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Old 04-19-2015, 11:14 AM   #41
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Also, electricity travels in the outside skin of the wire. Strand wire helps to reduce the conductor size slightly. The main reason is stranded wire is much more flexible. These item truly only matter when installing large cable such as 500 MCM. For smaller cable sizes the effect is minimal.


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Old 04-19-2015, 11:45 AM   #42
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Only the flexibility is something that we here would care about. All fixed wiring in the trailers can be solid with no detrimental effect. Look up "skin effect" or click here:
Skin effect - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
At 60 Hz it matters only on wiring that you find on the huge Hydro (as you people call it up north) lines. And when you need bigger yet, they go DC.
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Old 04-19-2015, 12:12 PM   #43
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Now I feel like I am beating a dead horse. The skin effect has already been mentioned earlier in this thread.

Just one comment on the brake repair and tutorial on electric brakes, posted above. Why does the guy put the bearings and greasy parts right on the ground? The grit that he picks up is a guarantee of future employment. That is, when he needs to replace those bearings. I would recommend better care and cleanliness. Oh, well...
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Old 04-19-2015, 12:24 PM   #44
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The whole issue of "Skin Effect", as applied to FGRV's, is a dead horse anyway.
I see it as simple.... 120VAC = Solid Core , 12VDC = Stranded Wire, Thermostat wires for the furnace and the hot tub = 22 ga, Solid Core



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Old 04-19-2015, 01:56 PM   #45
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I have a 500 ft spool of 14/2 ,300 V rated cable with a temp rating of 105 DEG C
The individual # 14 conductors are color coded --1 red--1 black . Works well for running DC circuits and no problem maintaining polarity. I use 14/2 & 12/2 NM for running 120 VAC circuits .
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Old 05-29-2015, 10:08 AM   #46
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I need to back up the truck - and found a great article here that I think I will read a few times.

RV Electrical Systems

And then I will begin catching up with you guys.

My first question is? Do people upgrade their Bolers and similar to 30A? We plan on being plugged in or driving most of the time with only shorter durations running on batteries - with future options open for solar down the road.

Thanks
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Old 05-29-2015, 10:28 AM   #47
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It's solely dependent on the loads you will have to support. If you are adding a RV type a/c you should go to 30 amps to reduce voltage drop on the smaller cable. If not, even if you are using a window type a/c, 20 amp service will be enough.



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Old 05-29-2015, 10:30 AM   #48
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And, to add more useless but interesting information about electricity moving in a wire, the electrons themselves don't. Well, they do, but very slowly. Electricity moves through a wire by transferring energy from one to the next. An electron starting at one end will rarely make it to the other end of the wire. The overall effect is close to the speed of light, but if you stop & think about it, it would take a great deal of energy to move the mass of an electron at the speed of light. Here is a better explanation.

I used to demonstrate this effect in my Volts & Bolts (Intro to Theatre Electricity) course by lining up a group of students, each with one arm extended touching the shoulder of the one in front of them, with the last one touching a ball balanced on the edge of a podium. A light push on the rear most student knocked the ball off the podium at the front of the room. A bit corny, but they seems to remember the information better than me just lecturing...
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Old 05-29-2015, 11:07 AM   #49
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I don't see us using AC but never say never. We would potentially use an induction cooktop and maybe a microwave/convection. Most else would be fans, lights, charging cell phones, maybe some kind of speaker or portable music system or iPad for rainy day entertainment.
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Old 05-29-2015, 12:26 PM   #50
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeannette in NS View Post

My first question is? Do people upgrade their Bolers and similar to 30A? We plan on being plugged in or driving most of the time with only shorter durations running on batteries - with future options open for solar down the road.

Thanks

Depending on where & when your Boler was built it may have come with 30A originally so it may not be an upgrade simple undoing what a previous owner undid. Have seen lots of old Boler's that clearly had a converter at one point in their lives but perhaps it failed and the owner decided not to pay for a new one and changed the wiring system all around.

Here is a link to the manual for a 79 Boler built by Vanguard that had 30 amp service. The manual includes the wiring diagrams as well.

Edit to note: I think the removal of the 30 amp system here in BC where Boler's are the most common of fiberglass trailers is/was due to our Provincial Campgrounds not having power sites so it probable did not see much if any use .. we still have very few Provincial Campgrounds with power.
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Old 05-29-2015, 01:13 PM   #51
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That's interesting! Ours is a '75 I will look in the manual and see if I missed it
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Old 05-29-2015, 04:19 PM   #52
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeannette in NS View Post
I need to back up the truck - and found a great article here that I think I will read a few times.

RV Electrical Systems

And then I will begin catching up with you guys.

My first question is? Do people upgrade their Bolers and similar to 30A? We plan on being plugged in or driving most of the time with only shorter durations running on batteries - with future options open for solar down the road.

Thanks

Changing from 20amp system to a 30 amp system requires a complete rewiring of the trailer. The same wire that carries 20 amps with get hot and possibly start a fire at 30 amps. Messing with wiring in these trailer seems to be something everybody is qualified to do if they know how to turn on a light switch.
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Old 05-29-2015, 04:53 PM   #53
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Rewire the whole trailer????
Wouldn't one just have to replace the power cable to the fuse/breaker box and install a 30 amp main fuse/breaker? It seems like everything after that is already protected by a 15 or 20 amp fuse/breaker on existing individual circuits.
Of course if there was only one main breaker, and no additional circuit protection, one wouldn't want to do that until they installed the new PD-4045 they will want to order (LOL)


When we had out house's 100 amp panel replaced with a 200 amp panel we added a few 240 VAC circuits, but we sure didn't rewire anything.....



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Old 05-29-2015, 05:36 PM   #54
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The PD 4045 is on my list and we will be rewiring the entire trailer. So I'm reading to try to understand what we need/want so I can communicate with an electrician or RV repair person.

Plus I enjoy learning about the systems.
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Old 05-29-2015, 06:17 PM   #55
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Sounds like a well thought out plan to moi....



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Old 07-14-2016, 08:50 AM   #56
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I was hoping this thread would have more info but it seems to only talk about wire type which is all good, but is there an in depth thread about chargers?? I'm slowly learning but hard to find solid info.
Might be best if I start my own thread I guess..
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