I need a recommendation for a basic electronics book

[Judith K.]

I need to find a good beginning electronics book geared for someone who knows nothing about the subject. Rest assured, I have no intention of doing my own wiring or otherwise risking blowing myself and DH up.

I would just like to better follow some of the discussions here and I need to learn some basics. My trips to the library and book stores were not successful, but I hope that someone here will have some good suggestions.

Thanks!
Judith

[Pete Dumbleton]

We generally discuss two kinds of electrical stuf here with regard to our trailers, the 12 Volts DC wiring and the 120 Volts home wiring.

Sadly, there don't seem to be any good primers on either of these when applied to RVs, except short stuf inside maintenance manuals, and this has led to a lack of standards because the manufacturers seem to have wiring people who have backgrounds in automotive wiring (where red is hot and black is return and white is ground) or in household wiring (Where black and red are hot, white is neutral and green is ground) so a particular brand may favor one or the other "standard".

The best you can probably do is go to auto parts store and look for basic automotive wiring books and go to places like Home Despot/Lower's for basic home wiring books.

[Roy in TO]

I bought a book that covers the 12V systems:

Managing 12 Volts
How to Upgrade, Operate and and Troubleshoot 12 Volt Electrical Systems
by Harold Barre
Summer Breeze Publishing
930 Tahoe Blvd # 802-176
Incline Village, Nevada 89451

2nd edition 2002
ISBN 0-9647386-2-7
UPC 8 24205 01995 3

Lists at $20 USD for the 225 page paperback. Meant for boats and RV's, but we can use a good chunk of the info in there. It covers pretty much everything we deal with in the forums. Batterys, lighting, solar, chargers, inverters etc.

Library Call #'s (depending on your local systems)
TK9901.B37 1996
621.31'2
QB195-20848

Edit to add - I've seen it at a marine supplier, on ebay and Abes books. I may have gotten mine at half.com.

[Roger C H]

This is the internet. Everything you want to know about anything is on here.

http://www.electricityforum.com/basic-electricity.html

Looks like a good place to start.

Good luck.

Any questions, feel free to ask.

[pjanits]

http://www.ccis.com/home/mnemeth/12volt/12volt.htm

This is a pretty good primer on 12v part 2 link is at the bottom of the page.

[Tom Trostel]

I buy books from Abebooks.com often. It's a coop of used book sellers. I've been very happy with their service.

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetail...x%3D54%26y%3D10

[Darwin Maring]

Lowes and Home Depot both sell AC wiring books for home owners.

Lots of pictures and written so U can understand.

[Morgan]

I need to find a good beginning electronics book geared for someone who knows nothing about the subject. Rest assured, I have no intention of doing my own wiring or otherwise risking blowing myself and DH up.

I would just like to better follow some of the discussions here and I need to learn some basics. My trips to the library and book stores were not successful, but I hope that someone here will have some good suggestions.

Thanks!
Judith

Judith,

I suspect what you're interested in is learning about electricity, not electronics. Electronics is a range of applications of electricity: radio, television, etc. Electricity is the fundamental concept to start with.

A good introductory presentation for learning about electricity is Volumes I and II in All About Circuits. Subsequent volumes deal with electronics.

After you gain a basic understanding of electricity, you'll be ready to study some about DC and AC wiring in our trailers.

[Judith K.]

Thank you all for the good advice. I really appreciate the suggestions.

Judith

[Pamela S.]

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/RV-Electr...70427785/?itm=4

I hope I entered this link correctly; anyway, there is a book by Bill Moeller called RV Electrical Systems, which focuses on what you need to know for RVing. I'm assuming that's the type of electrical knowledge you're looking for. I would also suggest finding a ham radio operator in your area and asking lots of questions. Most hams are thrilled to talk about their hobby and are fairly knowledgeable about 12 volt electrical systems.

[Tom Trostel]

Also listed here for less $

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResu...p;x=67&y=13