110-125 volt shore power

[cacapasa]

Well, we made the plunge into the FWC world. Picked up our used 2000 grandby on our last days off. Thanks to everyone who answered all of my previous questions. It made all the difference in making our decision. The camper was very well taken care of by the previous owner and we couldn't be more excited to have a new toy. Now I have a place to go when she sends me to the doghouse.
My question now is concerning the shore power. I had no battery for the camper when I picked it up but was hoping to plug in for the cold night on the way home. This idea didn't work so well. The furnace wouldn't run without a battery plugged in. I have since installed a house battery with solar controler to assist in charging. Everything in the camper seems to work great through the 12v power of the battery. Question, Is the 110v shore power only providing power to the 110v outlets in the camper, or, is it now providing power to verything (lights,furnace,ect) but just needed to be connected to a battery to complete the circut.
The big shake-down trip starts in 9 days. 3 1/2 weeks in the Utah desert. Thanks for all your help gentlemen.

cacapasa

 

[davidshourd]

I believe your battery is what provides the power and the 110V land power that you have plugged in goes through the IOTA charger with a constent "trickle" charge to the battery. so kind of like you said, you need the battery to complete the circut. you can buy a 30$ device (it will plug right into the phone looking jack on the front of the thing) for the IOTA converter/charger that will allow it to be "smart" and give you bulk charge or trickle charge as it is needed. I do not believe it has smarts in it now to know not to over charge or trickle or bulk charge. depending on how it is all hooked up you could use your solar controller as the "smarts" for your land power to not over charge, trickle, etc.

 

[pods8]

I don't know if his 2000 had an iota charger. My 99' did not come with any shore power charging capabilities for the battery. Stock on mine the 110v shore power only powered the counter outlet and fridge. Everything else is off the battery. I now have a charger wired in such that when I plug into shore power it starts charging immediately. I'm using a stage charger that properly floats the battery so no worries on overcharge. So while on shore I'm still running most things off battery but its getting constantly topped off.

The one I picked up allows you to pick from 4 different battery profiles to find one that matches your battery best. Its the promariner prosport, fairly compact unit and you can get different charge rates.

 

[Stan@FourWheel]

Unless someone added a power converter to the camper after market, a used 2000 four wheel camper will NOT have a power converter installed.

When the company changed ownership around 2002 we started installing the power converters to all of the campers.

So on your older camper, when you plug in to shore power (110/120v) the house outlet in the cabinet will be "live" and the refrigerator will have power available to it (if you have a refrigerator), but that is about all.

hope this helps.

Happy Camping !


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My question now is concerning the shore power. I had no battery for the camper when I picked it up but was hoping to plug in for the cold night on the way home. This idea didn't work so well. The furnace wouldn't run without a battery plugged in. I have since installed a house battery with solar controler to assist in charging. Everything in the camper seems to work great through the 12v power of the battery. Question, Is the 110v shore power only providing power to the 110v outlets in the camper, or, is it now providing power to verything (lights,furnace,ect) but just needed to be connected to a battery to complete the circut.

cacapasa







.

 

[cacapasa]

Thanks for the replies.
It seems that there is no converter in the camper. This is not to big of a deal as we are seldom at developed campgrounds. However, I like Pods8 idea of installing the charger and will probably do that at a later date when I have some more funds. For now the solar charger will have to do the job on it's own. There's sun in the Utah Desert right?
Pods8- Do you have any links to where you picked up your charger?
Thanks, Cacapasa

 

[pods8]

Pods8- Do you have any links to where you picked up your charger?
Thanks, Cacapasa


I just got it from a local boating world store, here is a net link to them showing the prosport line (hopefully it works): http://www.boatersworld.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SearchView?storeId=10051&catalogId=10051&langId=-1&keyword=prosport&x=0&y=0

There are different amp rates available for whatever you are desiring. You can find it other places online or perhaps if you have any local boating supply stores. Nothing wrong with the iota either, this just fit my needs fine in terms of cost, size, charge profiles, availability, etc.

Originally I just had it connected to my batteries sitting under the couch and would just link up an extension cord between the outlet and its plug when I needed to recharge but when I redid my cabinets I ran the wiring under the countertop and its now "plugged in" all the time so as soon as power is applied to the camper it starts charging.

The prosport charger is on the right pictured below and my DC-DC charger from the truck is on the left, wire loom leads over to the batteries under the couch.