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Tress's avatar
Tress
Explorer
Jun 22, 2013

Electrical Questions

So... turns out my girlfriend and I are going to be living in my van for the summer in her dads yard:h We're renting out the house. Needless to say I'm doing everything in my power to avoid using his house:R Beyond an extension cord anyway..... I built the van a few years back and it was designed to live pretty far off the grid for a trip i took up to AK and down into central America. Im about to be getting her ready for the summer and Ive got a few questions.

My lifecycle 6v 300ah batteries are charged by a small solar bank and a 40amp charger that comes off the alternator. This might be a dumb question but ive never dealt with using a converter. Is it possible to plug a 40 amp PD converter charger up to a standard 110v household outlet? I mean i know there are 50 amp and 30 amp hookups and cords but im pretty sure they are for 220v right? Either way im planning to just run an extension cord to the charger and then of course the charger to the batts but figured i should probably make sure its doable before i go ahead and get a charger.

Second question..... for now;) When i built the van i wanted to run the stereo off the aux batteries for obvious reasons, dont want to kill the starter batt. while i jam out to awesome music, but i dont think my electrical system has enough power to run the 4 6x9 speakers because the stereo shuts down when i turn it up too high. Is it possible to hook up a switch so i could choose to use the aux batts when im parked and the starting batt when the van is running? Or maybe the 4 6x9 speakers are just too much for the stereo to power and thats why its shutting down... in which case can deep cycle batteries this size power a stereo amp?

Thanks mucho for the help, enjoy the ride neighbors
  • The converter may keep the voltage high enough on the batteries not to cut out at higher load.

    30 amp is just a plain old 120v connecting with more amps. 50 amp is 2 different 120s.

    Jim
  • pianotuna wrote:
    Hi,

    How big is the inverter in the van?


    I only have the tiny pocket style inverters, i barely use anything 120v
  • Hi,

    My 40 amp PD converter draws a maximum of 723 watts, running "flat out". It prefers the voltage stay above 105. If it is going to be a long extension cord use #12 or even #10 wire.

    How big is the inverter in the van?
  • Yes the PD will work fine on regular 120v house plug (NEMA 5-15)
    30a RV is 120v. 50a RV is standard 240/120 service.

    I think it is a stereo/amp issue not battery power. Battery will easily give a burst of 1000 watts.

    If you will be parked for an extended period consider a trik-l-start combiner to also keep the chassis battery charged.

    Good luck on the adventure. ;)

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