I'm wanting to add plenty of 12V jacks in my camper to power various electronics. I already have some 5V USB ports for direct charging of phones, tablets, game systems, etc. And of course I have a couple multi-outlet cigarette style ports as well.I don't want to go with any more cigarette style jacks for a couple reasons. Namely that they're huge, and they often don't stay plugged in very well. They also cannot be used very conveniently inline, which is something I'll need to do with several 12V devices with proprietary plugs (I'll provide more info about what I'm doing if anyone is curious).My question for you experienced RVers is, is there any kind of standard 12V plug out there used as a common alternative for cigarette style plugs? I know there are tons of 12V connectors out there (like the various sized small barrel connectors), and I could simply pick one arbitrarily, but I wanted to go with something standard / common if it exists. It also has to have both inline female / male versions available, in addition to the surface mount jack.Thanks!

for marine use I bought some Minn Kota 30 amp polarized trolling motor connectors. somebody here pointed out a place that sold a flush mount socket that takes them. I bought a set of adapters/fittings at Harbor freight for "generator" use that also plug into them.bumpy

Thanks Bumpyroad. I should've mentioned I'm looking for small, inexpensive, low-amperage connectors. 5 amp capacity would be plenty.

I've sunk the FEMALE half into enclosures and connected with the accessory MALE half. I can just about guarantee these critters do not "fall out" or "loosen up"http://www.delcity.net/store/Weather-Pack-Sealed-Connectors-&-Components/p_797635.h_797637.t_1

I added a small 300w sine wave inverter and just plug the little stuff in anywhere just like at home.

Dan East wrote:I'm wanting to add plenty of 12V jacks in my camper to power various electronics. I already have some 5V USB ports for direct charging of phones, tablets, game systems, etc. And of course I have a couple multi-outlet cigarette style ports as well.I don't want to go with any more cigarette style jacks for a couple reasons. Namely that they're huge, and they often don't stay plugged in very well. They also cannot be used very conveniently inline, which is something I'll need to do with several 12V devices with proprietary plugs (I'll provide more info about what I'm doing if anyone is curious).My question for you experienced RVers is, is there any kind of standard 12V plug out there used as a common alternative for cigarette style plugs? I know there are tons of 12V connectors out there (like the various sized small barrel connectors), and I could simply pick one arbitrarily, but I wanted to go with something standard / common if it exists. It also has to have both inline female / male versions available, in addition to the surface mount jack.Thanks!For the past 15 or so years I have used the following to tap into 12V supply and then connect various items including a few that have the cig lighter socket side. You can get the lighter version good for I think 7.5A at most auto parts stores for less than a couple of bucks a set and you can even get them up to 10G for the heavy duty stuff. I used the 10ga type to make the power supply to my Viair 88P compressor more versatile. Just make sure the supply side has the female as the hot and then the load size always has the male as the hot lead and generally you can observe the red/black on the connectors, but even that is not absolutely necessary. I've even got a couple tapped into a couple of overhead lights in the trailer to power some items that are not connected 24/7.Larry

12v connectors | Good Sam Community

mena661
Explorer
Jul 26, 2013
Dan East wrote:
What's going to cause a voltage drop? I'm not running in series. Everything is wired in parallel.
Distance vs wire size. Too thin wire plus "long" distance equals higher voltage drop. There are calculators on the web that can help with this.
Dan_East
Explorer
Jul 25, 2013
What's going to cause a voltage drop? I'm not running in series. Everything is wired in parallel.
time2roll
Nomad
Jul 25, 2013
Yes you can pull the power and the issue is voltage drop.
3v drop on 120vac is a non issue, 3v drop on 12.2 volts is a problem.
Dan_East
Explorer
Jul 25, 2013
smkettner wrote:

Are you pulling power from a light fixture?
That has trouble written all over it.

Yes, I am. The light is designed for two incandescent bulbs which would draw upwards of 4A combined. I am now using LED panels which draw under 300 mA combined. So I have over 3A of current available (even with both lights on) without ever exceeding what the fixture would draw originally with incandescents. Plus, this 40+ year old camper uses 12 gauge wiring throughout. I bet I could pull 15 A from there if I needed (although the fuse in the bus would blow way before that). Regardless, the most I draw is 1A @ 5V for charging, which is only 5 watts, when the fixture can safely draw 48 watts (4A x 12V).

I've made my electronics as efficient as I possibly can. I have 19 LED arrays in place of all incandescents, use low power mobile devices, and for fixed entertainment use a Raspberry Pi drawing 200 mA for my media player / data server.
Raften
Explorer
Jul 25, 2013
A vote for Anderson Power Poles.
time2roll
Nomad
Jul 25, 2013
Dan East wrote:

Are you pulling power from a light fixture?
That has trouble written all over it.
Tango__AE7UI
Explorer
Jul 25, 2013
The Anderson Power Poles have a plastic securing pin to lock the connectors to the distribution center.
Great product.
tenbear
Explorer
Jul 25, 2013
Here are the directions for using PhotoBucket to post your photos on the forum.

You will need a PhotoBucket account, its free.
Dan_East
Explorer
Jul 25, 2013
time2roll
Nomad
Jul 25, 2013
Dan East wrote:
Trying to figure out what hoops to jump through to post a pic. I have it uploaded to my server, but it seems I have to upload it to rv.net directly.

Needs to be hosted by a commercial site such as photobucket. Then post the URL link using the "image" button in "advanced post form" option.

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