Apache82 wrote:
Hey everyone! Glad to be a part of this forum.
I am renovating a 1979 15' travel trailer for myself.
Previous owners pretty much cut everything out. plumbing, water tank, toilet, shower and a lot of the electrical.
I have installed a water tank and water pump, but mainly have questions about how all the electrical works in these things.
from the breaker panel (30amp) they ran 12-2 wire to the outlets, which I then used the hots to run to switches for lights. Can I just run this 12-2 wire to a regular light switch or something and then to the pump? or do I need to use a special pump switch? I don't really see the difference...
Also, all these red, blue, yellow, wires, etc... are they ONLY for the exterior lights? (tail lights, etc..) ???
They have basically two breakers for every thing inside. I am attempting to have the lights and outlets on one.. and the electrical heater, water pump and a little window ac unit on the other... too much or ok?
THANK YOU!!!
It sounds like you are wiring everything for 120V AC. That's OK if you expect to be plugged in to shore power all the time. Most travel trailers have a 120V AC system that powers AC, some outlets, maybe a water heater element, maybe a fridge and a power converter.
Then there is a 12V DC system that usually powers lights, water pump and the circuit boards for things like propane water heater, propane side of fridge, propane heater.
The interface between the systems is via the converter, which when connected to shore power, supplies 12V DC to all the DC appliances and charges a 12V DC battery bank.
If you don't care to be self contained (i.e., able to operate appliances when off the grid), you can use all 120V AC appliances and wire accordingly. Typically, an RV water pump will be 12V DC, so you would need to find another kind of pump. OTOH, if you are connected to shore power, you can also probably connect to city water and delete the water pump altogether.
Here is a great treatise on RV electrical systems:
The 12 Volt Side of Life
