Greetings and help please!

[mutley]

Hi all,

We've finally pulled the trigger on a second hand camper trailer after almost giving up wading through all the different options and configurations. We ended up picking up a fairly standard trailer, the only "fancy" option being a battery and electrically powered pump for the water tank.

What I would like to do before our planned trip north in September is try and add some additional wiring to allow us to utilise battery or campground power to run some power sockets for charging, lighting etc. We would also like to incorporate solar if possible.

I've done a bit of reading but I am having trouble understanding the nuts and bolts of what I actually need. Are we able to use the current setup as a basis for expansion or do I need to replace it? Is this something I can do myself without shorting out my car's electrical system (I'm guessing no on past experience!) or does anyone have recommendations for someone who could do it in the ACT region?

Cheers

CJ

[Peterr]

It's not difficult as long as you understand some basic electrics, and don't let commercial interests make you overspend!! Do you want to have the satisfaction of doing it yourself?

For mains power ;240V ; by far the easiest and cheapest is the humble extension lead, but Heavy Duty ; a couple of power boards, and whatever appliances you want to carry.. a battery charger to top up the 12v system is good too ...

For battery power , a good battery is essential , LED strip lights are great , solar charging is brilliant these days..

But before we get carried away , are you going to have a 12V fridge; maybe run it as a freezer? anything else?

Oh , welcome to a handy forum too .....

[mutley]

Thanks for responding.

Basic electrics? I can build a computer, but that's more like lego these days. My general skill level of handiness could be accurately described as half-arsed! Of course I'd be far happier to do it myself rather than pass the cash to someone else.

We are looking at fridges as well, but I think that is pretty much the only heavy duty drain we'd be looking at.
Do you think we can just add to the existing setup, or is it a matter of rewiring everything?

[Peterr]

Can you describe the existing setup in detail, piccys would be great too ..

Where is the battery mounted ? Where will the fridge be? Can you solder , and do you have the gear to solder ?

How does the pump wiring connect to the battery? Will you carry the fridge in the car or the trailer?

As I bet happened with the first couple of puters you built, don't over think it !! It really is quite straight forward..

You use Ebay ? couple of great deals going on solar panels atm , I just increased my solar generating setup ...

Got you worried yet ? LOL

[jw2170]

Firstly, welcome to the forum, Mutley....

When you say going "North", how far North are we talking?

If you don't mind me asking, what trailer did you buy and what tow vehicle do you have...

Secondly, do you have any wiring in the tow vehicle for charging the battery while driving?

You are going to learn what an Anderson Plug is.......LOL and also Anderson power poles.....

I had a very basic system in my camper trailer that powered a Waeco 40ltr fridge as well as Korr LED lights...

I am also in the process (WIP) of installing an electric pump.

If you are going for a longer trip, a larger fridge/freezer may be handy.

A simple set up, IMO, may require:
battery/batteries.
240v charger
12v charger (from tow vehicle)
Fuse/ distribution box.
Solar panels ( again , size is dictated by your battery needs.)
Lots of good sized wire, ( I originally used Tandy speaker wire [which I believe is 12g wire] , but am upgrading to heavier wire).

I think Peterr has put you on the right path...

You need to answer some questions first, (called planning...) before we can answer your questions.......

Anyway, keep asking questions...there is someone here that will be able to help you.

Some interesting reading....

http://www.campertrailers.org/tech_tips.htm

[mutley]

Thanks all for the responses. I'll get some pics this weekend to provide a bit more background.

Cheers

[mutley]

Ok, so after wallowing in disappointment following last night's loss to England, I've managed to pull together some more information.

We've got five weeks to travel (myself, wife and three kids aged five,10 and 11). We're working on a basic itinerary but the idea is to drive a fair way up the qld coast in a couple of days and then slowly work our way back to canberra down the coast stopping where we like. As this will be our first real trip, we're not really anticipating getting off the beaten track, but we're hoping to do some non-caravan park camping.
We have a 2nd hand "Leisure Matters" camper (the manufacturer appears to have gone out of business but it is good for the price we got it for). We'll be towing with our beast Hyundai Santa Fe diesel.

I've uploaded some photos of the limited electrics for the kitchen pump here . The battery is located in the front left side (the side opposite the hinges for the top). I'm open to any and all ideas on everything, including fridge location although we probably don't want to start modifying the trailer frame for additional slides etc yet.

Thanks for all your interest thus far!

[Peterr]

For a start , there's NO WAY you'll run a fridge off that battery ! Even with lots of solar stuff .... It'll run the pump and LED lights and phone charging etc, but I'd probably add at least 120W of solar to top it up during your day stops...

For simplicity , I'd think a couple of 12V outlets at the battery , in the tent and at the kitchen will be enough; normal ciggy type plugs will handle that load easily, but use 4mm twin cable , 6mm will be better but harder to work with..
I'd suggest running a twin cable from battery to in the tent, with 2 ciggy sockets , or similar , ; then another twin cable from battery to the kitchen for another 2 "ciggy "plugs" ,( can run the cable with the pump wires probably), then 2 more plugs at the battery . just in case!
All those cables need electrical protection , I'd fit a 20A manual reset circuit breaker for each cable , as close to the battery as possible. An easy way to disconnect all wiring from the battery is handy too , an isolation switch works well..

Got any idea what size the cable is, running from battery to pump ?

Thought of carrying a fridge in car? got room ? much better power there atm ... and you run it off 240V in parks etc ...

I'm a great believer in the "KISS" system, Keep It Stupidly Simple, I'm a retired 240V electrician , and a auto elect too , I've seem LOTS of camper electrical setups that are super complicated, and very expensive , and usually less reliable than a KISS setup...

your turn ...........

BTW I'm about 1 minute off the M1 , near Palm Beach , once you hit QLD, feel free to call in !!

[mutley]

Thanks for the invite Peter, we'll see how we go. I'd definitely owe you a bottle or two of home brew for your assistance especially with all my basic questions!

Yeah, I didn't think the battery was big enough to run a fridge. I'd be happy to put a fridge in the car though.

So to clarify... the battery as is should charge from the car through the existing plug? There are only one set of cables that have the alligator clips (shown in one of the pics) and I assume they run to the pump. I'm trying to think back to high school physics! Would it be better to have a separate circuit through an Anderson plug for this?

The 12v circuit you're suggesting sounds good what capacity would this have to charge things I imagine phones and Ipads would be ok but probably not laptops?

Cheers

CJ

[Peterr]

What plug is on the car ? You'll need a pair of fairly large wires from that plug( if it has a charging ability) to the battery, both the car one and the trailer one, and I'd suggest a VSR , Voltage Sensing Relay, at the camper batt so the camper electrics dont draw from the car batt ...

I assumed the alligator clips were for the pump, can you follow the wires to make sure ? I don't think theres any other electrics? BTW alligator clips are OK for the extra ciggy plus to connect to the battery too , but I'd prefer to see wires bolted to the batt terminals..

Probably best to charge the laptop in the car while you're driving, with that small camper battery ..

A bigger battery in the camper will make life much easier, a 100Ah will run the fridge , laptop, lights etc easily for a night , probably 2, as long as the fridge isnt a freezer!

Sounding too complex/difficult yet? I'll help with diagrams and suggestions for bits and pieces if you want ..

The fridge in the car is good , but it'd most likely flatten the car battery overnight if left on 12V, but camp ground 240V power removes that hassle, and you can charge the camper batt then too ..