Help! Electrically illiterate Compact owner

[persimmonpal]

Hi all,
The Compact I bought has no electric in it, and I really want to add it, but I honestly have no idea how it works.
I know that Vintagetrailersupply.com sells electrical boxes, but I dont even know how they work.. Are they attached to a battery? All I want to do is add enough for a small fridge (my norcold does not work), and maybe 3-4 light switches..
Here is the unit I saw on the supply website.. Is this what I need??
www.vintagetrailersupply.com/Inteli_Power_4045_p/vts-567.htm
I am worried that if I hire an electrician to do the work it will blow my budget..
Can anyone point me in the right direction? I would really appreciate it!

[offspringin]

i cannot answer if that is what you need, however for basic wiring all you need is a generic breaker box, few 15-20amp breakers and wiring. We redid ours and theres a number of ways you can do it. Ours is now 30amp service into the camper, a 10GA wire feeds to junction box and from there 12GA goes to the outlets. Its up to you how to run your lines, where to put the outlets etc. Check out my work vintageshasta.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=shastaownersrestorations&action=display&thread=3458

i can try to help as much as i can with your questions

[blu26ovl]

I did like offspringin. I bought a 6 circuit box from Lowe's for around $30.00 and bought the mini breakers to go in it. I also upgraded to 30 amp service since I added a/c, hot water heater, refrigerator, microwave and a couple of lights. You should be able to buy a book from one of the home building stores (Lowe's, Home Depot) about general wiring that would help you out. Check with store about electrical items and see if you can get as much info from a knowledgeable sales person as you can. If you want to go up to a 30 amp service Lowe's even has the R/V electrical plug for 30 amp and Wal-Mart has a 30 amp cord to connect trailer to power source at campground. If your not going to run much, my camper had a 2 cirucuit box in it but only used 1 but you might be able to find a box like that and use 2 breakers to run a few items.

Brent

[offspringin]

ditto to everything blu26ovl said. in our case i removed the old 110volt male plug that was mounted in the wall. it was rusted out anyway and we knew 30amp was our goal. I (partly because im cheap) didn't opt for the 30amp plug in the wall, i just bought the rv extension cord from walmart and cut off the female end hardwired it into a junction box under the bench. I just pull the cord out a large outlet cover (same cover used if you were to put a 30amp plug in). As far as how many circuits you need it depends on what you plan to run. A couple low voltage items could get away on 1-2 circuits. If you plan to run A/C or space heater we chose to put those on their own circuit (since you only run either ac or heat), we have one line that runs to GFCI outside outlet, one other line runs microwave (700 watt) and fridge, and think a last line that hits a couple outlets. If you plan to use something that draws decent power i would say stick with 12GA wire throughout. You will have to rewire from the source up as the wire running in the wall is only 12 volt. Makes no sense to upgrade everything but your lead wire is 14GA. Your cheapest route is of course to do it yourself. I dont know your level of handiness but with the resources online, this forum, and books it is possible to handle some generic wiring.

[Gone Kayaking]

First thing is to figure out what you will want power for and when/where you will use it. ARe you going to always camp where there is power? Or will you be out in the sticks not in a campground. If it's just lights or you will be boondocking...you might want to go with just a 12v system hooked up to a battery. If you are gonna always be at an RV park with power, watching TV, running AC, and a fridge you'll probably want a 110 system with ability to draw more juice. If it's a little of both...which is like me you might want a dual system that has a converter, inverter. All of my lights are on 12v and then I have several outlets for when I'm on shore power, and a maintainer/converter to my battery to keep it charged. I also have an inverter to plug in my laptop etc... when I'm boondocking.

I did all the wiring to the outlets etc... which is pretty straight forward but then hired an electrician to make sure I'd done everything correctly to the electrical box and to make sure it was all set. Ask around your friends to see if they can recommend an electrician who would be willing just to come and make sure you've done it right and then connect the power to the circuits.