breaker box confusion

[TPMcGinty]

I have an RV converter that has AC and DC capability. It has a floating neutral incorparated in it. All I had to do was get regular breakers from a home improvement store. Made it really easy.

[wlooper89]

Another idea is if you do not already have a converter you can get one with built in slots for circuit breakers and fuses. The one I have is a WFCO 8725 that has two breaker slots and 3 DC fuses plus a fuse for trailer battery charging. There are bus bars inside under the removable top for the AC wiring and DC pigtails come out of the bottom of the unit. The converter is designed to mount in a rectangular panel opening, but my setup needed it to be freestanding, so I made a small frame for it. Out of sight near the floor I added a little panel with a DC negative bus bar and DC positive barrier strip. The wiring and connectors in view are all ones that I added.

Bill



Here is a link to the supplier to show the way it is shipped. The standard circuit breaker slots are ready but the breakers are bought separatey, at a store like Home Depot. DC fuses are included.

http://www.bestconverter.com/WFCO-8725- ... _p_50.html

[planovet]

This is what I used: LINK

I worked out great for me. I painted mine red

[robertaw]

I hadn't planned on putting any 12v in. I just wanted to keep things as simple and inexpensive as possible.

I could be wrong but I don't think you can run anything big like a fridge or air conditioner on 12v and those are the only things I would miss without shore power. We can use flashlights or battery lanterns if we need light like we have always done tent camping. We never go inside until we are ready to go to bed anyway and then I read with my little LED battery reading light like I do at home.

I don't care about resale since this trailer is just for family fun and won't be selling it.

I would appreciate some input on this decision as I may be missing something. Perhaps I should start a new thread for it?

[planovet]

I you aren't putting 12V in, then I would recommend what some others have said and just use a GFI power strip. Easy and simple.

[robertaw]

I you aren't putting 12V in, then I would recommend what some others have said and just use a GFI power strip.

Thats a great idea and I went that route with my Apache. But for this trailer I want to have some mounted light fixtures, including a porch light and bathroom light, and outlets in multiple places. I would have cords running all over the place.

I have the trailer torn down to studs and metal right now so am going to go ahead and put in 110 wiring.

Having to buy a converter, deep cycle batteries, 12v fixtures, and whatever else I would need just seemed like lots of extra expense for a couple little lights.

If I am missing something here it would be great to know now before I have things all built in.

Thanks for your time!

[bobhenry]

We camped in ours a dozen or more times and never used the dc lights I installed on "Chubby" our teardrop...............

AND THEN..............

We got a membership to a local conservation club, no power there and it was quite dark even with a few flashlights. My dc option was a few auto light bulbs here and there and a used 12 volt car battery. Nothing fancy Total cost maybe 50 bucks..

My next build I used all 12 volt lighting and powered it off of a $5.00 ac to dc power supply ( lucky yard sale find) When ac is not available I can still have lights with a 12 volt battery. A couple $3.00 6 volt lantern batterys ganged up correctly would even run them for a few hours. It doesn't have to be as complicated as some folks like to make it.

And yes my ac power comes into the trailers as a 10 gage extention cord with a male end dragging in the air a few inches below the trailer.

KISS method works

[Miriam C.]

Roberta, if you go to your local Mobil home repair place they might have a used box you can get. Since your TTT is a mobil home as opposed to an RV they might even wire it up for you. You can for sure get a panel and breakers.