12V DC/110AC

[Suzanne P.]

Refrain from laughing at these very beginner wiring questions, just help me understand what to do next? I have a very basic '75 Boler...and when I read the other posts the contents of their trailer electrical seems very different from this one!
Picture 1 is the 12V DC from the deep cycle battery.
Picture 2 is taken from under left gaucho, shows 12V plus trailer lights; I just spent $250 getting these rewired to work to street legal, as it was a mess before.
Picture 3 shows the junction box where the 110 plug in comes into the trailer, and it shows the 110 and 12V lines running UP through the tube to the light fixtures (there's 3 on the kitchen side). So does this mean these fixtures run on both 110 and 12? I haven't even plugged this trailer in yet (kaboom?)
I see the 12V and 110 going into the fridge in the back.
I don't see one dang circuit box, fuse, solenoid, just wires with direct connections.

QUESTIONS:
1. I bought a 12V deep cycle battery charger today with an automatic switchoff. Can I install battery recharger so that it keep the 12V battery charged when the 110 is plugged in? Suggestions?
2. I was going to get a line run from the alternator to the 12V deep cycle battery; is there anything conceptually that I'm missing? (solenoid, something something?)
3. I wanted to install a water pump eventually, should it just run off of the 12V for simplicity (being that the battery will be recharged if/when plugged in)?
4. I was going to get electric brakes and an auxillary brake installed...how much are these and are they really needed for my Expedition? My brakes seem fine alone.

Thankyou ever so much for getting me off the ground!

[Dave Mac]

I am not the electrical expert.... one thing I do know is no "Tube" should have both 110 and 12v wires running through it. they should be seperate.
Dave

[Benny K]

I don`t think that there is an induction problem with running both the 110V for the flourescent lamp and the 12V for the lamps on each end of the upper cabinet in the same tube.....virtually all the Bolers have the wiring run this way since the late sixties and I`ve never heard of a problem....mine is still like that...my 12v lamps have the same bulbs in them since I got the trailer in 2002....I`m sure if there was a problem, they would have blown from the higher induction voltages.....Benny

[Suzanne P.]

See picture...the metal tube contains the plastic covered 12V and 110 wires, as can be seen from below, the light gray is 12V, the thick black comes from the 110, which also feeds the outlet...
these go up the tube, thus my question, I assume the 3 light fixtures above run off 110 and 12V (right?)

I am not the electrical expert.... one thing I do know is no "Tube" should have both 110 and 12v wires running through it. they should be seperate.
Dave

[Roy in TO]

I assume the 3 light fixtures above run off 110 and 12V (right?)

Suzanne,
If your trailer is typical, the flourescent over the sink is 110 and the light on either end of the upper cabinet is 12V.

Your trailer may have been modded by someone at some time, so who knows. The only real way to tell is to follow the wires through the upper cabinet and check them as well at each light.

The 110 or 120 is very basic in the 13' Boler. Typically the line comes in from the outside into a single breaker box. That may lead to the flourescent light above the sink, the single plug outlet on the front of the kitchen cabinet, and the fridge. And that is about it.

Your typical 12 V is to your tail and marker lights. The 2 lights on the ends of the upper kitchen cabinets a possible optional porch light and a line to the fridge. Batterys, fans etc. were typically owner add ons.

[Suzanne P.]

Oh, I appreciate that info. It's good to know that something isn't missing. It hasn't really been modded, just the trailer lights weren't working for some reason and I had to get that fixed (which ruined my car battery because the mechanics used it for testing for 3 hours, but then again it was 9 years old--just had to get that replaced, too).
So you're saying that the junction box has a breaker in it? Or is there a breaker somewhere else?
So I can run more stuff off those 12 V lines, like porch lights?
And if you don't mind...would you recommend running a water pump off the 12V line?
Thank you so much!

Suzanne,
If your trailer is typical, the flourescent over the sink is 110 and the light on either end of the upper cabinet is 12V.

Your trailer may have been modded by someone at some time, so who knows. The only real way to tell is to follow the wires through the upper cabinet and check them as well at each light.

The 110 or 120 is very basic in the 13' Boler. Typically the line comes in from the outside into a single breaker box. That may lead to the flourescent light above the sink, the single plug outlet on the front of the kitchen cabinet, and the fridge. And that is about it.

Your typical 12 V is to your tail and marker lights. The 2 lights on the ends of the upper kitchen cabinets a possible optional porch light and a line to the fridge. Batterys, fans etc. were typically owner add ons.

[Benny K]

Your basic 13' Boler relies on the 110v power outlet, that your power cord plugs into, being fused at 15 amps.....and that is the 110V overload protection for your trailer....the 12V lamps on the ends of your cabinet are the round ones and are standard on my trailer and most likely yours too...you can add more accesories to your 12V supply.....also add a trailer battery to power the 12V requirements in the trailer.....this battery should be isolated from your tug battery when parked......the trailer battery will recharge as you drive from a separate positive wire from your tug battery/ alternator....running a number of trailer lights, etc. off the battery in your tug when parked could drain that battery to the point where you won`t start it when needed...Benny

[Pete Dumbleton]

Somewhere in there, you have a 12VDC fuse block, likely with the glass fuses, and any 12VDC stuf, like exterior lights, that you want to run will need to either be connected to a fuse or connected to another light line that is already fused (unless too many lights start blowing fuses, in which case you would have to find a way to split the load, but that's not likely unless you go really wild).

An electric water pump should have its own fuse and also a switch in the line to turn it off if it starts misbehaving or if you leave the trailer (you don't want it pumping water on the floor if there's a leak and then running down the battery trying to pump air...).

BTW, if you continue to use your manual pump, you won't waste water, you'll use less battery and you'll create less waste water, plus it will spare you the headache of installing an electric pump. YMMV!

[Janice M]

See picture...the metal tube contains the plastic covered 12V and 110 wires, as can be seen from below, the light gray is 12V, the thick black comes from the 110, which also feeds the outlet...
these go up the tube, thus my question, I assume the 3 light fixtures above run off 110 and 12V (right?)

Suzanne, i am just in the midst of replacing the light fixtures in by 1970 Boler, and mine has the same chrome tube with the 2 wires running up it. The tube on mine was quite close to the stove, so i wanted to move it back. I have also replaced all my lights with 12 V marine fixtures, so i had no more need for the 110 line running up through the counter -- only needed the 12V.

On mine, the 110 V line runs from the outside of the trailer to the 110 V outlet on the cabinet, and then another line running back out and up thru the pipe with the 12V line. I just disconnected the line out as i didn't need it anymore. The 12V lines then run thru the trailer to power the overhead lights at the other end of the cabinet and the other side of the trailer.