DIY 12V/DC outlet and USB installation in an RV
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- Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
- DIY installation of a 12 volt / DC outlet and USB charging ports in an RV.
I have a TCL 32" LED TV that uses 45W. I used a 75W power inverter to plug the TV into then plugged the power inverter into the newly installed 12V/DC outlet.
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Canada -12V/DC outlet and USB outlet: amzn.to/37yY7mB
USA - 12V/DC outlet and USB outlet: amzn.to/3mcwg0Z
Canada - Lume Cube 2.0: amzn.to/33x2dtP
USA - Lume Cube 2.): amzn.to/3o6cnLK
75 watt power inverter from Canadian Tire: www.canadianti...
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Nice job! Glad you left in the part when you realized you were still on shore power. Good reminder for everyone to double-check that everything is de-energized.
Just the information I was looking for, much appreciated, thank you sir!
I just bought a 2018 RV with that same radio in it and it doesn’t work! So when I replace the radio I will do this technique. I can truly find out almost anything on UA-cam! Thank you from Ohio!
Your welcome from Ontario. Happy camping!
Pretty straight forward. I'm tired of having to fire up my inverter generator just to charge my phone while boondock camping in my RV. Shame my RV is wired for both 12 volt and 120 yet not a single plug to use the 12 volt system when off grid. Thanks for the video, another project I can add to my list.
Our old 2004 trailer had a DC cigarette lighter outlet but the newer trailers don't seem to have them. Is a simple install. When boondocking we use the usb outlets to charge phones, watches and camera batteries. It's awesome.
the more dc powered devices that you can plug in without using a wall wart the longer you can use it and the faster they charge like drills, saws, flashlights, laptops on usb-c jack [small round dc plugs found on amazon, 10 for 4 bucks
I installed a 12V TV in my new trailer not realizing I needed a socket outlet. I followed your steps exactly by tapping into the stereo. Works great! Thanks!
Thanks for letting me know that my video helped you. I love hearing that. I'm glad it worked out for you. Happy Camping
Awesome idea. Going to do the same to my rig. Cheaper than buying a 12V TV.
Just gotta say that is awesome. Can't believe they don't come equipped with these obvious trinkets already installed. Hopefully I can find one of those units too. I had been plugged in inverter outside and running back and forth, plugging in power cable etc. This will be really sweet!
Thanks for the support. Our old travel trailer came with a DC outlet behind the TV and the TV that came with it had a DC plug. It was awesome for boondocking. I was surprised when I got this trailer that it wasn't the same. Sometimes progress isn't really progress. Anyway, happy camping!
Thanks for this concise video. I’m about to install 3 of these in my camper!
Good luck!
Well done. This is exactly what I needed to know.
A great alternative to buying an expensive 12V TV! Just need to find out how many watts our TV draws so I can find the right inverter that's available here in the US. Thanks for sharing!
Glad it helped.
Totally awesome video! Thank you so much. I just bought an older camper and it does not have any DC outlets. Where are the radio is located is a perfect place to start putting DC outlets. Great idea! Thank you
Good content. Only comment I have is there is really no need to disconnect the battery and shore power…just extra work. Just pull the fuse from your distribution center. That would disconnect the radio circuit from both the battery and dc converter.
Good tip. Thanks.
Good presentation. Easter Egg was seeing TVO on the TV!
Good eye. Ontario has to represent.
Love it! Nice Install!
you could have turned the ac circuit breaker labeled DC iNVERTER and you would still had lights and ac inside. next time.
Being an Electrician I can easily do that but and it's a big but . I found at costco charging essentials usb/ac wall charging outlets, 2-pack. 4 usb charging ports 4.2A max charging dc 5v. surge protecting to 300 joules. LED charging indicator lights.
thought this may help. I was going to do all of that after purchasing my new rv this year and the usb port location was terrible and they did not work to boot lol. That is a great idea if you have 12v D/C and no 120 volt outlet. would you believe a brand new trailer and the usb is not working lol. May still replace the none working one with what you did there.👍
This was the best video explaining the install procedure. What was the name of the light you were using? I liked that! Thanks.
I'm glad you liked it. The light is a Lume Cube 2.0. It's at Amazon.ca at amzn.to/33x2dtP and at Amazon.com at amzn.to/3o6cnLK.
I love his Vid's...very detailed
Thanks for the support. Happy camping!
Thanks for the video.
Beginner question for you.
How would you screw on the ring onto the back if you weren't able to have access to get your hand behind the wall. AKA a finished wall location.
Thanks
I don't know how you'd secure it if you couldn't reach in behind to put the ring on. Sorry, I don't have an answer for ya.
@@CampingwiththeColes ok, glad I wasn't an idiot missing something simple. Appreciate the reply.
Nice job. I need a DC cigarette lighter type jack for my travel CPAP. I was disappointed that my Winnebago Hike didn't have any DC outlets. It does have a bunch of USB jacks, though. I'm going to swap one out for a DC outlet. Do you have a link for that combo USB + DC port you used?
Thanks. I put the links in the description of the video but here they are: Canada -12V/DC outlet and USB outlet: amzn.to/37yY7mB
USA - 12V/DC outlet and USB outlet: amzn.to/3mcwg0Z
Good luck!
Hi Ben, do you still use this DC Outlet or have you installed a whole-trailer inverter? Also, if you've boondocked, is the TV a major drain of your lithium batteries? Thank you!
I still use the DC Outlet. I haven't installed a whole-trailer inverter. When boondocking I plug in a 60 watt inverter into the outlet then plug in the TV plug to that. When watching TV the drain is about 41-45 watts so it's not much of a drain on the LiFePO4 batteries if watching for a couple of hours at night. If I'm concerned about the batteries getting too low because we are going to be staying for a long time I sometimes don't use the outlet and plug the TV directly into a 1200W portable power bank that we have. If it was a rainy day and we're watching more TV than usual I'd usually use the power bank because I can easily recharge that later with solar or by plugging it in at the comfort station.
@@CampingwiththeColes Thanks very much Ben!
what size was the bit you used to drill the holes?
I used a 32mm or 1 1/4" hole saw bit out of a set like this amzn.to/3im3JYp
How long can you run the tv for on a full battery. Im new to boondockong and i only ask because i dont want to kill the battery if i need the furnace overnight.
That's a very difficult question to answer. It depends a lot on your battery. If it's an 85ah lead acid battery like the one that came with my trailer I could only go about 18 hours running the trailer on the battery without watching TV. The TV uses about 40 Watts. We now have two 100ah LiFePO4 batteries so we could watch TV for maybe 20 hours, I'm guessing.
@@CampingwiththeColes awesome, that definitely helps a little. Thanks for the video and the quick reply. I was going to install a USB port in the RV this weekend then watched your video and saw the port for the inverter. I had no clue about any of that so I bought that outlet and the inverter. We're going to Yellowstone next week and I was planning on not having the TV, but it will be nice for the kids at night. I do have a generator so I will just top off my batteries in the day. Thanks again!
I have given this some this some thought. I found these wires behind my stereo unit and they don't seem thick enough to be handling much more current.....thoughts?
It's just DC that your hooking into. It doesn't require much to carry the low voltage for the DC outlet. I'm not an electrician though so if you're not comfortable you might want to check with one.
What's the wire gauge of your existing RV wiring? Have you had any issues since? I'm concerned that if I wire mine, my 4 amp TV might draw too much power and heat up the wire to the point of it being a fire hazard.
I'm not an electrician so if you are concerned you should talk to one. I'm doing these videos for entertainment purposes. That being said, we are dealing with DC power and not AC, so we really shouldn't have to worry about too much current going through it. Especially a DC TV. All the circuits are protected with fuses. The line I tapped into has a 10A fuse on it. It would blow the fuse if it drew too much power. Now if this was AC current I wouldn't be tapping into it.
So the ones that I purchased and installed have a fuse in the line. However it keeps blowing the fuse. not sure what I am doing wrong. Any suggestions?
Sorry ,I can't offer any solutions. I'm not a professional and I can only show what worked for me. Good luck!
Do I need to have inline fuses on the hot wires? Would the stereo fuse protect it by itself? Thanks
The wires that I used had fuses on them. This way each device is protected by it's own fuse. For example, if something in the DC outlet shorted or caused a problem, that should be the only fuse that blows. They protect what's in series with the wire. You would probably want to have a fuseable link for each instance of that wire. If you used the fuse for the radio on the DC outlet and something blew in the outlet it could take the radio with it. By the way, I'm not an electrician so this is just my own unqualified opinion. If you have a concern, please check with an electrician.
Silly question, where do you find those screw cap connectors you used to connect the three 12v cables together? I'm not sure what they're called?
Those are called marrettes or wire connectors. You can find them at any hardware store or on Amazon amzn.to/3u1oRpH. Good luck with the install.
Really appreciate the quick response. Thanks for the tip
Maybe you could help me out with this problem I have? I need to buy a battery and I am mentally short circuiting. I am worried about ruining a regular deep cycle battery and it seems the only option is lithium ion that can drain lower than 50%. What kind of battery do you have and will the television heater and lights Drain it real fast. Also do you have a generator that charges your battery when Boondocking?
I have a marine deep cycle battery. The lithium batteries are too rich for my blood. We've only gone without power for one night stops, like staying at Walmart or Cracker Barrel and we had no problem. I turned the fridge to propane and ran the furnace as it too uses propane for heat and only uses electricity to blow the air. We watched TV and had the lights on. We generally had a normal night. I wouldn't try running a space heater, as any electric device with a heating element draws huge amounts of power. Things like blow dryer, space heater, curling iron, kettle shouldn't be used without being plugged in to shore power or a generator. I have a 3000 watt generator that I use for boondocking. I haven't been boondocking with this trailer yet. I used it with my old trailer when we went to Cypress Lake for a week a few years ago. I installed a SoftStartRV on the airconditioner last year so that the AC can easily run when using the generator. We hope to go back to Cypress Lake this June and we'll be boondocking then.
How do you know which wire is the hot 12 volt wire and which is the negative or ground 12 volt wire to tie into?
It was fortunate for me that all the wires were labelled in the back of the stereo. The red wire (hot) and the black wire (ground) were also slightly thicker wires than all the rest. I used the meter to test to make sure I got the right wires.
I installed a left over marine 12v outlet directly to my 12v terminal from the converter. Looking for hardware to install a 12v terminal to charge batteries. I want to mount it somewhere OUTSIDE on the trailer. It is hard to get to the batteries inside my truck camper. Any suggestions? Must be WP.
Sorry, I can't help you with that. That's beyond my very limited expertise. Good luck.
Bingo the thought occurred to me. Reinstall my marine DC out let outside wired directly to the batt. Buy a DC plug with pig tails and connect charger to those (+) and (-). Reason? My Batt is hard to get to for maintaining a charge when parked in the garage.
@@sunlite9759 There ya go. All you needed was someone to listen to you as you figured it out. Glad I was there to help, lol.
Where'd you get the dc to ac inverter that you plug the tv into?
The one in the video is about 15 years old. You can get the newest model at Canadian Tire: www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/motomaster-inverter-75w-0111915p.0111915.html?gclid=Cj0KCQiAwf39BRCCARIsALXWETwQkuTeexzFirE3_bOJOL223aWqeugSQa_Z6a4cTAtD9Xfj_EyrTwQaAoByEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds#store=139
Would this work for a cpap machine?
If the CPAP machine has a DC outlet it would work or you could use the inverter like shown in the video. The inverter is good for up to 75 watts. I believe most CPAP machines use 30-60 watts. I'm not an electrician though, I don't know how long the trailer battery will last. I've only used the TV for a couple of hours where I would assume you would use the CPAP overnight (8 hours). You might want to look into that. You could always add a second battery to your trailer and run them together to help out.