12VDC access. For new TV

We camp alot off the power gird and it was better for us to install a PURE SINE WAVE 600WATT POWER INVERTER ($159 AMAZON) to use.

12VDC TV's are very pricy and the VIZIO 120VAC are availabe from WALMART everywhere. We have the 22 Inch HDTV in our OFF-ROAD POPU setup... They are very reasonable cost wise and on sale alot...

The POWER INVERTER allows us the option of having 120VAC available for all kinds of low wattage 120VAC items...

I have many needs for alot of items and normally only use around 300WATT of Pure Sinewave power when camping off the power grid. Having the additonal 120VAC from the POWER INVERTER is a good deal for our style of camping off the power grid.

In my case I ran two 120VAC drops from the POWER INVERTER and have two dedicated 120VAC receptacles just for emergency power. One at the home entertainment location and the other one near the bed area...

We leave our home entertainment on the POWER INVERTER all the time even when we are using 120VAC from campground hookups...

This is what we ended up doing for camping off the power gird...

Roy Ken

roadnerd wrote:
This is in regards to my 2008 Keystone Sprinter 26BHS

For this season, I'm upgrading our ancient TV. I also decided that I wanted to change to an AC/DC TV, to allow for using the TV when off grid (yes, I know this may be ridiculous to some, but I have kids;) )

The trailer is a typical master bedroom forward, with a shared wall that divides the bedroom from the main house. The TV is on a swivel, to allow it to be viewed from either the master bedroom or the rest of the trailer - so, it's mounted in a wall, and all the wiring comes up though/down through the wall (there is also a Jensen DVD stereo combo)

The current (ancient) TV is AC only, and is powered via a 110 AC plug that is in a panel behind the TV. As far as I can tell, there is no 12VDC source in the panel.

So.. my question (finally ;) )... is... where do I get 12VDC that I can use to wire a cigarette lighter plug , that I can plug the new AC/DC TV into? Where, in general, would I look, and are there any "rv secrets" I should know? I've only done electrical in houses/cars.
Thanks!

I would be tempted to tap into the power for the stereo.. BUT, keep in mind that the stereo circuit may have a light ga wire and rather low amperage fuse.. That may not play well with a TV if it draws more than 1A or 2A at 12V..

No matter how you cut it, you will have to attempt to "fish" wire through the wall if you want the wire to be hidden. In RVs this can be rather problematic due to rather thin walls and no real specific pattern to the wood studs in the wall. You can try a stud finder, but I found that in RVs the walls are so thin that even high quality stud finders get pretty confused.

You might get lucky and be able to fish the wire from below the TV mount on the wall..

Worst comes to worst you can get wiremold surface mount wiring chase, use that on the back side of the shared wall.

As far as getting 12V, I personally would run a new separate 12V circuit back to the fuse panel. Use a decent ga of wire to minimize voltage loss (14 ga -12Ga) and make sure you FUSE the new wire (max fuse selection is for protecting the wire so 14 ga no more than 15A and 12 ga no more than 20A).

Alternately I would just opt for a REGULAR LCD TV which uses 120V and get a small low wattage inverter (300W typically plenty for all but the biggest LCD TVs). 120V TVs are dirt cheap, plentiful and easy to replace when they die.. Not all 120V TVs use external 12V supplies and typically the ones I have seen that do have a 12V supply are limited in size to 15"-19".

Mount inverter near the batteries with big heavy wire for the 12V side, then run some 120V to the TV (might be able to figure out the circuit the current outlet is on and rewire it to the inverter).

Usually close to the TV mount there will be a panel with the F type connector(s), a 12 volt socket and the switch for the TV antenna amp.

Are you saying you don't have one or that it is not close to the TV?

jmckelvy wrote:
Usually close to the TV mount there will be a panel with the F type connector(s), a 12 volt socket and the switch for the TV antenna amp.

Are you saying you don't have one or that it is not close to the TV?

OP mentioned that the CURRENT TV is on a wall mounted swivel AND IS 120V ONLY.

Not all preinstalled TVs will have a 120 and 12V outlet and I suspect if the OP has a 12V outlet behind the TV or near the TV they would not have posted their question in the first place.

Gdetrailer wrote:

jmckelvy wrote:
Usually close to the TV mount there will be a panel with the F type connector(s), a 12 volt socket and the switch for the TV antenna amp.

Are you saying you don't have one or that it is not close to the TV?

OP mentioned that the CURRENT TV is on a wall mounted swivel AND IS 120V ONLY.

Not all preinstalled TVs will have a 120 and 12V outlet and I suspect if the OP has a 12V outlet behind the TV or near the TV they would not have posted their question in the first place.

As usual, everyone on this forum is GOOD and FAST too - great answers - thanks!


There is an amp for the antenna that is withing the console, I'll have to look at that. As was also pointed out, the stereo is 12VDC powered, so the power must be in the somewhere - while I was feeling around in the panel, i did feel an inline fuse, so it must be somewhere close.

The TV is already on the way, and is AC/DC. I had considered installing an inverter, but the power waste during inversion is significant AFAIK, so I decided to try a 12V TV

I added a small inverter to power the tv and endless device chargers.

Used GoPower 300w sine wave inverter. Connected behind the fuse/breaker panel. Connect 12v to the main battery feed. Connect the 120v to the selected circuit with a transfer switch. Touch the remote switch and regular power is available at all outlets. No pulling wire through walls and other blind areas, just make connections.

roadnerd wrote:
I had considered installing an inverter, but the power waste during inversion is significant AFAIK, so I decided to try a 12V TV

Good decision. :)

Here's a link to my conversion of our RV TV to a 12-volt model back in 2010. At the time, there were those that suggested this was not a good idea, that the 12V RV power was not safe/good enough for a TV. Over 5-years of use with this TV has proven them wrong.

You don't say how large a TV you are planning on. The larger the TV the more current it will draw.

I replaced my old TV with a new 22" LED TV that used a power brick that had an output of 12v. It drew only 1A. I took the 12v power from a nearby light. I had previously replaced the incandescent light bulbs with LED lights so I had plenty of 12v current available.

If you are using a larger TV this might not work for you.

tenbear wrote:
You don't say how large a TV you are planning on. The larger the TV the more current it will draw.

I replaced my old TV with a new 22" LED TV that used a power brick that had an output of 12v. It drew only 1A. I took the 12v power from a nearby light. I had previously replaced the incandescent light bulbs with LED lights so I had plenty of 12v current available.

If you are using a larger TV this might not work for you.

Ahh yes, I forgot that part, thanks for reminding me ;)

I'm in the same boat as you - I've replaced the old tv with an http://www.amazon.com/Axess-24-Inch-Digital-Player-TVD1801-24/dp/B00BCS1EM2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1454257914&sr=8-1&keywords=12v+led+tvAxxess 24"


, which probably draws close to 1A as well. I've also just converted my entire trailer to LED (and, man, what a difference that makes!), so I have plenty of amps to go around. I'll have to get creative in the lights.

roadnerd wrote:
I had considered installing an inverter, but the power waste during inversion is significant AFAIK, so I decided to try a 12V TV

An inverter is handy for so many other reasons. I'm willing to part with less than 1 amp to run the inverter.