Bought an old Class C - Electrical question?
Hi all- A friend of mine and I just bought an old 1978 Dodge Midas Class C motorhome to use on a property she just bought until the home is built. To be honest, the thing is a bit of a mess, but we'r...
Forum Discussion
Not "required" but why not improve this rig while you're at it...
The IOTA unit that came with our Jayco is all in one;
Converter
Charger
12VDC Distribution with Fuse protection
120VAC Distribution with Circuit breaker protection
This is only personal to me, but I like separate components. For our boat, for example, it's possible to get a combination depth sounder AND navigational GPS. I prefer two units. Nice to save space, but if one fails I don't have to replace the other.
I have the room in our coach, so to replace the IOTA, I'd be looking for a good Converter/Charger. Those two seem to always be together. But I'd like it either completely separate from Fuse/Breaker Load Center. That or included in a common rack with Converter/Charger and Load Center in a way that I could replace either.
Looking to the Circuit Breaker/Load Center for 120VAC I'd check big box stores for small residential panels or "sub panels." What I'd be after is the least expensive SINGLE breakers, like GE or SquareD HomeLine. I don't like the Duplex 120VAC breakers the RV load centers use. They are more expensive, one overheats the other, and you have to match the sides. For example, branch circuits are 15/15. But Main and A/C occupy a 30/20. Get a 20/30 and you have to re-wire, re-label, or re-member.
The two 120VAC breaker boxes I mentioned were GE residential. Home Depot every time, and you can get reasonably priced GFCI breakers to protect your circuits in wet areas like kitchen, bath and outdoor.
For the 12VDC panel I'd at least check marine. The one we had in that coach wasn't marine. It was a steel box with cover and used glass fuses. Never needed to know where it came from.
The IOTA unit that came with our Jayco is all in one;
Converter
Charger
12VDC Distribution with Fuse protection
120VAC Distribution with Circuit breaker protection
This is only personal to me, but I like separate components. For our boat, for example, it's possible to get a combination depth sounder AND navigational GPS. I prefer two units. Nice to save space, but if one fails I don't have to replace the other.
I have the room in our coach, so to replace the IOTA, I'd be looking for a good Converter/Charger. Those two seem to always be together. But I'd like it either completely separate from Fuse/Breaker Load Center. That or included in a common rack with Converter/Charger and Load Center in a way that I could replace either.
Looking to the Circuit Breaker/Load Center for 120VAC I'd check big box stores for small residential panels or "sub panels." What I'd be after is the least expensive SINGLE breakers, like GE or SquareD HomeLine. I don't like the Duplex 120VAC breakers the RV load centers use. They are more expensive, one overheats the other, and you have to match the sides. For example, branch circuits are 15/15. But Main and A/C occupy a 30/20. Get a 20/30 and you have to re-wire, re-label, or re-member.
The two 120VAC breaker boxes I mentioned were GE residential. Home Depot every time, and you can get reasonably priced GFCI breakers to protect your circuits in wet areas like kitchen, bath and outdoor.
For the 12VDC panel I'd at least check marine. The one we had in that coach wasn't marine. It was a steel box with cover and used glass fuses. Never needed to know where it came from.
