12v Cigarette style outlet and catalytic heaters

[Sailorguy]

We have a 16 ft. deluxe Scamp and I want to add a 12v outlet as described so I can plug a small inverter into it to power our small dvd/tv combo. We have the American converter, model CS2000XL 20a and I am wondering how to go about adding another circuit if possible or grabbing power from an existing circuit and using an inline fuse for the cig. outlet?
Has anyone done something similar?

On another note I am about to replace the noisy furnace/ fan with a Camco Olympian Wave 3. Has anyone done this swap and does the Olympian fit the opening of the stock furnace?

[John in Santa Cruz]

if there are spare unused fuses in the main panel, wire the + lead of the cigarette socket to the terminal next to this spare fuse, wire the - lead to the common DC ground terminal thats probably on the back of the power converter. for 15A (aboutt he max a cigar socket can safely draw), I would use 14 AWG wiring... maybe even AWG12 if its a long run.

I kinda went overboard on my Escape, and wired up not only a cigar socket, but also a dual USB charger, and a pair of PP30 PowerPole outlets (the latter each fused at 30A). but my escape has 160W solar system and dual golf cart batteries...
details here on the Escape forum...
additional DC power station - Escape Trailer Owners Community

[John in Santa Cruz]

ah, the pictures on that forum don't show if you're not logged on, sorry.

[Jann Todd]

Originally Posted by Sailorguy

We have a 16 ft. deluxe Scamp and I want to add a 12v outlet as described so I can plug a small inverter into it to power our small dvd/tv combo. We have the American converter, model CS2000XL 20a and I am wondering how to go about adding another circuit if possible or grabbing power from an existing circuit and using an inline fuse for the cig. outlet?
Has anyone done something similar?

On another note I am about to replace the noisy furnace/ fan with a Camco Olympian Wave 3. Has anyone done this swap and does the Olympian fit the opening of the stock furnace?

We ran a 12V cigarette socket off of an existing light by using the wires before the switch. We run a fan off of it and charge our cell phone, etc. So far so good for 3 years. One thing we did learn is some sockets are not solid inside and when you plug into them it shorts out. So make sure the inside of the socket is solid and doesn't have any open spots. We've also ran a small 12V television off of it.

[John in Santa Cruz]

btw, i should add, I used FOUR fuses for that power panel above, 15A for the USB, 15A for the cigar plug, and 30A each for the 2 powerpoles. thats *ridiculous overkill* ... but I could see scenarios where would be pulling nearly 30A from a powerpole. the dual USB won't ever draw more than 2-3 amps, and easily could have been wired across the same circuit as the 15A cigar plug, but I used a seperate fuse in case somehow the cigar fuse was blown, I'd still have USB charging. did I mention I'm a retired engineer?

anyways, those marine style plates are readily available in all sorts of combinations of 1, 2, 3 plugs, where each hole can be filled with a volt meter, a cigar socket, a usb charger, etc. I actually started with one that had 2 cigars + USB< but changed one of the cigars for the dual powerpole. if you're mounting it on the typical thin plywood used on camper interiors (or thin fiberglass), I'd suggest using a backing plate of 1/4" 'hobby' hardwood plywood. each of the round plugs needs a 1-1/8" hole, I used a I bought off amazon...

first, I drilled a single screw sized hole for one of the corner mount screws, and a similar hole in the backing plate, then lined up a corner hole of the face plate, that hole, and the backing piece, and temporarily put a screw+nut together to hold them all in place, then drilled the other 4 corner holes rigth through the holes in the faceplate, while holding the backing plate tight, and installed the other 3 screws+nuts. I then used the face plate as a guide for the 1-1/8" hole saw, again holding the backing plate tight while I drilled each hole right thorugh the camper thin ply + the backing plate. I took it all apart again, and use da bit of medium-coarse sandpaper to dress the edges of everything, then assembled the faceplate + backing plate + 3 sockets...

I dunno if it I would have done better if I'd tried to measure and mark it all up and do it by the ruler, but when I was done, I realized, the whole thing wasn't quite perfectly level, hah hah. close enough for jazz.

[John in Santa Cruz]

btw, those new style marine cigar power sockets found everywhere (westmarine, amazon, etc etc) seem reasonably well made. a typical cigar cord plug, you stick it in, and give it a twist and it kind of locks in place, so they don't easily back out. they seem made for 15A service, the contact and grounds are beefy enough.

[Johnny M]

Another option to the Olympian heater is the Buddy heaters. I have one, they work the same way but I can leave it at home during the summer months. You could then make that furnace opening additional storage area by adding a cabinet door there.

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