Getting ready for the road

[D Davis]

Cathy, you are not alone. I know how you must be overwhelmed right now. You are being given invaluable information by these good folks here. Read to memory "The 12 Volt Side of Life" A must for all Boone Dockers. I had to print it out and put it into a 3 ring binder to refer to.
This thread covers a lot of information. I am gently suggesting you break things down into small pieces, most important first, to avoid being overwhelmed. I was when I bought my little broken up camper and knew nothing until I learned from these kind and sharing people. Now am a very happy camper. You have a labor of love project that can be turned into your own finished wonderful little home in the woods. One that you can enjoy for a long time to come.
I have too much to say to you in this post will PM you, Okay...

[Cat futrell]

Will look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you.

[jimmied]

Originally Posted by Cat futrell

Will look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you.

Thanks, Cat, from one part of North America, British Columbia to the complete opposit, Florida, for your very informative instructions on how to download pics on picasa...hope my signature shows some pics...more to come tomorrow as I will be installing the converter....I ran wires to the LED fixtures, which I will be purchasing and installing at a later date...Jim

[Cat futrell]

that's great Jim I look forward to seeing them

[jimmied]

Originally Posted by Cat futrell

that's great Jim I look forward to seeing them

I just installed the PD4045 converter with the help from my carpenter friend who is an experienced electrican as well. Without his help, I am sure that I would not have been able to reroute all the wires from the old Systems Monitor to the new all in one converter as it was so confusing, at least for me, an unexperienced electrician. Running the wires was easy for me, but as far as installing the new converter, an experienced electrican is highly recommended as it would not take long to do this part. I ran some wires under the trailer, which was a lot easier than trying to fish them through the interior. Additional AC outlets as well as DC were also installed and I also ran wires for future installation of LED lights throughout the trailer and these will be run under the trailer as well. An inside on/off switch was put in place for the new exterior light. The converter opening had to be slightly enlarged but this was not a major problem. The pigtails on the new converter made the job very fast, and I left the 15 amp shore power in place, as I do not believe I need the heavier 30 amp cord. as the trailer is very compact. Thanks for all the help from this board and pictures are on my signature, and thanks to Cat for helping with instructions on how to post these pics.
One last thing, I found these lights on EBAY and wanted the boards advice. They seem to be very bright and I plan on putting several in the trailer and would be used for reading as well.
2X 12V Warm White LED Bed Side Light Reading Wall Bedside Lamp Switch Caravan | eBay

Jim

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by jimmied

.........
One last thing, I found these lights on EBAY and wanted the boards advice. They seem to be very bright and I plan on putting several in the trailer and would be used for reading as well.
2X 12V Warm White LED Bed Side Light Reading Wall Bedside Lamp Switch Caravan | eBay

Jim

They look decent to me. They may not have any voltage regulation so it might be prudent to install a cheap voltage regulator to protect them when run off the converter. Downside is possible TV / radio interference from voltage regulator.

Reference: http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...tml#post293192

[Paul west]

Cathy,
It would be difficult to give an electrical lesson through a thread. However I will try. A 12 volt system can be very simple. 2 wires in the circuit. You have a hot wire and a ground. The hot wire is usually the one attached to the terminals on a switch. Think of the British term for a switch, interrupter.
It interrupts the power to the appliance. If you have more than one appliance on a circuit ( very acceptable, your home may have a large room with all of the receptacles and the lights and a smoke detector on one circuit with one circuit breaker ( arc fault ) in the panel powering it). To determine how much you can put on a circuit you can add up the wattage of each appliance. ohms law will help determine the amperage. Wattage divided by voltage equals amperage. an example with ac current is a hair dryer, typically 1500watts. divide that by 120 volts ( typical
ac voltage) and you get 12.5 amps. The same applies to 12 volt systems. A circuit with many LED lights is possible and practical. LED Wattage is usually very low as this thread has pointed out. You would use 14 gauge stranded automotive wire for a 15 amp circuit, 12 gauge for a 20 amp circuit,and 10 gauge for for a 30 amp circuit. many of the newer cars are using very small gauge wire for things such as taillights. 16 gauge and even smaller.
As you noticed the higher the gauge number the smaller the wire. 15 four foot flourescent fixtures with 2 35 watt bulbs each will only be 1050 watts.
You lighting will not compare with that. You can also use wiremold to run your wires in in areas that have to be exposed. Available in plastic at Home depot and others. My PlayPac has a rub rail around the belly where the two halves come together. Under thee vinyl strip the taillight wires have been run. I have had several Women work on my crew wiring industrial buildings and they did well. So can you! Not rocket science just camper science. a skill acquired is worth its weight in GOLD.
Paul w

[Cat futrell]

Paul,

Thanks for your post. I am working hard at learning about this subject and your input is appreciated.

Cat