging is done.

[dms2871]

so this converter you talk about has enough places to run 12v set up like lights interior, the fantastic fan, usb outlets etc. then it has the capabilities to provide a place to connect 110-120 circuits such as reg outlets. then just a cord to run to shore power and the converter does the rest? is this what that does and charges battery all at the same time?

Basically, yes.

Technically there are several connections.

The shore power/AC coming to a main breaker (typically 30A) and out via one or more smaller AC breakers, generally 15A or 20A. This is what you house's electrical panel looks like. Generally one AC wire is connected to a single breaker. Typically you are using romex 12-3 wire. Each AC wire can be connected to one or more outlets or devices. If you go to HD/Lowes and get a general house wiring pamphlet, this is what you are doing. If you have a Air Conditioner(the other AC), typically that is attached to its own 20A breaker. The cord from the PD connects to the shore power. It can be 15A or 20A or 30A. Each have a slightly different plug and wiring scheme. Read elsewhere on how to handle this.

In addition the AC is connected internally to a converter. Nothing for you to do.

Your battery is also connected to the PD module. Technically a different set of circuits. There is a plus and minus 12V input. The battery is now connect to the battery side of the converter and to 12 fused DC connector. The DC outlet/connector are identical to what you would see inside your auto's fuse box. Each fused DC outlets can be connected to one or more DC loads. There is also a ground block for the DC.

When the shore power is off, the DC is drawn from the battery and no AC is present. When shore power is on, DC power is taken from the battery and converter pair AND the AC circuits are powered. If there is no DC load (nothing is drawing power), the converter is charging the batter. If there is a DC load, power goes to the load and anything left over charges the battery. Obviously, with enough devices running, the battery is not being charged. The converter is a smart converter and will stop charging the battery when the charging is done.

ok that's what I thought so its possible to kill the battery if you constantly run ie the fantastic fan, lights for say 24hrs
I'm just exaggerating. cause I'm wondering what I should do if I don't have ac for my build run regular 110v small fans to keep cool cause I know these teardrops get hot I had a pop up camper once and it got hot. the pop up had a cord you pull out of it and just plugged in to shore power, the camp ground we went to I had to buy a special adaptor cause their outlet was funky, any way the cord from the pop up was like a heavy duty extension cord that was all, I had no 12v power and no 12v ceiling fan ie fantastic fan but building this one will have one. I'm guessing all I need is a port like male end for camper body and a good heavy duty say 25' cord to plug in correct?

I'm planning on building the Wyoming Woodie with some changes I see no way of adding ac wife is going to be upset lol

[MtnDon]

If you base the system on a PD4045 the planning and installation is simpler. Those are used by many RV manufacturers. The charger is smart. If you leave one of those plugged in all winter the battery will be kept fully charged and the battery will be safe. If the battery is a flooded type just make sure the water level is up when you park the trailer in the fall. The battery will be fine come spring. Been doing that with RV's since the 70's. (sometimes in places that have -40 F winters.) A fully charged battery is good to -90 F before it would freeze. No need to remove it.

[Jdw2717]

I see your from TNN I was there in Marin TNN working over the summer at MTD that our company had work there. anyway yeah you got it, instead of running 2 converters like you did
was only going to run 1 do these fantastic fans eat a lot of power I ask cause you dedicated 1 for that

I have two for redundancy. I wanted to be able to have 12v power even if one unit went out. The one for the fan was a 3 amp which is the max it can put out. The fan on high would be at the 3 amp draw. So if you went that route you would want a bigger one. I have a 5 amp for the other one that runs everything else.

As for the PD units, when I was in the planning stages for my camper three years ago, I saw several posts on here about people buying fake PD units online that would break and then they would be out the money. This scared me off of them a little bit so I went with the converters. Plus, if one failed on or right before a camping trip, I could just go to a store in any town and buy another one and be back in business. Not so with the PD unit. Don't get me wrong they have their pluses but with my luck it would quit on me on a week long trip somewhere.

[kayakdlk]

For AC power all I did was similar to this super simple AC system. http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=37732 I added a power strip and plugged in extension cords and cut the other end off and ran to my A/C outlets. It is completely separate from my 12 V system except that I installed a battery charger/maintainer that is plugged into the power strip and then the battery.

For the 12V system I used the Blue Sea fuse panel, ran the 10 gauge wire from battery to fuse panel and then ran 12 gauge speaker (Cheaper than any other wire) wire to my DC devices.

If your are not planning a battery (the AGM battery was the most expensive piece of my electrical system) then you would have to use the inverter, or some other 120 to 12 v converter or use a battery tender like I used that has a 5A 12 V output. As as long as my draw is less than 5A (Which with all LED lights it is) I can run all of my 12V while plugged in and no battery installed

Simple, works great, and has lots of flexibility

Dan