alexcarey Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 hey again! I have had problems with my electrical running off of the deep cycle. Tested the battery and it holds at 11.2 under load. I guess it might be the obvious in this situation. Someone replaced the wire running to the inverter with a cut extension cord. Now the gauge of a single wire looks correct for replacement but they capped all 3 to run the power through. Is there too much dispersement happening for enough power to reach the power center? Everything works fine when plugged into the house. Final question is that i want to install a 3rd outlet under the sofa to plug my tv into. Are the outlets the same for 110 home outlets? (Besides shape/depth/dimensions) or do i need a special 110/12v outlet? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 If the wires are all joined together no, it's kind of a stupid way to fix a simple problem but it will work. The outlets in the MH walls are special outlets because the walls are not deep enough and the wires are friction connections some thing all together different than house wiring. If you have the depth you can use regular house hold outlet boxes and outlets and standard romex wire. Now that being said you need to install a new breaker if there is room in the box for one. There is such a thing as a tandem breaker it has two breakers taking the same space as one. Some Square D breakers can accept two wires legally under the same screw most can not. Your camper breaker box is wired as a sub panel the ground and the neutral are not bonded together like they are in a house be sure to follow the wiring that is all ready in the box land the white wire with the others not on the ground terminal.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 hey again! I have had problems with my electrical running off of the deep cycle. Tested the battery and it holds at 11.2 under load. I guess it might be the obvious in this situation. Someone replaced the wire running to the inverter with a cut extension cord. You've got me confused. You've got a "cut extension cord" running to your inverter? Anything running "to" an inverter ought to be 12 volts DC and pretty heavy wire. Certainly bigger then an extension-cord wire. What size inverter? A 1000 watt inverter can draw 160 amps of current. Something doesn't make sense here unless you are talking about some very tiny inverter. Also - about the battery. You say it holds 11.2 volts under load? How big a load? 11.2 volts is pretty low. That is unless you are actually load-testing the battery with a carbon-pile tester to see if it's any good. A typical "house" battery can be loaded to 200 amps and should read at least 9 volts. In normal use - most inverters must have at least 11 volts to work well and will automatically shut down at 10.5 volts. Do you maybe have "inverter" mixed up with "converter?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexcarey Posted October 15, 2015 Author Share Posted October 15, 2015 Size for the box is not a concern and my neighbor is going to help me with the wiring he is a electrician by trade. So if its not the budget extension cord repair causing it not to work what else could it be? One of the solenoid looking things under the hood maybe? I believe the invertor to be in working order since i hear it humming when im plugged into the house. Thanks for the reply/knowledge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexcarey Posted October 15, 2015 Author Share Posted October 15, 2015 Motorhome is at the shop, ill get more info off the box when i get it back. Sorry im not well versed in this sort of thing. We tested the battery at the shop, im not sure how much load was put on it or if it was a carbon pile tester or not. I have the paperwork on the converter or inverter iwhichever it is ill look through it in a bit to find out for sure, but i do know it is the original one for the motorhome. Which is a 84 national dolphin. The box rating is 50 and it has two breakers a 15 and a 20 installed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexcarey Posted October 15, 2015 Author Share Posted October 15, 2015 Oh and the cut extension cord was a obviously shotty repair by the PO in place of the wire running from the coach battery to the inverter. Maybe the old one rubbed and failed sometime in its life. Sorry for all the replys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Oh and the cut extension cord was a obviously shotty repair by the PO in place of the wire running from the coach battery to the inverter. Maybe the old one rubbed and failed sometime in its life. Sorry for all the replys Are your really talking about an "inverter" or do you really mean a "converter?" BIG difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexcarey Posted October 16, 2015 Author Share Posted October 16, 2015 Converter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 If it's extension cord by it's self you might want to look into replacing it I gathered there were several wires twisted into one, a #8 wire would be a better replacement. A "hum" does not equate to a working inverter there are all kind of thing going on in there the only test is with a proper volt meter. Depending on the breaker box it maybe necessary to add a jumper inside the box from lug to lug because it is a 240 volt box with only two breakers and it is possible only one side of the box is hot and not the other your electrician guy should be able to figure that out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 A "hum" does not equate to a working inverter This is getting confusing. I thought the poster made it clear his issues are with a converter (High AC to low DC) and not an inverter (low DC to high AC). Big difference in wiring needs on both ends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 Yes converter not inverter as I posted. But either way if it hums in either case does not mean it's working! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 The only thing that humming indicates is that it might not know the lyrics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 From what I've seen and worked on - a "humming" converter is caused by the electromagnetic field around the transformer. So "humming" tells you the transformer has AC power and is working. It does not tell you if the rectifiers are any good, or if any DC power is being made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexcarey Posted October 29, 2015 Author Share Posted October 29, 2015 Hey guys the problem ended up being the buss fuse housing was toast. Fuse always looked fine and not blown but once i replaced the in line housing everything works perfectly. Thanks for your help. Does anyone know if there is a way to wire my outlets to work on the battery power and not just when im plugged in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Hey guys the problem ended up being the buss fuse housing was toast. Fuse always looked fine and not blown but once i replaced the in line housing everything works perfectly. Thanks for your help. Does anyone know if there is a way to wire my outlets to work on the battery power and not just when im plugged in? Yes, install a decent inverter. That makes your 11-15 volts of DC into 120 volts AC. On my rig - when parked and camping and there is no AC power at the campground - I simply do this. I turn on my inverter -and plug the big power cord for the camper into the inverter. Then every AC outlet works fine. You just have to make sure you don't try to run anything that exceeds the rating of the inverter. We never camp where there is AC power. So every night - I just turn on the inverter - plug the main power cord into it - and then we can use our microwave, 32" TV, DVD player, computer, etc. Never had any issues. Obviously you do NOT want your roof-top AC unit turned on. Too much draw. I have two house batteries in mine. We've camped many nights and sometimes watched two movies with the 32" TV and DVD player, and the slept all night with two AC powered fans on as well as our Fantastic 12 volt fan. Never ever had run down batteries. Not even close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexcarey Posted October 30, 2015 Author Share Posted October 30, 2015 1000w should probably do it then yeah? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 1000w should probably do it then yeah? Depends on what you want to do and how that inverter is rated. Some inverter ratings are misleading, just like generator ratings are (like a 1600 watt Honda generator sold as a 2000i). A 1000 watt inverter rated at 1000 watts continuous use and over 2000 watts surge will do plenty. More then enough to run a computer, watch TV with a DVD player, run a few fans, etc. You can buy a 1500 watt continuous/3000 watt surge inverter from Harbor Freight for $130. One caution. Cheaper inverters come with cooling fans that run all the time they are on. Better ones come with thermally-switched fans that rarely if ever come on. The latter are much nicer to have inside a camper. I find the fan noise annoying. Granted if a TV or fan is on, you won't hear it. I like the AIMs inverters for good value. $129 for a 1250 watt continuous/3100 watt surge and thermally controlled fan. It will also run on as low as 10 volts DC which is rare. Most need at least 10.5 volts. Note that even a full charged battery will often dip to 9-10 volts when you first put a big load on it. http://www.theinverterstore.com/1250-watt-power-inverter-12-volt.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Many Toy Homes had hard wired converter chargers if you plug your power cord into an inverter you will have diminishing returns if that is the case because it will discharge your battery all the while trying to charge it.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 I agree but what would be the point of doing such a thing? The poster asked about making his AC duplexes work when parked and there is no "shore power" available. In such a situation - "house" battery power is being used - regardless if DC direct from the batteries or DC made into AC with the inverter. The converter in that situation serves no purpose that I can perceive. I simply just unplug my converter when camping and using the inverter. With the Minicuiser - the converter is not even hard-wired at the AC input. Just a plug in a duplex under the couch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 Correct it needs to be disconnected by some means. Many converter/chargers were wired directly to the power cable it cannot be turned off so when it is plugged in it commences to charge the battery. So far a perpetual motion machine has not been invented so using an integrated charging system to charge a battery all the while using power form the very battery it is charging will not work. Mine was wired that way I added a breaker to turn it off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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