12V electrical questions

[cmath1223]

Hello all,

I am renovating my camper, and I've got a few concerns with the electrical..

I have a few 12v appliances, plus the lights that I would like to run off my battery. I'm wondering if I can run from my battery to the Breaker panel without a voltage regulator? If my 12v refrigerator kicks on, will it cause my lights to dim or turn off?


Thanks,

Cody

[theoldwizard1]

cmath1223 wrote:
I have a few 12v appliances, plus the lights that I would like to run off my battery. I'm wondering if I can run from my battery to the Breaker panel without a voltage regulator?

Not only can you, but you should NOT have a regulator inline ! All 12VDC appliances can tolerate a voltages up to almost 15V !

cmath1223 wrote:
If my 12v refrigerator kicks on, will it cause my lights to dim or turn off?

Not enough information ! What kind of refrigerator is it and how much current does it require ?

If you are wiring from "scratch", your 12VDC distribution panel should probably have one circuit/fuse for lighting, one for "general" outlets and another for the refrigerator.

[Ed_Gee]

cmath1223 wrote:

SailingOn wrote:
If you don't need 120V power except for battery charging, you don't need an inverter/charger, but you will need a converter designed for lithium batteries.
See ***Link Removed***.

Thanks! Thats exactly the information I was looking for!

I agree! Sounds like Sailon was about the only one to understand what you have and what you want.

[Veebyes]

Hi! Fellow Alpenlite owner here. A 2007 model. One of the last of the breed.

I am somewhat confused. Do you have a 12V breaker panel like larger boats or are you talking about connecting the battery to the 120V AC breaker panel, in which case don't do it. DC is DC & AC is AC. the two don't mix.

Yes the battery can feed the 12V fuse box directly. I suspect that you are confusing a 12V fuse box with a circuit breaker. Highly unlikely that you have a 12V circuit breaker box. I'd only expect to see one of those in a very high end class A MOHO. Alpenlites are good but they are not that good.

To charge you will need a CONverter/charger. An INverter is a completely different animal that has nothing to do with charging.

You had better check on the voltage & the rate of charge that lithium batterys require. Different battery chemistrys, wet cell, AGM, gel cell require different battery charging settings. Any old converter/charger won't do if you plan to get a long service life out of your battery bank. Lithiums are not cheap like wet cells.

Most of the better converter/chargers are multi stage & are programmed for wet cell or AGMs. Gel cells & I suspect lithiums will require a user programmable charger for the type & size of the the bank that needs maintaining. No, these programmable chargers are not cheap.

[cmath1223]

SailingOn wrote:
If you don't need 120V power except for battery charging, you don't need an inverter/charger, but you will need a converter designed for lithium batteries.
See ***Link Removed***.

Thanks! Thats exactly the information I was looking for!

[laknox]

I'm very confused. The standard electrical system has 120v coming in to the main panel with the batteries being charged off that. All 12v lighting and appliances needing 12v basically feed off the battery. No need for inverters or external chargers for the batteries (unless the Li batteries need something special). Alternative is no shore power and all 12v stuff runs off the batteries and nothing that's 120v works. Why complicate things?

Lyle

[SailingOn]

If you don't need 120V power except for battery charging, you don't need an inverter/charger, but you will need a converter designed for lithium batteries.
See here.

[enblethen]

You could get an inverter/charger to handle both functions. Charge batteries through shore power.
A "camper" is an RV mounted to a pick up.

[Lwiddis]

Welcome. “Camper” usually means an truck bed mounted RV.

[cmath1223]

enblethen wrote:
You should be installting a 120 volt AC distribution panel. These normally would have a 12 volt DC distribution which would allow you to use shore power when connected and your 12 volt DC battery when not connected.
Most RV refer use 12 volt for control. Most are 120 volt AC and propane when not connected to shore power.Not many have 12 volt DC elements. If equipped with 12 volt element, yes it will effect other appliances including the lights.
You say "camper", post is in "fifth wheel". What do you have?

I have a 22' 1984 Alpenlite 5th Wheel. I consider it a camper, but apologies if I'm using incorrect terminology.

I am remodeling the camper and will not be installing 120volt power. My appliances are either propane or 12volt, so I will not be purchasing an inverter as I do not need 120v. My distribution panel is a 12volt marine panel.

I have a large battery bank (three 100ah lithium batteries) so I won't have to worry about operating off shore power; HOWEVER I would like the option of charging my batteries from shore power.

I do have an additional question about charging my batteries from 'Shore' though; Can I purchase a 120volt charge controller to charge from shore? or would I require an inverter/charge controller combo?


I'm just trying to keep my costs down, as I already have 12v appliances and I inherited the large battery bank from a friend. Purchasing the charge controller without the inverter is a lot cheaper.

[enblethen]

You should be installting a 120 volt AC distribution panel. These normally would have a 12 volt DC distribution which would allow you to use shore power when connected and your 12 volt DC battery when not connected.
Most RV refer use 12 volt for control. Most are 120 volt AC and propane when not connected to shore power.Not many have 12 volt DC elements. If equipped with 12 volt element, yes it will effect other appliances including the lights.
You say "camper", post is in "fifth wheel". What do you have?