Wiring and more wiring...

This might end up long - bear with me. 

I have a 26' on the floor horse trailer on order.  It has a hydraulic jack which will be wired to two deep cycle batteries.  I'd also like to run other 12V DC, such as a vent fan and a water pump.

I understand that the 7 pin won't keep the batteries charged, and the trailer won't be in an area where I can hook it to a trickle charger.  I was looking into a solar panel or two to keep it charged when it sits on the gravel lot during the week.

I'd also like to camp out of the trailer sometimes.  For that, having some AC plugs in the trailer would be really nice, to make a pot of coffee and to charge my phone, or to have a fan running on a dog crate while I'm out riding.  Some horse campsites have shore power, others would be boondocking. 

I'm comfortable enough with wiring (have done a lot of wiring in cars, and gutted some houses), but this isn't something I've had to deal with.

Questions:
How do I get all these systems to play nice with each other? 
Tips on a basic solar kit? 
If I'm hooked into shore power, will my DC stuff still run?
What tells the system that I'm hooked into shore vs need to run off batteries?  Do I need to manually switch?
How do/can you wire up standard outlets from an inverter?  I see they have plugs, but can I run a small breaker panel off the inverter?

I'm sure I'll come up with more questions... I've done a lot of research, but I just am not sure I have the answers yet.  I don't want to buy a bunch of stuff and then realize I did it wrong and have to re-spend money.  Along with answers, if someone can recommend reputable but affordable brands, that would be great.  I get lost with 2 zillion brands to choose from.

Thanks in advance, I really really appreciate it. 

http://www.jackdanmayer.com/rv_electrical_and_solar.htm

http://www.marxrv.com/tech.htm

These two places will answer a lot of your questions. They can explain it better than what I can here.

Welcome to the Forum!

First, what you want to do is quite practical and not unusual.

Most RV have essentially 2 electrical systems.  12VDC and 120VAC

The 2 deep cycle batteries is a great start for the 12V system.  Solar is clearly a good addition.  Also, MOST trucks will supply some power to the battery when traveling through the 7 pin connector.

My camper does not have an inverter (12VDC to 120VAC), just a converter (120VAC to 12VDC).  When boon docking, the batteries supply power to lights, appliances, landing gear, etc.  When I plug into shore power, it supplies 120 VAC to all the usual suspects, plus the converter, which then charges the battery.  12VDC can be supplied by the battery and / or converter, depending on demand, as the POS wires to each are connected together at my Power Distribution panel.  The "change" is seamless.

Good Luck, and thanks for asking!

grashley said:

Welcome to the Forum!

First, what you want to do is quite practical and not unusual.

Most RV have essentially 2 electrical systems.  12VDC and 120VAC

The 2 deep cycle batteries is a great start for the 12V system.  Solar is clearly a good addition.  Also, MOST trucks will supply some power to the battery when traveling through the 7 pin connector.

My camper does not have an inverter (12VDC to 120VAC), just a converter (120VAC to 12VDC).  When boon docking, the batteries supply power to lights, appliances, landing gear, etc.  When I plug into shore power, it supplies 120 VAC to all the usual suspects, plus the converter, which then charges the battery.  12VDC can be supplied by the battery and / or converter, depending on demand, as the POS wires to each are connected together at my Power Distribution panel.  The "change" is seamless.

Good Luck, and thanks for asking!

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Thanks for the reply!  I think with the websites kdbgoat gave, I'm starting to get a better grasp of this. 

My question to you - how do you run your appliances from 12v DC?  Did you buy appliances specifically for that purpose?

Thanks again for the help.  I'll get it - I'm just used to a standard supply or 12v in a car.  It's the same, just some extra parts in the middle, haha

My question to you - how do you run your appliances from 12v DC?  Did you buy appliances specifically for that purpose?

Click to expand...

You will need to get more specific than "appliances", but generally they will be 12v powered. The alternative is to install an inverter and use a 120vac appliances, but inverting uses a lot of battery amps so it is usually rather limited. It is practical to run electronics via an inverter, but appliances that do heating or cooling are usually impractical power hogs. However, some heating-type appliances, e.g. a 120v coffee maker or microwave, have short enough run times that running them via inverter is manageable.

RV's often utilize LP gas for heating (water heater, furnace) and even cooling (an absorption refrigerator).

As Gary said,  "RV Appliances", including refrigerators, furnaces, and water heaters  often run on 12V and propane.  Most can also run on 120V power to save propane.  All REQUIRE 12V power for their control circuits and flame igniters, either from a battery or converter.  TV can run on either 12VDC or inverter, depending on the power requirements.

TV can run on either 12VDC or inverter, depending on the power requirements.

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SOME TV's can run on 12V alone but most use 120V and will require that inverter mentioned to create it, if not otherwise available  (ie plugged in)

Correct, Stu.  I should have known.  I have one in my house that runs on a 120VAC to 12VDC converter.

I guess for me, appliances mean - vent fan, hydraulic jack, water pump.  Lights too, but that's inherent in the trailer wiring.

Does anyone have a general schematic showing batteries, shore power, inverter/charger, and solar?  I can find one that has everything but the solar - I just want to make sure I'm 'mentally' tying it into the right point. 

The solar will likely be the first add in, because I will be one hot momma if my hydraulic jack won't let me hitch up.   

Thank you all for your input! 

The link I provided for Jack Mayer's site has general schematics on it. About a third of the way down the page.

kdbgoat said:

The link I provided for Jack Mayer's site has general schematics on it. About a third of the way down the page.

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Ah!  I had to cntrl+F for schematics.  I had read all the literature, but didn't think to look at that set of top links - I thought it was a table of contents. 

Still digesting this all.  There's a lot more to it than just buying the pieces.  Mounting and passing from outside to inside can be a real nightmare...

"Solar" is basically just a battery charger and can be inserted wherever you see a converter/charger on inverter/charger in a schematic.  Basically ties to the battery bank, either directly to the terminals or very close to it on the main battery cables to the batteries.  In most cases. it's the solar power regulator/charger that is wired to the battery bank, not the panel(s)  themselves.

horsetrailernewbie said:

I guess for me, appliances mean - vent fan, hydraulic jack, water pump.  Lights too, but that's inherent in the trailer wiring.

Click to expand...

These are all 12VDC items.  One fail safe plan is if the trailer is plugged into the truck, and it is running, the trailer is getting 12VDC.  I had to do that for my FW landing gear when the battery died. It ran slow, but it ran.

There is a website by a Canadian full time rver called: loveyourrv.com that has a lot of useful information about this that I have learned from and/or copied a lot, such as 4 6-volt golf cart batteries, pure sine wave inverter, solar panels, etc. Check out his website/blog and see what I mean.