Truck Camper Electricity 101/Questions From A nOOB

I didn't read the whole thread but just use the heater that is in there. If it's really cold you can add a little electric for supplemental but those things scare me. You don't want a fire on the inside.
 
Lincoln said:
Thirded. Pointless unless you are trying to power the rest of the homeless camp. :flipoff2:
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I can see this as a future common occurrence:
A/C is on but I want to nuke something in the microwave oven.

Or; A/C is on and I want to make some rice in the rice cooker, or use the slow cooker, etc.

FYI;
I plan to do as little RV-camping (hookups) as possible.
 
CDA 455 II said:
I can see this as a future common occurrence:
A/C is on but I want to nuke something in the microwave oven.

Or; A/C is on and I want to make some rice in the rice cooker, or use the slow cooker, etc.

FYI;
I plan to do as little RV-camping (hookups) as possible.
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If it's already on, it's fine. Don't turn on the A/C and the microwave to high and the water heater to high all at the same time. Stagger them a minute or so each so that the motors have time to cycle up and reduce from startup load


Also, if your cord ends burn out replace them. They are a wear item
 
CDA 455 II said:
In a word;
Because I don't know **** from Shinola when it comes to electrical-anything.
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Off to look up “Shinola.”

It’s camping, I doubt you’ll ever be somewhere hot enough to run AC and need a toaster and a microwave at the same time.

If you do, you’ll throw a breaker and figure out to turn off the AC to nuke dinner.

I only camp when it’s nice anyway, and cook outside 95% of the time on a propane stove or griddle.
 
Etyler2 said:
Off to look up “Shinola.”

It’s camping, I doubt you’ll ever be somewhere hot enough to run AC and need a toaster and a microwave at the same time.

If you do, you’ll throw a breaker and figure out to turn off the AC to nuke dinner.

I only camp when it’s nice anyway, and cook outside 95% of the time on a propane stove or griddle.
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I'm preparing to go fulltime RV'ing.

I'm about to ditch my townhouse and tour North America starting in July.
 
CDA 455 II said:
I can see this as a future common occurrence:
A/C is on but I want to nuke something in the microwave oven.

Or; A/C is on and I want to make some rice in the rice cooker, or use the slow cooker, etc.

FYI;
I plan to do as little RV-camping (hookups) as possible.
Click to expand...

I had a motorhome get towed to the shop. He was here for a while, waiting on parts. Rarely ran the generator. Ran pretty much all on solar. I was impressed. Granted he had a lot more roof to work with. But itsa thought.
 
I don't think you will have a problem. The only time I would ever consider running the water heater on 120v is if I was parked in an RV spot for a while. Still haven't used it on the taj majal. Propane is way faster.

So it's the microwave and A/C. running load is probably under the 2500. It should allow a spike to start.
 
Etyler2 said:
Off to look up “Shinola.”

It’s camping, I doubt you’ll ever be somewhere hot enough to run AC and need a toaster and a microwave at the same time.

If you do, you’ll throw a breaker and figure out to turn off the AC to nuke dinner.
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This. It's "consumer" proof. Just behave like an idiot. Don't try and think ahead. "I want toast" <plugs in toaster without a care in the world>.

Steve300xcw said:
I had a motorhome get towed to the shop. He was here for a while, waiting on parts. Rarely ran the generator. Ran pretty much all on solar. I was impressed. Granted he had a lot more roof to work with. But itsa thought.
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Paired with en electric moped it probably would'nt have even been an inconvenience.

"well I guess we're touring medford".

CDA 455 II said:
I'm preparing to go fulltime RV'ing.

I'm about to ditch my townhouse and tour North America starting in July.
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You gonna finally hit up the driveways of all the people who can improve upon your fab work? :laughing:

What are you gonna do with the bronco and trailer? (Sell them I hope)
 
CDA 455 II said:
No arguing.

Electrical pretty much foreign to me; I'm not getting it.🤷‍♂️
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It's just watts, add them up.

The problem is the "phantom" loads, all the stuff that you don't realize that's on it consuming power.

I added a panel meter to track power used, it really helped to manage loads and realize what you are leaving on when you don't plan to.
That's really important boon docking, power isn't infinite if you don't manage it well.
 
CarterKraft said:
It's just watts, add them up.

The problem is the "phantom" loads, all the stuff that you don't realize that's on it consuming power.

I added a panel meter to track power used, it really helped to manage loads and realize what you are leaving on when you don't plan to.
That's really important boon docking, power isn't infinite if you don't manage it well.
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I experimented using my home toaster oven in the camper while also running the A/C; on shore power.

I popped the fuse in the house.

Next; I'm going to run the generator while running the A/C and microwave a frozen meal (7min).
See what happens. :bert:
 
CDA 455 II said:
Can someone translate this:
1000042968.jpg


What happened?
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The surge protector didn't do its job. The big twist lock one going to the trailer should not have burned when he overloaded his 30 amp trailer with his ELECTRIC water heater, ELECTRIC air conditioner and ELECTRIC motors to power out the slides.

Use gas to run your water heater.
The AC kicks on and demands a LOT.
The motors pushing out your slides take quite a few amps too.


Guy was dumb and did too much at once, and surge protector didn't work.
 
CDA 455 II said:
I'm preparing to go fulltime RV'ing.

I'm about to ditch my townhouse and tour North America starting in July.
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You cannot do all the things you did in your townhouse when you're living in your trailer. You can't have the slow cooker on plus the television, and the space heater while working on your laptop and trying to microwave some popcorn. 30 amps goes REAL quick especially when using electricity to generate heat.
 
CDA 455 II said:
That's way above my paygrade.

What does that do?
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It tells you how many of those 30 amps you have left to use before you have an electrical fire or blow fuses/circuits.


You get 3,600 watts to use.
When you kick on the 1,800 watt space heater you're down to 1,800 remaining watts.
If you want to fire up the microwave it could be another 1,000 so you're down to 800.
 
RunningProblem said:
It tells you how many of those 30 amps you have left to use before you have an electrical fire or blow fuses/circuits.


You get 3,600 watts to use.
When you kick on the 1,800 watt space heater you're down to 1,800 remaining watts.
If you want to fire up the microwave it could be another 1,000 so you're down to 800.
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Thanks for the tech.:beer:

Interesting 🤔

I thought my 2,500 Onan only has 2,500 watts to work with?:confused::homer:
 
RunningProblem said:
You cannot do all the things you did in your townhouse when you're living in your trailer. You can't have the slow cooker on plus the television, and the space heater while working on your laptop and trying to microwave some popcorn. 30 amps goes REAL quick especially when using electricity to generate heat.
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Wouldn't a 5,000 generator take care/deal with all that?🤷‍♂️
 
RunningProblem said:
The surge protector didn't do its job. The big twist lock one going to the trailer should not have burned when he overloaded his 30 amp trailer with his ELECTRIC water heater, ELECTRIC air conditioner and ELECTRIC motors to power out the slides.

Use gas to run your water heater.✅️
The AC kicks on and demands a LOT.✅️✅️
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RunningProblem said:
The motors pushing out your slides take quite a few amps too.
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Ah; didn't know that.🤔
RunningProblem said:
Guy was dumb and did too much at once, and surge protector didn't work.
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Yeah; I don't want to be him.:eek:😬
 
CDA 455 II said:
Thanks for the tech.:beer:

Interesting 🤔

I thought my 2,500 Onan only has 2,500 watts to work with?:confused::homer:
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Depends on your inverter. "If" it has assist it can boost shore or geny power with battery power. Victron stuff has this, you can set the incoming current limit and use batteries/solar to cover any shortfalls. For as long as you have battery at least.
 
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