VINTAGE CAMPER WIRING BASICS / 15 to 30 AMP switcheroo

Grab your fire extinguishers, it's time to talk about vintage camper wiring! In this video, we'll talk about the very basic wiring setup for my 1968 Play Mor as well as convert our 15 AMP inlet to a 30 AMP inlet to accommodate our new hidden air conditioner. Let me know what questions you have in the comments - thanks for watching!
Mobiltec Wiring Series: tinyurl.com/5ywftfks

[@deborahfieldson5939]

nicely done. Enough information to know I don't want to do my own electrical, but enough to have a conversation with whoever IS doing any electrical work for me. TY

[@TrailerTrashtoTreasure]

I mean electrical isn't that hard to understand, but sometimes there's a gotcha based on something you didn't know you needed to know, and that's when it gets tricky. I'm glad you got something out of this though, thanks for watching!

[@gailtaylor1215]

Very informative Conan. Like Deborah says this will enable one to carry on a conversation with your electrical guy who is doing the work in your camper. Always enjoy your videos.

[@TrailerTrashtoTreasure]

Great! I know not everyone wants to tackle their own wiring, but I do think it's handy to be able to be a bit more specific about what you want done when you talk to the professionals. Thanks for watching!

[@cesarrodriguez5413]

Great video, I do mostly of my electrical wiring, I now understand why there's is a sub panel in my campers. very informative, Gracias amigo

[@TrailerTrashtoTreasure]

De nada, glad to help out!

[@kristinmedley2573]

Looking good!!!!

[@TrailerTrashtoTreasure]

Thanks!

[@rodeisenbeisz6556]

Very cool! Thanks.

[@TrailerTrashtoTreasure]

You're welcome, thanks for watching!

[@whitneykovener]

Thanks for sharing

[@TrailerTrashtoTreasure]

Thanks for watching!

[@roycampsall9614]

12-2 wire is good for 20 amps. If you are wanting 30 amp capability, 10 gauge wire is mandatory by code for a home or camper. Enjoy your videos, keep going and have safe fun.

[@TrailerTrashtoTreasure]

Thanks for watching! No circuit in the camper is more than 15 amps, so the 10 gauge is just from the exterior connection to the breaker panel.

[@4486xxdawson]

Thanks i was about to ask about the 30 amp in 👍

[@TrailerTrashtoTreasure]

If you've got 30A coming in you need 10 ga. wire until something divides it into something lower. So in my case, it's 10 ga. from the inlet to the breaker panel, then it splits into two 15A circuits with breakers. You could run 14 ga. wire from the breakers to your outlets, but I chose to run 12 ga. as it was what I had on hand, and it doesn't hurt anything to run a little heavier wire.

[@Pete4875]

Very Good Video, Thank you! I just want to emphasize the ground and neutral are NOT bonded together.

[@TrailerTrashtoTreasure]

Thank you, and yes 100%, do NOT bond the ground and the neutral together; it can't be said enough in this context!

[@Pete4875]

@@TrailerTrashtoTreasure Also I would like to run one other thing by you and that is grounding the Ac to the trailer frame. I DON'T think it should be done. Do you really want a Ac electrical fault going thru your hitch and into your $70,000 pickup? To me any Ac fault should go back to your source thru your shore cable. What do you think?

[@TrailerTrashtoTreasure]

So, I don't have a definitive answer for you, but I'll just say that I've always seen it done this way. I suspect the reasoning being that if your AC shorts to the skin, which has to be grounded to the frame for your trailer lights to work, you need a pathway back to source through the chassis. I would also guess that fewer people are plugged in to shore power while hitched up so it's a lesser concern about what happens to your tow vehicle. Also I can't afford a $70k truck. 😁

[@jerrytalley802]

Conan, I almost always use 12/2 wire and 20 amp breakers. I even did that in 1987 in my house. 14/2 is easier to work with so on occasions I’d use that for my lights. I’ve never tripped a 20 amp breaker in the house yet. People don’t realize that in bathrooms, you could have a curling iron and blow dryer plugged in at the same time, and pretty sure that would trip 15 amps, thanks

[@TrailerTrashtoTreasure]

Yes, exactly! I personally feel like the only reason to run 14/2 is if cost is a major concern. In these tiny campers you just don't need that much wire to do the whole thing, but if I was wiring up a whole house I might be looking to do the lights on 14/2 while keeping outlets on 12/2 with 20A breakers at least in kitchens, bathrooms, and work areas.

[@redheadsched]

Nice vid thanks. Maybe I missed this… but along with the wiring, don’t u also have to change the circuit breaker from a 15 amp to a 30 otherwise u would blow the circuit breaker all the time? Thanks again for your helpful videos. My wife fe and I are thinking of fixing up an old Shasta that is available to us.

[@TrailerTrashtoTreasure]

The breaker for the 30 amp supply is on the pedestal. I only had two 15 amp breakers already installed in the camper so I didn't need to change anything other than the short supply wires from the plug receptacle to the box. Shastas are fun. I almost bought one a year or so ago, but the guy was asking more than I wanted to pay and he had a line of bidders interested.

[@robertsmith4150]

Has anyone used a portable heater/ac that doesn't require cutting holes in outer skin? Units like a black and decker 1200 btu that can just be plugged in when needed or not take at all when weather is just perfect. Im not saying it wouldn't have a designated space but could be left at home on certain occasions. I recently purchased a 1970 play-mor that is original with some slight modifications but my plans are to do a total deconstruction & rebuild do to with some visabal water damage . I'm trying to learn from others on what to do & what not to do. I appreciate what I've seen and have read. There are many things that are helpful by learning from other experiences I've seen.

[@TrailerTrashtoTreasure]

You can absolutely use a portable unit, and I considered it, but most people that I've seen with those either put them in a closet or under the kitchen counter, and I just didn't have a tall enough space for it. You'll still need to vent it somehow, but it'd be a relatively small hole. For a small camper a simple electric heater will do the job just fine. We camped this fall in 20⁰F weather with one, and if anything we were almost too warm. Good luck on your camper!

[@johnmartis6407]

Did you upgrade your breaker? Didn't see that in the video when you wired in the 30amp inlet.

[@TrailerTrashtoTreasure]

I didn't need to upgrade the breaker in this case. It was already a 30 amp panel with two 15 amp circuits.

[@martinmork1]

Thanks for your video. I picked up a small window air conditioner like yours that's rated at 4.5 amps. I have a 1980's Bonair BA1690 that runs on 20 amps with the old cilindrical fuse type. Up til now we've used a regular garden extension chord, which has been enough for the fridge and coverter. The trailer has the original 20 amp plug, but it's too short, and that's why we don't use it. So I purchased a heavy-duty 15 amp 50-foot cable thinking I should be able to run a 5 amp air conditioner and my fridge, but you think no? Im prepared to run everything off propane and only plug in the air conditioner if I have to for those hot nights. Thanks for any advice you might have.

[@TrailerTrashtoTreasure]

Keep in mind your AC may have a higher amp draw when the compressor starts up unless it's one of the nicer inverter style units (the same may be true for your fridge), so for very short periods you might exceed 15 amps. Personally, I wouldn't want to add any high current draw items without knowing the full status of the electrical system in my camper. In the 80s they weren't planning for as many electrical devices as we now have, so your wiring, the connectors they used, and the outlets themselves weren't of very good quality (honestly, neither are the ones in new campers today). I would probably rewire the whole camper, but you could at least install a new power inlet with a modern breaker box, and run a good couple of branch circuits for your A/C and your fridge using 12-2 wiring and outlets rated for 20A, then you'd be in good shape.

[@martinmork1]

@TrailerTrashtoTreasure I keep trying to post a link to a product, but it's not saving, so Im trying again without the link. I found a 30 amp plug that splits to 2 15/3 connectors, which means I could have a dedicated line for my air conditioner. Just wondering what your thoughts are on that. The company is Leisure Cords. What could be in this adaptor to ensure that 15 amps are evenly distributed I wonder? Thanks

[@TrailerTrashtoTreasure]

They may have inline fuses, but likely there isn't anything at all. Those things aren't really intended to be used as substitute distribution panels. But personally I wouldn't go that route for a few reasons. For one you'd have to have extension cords coming out of your RV somewhere instead of having one weatherproof plug that connects to the pedestal. But also most pedestals that have a 30A plug will also have a separate 20A circuit if you just want to plug multiple things in to it. Like I said, if it were mine I'd just rewire it to make sure everything was safe and up to code. If you don't want to pull the skins to do something like that, you can always use surface mount conduit like they do with brick or concrete construction to keep things looking clean. It's not really that hard to do, and for functionality and peace of mind I think it's worthwhile.

[@user-qz3yl6zs8n]

I have a vintage camper and I had someone put a30 amp 125 v inlet in. I bought a 20 amp 125 volt male end for my cord and it will not fit into the inlet. Do I need it to be 30 amp also. It has two curved holes one smaller and one curved t shape. I am at my whits end. thanks

[@TrailerTrashtoTreasure]

There are two types of common 30A plugs for RVs that I'm aware of: TT30 and L5-30 (TT standing for travel trailer and L standing for locking). Most campgrounds will have TT30 outlets on the pedestal; it's the one that has a ground pin and two flat slanted blades. It sounds like you've got an inlet installed on your camper for the L5-30 locking plug, which is fine. You just need to get a female L5-30 to male TT30 cord, and many of them come with a 15A adapter or you can easily get one, which will let you plug into standard 15A and 20A outlets.

[@codyschwoch5451]

Mainly the 50 amp campers are so that you can run two roof ACs at a time typically if you have a 27 foot camper at least in my situation I have a 27 foot shyster camper with two roof AC heat pumps and mine is only a 30 amp camper but the catches if you run them both at the same time you’ll pop the breaker which mine is set up strictly so that you can choose one or the otherbut there are way around that you can switch your camper to a 50 amp camper. It’s pretty easy Peezy even a monkey can do it.

[@TrailerTrashtoTreasure]

Yeah the twin ACs are a bit much for 30A, but I'm starting to even see some newer and smaller campers that come equipped with induction ranges, bigger residential style refrigerators, convention ovens, outlets galore, giant TVs, electric fireplaces, and that's just a lot of electrical on 30A as well! But yeah upgrading to 50A isn't rocket science for sure!

[@user-qz3yl6zs8n]

it has three holes one larger one smaller and one t shaped

[@TrailerTrashtoTreasure]

Gotcha.

[@dadbodblogs]

What power converter are you using?

[@TrailerTrashtoTreasure]

I'm using the PowerMax PM3-15. It's pretty basic, but does the job in these tiny campers. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A6XFG50/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[@dadbodblogs]

@@TrailerTrashtoTreasure what do you use for your 12V distribution block/panel?

[@TrailerTrashtoTreasure]

It depends on what all you've got running on 12V. If you just go to amazon and search "12V Fuse Panel" you'll find lots of different ones, and you can take your pick pretty much.

[@susanparr6182]

Who did you say had a three part video about wiring? Larry???

[@TrailerTrashtoTreasure]

Oh sorry, Mobiletec is Larry's KZbin channel, and he is VERY knowledgeable about all things vintage camper related. I've learned so much over the years from his videos.

[@johnnymack8442]

I always say 120 and 240 .

[@TrailerTrashtoTreasure]

That's probably the more technically correct way of saying it.

[@codyschwoch5451]

And one thing this guy said it is always easier said than done that is 90% correct if you overcomplicated, but if you look at it and don’t overcomplicated, it’s not that complicating just use common sense

[@TrailerTrashtoTreasure]

Perhaps the number one skill to have for DIY electrical is knowing how to Google, "Which X do I use for Y." The answers are usually readily available, and basic electrical really isn't that hard to understand. In the early 20th century electric cars competed with internal combustion cars, and one of the selling points was that electric cars were easy enough that a child could understand them, whereas gas cars required a lot of specialized knowledge to work on, and in a way that's absolutely true.