12 volt wire question

[oth47]

I've read till my eyes are crossed and can't find an answer..I want to run wires from a battery to the inside of the cabin to run a fan,nothing else.And I want to disconnect it when not in use.Can I use booster cables for this or do I need wire and battery cable ends? The wire will run from a battery tray on the tongue,under the trailer,up thru the galley floor,then into the cabin and will probably be run thru pvc or similar..

[Forrest747]

What amp draw are we talking here? what type of fan? what kind of battery. You can go as big as 10 gage and if the amp draw is low enough 14 gage stranded would be ok. even though i used some solid in my build. its best to use stranded wire. easy enough to wire a battery terminal and just as easy as doing a battery cut off switch.

[oth47]

Just a small fan/light combo out of a popup camper,I don't see any amp measurement anywhere.4" blades and a motor the size of a thread spool.And a car battery.I don't want to get too elaborate with this idea,just something to stir some air when 110 power isn't available.

[Forrest747]

14 gage stranded should be fine then. are you hardwiring the fan? you mentioned disconnect. as i recall those have a phono jack and wouldnt be hard to hard wire a jack and then plug that in.

[oth47]

Just something I can use on occasion,nothing permanent except the wire from the battery.That's why I was thinking booster cables so I could disconnect the battery and maybe some alligator clips on the fan end to clip on when wife wants a fan. I have a nice fan for when 110 power is available which probably won't be often.

[Forrest747]

JMO
http://www.etrailer.com/p-RVC100.html

Go with something like this it will be less hassle than alligator clips.

[eamarquardt]

Hey Tex, here I go again (it's an inside joke).

If you wanna do it right and safe all wires from a battery to a load should be fused to protect the wires. Should there be a short, somewhere along the way, a battery is able to deliver more than enough current to start a fire that could kill you.

If you wanna have an external battery that you occasionally connect to the trailer, alligator clips or eye terminals will be fine. Just don't forget to protect the wires in your trailer with fuses or circuit breakers.

Draw a sketch of exactly what you want to do and you'll get much better feedback as to fuse location, type of wire, etc.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Gus

[Forrest747]

Bad Forrest

I was thinking small aligator clips like small electronics. didnt think about the larger ones DUH. sorry

[oth47]

Yeah,that looks like it would work.I could put that in place of the overhead light.It's wired in thru the galley and the builder put a tray for a lawn and garden battery there.I'm not sure I want a battery in the galley,I'd rather run from the battery tray on the tongue.

[bobhenry]

Here is a fuzzy 4 year old picture of chubby's 12 volt wiring. A standard car battery feeding the black blob on the left. This blob is a combo circuit breaker with a manual shut off built in. I seem to remember $9.00 +/- at local auto parts house. The breaker is fed with a short run of 10 gage wire. You can see the positive spring clip clamped on the red terminal
( negative was not connected for the picture). Out the fused side of the disconnect I fed 4 glass fuses. Why four you ask... Right side left side front and rear (galley). They feed a 12 volt porch light each side a galley light and a right and left interior light. A 12 volt fan and a 12 volt radio tv combo in the front cabinet. The white wires in the right lower corner are the returning grounds they all connect back to the grounding lugs and the lug block returns to the negative side of the battery. Hard wired grounds are a bit more work but save a million headaches down the road. This installation is definately not glamorious and kinda primative but it worked well for off grid camping.

[Forrest747]

I pulled a fuse block out of a junk yard Jeep and used it on my trailer. That way if i blow a fuse in the jeep i have a spare in the trailer.