Hi chaps, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year,i am new to this group, and looking for advice please,I recently purchased a Rapido old pop-up caravan, I am retired and enjoy a project, first of all, the roof leaks, and have painted the fiberglass roof, so should not have any more, but has anyone ever replaced the ceiling panels, which are made of plywood, and polystyrene, without taking the roof off, they need replacing full of water, my second problem is the electrics, there is no 12v battery to go off-grid, before I had a folding caravan, used to go off-grid quite a lot, using a leisure battery, it would last a week, the caravan uses mains electric, via a transformer, powers the lights and pump and water heater, can anyone tell me first, where I can install a leisure battery, second how can I without rewiring the van, wire in a 12v system,many thanks.
well if all that stuff works from a transformer ,then everything will already be 12v, you should be able to wire in a battery to power the 12v system without using the mains transformer, also that transformer should be able to charge up the battery, when you are on mains electric.
bit confused about the water heater, that wouldnt work from a transformer, they are either 240v mains or gas powered
Quote: Originally posted by G#Winger on 26/12/2023
well if all that stuff works from a transformer ,then everything will already be 12v, you should be able to wire in a battery to power the 12v system without using the mains transformer, also that transformer should be able to charge up the battery, when you are on mains electric.
bit confused about the water heater, that wouldnt work from a transformer, they are either 240v mains or gas powered
The water heater would be powered directly from the mains input, before it went through the transformer. I suspect one of those circuit breakers would be for the water heater and the other for the transformer/charger.
Quote: Originally posted by saxo1 on 27/12/2023
If the transformer is a 230V/12V AC transformer then the output is 12AC,it would need a rectifier to convert it to 12DC.
saxo1
i suspect there will be a rectifier somewhere, the 12v panel has some "car" type fuses on there, giving a nod towards 12v dc.
maybe the best way is to fit a separate switch, for the lights and water pump, directly from the fuses on the fuse box, and wire the leisure battery into it, I know you should not put your leisure battery in the front locker, but it's a large locker, I do not have much space, anywhere else, looking forwards to meeting up, at your gatherings, regards Eddie.
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Topic: caravan wiring
via mobile 27/12/2023 at 5:26am
