Sunday, July 24, 2011

12 volt battery system installed!














































I finally finished installing 12 volt battery system today. I used a standard group 24 deep cycle marine battery and a Progressive Dynamics power converter for charging and to convert the incoming 110 volt AC line to 12 volts DC. If you want to see more details on the bits and pieces I put some notes on this image. I converted the three original light fixtures to 12 volts by re-routing the wiring and swapping in 12 volt bulbs that fit into the original sockets. I'm really pleased with the results, it's looks normal and the amount the of light is very close or identical to the 110 bulbs. I'm using two 25 watt bulbs and one 15 watt in the rear sconce. It will be interesting to see how many hours we get from a charge but so far it looks good. I ran all three off the battery for over two hours then the 15w bulb only for another 6 or 7 because I left it on by accident. When I discovered that it was on all the the bulbs still seamed to be at their peak brightness. For now the battery box is simply centered on the tongue, I was able to easily mount it on the basic two-rail propane tank mount. If we decide to add a propane system in the future we will probably use a two tank rack with the battery on side and the tank on the other.

2 comments:

CampAlumna said...

Don,
Good to see you innovating your Shasta. I am working on a 1967 to get it up and running for camping and the TinCan Tourists Rally in September @ Sampson State Park. Let me know what you think: http://shastagearhead.blogspot.com

Hope to see you and your family this year!

CampAlumna said...
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