Planning stages

[Wrenchbender]

Some people who live in Texas have said that they don't bother insulating because the small window shaker units are so over sized for a TD that they have no problem keeping up, and they have to have them running all of the time anyway. Just what I have read.

That's what I'm thinking.

My suggestion for the small motorcycle battery was based on a minimal lighting setup. Not sure how long it would be good for if attempting to run a roof fan. If I were you I would spend a little time reading the "super simple electrical system" sticky in the electrical secrets forum.

So as a minimum, I would need a 110v AC system running off campsite shore power and a 12v DC battery system?

I think I could wire up something a little bit more sophisticated than the "minimalist" AC system in that link. It does show that you don't need a lot of complexity though.

I'm thinking that the DC could run off the battery, with the battery being simultaneously charged either off the tow vehicle or the 110v AC system. Is that how they're usually wired up? And are we talking about a golfcart battery or a car battery?

[KCStudly]

My "simple" electrical system quickly snowballed into what others would consider complex, so be aware of "feature creep". For me this was in part due to the fact that I have separate circuits for each fixture, and electric powered hatch actuators. All 12v, with both a large roof vent fan and smaller 4 inch case fan drawing from underneath. I will have a 120v power inlet for an on board battery minder smart charger. One car sized battery in the tongue box, with room to add a second under the galley counter if needed (I plan on boondocking for over a week at a time). I also sprang for a 120w portable solar panel and will have a jack to plug that in thru the tongue box.

Many folks like to use the PD4025 power station, which has breakers for 120v, a built in charger and 12v circuits. The word is that it is hard to beat the price and compact nature of the unit.

Charging off of the car can be as simple as using the accessory jack from a 7-pin trailer connector and stringing a fused 10ga wire from the battery to the rear of the tow vehicle. Most people like to install a relay so that the TV battery is isolated when the ignition is turned off. Unless you plan to run a much larger gauge wire, this should only be used for trickle charging, not to try and bring back a severely depleted TD battery, nor for jump starting the TV off of the TD battery.

[Wrenchbender]

OK, here's what seems essential to me for electrical power.

DC -

12v Battery on a trickle charge from the TV or the 110v AC shore power circuit.

3 circuits - One dedicated to the ceiling vent fan, a second for central dome lights in the cabin and the galley, and a third for the DC charger outlets. I don't think reading lights or outside porch lights are essential but fall into the "nice-to-have" category.

AC -

110v Shore Power.

4 circuits - One for the trickle charger for DC battery, a second for a (future) AC, a third for 2-4 cabin outlets and 2-4 galley outlets and a 4th for a possible (future) dorm fridge. I understand that a single 110v AC shore power circuit could not possibly power all of these simultaneously. But I also don't foresee using the 110 outlets in the galley and the 110 outlets in the cabin at the same time. The dorm fridge idea is something that I am still toying with as an upgrade down the road. If it could power both the DC trickle charger and the AC together, that would be more than sufficient.

I'm thinking that I may want to leave room for adding a 30 amp circuit later when I add the AC unit, leaving that off the 110v system altogether. Maybe a dorm fridge could also be kept on the 30 amp circuit. I really don't mind relying on a ice chest for the foreseeable future...

[KCStudly]

Good start. It is always nice to have a plan and figure out your wiring needs early. A lot of people, myself included, have misjudged the amount of space and size of wire ways needed to fit it all in, even for a simple system. It's better to allow a little more pull space than expected, than it is to try and figure out how to fit that one extra circuit in later.

[noseoil]

If you're planning on an air conditioner, you will need 110 volt power, no way around this one yet for the load a small unit requires (400-500 watts when running). For lighting, 12 volts & led stuff is the way to go now with prices & low current draws making it relatively cheap & simple to set up. At a minimum you will need a 12 volt outlet, charging port for a phone or tablet & a dome light. A galley light & perhaps a tongue light for working at night at the hitch area just make things easier. Porch lights are nice for things that go bump in the night, or at least one at the front door, a reading light is nice at the head of the bed if it's rainy at night & you need to sit & think or work a bit.

Simplest way to do this is with conduit runs under the trailer from a tongue box. The tongue box will hold a small wheel chair battery & 110v stuff easily, keep it compact & have only one place to work on it during the build. I would second the idea of a PD 4045 to deal with all of the 12 volt circuits, 110v power distribution, charging requirements & overall simplicity. It's the easiest way to have everything you need, room for growth & a way to keep it all organized in a small space.

I can understand your need for simplicity & an easy build. The other side of that coin is comfort, once things are built & you're using it. If a few dollars are well spent & time is spent in planning, there's no reason you can't have your cake & eat it too. If it costs a couple of weeks & a few dollars more to build, in the overall scheme of things, isn't it worth it to be more comfortable when it's finished? Just sayin'......

[Wrenchbender]

I can understand your need for simplicity & an easy build. The other side of that coin is comfort, once things are built & you're using it. If a few dollars are well spent & time is spent in planning, there's no reason you can't have your cake & eat it too. If it costs a couple of weeks & a few dollars more to build, in the overall scheme of things, isn't it worth it to be more comfortable when it's finished? Just sayin'......

The problem is that right now because my job is out of town and I am trying not to waste money on hotels, I am tent-camping between 5 and 7 days per week. I am staying in an RV park on a military reservation (Jacksonville Naval Air Station), so I don't have anywhere to work on the TD.

If I'm lucky, I'm back home for two, two-and-a-half days per week. I'm spending time with my family and catching up on the "honey-do" list.

So I have extremely limited time to build this camper. And my mother-in-law is sick, so my wife has had to take a leave of absence from her job with a resulting loss of her income. That limits the money available.

This camper isn't for pleasure camping or my retirement. I need it NOW since I have to travel for work. My circumstances dictate the time and money restrictions.

I understand what you are saying, but unless I want to spend the next year or two living in a tent, any camper is a vast improvement on my current situation. It doesn't need to be PERFECT, it needs to be USEABLE.

Right now, I am trying to plan out as much as I can so that when I do start the build it won't take any longer than necessary. I have plenty of time sitting in my tent right now to get organized...

If you're planning on an air conditioner, you will need 110 volt power, no way around this one yet for the load a small unit requires (400-500 watts when running).

I'm thinking that I'll add that in the spring, we're at the end of the hot weather soon. Bob Henry's "tack-on" AC concept means that I don't have to try and predict the unit size, etc. So I think that's the route I'll take.

Easy enough to put and outdoor plug on the camper to plug it into. But should I just put it on the 110 AC circuit? Won't that suck up all of the available power on that circuit? Would it better to also have the 30 amp service to handle that? Or at least leave room to install the 30 amp shore power? I may be tossing a small microwave in the galley (I have one just sitting in the garage, unused). I don't anticipate needing a lot of high-draw electrical gadgets, but I don't want to preclude an update later on either.