| Author | Message | ||
| PAUL COLLYER (Paso_1)
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Awhile back someone had posted that in their bus they had wired everything to a main electrical panel and each circuit was on its own breaker. The panel input was on a short cord with a male plug on the end. The person then simply chose one of three recepticles to plug into. One recepticle came from the genny. the other came from the inverter/battery bank. and the other from a shore cord. The poster commented that he was either on the genny or the inverter or shore power and this simple method prevented any (wifey) errors. they just chose one source. Is this a reasonable method to prevent any errors? I can't remember how the thread ended. | ||
| Buswarrior (Buswarrior)
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Hello Paul. You can't get much simpler than that. To aid in the plug changing, you would want to be sure you have some good strain relief on the cable, so it doesn't pull out of your socket, and some sort of pull handle added, if you are using the heavier plugs, so you aren't tempted to pull on the cable to help yank the plug to change it. happy coaching! buswarrior | ||
| ChuckMC9 (Chucks)
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Now Paul,,,WHOse errors are you trying to prevent? Better lot let wifey find out you've slandered her in such a way!  PS: It's a great KISS solution, at least for first pass, which is what I'm doing. | ||
| John MC9 Rating: N/A |
"One recepticle came from the genny. the other came from the inverter/battery bank. and the other from a shore cord. " Close.... The shoreline would go directly to (always be connected to) the electric panel. You now either plug it into the camp site outlet, the genset outlet, or the inverter outlet. Totally foolproof. And totally, the least expensive way to do it. | ||
| PAUL COLLYER (Paso_1)
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Okay Okay I already disclosed I was the Idiot. Wifey tells me that all the time When I first read of that hook up I thought it was too simple and it would be easy to leave instuctions for someone else. and Buswarrior isn't that what the heavy cords are for pulling Good suggestion. | ||
| PAUL COLLYER (Paso_1)
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sorry John we must have been typing at the same time. From what I understood the short cord on the input would always be short. The shore cord could be any length to the recepticle. This way you wouldn't be using a 30ft cord to plug into a recepticle 10 inches away. Did I understand correctly or am I missing your answer. | ||
| John MC9 Rating: N/A |
Yeah. I did mean what I typed! I suppose you could use a short cord and a standard 50 (or 30) amp extension cord, if the rolled up shoreline bothers you that much. The original poster of that original suggestion had a "hot plug" dangling free when it was unplugged from one of the outlets and something else was plugged in. I would not suggest having a hot plug; a plug carrying power. Only an outlet should be providing power. I like things as simple and foolproof as possible. And I don't mind having a short shoreline coiled up when using the Inverter or genset. But using a very short "shoreline" (3' ?) and using a 50amp extension cord, is a viable consideration. | ||
| PAUL COLLYER (Paso_1)
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Yes the short cord coming out the top of the main panel would always be dead. Until it was plugged into whatever recepticle they chose. I think it is as safe as can be and simple. thks | ||
| ChuckMC9 (Chucks)
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Paul, that's exactly what I've done. The 6ga cord from the main disconnect is about 4' long, with a male plug. The long 50A cord attaches to that for shore use, easier to handle and move around that way. If I remember right this is not *strictly* by the code book however, probably only because they never thought about doing it that way! When the 50A cord is connected, the junction is still inside the bay to protect from weather. | ||
| Stephen Fessenden (Sffess)
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It would not be necessary to use a separate inverter outlet if you have an inverter with a pass through feature. I suppose you are talking about using a simple, cheap inverter only, not and inverter charger. | ||
| Stephen Fessenden (Sffess)
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A common variation is to have one 50 amp shore cord going to an outlet in the bay and one 30 Amp cord going to its own 50 Amp type outlet. The purpose is so you do not have to haul out the very heavy 50 amp cord when you only have 30 amps or less. For less you use an adapter on the 30 Amp plug. | ||
| nelsonthomas Rating: N/A |
Is this setup inside the coach so you can change to genset to run the A/C or to stay out of the weather etc? I like simple. Nelson Thomas | ||
| John MC9 Rating: N/A |
Stephan- Your "variation" is a great idea! Probably less expensive than a 50 amp extension? Nelson- You can cut a handhole next to the toilet to reach into the bay.. Ahh... seriously... You'd have to get out to plug or unplug from the power pole anyway, right? | ||
| Brian Brown (Blue_velvet)
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Yup, I am upgrading "Blue Velvet's" service to 50A, and will also be utilizing the KISS two-plug method. I went to my not-so friendly orange home store and bought two NEMA 14-50R's and a 4' 50A-4 wire molded dryer cord, and "handy" boxes with covers for the receptacles. I'm still waiting on the 36' shore cord to arrive from the ePlace. Eighty buck$ or so for that last item! Each leg will come out of the main disconnect to an existing subpanel that I might have to rearrange to balance the load on the neutral wire. I plan to have a big spool for the shore cord in the bay, and a piece of PVC dropping through the floor that the plug end will fit through. That way I only have to pay out enough cable to hit the shore power receptacle OR throw a dogbone adapter on it then drop down a 30A extension if that's what service I have. Anyways, for safety sake: be sure and use a continuity tester on your neutrals and grounds to insure that there's no bonding anytime the male plug is dangling unplugged. Once it's plugged into the genny side, check that you have continuity from neutral to ground anywhere in the coach, then check again plugged into shore power. Check also for reverse polarity at every circuit on your panel(s) and at every recptacle. Good luck, Paul! Brian | ||
| Bob Vandawalker (Rav221)
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If your inverter has power pass through you could do as I did. I utilized Three Way knife switch before the main breaker panel (on-off-on) and is set up (Shore/Inverter-Off-Generator). It's fool proof, nothing can be back fed. I would bet you could buy one of the three ways switches for anbout the same it would cost to rig up three main feed outlets. Just my opinion, for what it's worth. Bob V. | ||
| PAUL COLLYER (Paso_1)
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Thanks guys for the opinions always good for food for thought. I think I'm going to do a variation of the above. I know I will likly never use the shore cord option. I will either be on the generator or battery bank. I've not bought the inverter yet and will likly save for a good one. I thought I would wire in the shore cord recepticle idea while I was at it. I have to keep reminding myself how I intend to use the bus so I don't do unnecessary things that will never be utilized. thanks again... paul | ||
| Jim (Jim_in_california)
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I'm doing a variation on this: hand-plugging of the inverter's input into either genset (4kw) or shore(30amp). The inverter is a good one (Outback VFX2812) and can "pass through" whatever 30amp source it can get into the main house wiring. If there's incoming 110v that's not being used, the Outback will do it's 12v charger number up to 120amps @ 12v. (Actually it's a surge protector's input that gets plugged one way or the other, the surge protector goes to the Outback which sends 110v to the house panel.) There's a second 1100w inverter used internally to drive nothing but electronics. That isolates all that from the main house wiring but good, and allows running them while at the same time running two small air conditioners (13,500 and 5000 for the garage) at the same time off the genset. | ||
| NELSONTHOMAS Rating: N/A |
Ahh... seriously...John My thinking was that if I was traveling down the road and running the coach off the inverter and the battery bank that I might want to be able to have a passenger switch to the gen-set to run the roof airs without having to stop, get out and open a bay door to make the switch, or if I was boon docking in a Wall Mart parking lot and it was raining I might find it more convenient to make the switch from inside. At the power pole it wouldn't matter. I think I may set this up in a closet inside the coach. Nelson | ||
| John MC9 Rating: N/A |
Nelson- That's not a bad idea at all! I'd prefer the electrical panel to be in the house rather than under it, also... I thought with a decent inverter running from the bus alternator you could run both ac units? Fellas here have been using the Xantrex sw4024 or the dr3624 without complaints... | ||
| steve souza (Stevebnut)
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Paul My bus is set up that way and works very well. 30 amp plug on a short wire to the fuse panel then 3 recepticals, marked gen,shore, and inverter. Plug in to your power source of choice. It is in the camper right next to the breaker panel. I wil try to take a picture and post it here between chores. Steve | ||
| Stephen Fessenden (Sffess)
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For years, Travco motorhomes had the electric panel and the shore cord in the bottom of a closet with a shelf over it. The closet is a great idea, just use a shelf to keep the plugs covered when not changing sources. I would probably store the cords in the bay below in a little compartment/box to contain just each shore cord and plug but put the outlets, panel and cord in the closet. |