Amature Wiring Diagram. I Need Help.

[CoopaJade]

I posted 2 questions onto the diagram. I'm not going to wire anything up until I've fully educated myself. Hopefully you can help.

[GordonThree]

Another tip... depending on where your various loads live, if the steel frame of the trailer is available, you do not need a ground return.

for example, the outdoor flood lights I have on my A-frame and rear bumper only have a +12v line running from the switch, and are grounded near where they mount to the steel frame.

[Gdetrailer]

CoopaJade wrote:



I posted 2 questions onto the diagram. I'm not going to wire anything up until I've fully educated myself. Hopefully you can help.

You do not want to run ALL the 12V items off ONE 14 ga wire run to that switch. Besides you do not want to fuse 20ga wire at 15A, very bad things WILL happen if there is a short or even current overload on the 20 ga wire..

Instead you want to run INDIVIDUAL runs and I would bump up the wire ga to 12ga for ALL 12V regardless of the "loads" attached. You can fuse 12Ga at 20A or if you wish lower current if you want to match the expected loads but it is not really necessary to do that.

12ga on the 12V side simplifies your wiring and fusing and makes for much easier upgrades in the future (you may find the lights you have are not enough and want to add more)..

Your 120V outlets will need an inverter, the power box you have listed has two separate compartments.. One for 120V shore power and one for the 12V fuses.. There is a converter that takes 120V and converts that to 12V to charge the batteries and power the 12V circuits when there is shore power plugged in.

For an inverter you need to follow a couple of rules..

The inverter needs to be placed as close to the batteries as possible (but not in the same compartment as the batteries). This is to allow for a very short wire run to the inverter.

You need to use the largest wire size possible that the inverter will accept.

The reasons for short and large wire is voltage drop..

You only have about 2V that can be dropped until most inverters will shut down due to low battery voltage.. You don't want to waste any more of that voltage in the wire..

Instead you run a longer run of 120V wiring to the inverter, you have much less power loss at 120V than you have at 12V (hint, that is why power companies use 4800 volt or higher lines then a transformer at your home to bring that down to 120/240V)..

You will only be able to power so much from your batteries.. Don't plan to run a microwave or A/C unit from a single set of batteries as it will only take a few minutes to drain the batteries to nearly fully discharged under high wattage loads..

Buy a inverter that is large enough to power you biggest expected load.. Doing so reduces wasted power.. in other words if you need 300W to run TV, DVD, laptop don't buy a 3,000W inverter.. Buy a 500W inverter.

[Matt_Colie]

Looks Much Better now, the only advice I will offer is that you set up the lights on at least two different circuits. This is just so that if something does go wrong (the only reason for fuses) you won't loose all the lights.

Yes, I am paranoid, but I am OLD and paranoid.

Matt

[CoopaJade]

Thanks so much guys! Tons of great advise!

Here's a renovated diagram. I think this is right.... I hope lol

[BTPO1]

I agree with others about the 6 volt batteries need to be wired in series to get 12VDC and not parallel. I feel the pump does need a switch. I would run a separate circuit from the power distribution box to each accessory I install. I would go with the quad switch and separate the cabin light into two circuits. JMO

[wa8yxm]

As wired you have 120 volts going to 12 volt devices and six volts for the 12 volt circuit, In sort no it will not work

This is so far from working I wont even try to fix it but will leave it to others.

First step. Search for (using the number, not the word) Twelve volt side of life

This should bring up the basic 12 volt side of things.

You need two independent systems 12 and 120 volt, the only thing they have in common is the distribution center/converter. but you show 120 volts to the 12 volt switches.

Given the way things are made today.. I'd use 12ga wire for your 120 volt outltes and such, even if they are only 15 amp. And use real house type, not RV quick boxes.

[YC_1]

You do not necessarily have to have a transfer switch if you install an inverter. You can install an inverter close to the batteries so the DC from the batteries is close and will not lose power due to cable lengths. At this point you just plug your shoreline cord directly into the inverter.

Here is the catch at that point. Your mini mite will be trying to charge the batteries which is not what you want so you would need to turn the mini mite off by unplugging it or installing a switch to accomplish the task.

I have done this on two rv's and it works fine. You are limited in the size of your inverter but it is enough to run a small tv or something that uses a lot of power for a short time.

This is an uncomplicated method. Not elegant.

[westend]

GordonThree wrote:

westend wrote:
In your diagram the water pump is on the same switch as the lights. It does not need to be switched and should have larger wire than 20 AWG.

I like having a switch for my water pump. Sometimes my water tank is empty and the pump would run continuously if there was no switch.

OK, I'll defer to the switch-on-pump application. Put a separate switch in that circuit.

[GordonThree]

westend wrote:
In your diagram the water pump is on the same switch as the lights. It does not need to be switched and should have larger wire than 20 AWG.

I like having a switch for my water pump. Sometimes my water tank is empty and the pump would run continuously if there was no switch.

[mbopp]

Looks like your 6V batteries are in parallel, not series.

[valhalla360]

Wire guage is a function of amps and wire length. Google voltage drop and there are calaculators.

Another consideration with very light guage wires is they may be fine for power transission but mechancial vibrations can cause them to fail. 20gauge is a little lighter than I like.

I disagree with the person who said, you don't need a switch for the water pump. If the pressure switch in the pump fails, you want to be able to cut power to the pump without cutting power to all the lights.

I think you need a blow up of the main panel showing how the AC & DC circuits fit together (or more accuratlely are kept apart.

[VintageRacer]

You have a triple switch, and usually you can feed each switch with a separate wire from the DC fuse panel. I have the same switch panel, oddly... I would feed a separate line from the fuse panel to the switch panel for each basic load, one for the ceiling lights, one for the outside light and one for the water pump. I would use no smaller than 16 gauge for the lights, and 14 gauge for the water pump. I would use a 15 amp fuse for the water pump, and probably 10 amp fuses for the lights. Always remember that the fuse protects the wiring, not the load. Always match all of the wire in a circuit to the fuse that protects it. You have 20 gauge wiring to the loads, which is rated for only 7.5 amps, but are protecting it with a 15 amp fuse.

Brian

[westend]

In your diagram the water pump is on the same switch as the lights. It does not need to be switched and should have larger wire than 20 AWG. The pumps draw approx. 4 amps so 12 AWG or 14 AWG are good wire sizes. Also, you have the LED floodlight and the cabin lights as on the same switch. I would think you need to switch them separately.
You probably know all this and it may be the diagram that is leading me astray.

Good luck with your wiring project.

[CoopaJade]

I think I'm finally starting to understand lol. I greatly appreciate your help guys:)

So, Im going to beef up the battery cables to 4 gauge wire, properly run them in a series, and add an inline 50AMP fuse.

I think I'll just hold off on the inverter and transfer switch for now... Its not really necessary seeing as how nothing in my trailer uses 110v..

Is there anything else you guys recommend that I wire in before I put the paneling back on?

Thanks again!