my electric plan( do I need anything elese)

Anything electric, AC or DC

my electric plan( do I need anything elese)

Postby stjohn » Fri Mar 31, 2006 10:27 pm

sorry I would post pics but camera is broke
I'm going to use 10 gauge wire for power cord into a 30 amp main feeding 3 15 amp breakers into 14 gauge stranded wire int o 4 outlets all gfi,2 in the galley running small refridgerator & micro wave and or a small
toaster oven thats circuit 1 #2 will be tv an dvd and cabin out #3 will be ac
and battery charge or power conveter.The 12 volt is going to be really simple with just 2 cabin light and 2 galley lights and a outside door light
if I missed anything speak up going to start wiring in the morning


PS I have plans to grond the fram also
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Postby TD4FREEW/CTD » Sat Apr 01, 2006 1:23 am

sounds reasonable.

personally i would run 12ga 20 amp circuits so i could run applianced up to 2400 watts if it came down to it. 15 amps will be fine for the most part, and you will save money. just watch out when you plug in the space heater and the wife wants to blow dry her hair on the same outlet :lol:

just make sure you use stranded wire. its easier to fit in tight spaces and it wont fatigue with vibrations like the solid. i would use crimp eyelet connectors on my outlets. maybe even solder the crimps.
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Postby GeorgeTelford » Sat Apr 01, 2006 7:07 am

Hi

Why do people promote this dont use solid nonsense?

Solid wire should not be use where flexibility is needed ie a table lamp.

When wired into a tear its not moving (relative to itself) ie its not "worked" backwards and forwards.

Copper does not fall apart due to vibration, there are machines (which vibrated like hell) from the early 1900's with the original copper wire in and the wire as not vibrated apart.

Steel is more likely to vibrate apart

Only rule to follow on selection is

Does the lead require flexibility? Yes then used stranded No then you MAY use solid

Using stranded wont hurt, but its an old wivestale that it will vibrate apart.
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Postby TD4FREEW/CTD » Sat Apr 29, 2006 12:53 am

if you insist on using solid at least make sure you twist your connections together with lineman's pliers before you attach a wire nut.
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Postby madjack » Sat Apr 29, 2006 1:21 am

...we used stranded for all wiring...12/3 sheathed for 120VAC outlets and 14/2 for 12VDC outlets/lights...wasn't worried about the vibration thing, just found stranded easier to run and make up connections...that darn solid wire is just so...well, solid... :D ;)
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Stranded wire

Postby Rev. Ken » Tue Jun 13, 2006 8:53 pm

If you are wiring for 12 volt you should run stranded wire. it carries more current than solid, more suface area. But for 120 volt i would run solid.
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Postby Dee Bee » Tue Jun 13, 2006 10:17 pm

I hope you plan on grounding the green wire to your trailer frame...

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Postby Steve_Cox » Tue Jun 13, 2006 11:21 pm

Dee Bee wrote:I hope you plan on grounding the green wire to your trailer frame...

Dee Bee


But whatta bout that old saying? "Don't be grounded when the rapture comes"

I chose not to ground, but then again, I used stranded wire on everything. :lol: :lol:
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wiring

Postby oklahomajewel » Tue Jun 13, 2006 11:32 pm

I'm a little ignorant on this, but learning with Phil, my neighbor really doing the decision making and work on the wiring.

We (I) bought 14 ga speaker wire. A 30 amp breaker on the battery with 10 ga going back to the fuse box. Then the 10 amp fuses, going to the lights, etc.

The actual electrical will be simple and separate. Power strips in the cabin and galley, AC and microwave (future) etc will plug into those. Then those two wired together and run to the exterior wall and will have a male outlet there. Get to the campsite, plug in good extension cord over to the pigtail.

So tell me , please... what is the difference about stranded or solid wire?
Is the stranded where there are lots of copper strands in the wire itself?


Sorry if that sounds like a stupid description... I really am dumb on this subject... but looking up.
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Postby Woody » Tue Jun 13, 2006 11:35 pm

Hey julie hows the cubby coming along anyway?? Helps to have a plan or two :lol: :lol: :lol: Good luck with your build
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Re: wiring

Postby Rev. Ken » Wed Jun 14, 2006 12:11 am

[quote="oklahomajewel"]I'm a little ignorant on this, but learning with Phil, my neighbor really doing the decision making and work on the wiring.

So tell me , please... what is the difference about stranded or solid wire?
Is the stranded where there are lots of copper strands in the wire itself?


Yes Stranded wire is the one with lots of strands of copper wire in it.
The reason stradned is better for 12vdc is that electricity run on the outside of the wire so the more wires the more current it can carry.
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Re: wiring

Postby Dee Bee » Wed Jun 14, 2006 6:34 am

oklahomajewel wrote:We (I) bought 14 ga speaker wire. A 30 amp breaker on the battery with 10 ga going back to the fuse box. Then the 10 amp fuses, going to the lights, etc.

The actual electrical will be simple and separate. Power strips in the cabin and galley, AC and microwave (future) etc will plug into those. Then those two wired together and run to the exterior wall and will have a male outlet there. Get to the campsite, plug in good extension cord over to the pigtail.

So tell me , please... what is the difference about stranded or solid wire?
Is the stranded where there are lots of copper strands in the wire itself?

Sorry if that sounds like a stupid description... I really am dumb on this subject... but looking up.


Hey "Jewel"

There is nothing dumb or stupid about your questions. Electricity, which we use all the time and take for granted, has to used properly or it can cause injury or fire. So caution is wisdom!

I found and read the article here http://www.ccis.com/home/mnemeth/12volt/12volt.htm to learn about batteries and RV systems. I still recommend it as a start in TD wiring 101.

I understand some things better in a visual way. This picture helped me alot to see what I needed/wanted in a basic system that I would not outgrow.

Image

A simple system is great and works well as long as it does what you want it to do. If down the road you find you want it do more then it can be hard to retro fit aTD were a lot of the wiring can be inaccessable. So think it through and build it your way...

Check out this quote from the site linked above:

Most of the 12 Volt wiring in RVs is done using 12 or 14 ga. twinlead. The most common seems to be white with a black trace to denote the positive wire. When in doubt, check with a meter to determine which is positive and which is ground. A lot of RVs also use a crimp style connector to tap into these 12 volt wires to hook up lights and other low current devices. I don't personally care for these crimp connectors as they can fail over time, so any time I make a new connection, I use either wire nuts or solder and heat shrink to make secure connections.
If you intend to install 12 Volt equipment in your RV, it's important to be sure that you use adequately sized wire to meet the amperage requirements of whatever it is that you're installing. Here's a table of wire sizes and amperage ratings that will provide some basic guidelines. This table leans a bit towards heavier wire than is absolutely necessary, but that's actually safer in the long run. Always provide fuse protection of any new wiring that you install. The fuse should be sized so as to protect the wiring from meltdown. Don't put a 20 amp fuse on a circuit wired with 16 ga. wire.


Once I felt I understood the principles explained here I was confident I could wire the DC part of my system. The chart that followed in this web article also helped. I also used the advise and help of electricians to give me the pointers I needed for the Alternating Current (shore power) side of the system. It has been an education for me!

On the AC side of things I followed the standard use and practices of typical household wiring all the way. No short cuts here.

I think you can do it. Get the help you feel you need, build what you really want, don't settle for less than this in the building stage. Go for it!

Dee Bee
Last edited by Dee Bee on Thu Jun 15, 2006 5:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby ARKPAT » Thu Jun 15, 2006 4:37 am

Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 6:34 am Post subject: Re: wiring

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

oklahomajewel wrote:

We (I) bought 14 ga speaker wire. A 30 amp breaker on the battery with 10 ga going back to the fuse box. Then the 10 amp fuses, going to the lights, etc.

The actual electrical will be simple and separate. Power strips in the cabin and galley, AC and microwave (future) etc will plug into those. Then those two wired together and run to the exterior wall and will have a male outlet there. Get to the campsite, plug in good extension cord over to the pigtail.

So tell me , please... what is the difference about stranded or solid wire?
Is the stranded where there are lots of copper strands in the wire itself?


To answer your question Julie:
Yes Stranded Wire is where there is a lot of copper wired in one enclosed bundle ( representing one wire : example: one solid wire ).
:thumbsup:
I think Hap did a good job with the power strip in his Tear at Bever Bend. The K.I.S.S. method works very well and is easy to find the problems or expand later.
:oops: :thinking:
I will more than likely over do my electrical because of what I'm doing with the trailer electronics/solar things inside.

:applause: :)

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Postby oklahomajewel » Thu Jun 15, 2006 10:08 pm

Most of the 12 Volt wiring in RVs is done using 12 or 14 ga. twinlead. The most common seems to be white with a black trace to denote the positive wire.
YES, that's what we bought. It's 14 gauge stranded and 'clear' with the black writing/numbers on one of the lines.

If you intend to install 12 Volt equipment in your RV, it's important to be sure that you use adequately sized wire to meet the amperage requirements of whatever it is that you're installing.

YES, 10 amp fuses is what I think we're using.

Thanks everybody... I'm learning more about all this, thanks to this awesome board! But I'll let Phil or the other knowledgeable neighbor Tom or Gary double, triple check what I'm doing., Or let them do it.
Some things are way over my head !! ...but it keeps me looking UP!
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Re: Stranded wire

Postby GeorgeTelford » Fri Jun 16, 2006 6:02 am

Rev. Ken wrote:If you are wiring for 12 volt you should run stranded wire. it carries more current than solid, more suface area.


The current carrying capacity of wire is reflected in its gauge, ie look at any electricians chart for deciding wire gauge only the overall wire cross section is used and no allowance is made for whether its stranded or solid.

here are 2 charts to show what I mean

http://www.ccis.com/home/mnemeth/12volt/12volta.htm

http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

The first link includes allowance for length of run and it is very important to remember to increase wire gauge when the length of cable increases.
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