Forum Discussion

pepemosre's avatar
pepemosre
Explorer
Jul 23, 2018

Electrical Question

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!!
  • wa8yxm's avatar
    wa8yxm
    Explorer III
    Are we talking about 12 volt outlets or 120 volt outlets.

    For 12 volt outlets you need a good battery. THey shoudl work no matter the source unless.. Well there is one very old converter where they might not.

    For 120 volt. Well they don't work off battery unless you have an INVERTER.

    IF you have SOME outlets that work on inverter and others that do not (I DO have that and it's 4 outlets I think that do not work in inverter in my rig)

    Well a re-wire may be needed.. but be careful doing that.. Turns out two of the outlets that do not work also are connected to a 3rd that sucks major battery power if used that way.. Of course I can "Fix" that with a couple of button presses. but still.
  • Yes & no.

    You need solar panels pushing 12v DC power to your battery bank with an inverter converting the 12v DC from the battery bank to 120v AC at the outlets.

    Of course this requires major control on your part to limit 120v AC usage.
    - A 100w solar panel will typically generate around 400w-h of power to the battery.
    - A 600w coffee maker run for 15minutes will use 150w-h
    - 4- 15w lights run for 3hr in the evening will use 180w-h
    - A 60w TV for 3 hr....oops you ran out of watt-hours.
    - Don't even think about air/con.

    So if you can live with the limits and you put in sufficient solar and batteries you can get by with a minimalist electrical usage. (and that's perfectly fine if it meets your needs)