Electricity Scares Me

[mandy]

I was Just wondering can I get a way with having everything battery opperated and having one of those solar chargers for AA AAA Batteries.

The whole thought of having to wire the TT scares the Ba-gee-bers out of me!

Help.

[jimqpublic]

Water systems- both trailer and home- give me all sorts of problems. I'll wire your trailer if you'll fix my plumbing!

It's really simple. If you want, install the boxes and wiring yourself and then get someone with experience to install the devices and make connections.

[asianflava]

Shure, you can do what ever you want. The cool thing about these trailers is that there is no one way to do anything. You can customize it to suit your needs. A couple of battery powered "Tap Lights" in the cabin and one in the galley will take care of your lighting needs. You may want some kind of fan but that is not totally necessary.

Installing electrical isn't as bad as it sounds. All you have to do is ask, and someone will be bound to help you before you recheck the thread. Stay simple and you should do OK.

[Q]

The best way to deal with something that scares you is to learn about it. I had a friend who was terrified of snakes. I used to catch them a bring them back to camp in my pockets so I could laugh when he ran away. Eventually he did some study on snakes and got rid of his fear. Can't scare him any more

Q

[Miriam C.]

Mandy they make a book called "Elec. wiring for the home or dummys or something. Home Depot and Lowes have them. Also check the used book stores. You should not wire 120vac if you don't know what you are doing. That said this forum is full of how-to.

You can also add a "strip" outlet that is GFCI with a Breaker. That will give you AC power that is safe and simple. If you can get one that is outdoor rated for 20 amps. It should have a 12 gage cord.

Anything else you need just ask.

[Joanne]

I was Just wondering can I get a way with having everything battery opperated and having one of those solar chargers for AA AAA Batteries.

The whole thought of having to wire the TT scares the Ba-gee-bers out of me!

Help.

Hi Mandy,

We have some simplified electrical plans here. If you go with a simple 12v system you shouldn't have any problem. That said, you can get some of the battery powered LED lights and use them.

Go forward and build!

Joanne

[bobhenry]

I was Just wondering can I get a way with having everything battery opperated and having one of those solar chargers for AA AAA Batteries.

The whole thought of having to wire the TT scares the Ba-gee-bers out of me!

Help.

Ya want a real simple exercise to help with this fear !

Get a good extension cord (3 wire with a ground). While you are there purchase an ac wall switch and a duplex outlet a few yellow wire nuts and a couple boxes to mount the switch and outlet in. Cut the female plug in off the cord . now cut off about 6 feet of cord. Remove the outer wrap about 6 inches on all 3 cut ends . Remove about 3/4 " of the black ,white and green plastic over the wire ends. strip back the wires carefully and repair any nicks with electrical tape. place the wire ends into the 1st box ( this will be the switch box) . hook the black wire from each wire end to the 2 terminals on the switch. There should be a green ground screw hook your 2 green wires to it and simply screw a yellow wire nut onto the 2 whites to connect them. The remaining end of your 6 foot cut off will get the duplex outlet. Shove the wire thru the box and hook the black to the gold screw the white to the silver screw and the green to the green grounding screw. If you bought switch and outlet covers install them. Now plug it in with confidence. It will work. Plug in your drill or whatever and pull the trigger if it doesn't run flip the switch it will work. You now have a 2 outlet extension cord with an on off switch to help build your project. Use the same type wire in your trailer walls and the color code makes it super simple just remember black to gold and white to silver and green to ground screws. You can do it yes you can !

[diverguy]

mine is 100% 12v. the only 110 i have is one of those small inverters that you plug into a 12v outlet. it runs my little TV. other than that. all 12V.

[caseydog]

Considering the dangers involved, a little bit of fear is a good thing. One of my coworkers told me a story about his recent electrical repair that scared the *@&% out of me -- he had no idea he was doing something that could have killed him.

Now, having said that, don't choose your plan out of fear. If AC is btter for you than Battery, then just get help from someone who knows electrical wiring. Running everything off of small batteries could be a PITA.

I did a very simple AC power setup using a heavy-duty extension cord and a heavy-duty power strip. A circuit breaker and GFCI are built into the system, and things just plug in -- no wiring connections or chances to do something wrong. Plug-and-play!

This system powers my heavy draw items, like my air-conditioner (try that with batteries), while my lights are battery operated, since I don't have them on much.

There are lots of ways to skin this cat. Don't let your fears limit your options.

[steve wolverton]

I had a friend who was terrified of snakes. I used to catch them a bring them back to camp in my pockets so I could laugh when he ran away.

Is this why you "had" a friend?

[Arne]

this is an aside... I wanted to put some night lights in my house.... the new on at dusk, off at dawn led's are incredibly bright.. I can go into my kitchen and do things, like get a glass, fill it with water for a drink, etc. at night without turning the lights on... at h/d for about 5 bucks....

[Arne]

If you wire you trailer for 12v, your main concern should be to put a 30 amp fuse at the battery.... that way, any screw up you do will blow the fuse and not cause a fire.. it will be your 'safety valve'.....

[mandy]

Casey My thoughts exactly I think I get one of those gfci power strips and extention cords for like AC or TV.... But for lights and ventilation I think I'll go with Led Lights and O2cool Rechargeable fans and Lanterns for out side.

Thank You
Mandy

[Nic]

I was Just wondering can I get a way with having everything battery opperated and having one of those solar chargers for AA AAA Batteries.

The whole thought of having to wire the TT scares the Ba-gee-bers out of me!

Help.

Electricity Scares Me TOO!!! So i did it the easy way. I have a HF inverter hooked up to a deep cycle. From the inverter i have a power strip from my house. I just plug everything into that. TV, DVD, 5.0 Dolby sound system, I-pod, lights, fan, and game system. It works for me. I even run outdoor party lights with this set up.

[AmyH]

Mandy, I was terrified of doing electrical work as well, but I didn't have the money to redo/update the electrical in my house, so....I learned to do it myself! I spent a LOT of time talking to electricians (friends) and reading book after book after book. Obviously, you probably don't want to spend huge amounts of time to learn electrical like I did, but I will say that I no longer have a fear of working with electricity. I re-wired my house completely on my own. 12V won't be scary at all. If you can just push yourself a little through the fear, you will probably realize that it really isn't that scary after all. Plus with all the great diagrams folks on this board have put together, I am certain you can do it. All that said, there are some great little battery operated lights that you can get for the tear. You can even use little rechargeable batteries.

An advantage I can see to going with a 12V battery set-up is that you can add outlets for plugging things in. I plan to bring my i-pod for tunes, and to save the battery, I will have 12V outlets that I can plug it into.

Whatever decision you make, I'm sure you'll be happy with it.