Electrical Question

pepemosre wrote:
Currently I have 2 outlets that work only if I plug the RV to a regular 120V hook-up. My question is , is there a way to make those outlets work with a solar panel?

No, because Solar is 12v DC. those outlets are 120v AC.

The only way to get them to spit out 12v AC power when not plugged in is to install an inverter in the camper or plug in to a generator

wanderingbob wrote:
Kinda unclear to me , are the working outlets 12 volt DC or 110 volt AC . Might make a difference to your answer !

He is going to have to upgrade his camper elec system to have 110 volts at any plug and he will have to spend cash. If you look at the year of his camper it is highly unlikely it has a built in solar system that would power 110, and if it does, he already said his don’t work on / 12 volt solar . If your traveling that far and your worried about a second battery? You need a solar system installed, a second Barry won’t do nothing for making 110 power with out the property system.
Your best bet is to install 6 volt battery bank, at least 2, however 4 is better.
install bigger solar system and then install a built in inverter our buy a protable inverter.
Solar is the way to go, but the systems are not cheap. You can buy cheap, or as some say inexpensive, but that’s what you get.
Do some research, figure out what is best for you, ( power wise) there are all sorts of places on the internet that will give you info.
Best place I found for a complete solar system for a RV was in Quartsite AZ. Now I didn’t buy one there, but my buddy had bought and had it installed there. Those guys know what they are taking about.
Soup.

Kinda unclear to me , are the working outlets 12 volt DC or 110 volt AC . Might make a difference to your answer !

I have two GC2 6 volt batteries as well as a built in 100 watt solar panel and two portable 35 watt solar panels with a portable controller.
I bought a 150 W, 12V DC to 110V AC Pure Sine Wave Fanless Quiet Power Inverter.
When we are in Yuma for the winter my receiver for the satellite TV only runs on 110. So we bought this inverter because it didn’t have a fan and would be quite.
With the set up, we can watch TV all evening and not kill the batteries. We do monitor the batteries but have never had to shut the TV system off because we were getting low on power. We also hit the hey early in the evening..which also helps.

Fanless inverter



Soup.

Start with the basics.
your stock RV running on batteries will only supply 12V DC.
if you need 120V ac house electric, your stock RV must be plugged in to the AC outlet.

Next you have the option of buying a 12v to 120v power inverter.

These are available at most stores, and start in the $20.00 range.

this takes 12v battery and converts it to 120V AC house hold current.
But this will not make your RV electric outlets work, this works by plugging that cig lighter plug into 12V, than plug the cable from your AC device into the face of inverter.

The problem is if your household object draws 1 amp at 120V, you will need more than 10 amp @ 12v from your battery.

So as you can see, this type of draw can deplete your batteries faster.
So now you can add solar to charge your batteries :).

More Math.
If you want to run 10A @ 12V for 24 hours straight, you need to be able to recharge at least that much energy back into your batteries.
But sun is only good for maybe 8 hours at most. so in 8 hours you will need to be able to charge at 30A to fill what you use from batteries.

Now if you want your batteries to power your AC outlets in RV, you will need a bigger inverter, and it will need to be hard wired to RV outlets.

Next is inverter type selection. your house has pure AC sine wave. But these devices use square waves to imitate the AC sine wave. this is called modified sine wave.
the pure sine wave inverters cost more than the modified.

it is very common to see arguments on forums like this will make you think any electronic device will receive instant death using modified sine wave.

I use a 600w modified sine wave inverter to power my outlets in the RV when needed. this will only produce maybe 5 amp @ 120V but can draw around 60a @ 12v).
I have been running a 20" TV and satellite receiver off this inverter for 2 years now. I only use it when needed, but I bet I have 30 days of use, running TV maybe 2-3 hours per day on this system with no problems.
I also charge my HP and or Dell laptops off this inverter some times.

But for cell phones, I charge from a 12V source with a car adapter plugged in

Regular 120V electrical outlets will not work unless plugged into "a regular 120V hookup" or a generator.

If you want regular 120V power without either of those, you need an inverter. This is a separate device that converts the 12V DC power from your battery into "regular" 120V AC power.

However, there is no free lunch. Inverters are quiet and convenient, but they require a LOT of battery power, depending on what you power with the inverter. A small TV, no big deal, but a hair dryer, toaster, microwave... That's big time battery drainage that has to be recharged by a large solar array on the roof, many hours of driving (to let the alternator recharge the batteries), several hours of running the generator (to let the onboard battery charger do its work), or plugging into 120V power for several hours.

The battery bank and solar array can be a large investment, and requires knowledge to use and maintain properly. If you're willing to spend the time to become an electrical geek and the money for the system, it may be worth looking into.

With the other alternatives, you may as well just use the generator or shore power directly in the first place. Run the generator just long enough to dry your hair or microwave your popcorn, only a few minutes vs. several hours.

For the average camper, really the best thing to do is try to find 12V DC, or propane-powered alternatives to 120V AC appliances. Or, run them with a generator.

Moved from General RVing

The short answer is yes. The real question is what do you want to power from those outlets and how much money do you want to spend to do it?

pepemosre wrote:
Hey Guys! I´m new to live in an RV, and I have a question about some electrical issue. Currently I have 2 outlets that work only if I plug the RV to a regular 120V hook-up. My question is , is there a way to make those outlets work with a solar panel? That way i wouldn't have to buy an additional battery.
I have a 2001 adventurer truck camper :D
I´m travelling with my girlfriend from Canada to Chile
Good day to everyone!!

if you're talking the 110v AC house outlets, they are not 12v DC. you have to have shore power or a generator for them to work.
the only other option is to install an inverter and wire it to the outlets. then you can use batteries to power the outlets.
you'll need solar or a generator to recharge the batteries. and you'll need at least 2 6v golf cart batteries.

i think you should have researched this before taking off on such a trip.

The solar panels will charge your batteries so you will need an inverter to convert the 12 volts to 120 volts. As pointed out, some 120 volt loads draw a lot of current so you would need more than one battery. So to me,if you go the solar route,do some research and do it right. And also,I would invest in a small generator for those times when the sun isn't shinning.