110 receptacle issue

[100acrehuphalump]

Last night I slept in the Hawk here at home. I wanted to have my cell phone and tablet charging while I was in there. No matter what I did the receptacle wouldn't work and after using my volt meter, I learned it was totally dead. Am I missing something?

 

[MarkBC]

And was the camper plugged into "shore power" -- AC?

 

[billharr]

Breaker on, not tripped? I assume you were plugged in at home.

 

[100acrehuphalump]

No I wasn't plugged in. I'm assuming from your responses that I need to be plugged in to shore power for the receptacle to work?

 

[MarkBC]

No I wasn't plugged in. I'm assuming from your responses that I need to be plugged in to shore power for the receptacle to work?

Well, yes, that's a requirement for it to work on my camper, and, I think, most campers.
I only have AC power when I'm in a campground that has AC hookup into which I can plug the camper.

I guess if there was a high-capacity DC-AC inverter built into the camper electrical system that might be able hto power the outlet...

 

[100acrehuphalump]

Thanks, that explains a lot. I noticed a 110 receptacle in the back of the cabinet under the counter almost directly behind the other one. I am also assuming that is for plugging in your refrigerator when plugged into shore power. Can a 12V fridge be plugged into both 12V & a 110 socket, or should I only have just one plugged in at a time? My Engel has a cord for both. Thanks.

 

[Bill D]

I would think you can only plug in one at a time on your Engel 12V or 110V, not both. I would check your manual. It would be nice if it was auto switching though. Then you could keep it plugged into the 110V outlet in the back of the cabinet.

When you plug your camper into 110V power at home you should notice a green light on your 110V outlet inside the camper. That's how you will know you have 110V power inside the camper.

 

[Bill D]

BTW, if you just need to charge a cell phone and a tablet, you can do that through the 12V ports.

I would suggest getting a 12V USB charger that support 2.1A

This unit happens to have 2X 2.1A ports, many of these units don't even have 1X 2.1A
http://www.amazon.com/Scosche-USBC202M-Charger-Tablets-Kindles/dp/B0077PM3KG

Phones are usually ok with .5A USB ports but tablets typically require 2.1A USB ports.

Your 12V ports will be powered from the campers battery with no need to be plugged into 110V power.
Likely you are going to need the 12V USB power when you are camping, because you won't have easy access to 110V power.

 

[deethe]

just keep the fridge on 12v supply and when plugged into shore power the inverter will supply 12v power- assuming you have the IOTA converter/charger. the stock 3-way fridges had a switch to select power source- but using the 12v only allows the camper to do the auto-switching for you.

 

[iowahiker]

We carry a small 12v/120v portable inverter for charging our 14" laptop and the camper battery pair handles charging that load (or you can charge in the cab while driving). We also purchased the 12v cell charger from the same dealer we purchased our cell from to be sure the amps/volts were correct so our cell does not need the inverter.