12 volt receptacle install

[Joint Venture II]

I would like to install a 12 volt receptacle in the kitchen of our 2955RL so the wife can plug in her 12v crock pot while traveling during the day. Is this even feasible?

[rames14]

Bill, yes it’s feasible. First, size your wires according to current draw. If it’s heavy enough, you may want to add a separate circuit. Many units had extra slots in their 12v panel to add a circuit Also, make sure you have enough battery so that you don’t get in and have a dead battery. It looks like somewhere around 7.5 amps per hour would use 45 amps in 6 hours. That equates to one 12v lead acid battery 50% discharge (max discharge is 50%). Hope this helps.

[Carl n Susan]

It will be pretty simple to add a 12V circuit to your 2955 (I had that exact rig once upon a time). As I recall the fuse panel is under the refer. You can tap in there and run the wires behind the cook top & sink area to the cabinet end near the door. That way the slow cooker can sit in the sink while traveling (more secure) and you don't have to try and mount an outlet in/on the vertical exterior wall.

As Ron said, check that you have enough battery to support the load required.

[Joint Venture II]

As a retired Industrial Control Electrician I will pull a new dedicated wire run from the 12v panel. Being a boater for many years and having 3 "battery banks" to maintain for the twin engines and house I almost immediately installed in our 2955 Monty 3 new RV deep cycle batteries so I would have plenty of reserve battery power. Been thinking of installing a second alternator for just the "house bank" charging while towing. I do this on our twin engine power boat. I really appreciate the replies as it reenforced my thoughts of the project.

[rames14]

Regardless of alternator, your 7 pin is only going to send about 5 amps. We are using a BIM DC-DC charging system. 2/0 wire from battery to Anderson connector.

[Joint Venture II]

Originally Posted by rames14

Regardless of alternator, your 7 pin is only going to send about 5 amps. We are using a BIM DC-DC charging system. 2/0 wire from battery to Anderson connector.

Checked out the BIM charging system. Impressive and gives me a lot of "food for thought" not only on my TV but on my boat as well. How big a charger are you running and how well are your house batteries being kept charged.

On my twin engine power boat I run 3 alternators, 1 90 amp for each engine starting battery and a Balmar Marine Alternator, 12 V, 165 Amp with a 2″, Dual V Pulley on my port engine dedicated to the house bank. Has worked very well for the past 9 years. I use 5 Group 24 RV deep cycle batteries for the house bank. Good for 2-3 days on the anchor unless I run the generator and power up the battery chargers.

[rames14]

I have 540ah of lithium. I get about 40 amps/hr of charge. Lithium batteries will take a lot more charge/hr than lead acid.

[Joint Venture II]

I have 405ah of lead acid on the boat and 243ah on the FW. Use same batteries on both units. I know the lithium are truly the "state of the art" and have thought long and hard whether they are worth the costs. On the boat I get 5-6 years use before replacement time. Expect about the same from the FW.

[rames14]

Everyone uses their rig different. We do a lot of boondocking. Our rig uses about 20 amps/hr just sitting there (satellite dish, receiver, inverter, chargers, parasitic loads). Add in watching TV, microwave, brewing coffee, lights, etc. Our last Montana we had four 6 volt batteries. By morning we were needing to charge the batteries. Lithiums charge much quicker. As more parks limit generator usage (some only allow 4 hours), the quicker charging is great. Also, running electronics, getting consistent voltage unlike the voltage sag from lead acid is critical. Also, being able to use 90%+ vs 50% max discharge on lead acid, weight and space savings are added benefits. If we camped in parks all of the time, I wouldn’t look at lithium. But our last trip was about 70% boondocking.