Electrical Subsystem

The tow vehicle will have a minimal electrical subsystem. It will however need to function as a small Motorhome in it's own right.

Our first attempt (May 2006) at house power for the truck was not correct. In most RV parks, they won't let you run your generator if they supply shore power. This created a few problems for us. In it's original configuration, we needed the motor to run house AC, we needed the motor to charge the batteries.

So, we've added a Converter and 110AC Air Conditioning. If we need supplemental heating we've obviously parked in the wrong place.

Electrical Components:

A 60 Amp, converter/charger w/ charge wizard
A 1750 watt modified sine wave inverter
A 2 circuit 110AC fuse panel
A 50amp shore power connection

50 Amp Twist Lock

GO POWER!

Fuse Panel Mount

The house electrical components will be housed in the storage bay on the drivers side. The fuse panel and the internal shore power connection are located under the shelf and the Go Power inverter will sit on top.

The inverter is the main component of the house electrical subsystem. An outlet box ($1.49) will serve as poor man's transfer switch. The picture is of the first generation. This will be reworked in the coming weeks.

The Inverter Mount

The inverter is mounted on top of the shelf tray. The inverter is a Go Power! 1750HD modified sine wave inverter. It will be installed with a remote switch and will be connected directly to the main batteries. It will only be in operation while the unit is under power and for brief moments in various rest stops on the way to locations.

Inverter Shelf

With 4 batteries, the inverter should be able to run the fridge for a few hours without draining them significantly. It should also be able to run the TV for a movie at those rest stops. The support holds the AC fuse panel, the transfer switch as well as mounting the inverter.

The support is made out of 3/4" birch plywood and painted with a grey enamel paint. It's designed to make sure that all of the electrical components are properly vented.

With this set up a rest stop could be running into Wal-Mart for a $5.50 dump bin movie, microwave popcorn, and a snooze in the parking lot.

External Power

At the top of this page is a close-up of the external shore power connection. The 50amp connector is complete overkill for the TV, however, with no RV electrical experience, I'd rather learn on this setup than on our new trailer next spring.

Exterior Power Connection

Connector Backside

Interior Power Connection

The power coming into the Tow Vehicle enters through a 50AMP twist-lock receptacle. I used a 10ga cord (4 conductor stranded wire) to connect it to a small power distribution box inside the driver side bay.

NOTE: If this was a true 50AMP configuration, 10ga cord would be too small for the application.

All of the connections come through one grommetted hole in the front of the bay. The 10 ga. cord, the cable TV connection, 12V +/-, and inverter ground all pass through this opening.