First stage of wiring

[Melle.17]

Hey everyone. I'm in the design phase of my build but will start working on cleaning up my trailer frame here soon. I know where I want my electrical for the most part and want to run the wires as I build obviously. I dont want to hook everything up until the end but definitely want the wiring in place. I plan to run wiring for both 12v and 110. I'll hook up the 12v right away but likely not the 110, but I want to lay the wires for when I do. Easier to do it now than later. My question is... what type of wiring should I be using? Is there one type i can use for everything then finish up later? Is something like 12 gauge sufficient? Also I was thinking of using a fuse box and bus block... am i on the right track? Never done anything electrical so this has been a huge learning process for me. I appreciate all your guys' help.

[tony.latham]

I can't answer your question bout the 120v wires. I'm a 12 volt DC kinda guy. (Hey, we're camping.)

For the 12 V runs, use copper stranded two-wire cable. Use color-coded cable to keep life simple. Make sure it's not copper-coated aluminum. And you might want to read the fine print because some cabling isn't true AWG.

For size --of course-- it depends on what you're powering. But in our teardrop, the maximum amp draw is from the Fantastic fan. I don't recall what it draws at max but 16 AWG is more than enough.

That said, I use this 14 AWG because that's what I found in the Amazon jungle:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074S253XY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I run the cabling in the ceiling under the spars:



For the fuse box. I use the ones made by Blue Seas that have a negative bus bar.



A lot of folks that want both DC and AC install an RV converter made by Progressive Dynamics. You might do a search here for that black box.

Tony

[saltydawg]

Tony is correct for just a basic system, and on making sure you use copper.

I feel with modern leds 16 or 18 ( shorter runs ) is fine, for things like power points, yes 14 gauge.

For 110v 12 gauge is over kill, 14 is fine for that. most of your house is 14 gauge with 50 foot runs, feeding 2 bedrooms or lights and your living room. 75% of your house is probably 14 gauge, if not more.

[Tom&Shelly]

Hey everyone. I'm in the design phase of my build but will start working on cleaning up my trailer frame here soon. I know where I want my electrical for the most part and want to run the wires as I build obviously. I dont want to hook everything up until the end but definitely want the wiring in place. I plan to run wiring for both 12v and 110. I'll hook up the 12v right away but likely not the 110, but I want to lay the wires for when I do. Easier to do it now than later. My question is... what type of wiring should I be using? Is there one type i can use for everything then finish up later? Is something like 12 gauge sufficient? Also I was thinking of using a fuse box and bus block... am i on the right track? Never done anything electrical so this has been a huge learning process for me. I appreciate all your guys' help.

Everything Tony and Scott said.

For 110, use stranded wire (like a cut-apart extension cord), not solid wire like Romex. The stranded wire handles vibration and other movement better.

Tom

[jgizzi]

The boat and RV industries both use the stranded wires. We live in a marine community so were able to find stranded Romex. If you look around you might find it as well in a marine supply or RV supply store.

You'll want to size your wires, or at least some of them, for their intended use. Some electronics are sensitive to voltage drop so the charts, that you can find almost anywhere on the internet, have two categories for sizing stranded wire. There is a standard category and a sensitive electronics category, which requires a higher gauge wire. Make sure that you are looking at charts for stranded wire, not solid. They have different current carrying capacities.

Jim