picklebill Posted March 8, 2006 Share Posted March 8, 2006 Hi all, I recently did an electrical modification on our 1982 Sunrader that helped the refrigerator operation on 12 volts. For some reason, the manufacturer used 12 guage wire from the engine compartment to the rear of the coach where the converter is located. This created a 2 volt drop in voltage to the fridge when it was running on 12 volts. I replaced this wire with a 10 guage wire and reduced the drop to .75 volts. This is a fairly simple and quick mod and made a significant difference in the operation of the fridge. Using an 8 guage (AWG) wire would be even better, but would have been a problem to get up through the floor to the converter. Also, now when the water pump comes on, the lights don't flicker! Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gulfstream Greg Posted March 8, 2006 Share Posted March 8, 2006 Where is your coach battery located? My battery is about two feet of wire from the converter. I too have been doing some electrical mods for running my two way radio and other gear. The main feed comes out of my battery compartment then goes to a auto reset circuit breaker. Its under my closet and my access is thru some drawer areas which makes it hard to reach the breaker, anyway the connections at the breaker are some badly crimped eyes. My plan is to remove all that garbage and run some 8 gauge wire from the battery to the converter. I really want to add a second battery somewhere but can find a good spot. Any how look at all your connections in the sunrader. I have found many corroded oem crimped connectors and have replaced them by soldering on new connectors. The tail lights were one of the big problem areas for me. Same with all the wires that ran to the tank level sensors. Looks like I might need to check and see if I have a voltage drop to my refer on 12volt. I run mine on 12 volt when traveling. I use a relay that only supplys power to the refer when the ignition is on, I also have a disconnect switch on the dash to cut power when in stop and go traffic. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picklebill Posted May 26, 2006 Author Share Posted May 26, 2006 Hi Greg, Boy - I really blew it! I guess I forgot to check the Emaill notification box and didn't realize you had responded. My battery is a group 24 located under the hood on the drivers side just behind the radiator, which means about 20 feet of wire from the battery to the converter. I also found the Sunrader factory wiring to be pretty lame. Looks like they hired some high school kids to work after school for this job(just kidding). I had to run a ground wire from the ground connector on the passenger side tail/turn/backup light assembly down to the frame because all the lamps on that side were dim. Like you, I also modified my fridge so that it will only run when the ignition is on - our fridge is an Instamatic which uses sort of an odd system of switching between 12VDC and 120VAC, but which also made it easier to modify. On another subject, I recently ran across some pix from 2 recent Toy-ins (Doran beach and Big Sur) which I didn't know about. Were these on this site? I can't find them again. We hope to get to one of these gatherings soon to meet all you guys and visit. 73's Bill WA7FBU Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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