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Author Topic: Travel trailer shore power  (Read 4928 times)

Offline rasbo

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Re: Travel trailer shore power
« Reply #15 on: August 14, 2019, 04:58:50 AM »
Get a dedicated circuit put in outside. If you have room in the panel

Offline 92xj

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Re: Travel trailer shore power
« Reply #16 on: August 14, 2019, 05:00:34 AM »
Keep in mind the length and wire (14awg) of ext cord.  Ya don't want long or small wire.  It will be hard on your AC and could cause premature failures.  I do same thing you are doing on occasion but I plug into my well house which is 240v split 40-50 amps I think.  Putting 20amp breakers in place of 15a can be a risk I think if house is wired with wire for 15amp circuits?  Risk of pulling to much load through small wire?  I am not great with electrical so just trying help.

Roger that.
Nothing was changed in the owner. I just opened it up, found all the 20s and figured out which one had an outlet associated with it. The disposal was the only thing with a normal 120 outlet. So the others were for appliances.
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Offline 92xj

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Re: Travel trailer shore power
« Reply #17 on: August 14, 2019, 05:02:39 AM »
Get a dedicated circuit put in outside. If you have room in the panel

Eventually that's the plan.
For this weekend, the disposal outlet looks to work.
I will run the AC unit like this maybe 3 days a year, and no more this year after this weekend.
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Offline trophyhunt

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Re: Travel trailer shore power
« Reply #18 on: August 14, 2019, 06:25:38 AM »
I thought I was the only one with this problem.
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Offline 92xj

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Re: Travel trailer shore power
« Reply #19 on: August 14, 2019, 06:33:55 AM »
I thought I was the only one with this problem.

Once I found that 20amp outlet, it ran like a champ last night for over an hour of testing it.  Travel trailer got down to a real nice temperature so sleeping for the folks should not be an issue.  We should have the exact same ac unit, so go find a 20amp in your house panel that has an outlet associated with it
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Offline trophyhunt

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Re: Travel trailer shore power
« Reply #20 on: August 14, 2019, 06:43:04 AM »
Yeah, I have a 50 amp I had installed in the garage for a welder when it was being built, since then I used it for a hot tub and now I've gotten rid of the hot tub. Soooo, I will be turning that into a 20 and 30 amp.  I'm not electrician, but I think one of my buddies said that would work. Then I'll run 20 to my new shed and put a 30 on the shed for the trailer, hope it works.  This brings up a question I have, is it good to leave your trailer plugged in all the time to keep your batteries full?
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Offline 92xj

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Re: Travel trailer shore power
« Reply #21 on: August 14, 2019, 07:11:09 AM »
I don't think its bad but I also don't think it's needed.
When I park mine I turn the main battery kill switch off and leave it unhooked.  24 hours before a trip I will plug it in to the house to charge the batteries.  They seem to get full, plus the truck trickle charges them when hooked up and on the road.  Ive never go somewhere and had uncharged batteries this way.  I've thought about getting a tiny solar trickle charger while it's not in use, but I'm not sure its needed with my routine that i do.
Maybe someone more experience and knowledgeable will chime in.
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Offline birddogdad

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Re: Travel trailer shore power
« Reply #22 on: August 14, 2019, 07:17:58 AM »
one AC unit 30 amp service, 2 you will need 50 amp service. if you plan long term to use a specific spot and connection, get a exterior plug installed professionally. The trip is happening for a reason to prevent overheating of wiring.. don't press your luck with breaker resetting often~!
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Offline baker5150

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Re: Travel trailer shore power
« Reply #23 on: August 14, 2019, 07:42:54 AM »
I don't think its bad but I also don't think it's needed.
When I park mine I turn the main battery kill switch off and leave it unhooked.  24 hours before a trip I will plug it in to the house to charge the batteries.  They seem to get full, plus the truck trickle charges them when hooked up and on the road.  Ive never go somewhere and had uncharged batteries this way.  I've thought about getting a tiny solar trickle charger while it's not in use, but I'm not sure its needed with my routine that i do.
Maybe someone more experience and knowledgeable will chime in.

I leave mine plugged in year round.
I run a dehumidifier in it, so power is a must.

Most RV charging systems are slow to charge.
Not all tow rigs send dedicated 12v thru the plug to the trailer for charging.  It's worth putting a meter on it to test.
If it's an aftermarket plug on the truck, it most likely doesn't.

Offline 92xj

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Re: Travel trailer shore power
« Reply #24 on: August 14, 2019, 08:00:39 AM »
I don't think its bad but I also don't think it's needed.
When I park mine I turn the main battery kill switch off and leave it unhooked.  24 hours before a trip I will plug it in to the house to charge the batteries.  They seem to get full, plus the truck trickle charges them when hooked up and on the road.  Ive never go somewhere and had uncharged batteries this way.  I've thought about getting a tiny solar trickle charger while it's not in use, but I'm not sure its needed with my routine that i do.
Maybe someone more experience and knowledgeable will chime in.

I leave mine plugged in year round.
I run a dehumidifier in it, so power is a must.

Most RV charging systems are slow to charge.
Not all tow rigs send dedicated 12v thru the plug to the trailer for charging.  It's worth putting a meter on it to test.
If it's an aftermarket plug on the truck, it most likely doesn't.

Gotcha,
Luckily I'm on the dryside so no need for the dehumidifier.  Though, I wish I could run the AC 24/7 throughout the summer.  The heat build up, even with all the windows open is insane and does a number on the plastics as random plastic soap shampoo bottles we forget to take inside the house after a trip.
My truck does send the power during hook-up, so that's a plus for me.
I do wish my batteries had a gauge on them, like my fuel tank gauge.  The TT control panel tells me volts when in use but I want something a little better that I can just hook in line and leave so I don't have to uncover the batteries each time I want to check fullness level. I'm sure it is out there, I just have not spent the time to look yet. 
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Offline syoungs

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Re: Travel trailer shore power
« Reply #25 on: August 14, 2019, 08:26:25 AM »
They do make products that do that.
Back in my cheaper days I bought a 5$ ohmmeter from harbor freight, cut the ends and crimped on lugs to attach to the battery post, and ran them outside of the battery cabinet in a boat. When I wanted to check I just hooked the meter up real fast to the 2 leads and was able to get voltage. Used to have a chart that showed voltage vs "fullness".

Offline 92xj

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Re: Travel trailer shore power
« Reply #26 on: August 14, 2019, 08:39:00 AM »
Cheaper days were days when things got done no matter what.  I almost miss those days.

I am wanting to do exactly like you did.  Run leads off of each battery that extend outside of the battery box.  At the end of the leads have some sort of connector.  Then, just have a little hand held screen that I plug into a lead and see 55% full / 11.9V, unplug and go to the next battery, plug in the screen and read it.  If I can find a screen with a plug, I'll run leads on all the batteries that I own to have a quick and easy way to check them. 
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Offline baker5150

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Re: Travel trailer shore power
« Reply #27 on: August 14, 2019, 08:42:51 AM »
Cheaper days were days when things got done no matter what.  I almost miss those days.

I am wanting to do exactly like you did.  Run leads off of each battery that extend outside of the battery box.  At the end of the leads have some sort of connector.  Then, just have a little hand held screen that I plug into a lead and see 55% full / 11.9V, unplug and go to the next battery, plug in the screen and read it.  If I can find a screen with a plug, I'll run leads on all the batteries that I own to have a quick and easy way to check them.

They have digital ones for like 20 bucks on amazon

Offline 92xj

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Offline BDildine

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Re: Travel trailer shore power
« Reply #29 on: August 14, 2019, 10:57:36 AM »
your compressor is overloading your circuit when it kicks in, add a soft start and you can run it off almost any circuit (seen one run off a 2k honda)

 


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