Small teardrop DC/AC plans (wiring diagram review)

[ryccoCA]

Hello, I would like to consult my plans for wiring my teardrop trailer as well as get any recommendations for materials and ideas.
Bear with me, this is my first attempt

Its a small 5x8 teardrop that will be running primarily 12V but I want to have a 120V available when connected to shore power (with an option to get inverter in the future)

There will be no large draw on the 120V AC system, no air-conditioning, largest item will be 300W ceramic heater and a laptop charger.
The 12V DC system will be running the interior / exterior lights as well as couple 10Amp 12V outlets.


The 12V DC portion is pretty straight-forward, I am setting the solar part with 10AWP and 30Amp breaker/switches ready to accept up to 300W solar in case I want to expand.
The battery will be grounded to the frame, but all wires will have a return wire as I dont want to use frame as return path.


Majority of my question is around the 120V AC side of the things and about recommendations for materials (which i will get to later).


1. Should i have any EMS / Surge protector on the shore power? I've read people are recommending those because campsites are usually very inconsistent, but I could find are made for 30Amp plugs (for larger RVs).
Should I get one for my small 15Amp circuit and are there any regular outlet 15Amp EMS ? .. I can always get a regular outlet surge protector probably.


2. I want to have breaker/switch on the 15Amp shore power input, which will be grouned to frame (to prevent hot skin). The second breaker will be the system that goes into the trailer, and will just regullary plug into an outlet inside tongue box.
This is just a simple solution so that I can add a inverter in the future and plug the rest of the system in it, while leaving the battery charger connected to the shore power only plug.
Also I want to have a GFCI breaker so that the whole circuit running to the back of the trailer is protected not just the end receptable.
Is the two breakers overkill for my small application?

Can you recommend any small housing / breaker panel for having 1 breaker only ? I Believe the smallest i could find are 60Amp (2 breaker) boxes.
I dont want to mix those two breakers inside a single panel as those two things can be disconected from each another.


Material:
Because the trailer is pre-build unfinished teardrop, I unfortunatelly can no longer run cables through the insulated floor/ceiling.
I am planning on running the cables from the tongue box to the rear galley of the teardrop (about 9ft one way) under the trailer.
I will run a 12V DC on one side of the trailer and 120V AC on the other so that the two circuits are not stack next to each other.

3. Can you recommend any good wire for running under the teardrop? I know there are THHN/XHHW or armored wires (https://da.lowes.ca/webassets/images/22 ... 75_001.jpg) - however the armored ones usually have explicit statement about being for indoor/dry use only (which i dont understand )
4. Can you recommend any protection for the wires while running under the trailer - is standart wire loom be enough? (https://www.amazon.ca/Split-Tubing-Cond ... B07KDFD3WP)

5. Any other general ideas? or mistakes I made that immidiately strikes you?

Thanks for any help!

Trailer Electrical (4).png (477.83 KiB) Viewed 2993 times

[saltydawg]

First please resize the pic to about 1200 wide. I cant scroll around it and follow everything.

From what you said, it sounds like you have a decent plan, but I dont under stand the keeping things separate on the 120 volt stuff. I need to read it again.

I do think 2 breakers is over kill on a tear drop.

as for wire the marine grade 12-2 ( or 14-2 ) with ground is some tough stuff, but I would put it in some loom just to give it that extra protection.

I will have more once I read that a few time. Like I always find more and more.

quick edit dont bother with a surge protector. most dont kick in until 600 volts, which if that happens something went very wrong

[ryccoCA]

Smaller version of the diagram

Trailer Electrical (6).png (226.57 KiB) Viewed 2980 times

[ryccoCA]

Yeah just a little more explanation to my idea of running the 120V

I run the extension cord to the inlet on the side of my tongue box.
Inside I will have 2 outlets that are only powered when shore power is connected
1. outlet will have the battery charger, so that the charger runs only when shore is connected
2. will have the rest of the trailer connected through regular plug, as the rest of the teardrop is 15Amp max as well, there is no issue with having standard plug.

If I ever decide to add an inverter, I can the "easily" and manually switch between shore power just by unplugging the trailer wiring from the shore outlet and plugging it into the invertor.

Does it make sense ?

[saltydawg]

deleted the image I put give me a few mins to look at it

[saltydawg]

Okay, What you have will work, not a huge fan of doing the plug system, to plug in to an inverter. But for very occasional use it would work.

As for small breaker boxes, there some meant for use in industrial control boxes for protecting control voltage stuff but they are pricey. My honest opinion if you need over current protection use a small fuse block rated for 120, and carry a spare fuse or two. You wont blow one often enough to need it to be a breaker.
something like this
https://www.amazon.com/Willwin-5pcs-250 ... 171&sr=8-8

or a mini breaker like this, this one is 15 amps but they have larger

https://www.amazon.com/Tocas-Circuit-Br ... =8-21&th=1

and lower your main fuse to a 100 amo

[saltydawg]

Last thing I see, just run your battery charger and solar input in to you 12 volt fuse block, that way all your fuses are in one location.

any other questions, am I clear enough

[ryccoCA]

Does the breaker on the shore power input make sense?
I guess the camping 15amp has a breaker and my home outlet plug is on a breaker too so i guess that one can be omited?

[NevadaBlue]

First, I like the way you created your diagram. Many of the items you show are things I have planned for my trailer. Good job.

The picture is large but it can be downloaded and viewed easily. Making it smaller in width will make it unreadable on the screen. Turning it 90 degrees will make it harder to read, but it will probably display.

Now I have to go back and read all the thread.

[NevadaBlue]

Testing.

7ABE74E7-5B2E-4F9E-BCC9-D718A60817BC.jpeg (137.95 KiB) Viewed 2932 times

I ran my wiring in pvc pipe, inside my trailer, but running it in the pvc under the trailer would make it safe, dry and easy to repair or add to.

I’m using breakers as shown above and will build a small box to house them. Note that those will work for 120 Volts or 12 volts just fine, well within the rating. (The second breaker listed above)

[NevadaBlue]

Oh, another thing. If you want several outlets, protected with the GFI, put the GFI outlet first in line and feed the rest from it. That is acceptable practice. Essentially it becomes the ‘GFI breaker’. With the tiny loads you are using, for sure it shouldn’t be an issue.

[ryccoCA]

Also, any recommendations on how to run cables through the insulated floor?

For sheet metal and tongue box and generally thin stuff i can use cable glands https://media.digikey.com/Photos/Molex/0936000406.jpg

However the floor is two layers of plywood with insulation, so that is nor an option.
Should i just drill a hole and stick pvc tube through there and then use silicon around it? And around wires inside?

[ryccoCA]

Oh, another thing. If you want several outlets, protected with the GFI, put the GFI outlet first in line and feed the rest from it. That is acceptable practice. Essentially it becomes the ‘GFI breaker’. With the tiny loads you are using, for sure it shouldn’t be an issue.

Yeah i just wanted the line under trailer to be gfci protected as well. But i can stick one outlet inside the tongue box as well

[saltydawg]

Does the breaker on the shore power input make sense?
I guess the camping 15amp has a breaker and my home outlet plug is on a breaker too so i guess that one can be omited?

I did not put one on mine, but that does not mean you should not.

Camp grounds are normally 30 amp circuits, so while they are protected they are not down at 15 or 20 amps.

[troubleScottie]

As to breaker between the campground power stand and your circuits, yes. Campground power is notorious for being poor eg no ground, reversed polarity, low voltage. Obviously some campground are great. However, you should not depend on any functionality they provide.

A typical power pole will have 50 Amp, 30 Amp and one or more 15 or 20 Amp outlets. Some do not have 50 Amp service. All outlet should be on breakers. People with big RV rigs add power/surge filters and detectors for poor connections. Most likely a TD does not need that much protection. However if you had something besides a battery charger that is electrically fragile eg TV, ham radio, one might want to think about it.