What do I need to run A/C and other electric accessories?

[KC10Chief]

I'm working on a 5'x10' expedition trailer that's about 5' tall. I am confused on how exactly I need to wire it up. I want to run a 5,000 BTU wall mount air conditioner. I'd like to be able to plug into shore power or my Honda generator to run the A/C or an electric heater when it's real cold out. I'd like to have a couple of 110V electric outlets inside and one outside. I'd also like to have 12V RV lighting inside and outside as well as some wall mount USB chargers that will run off of battery power when not plugged into shore power. I'd also like to be able to charge the battery when plugged into my tow vehicle and when plugged into a generator.

I'm a little confused on what exactly I need. I was looking at a 30A RV power center like this one on Amazon. I think this is what I need. I think I can run my A/C off of this. Not sure about charging the battery though. Am I way off here?

https://www.amazon.com/WFCO-WF-8735...id=1481088083&sr=8-1&keywords=rv+power+center

 

[dwh]

That power center is a pretty common unit and will do most of what you described. There are two issues to be considered with that unit.

First, it doesn't have any inverter capability, so you won't be able to run any 120v loads from the battery. Only from shore power or generator. If you wanted to add an inverter, it would be a bit tricky since your 120v wiring would all be connected to the power center which doesn't have any provision to hook up an inverter. The other thing that makes it tricky is that if you feed the power center's 120v input with an inverter, you'll also be powering the converter/charger. So you'd be pulling power out of the battery and at the same time feeding it back into the battery. That's just a waste of power.

The second issue with that power center is that the battery charger sucks. It's really designed to power 12v loads, not charge batteries, and so the voltage, while it can charge a battery...eventually...is way too low to get a battery fully topped up in a reasonable amount of time. Bestconverter.com sells kits to replace the crappy converter/charger with a decent charger. They might even sell power centers already setup with a decent charger...dunno, been a while since I looked at their site.


Charging off the truck would be completely separate from the power center.


You could just use a standard 2 or 4 slot breaker box to feed the 120v stuff, including a decent battery charger, and feed it from an external shore power plug, and a separate 12v fuse box tapped off the battery for the 12v loads.

If you decided to add an inverter, there a couple ways you could do it to avoid the looping problem.

 

[dwh]

BTW, my dad's oldest brother was a KC10 pilot.

 

[Ozarker]

After figuring out what you want to run, finding the power requirement, you need to draw a schematic of each circuit, use different colors to identify voltage differences. The inexpensive and most reliable way will be with switches and inline fuses or fuse blocks on 12V, breakers for 120V. By drawing out the circuits as to each function you'll then get a parts list, what will be needed and layout a control panel, you can buy panels, boxes, etc. Find the longest runs you'll have and size the wire. Don't forget isolated grounds for circuits.

That's the old way, before solid state and micro compressors provided a plug and play system, you can wire in inverters, converters and chargers to meet your needs. You can also carry spare parts, like a 20 amp switch, if one does go bad, replace it, if a solid state rig smokes, you're out of luck until you get a new one.

Get some assistance at an aircraft maintenance shop (since you're in aviation) or a HAM radio guy can help you most likely.

There will be more complication in knowing what switch to flip on or off or the series you may want, but you'll have manual control over each circuit and function. Happy trails

 

[mep1811]

You can run your generator to a power strip to power your A/C etc. You can plug in your battery charger . As for charging while you drive I use a Toad charger and very pleased.
http://www.lslproducts.net/ToadChargePage.html

 

[ratled]

I use a Toad charger and very pleased.
http://www.lslproducts.net/ToadChargePage.html

Thanks for the link

 

[Fireman78]

So if you had two Yamaha 2000 watt inverter/generators and chained them together, you could run that AC.


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[dwh]

So if you had two Yamaha 2000 watt inverter/generators and chained them together, you could run that AC.


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For a 5k window shaker, one would do it.

 

[Fireman78]

For a 5k window shaker, one would do it.

You're right, I was thinking of those roof mounted ones on travel trailers. My bad. Half asleep


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[The Artisan]

I am trying to figure this out as well and will have a pro wire it up when ready. Are my thoughts off, please correct me if I am wrong and forgive my stupidity if I am off base....
Wire up a RV elec box to say 3 interior outlets. Plug into to shore power when you can and off grid extension cord goes from genset to where you would plug in for shore power when not.

12v is separate but is hooked to genset to charge if I wanted or battery charger when on shore?

Am I missing something?
Kevin

 

[dwh]

12v is hooked to battery full time. Get a battery charger with enough amps to power all the 12v stuff and still have at least an extra 15a (minimum) left over to charge the battery. So 30a of loads, 45a charger minimum.

When connected to external power (shore or gen), that powers all the 120v, which includes the battery charger which powers the 12v and charges the battery.

 

[The Artisan]

So am a thinking correctly one electrical panel that shares shore OR Gen connected to 3 oulets?
TIA,
Kevin

 

[KC10Chief]

Thanks for all of the info! As for the 120V outlets in the trailer, I'd only want them to work when the generator is plugged in or I'm hooked up to shore power. The only thing I think I'd power is the A/C and an electric heater. I'd like to have some USB outlets for charging phones and stuff inside the trailer. I really just want this to be a comfortable place for sleeping.

 

[dwh]

So am a thinking correctly one electrical panel that shares shore OR Gen connected to 3 oulets?
TIA,
Kevin

Shore or gen is really the same thing. Either one plugs into the same plug on your rig, and that feeds into the breaker box.

 

[The Artisan]

Shore or gen is really the same thing. Either one plugs into the same plug on your rig, and that feeds into the breaker box.

I was just making sure thanks for verifying it. Was thinking 6 outlets 2 external, extra and one for elec water heater. One for AC/Heat, one for AC/DC truckfridge (need to figure hook on this dual system) One for LED TV and one extra for appliances.
Kevin