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Old 03-14-2011, 05:32 PM   #241
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Right now it is the windows.. I think that they will require more care and patience than anything that I've seen so far.
Wait until you start polishing my simian (reference to your newest avitar) friend. Even Ghandi would get pissed doing that job.
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Old 03-14-2011, 06:07 PM   #242
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WAHOOOO!!!! If we do get to look back after we pass, you sure are making Wally proud! I just wrote Chris and told him I have determined the drive to his place. The Constuctor is in for a summer (season) trip for 2012. I think we should start a caravan to Chris's place.
Hey Ann, thanks for that. That was a huge day when the shell was finally back on. It seems like a long time ago..

That would be a great summer trip up to Chris'. Maybe I could get him to help me polish my trailer
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Old 03-14-2011, 07:23 PM   #243
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Maybe I could get him to help me polish my trailer
Not for all the gold in Ft. Knox. I never want to go through this again.
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Old 03-18-2011, 09:47 PM   #244
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OK this was aggravating.
I have the 12v power supply (battery and converter) hooked up and running smoothly (I hope.. so far..)

So the next thing is the 110 power. I know jack squat about electricity, but I don't necessarily trust what anyone tells me either, no matter how much they think that they know.
If you don't want to hear the complaining just go to the end. The answers are at the end.

I'm looking for a breaker box and some breakers for a 30 amp connection. This should be pretty straightforward, right? Wrong.

I won't even get into it. It bores me just thinking about it. Tedious.

Anyway, here is what I have learned. This may not be accurate, but it is what I got..

30 amp can come in either 110 or 220 volts.
For my trailer it will need to be 110.
The difference between 110 and 220 is the number of hot wires. 110 has 1 hot wire, 220 has two (2 110s.. 110+110=220)

So the breaker box can handle 110 or 220 breakers. So what is the difference? Each "branch circuit" in the box is a 110. A 220 breaker uses two of them, a 110 uses one.
So if you have a breaker that has two switches on it.. if the switches aren't connected together it is a 110 because they work independently (2 circuits). If they are connected, then it is a 220.

There are 3 AC circuits in my trailer so for breakers for the box I needed 1 30amp breaker for a "main", 1 20 amp for the AC, and 2 15 amps for each of the circuits that have the outlets.

So the next question was.. well, my plug has three wires in it. That can't be two hots and a ground because it is 110. 110 only has one hot. The other two are ground and neutral. Someone told me that they could be used interchangeably.

So if you have a hot and a ground, what is the purpose of a neutral? Neutral doesn't sound very important.

"If it is a noun, give it a ground"
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Old 03-19-2011, 07:59 AM   #245
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With the layers of modern code it is hard to the the origins but the best way to describe the system we know and love is it was designed to prevent fires, there having been many, many fires over the years to study.

Think of the ground as giving extra emergency capacity for special circumstances - if hot crosses over to neutral it blows the fuse, hot crosses over to ground the fuse opens but what if two neutrals get crossed?

The return current will follow the shortest path even if its a matter of a few extra feet of wire length. Wires get crossed whether by overheated insulation, rodent damage, construction flaws or plain mis-wiring your misunderstood neutral may be placed in a situation where it handles two or more times the design capacity.

Since there is no operational defect seen from the devices powered up or the fuses then life may go on as usual as that stretch of neutral lays there heating up. Enter the lowly ground wire.

Once the insulation is failing having everything metallic in the vicinity grounded would help shunt current away from the overheated neutral if it finds it; and if the hot-neutral didn't find each other and open the fuse then the ground wire is meant to act as extra capacity when melted wires touch... until someone noticed maybe buzzing motors, smoke or dim lights etc...

Since that current will almost always travel the shortest path grounds usually are 12-plus inches shorter travel to the central return spot so hopefully provides a clear shot away from additional devices and people when something is failing.

My personal favorite though is grounding - very handy around lightning - keeping those encounters brief by hopefully not having to negotiate the clock radios, lava lamps and televisions as it returns to earth.
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Old 03-19-2011, 08:49 AM   #246
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Wabbiteer, I have no idea what you just said. You lost me after fires.
What I am getting is that in order of importance, you have hot, neutral, ground.
What confuses me even more, then (if that is possible), is then if you have a two wire wire, then the wires are hot and neutral, not hot and ground. Is that right?
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Old 03-20-2011, 07:44 PM   #247
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Another week down. I spent a lot of energy trying to find an appropriate 110 panel and breakers. Finally got it ordered.
-PD5000 30 Amp AC/DC Power Control Panel
-30 amp breaker for main
-2 15 amp breakers
-1 20 amp breaker for the AC

Got the wheel wells attached to the shell. Had to take the rivets out of the outside wheel well trim, fit the wheel wells, then rivet it back.

Now I can finish bolting the floor to the chassis. This part has been a real pain in the keyster. Either I'm drilling the holes through for the plywood spacer support and I get too close to the crossmember, so I cant get the bolt on, or I'm breaking drill bits on the cross members when they twist. Plus it is dirty. I probably should have planned this better, but it will be ok.

The most awesome.. So screwing around with the electrical wires, the wire holders that stick the inside of the shell and hold the wires are, of course, brittle and break very easily. So wires, wires hanging everywhere. So I go looking for replacements and I find these things.

1 inch stick bases that you run cable ties through.
I call them awesome bases.
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Old 03-20-2011, 08:37 PM   #248
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So where did you find em?

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Old 03-20-2011, 08:53 PM   #249
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Lowes.
I took my old bases (and other junk) to an electrical supply place nearby. The guy showed them to me, but I didn't buy them right then. I think they were a different kind than these that I have now. I'll have to look closer when I go back.

So then a few days later I was making the rounds again with my bag of junk and went to Lowes and looked real closely at the cable tie section.. those bottom feed boxes they have with the different cable ties.. and a couple of boxes at the end didn't have cable ties, they had the awesome bases.

Cleaned up my wiring nicely!
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Old 03-20-2011, 09:59 PM   #250
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Thanks. I check em out next time I go.

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Old 03-22-2011, 07:11 PM   #251
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The awesome bases are not so awesome. I had a few of them give out overnight. Still like them, but not awesome.
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Old 03-22-2011, 08:03 PM   #252
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Daniel when you say they gave out did the adhesive fail or did the plastic part break? You could use a good quality two sided tape like they use for car trim to stick them on.
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Old 03-22-2011, 08:10 PM   #253
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Two things. A few of them didn't stay stuck on the shell, and a couple the plastic separated from the sticky base.

Have you used this two sided tape for this purpose in your trailer?

These items are supposed to be specifically for this purpose. I may have put too much strain (weight) on the ones that came loose.
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Old 03-22-2011, 08:15 PM   #254
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Yes Daniel I have used that kind of tape on several different applications. I used it for the trailer to attach the compartment doors to the shell and have used in elsewhere not for the trailer. Go to an auto supply store and ask for body side molding 2 sided tape. Get the 3M brand and not some cheap foreign junk or you'll have the same problem. Maybe you didn't let the adhesive cure before hanging any weight on the clamp. Try that first, attach them leave them on for a few days then hang the wires. The shell must be perfectly clean before applying it otherwise you will just stick it to the dirt.
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Old 03-22-2011, 08:20 PM   #255
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Further investigations required
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Old 03-22-2011, 08:33 PM   #256
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Daniel,
There is some good info on double sided tape on this thread.
I'm with Chris. Get some 3m tape.
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Old 03-23-2011, 04:56 AM   #257
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Have you used the tape for this purpose? There are always down sides that you don't discover until you actually do something.
Looks like useful stuff though.
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Old 03-23-2011, 05:44 PM   #258
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power panel

Woot! got the 30 amp distribution panel and breakers for shore power today from BestConverter.com.
-30 amp main breaker
- 2 15 amp breakers
- 1 20 amp breaker for the AC

There is always a down side.

To test the hookup I either have to:
1) Move the trailer
2) Make a long extension cord and add a breaker to the outside breaker panel
3) Something else

I'm going to have to go with 3). Can't move the trailer because I don't have a tow vehicle.

I have this old generator that came out of an old 74 motorhome. This will be my test power (if I can get it running). It's specs are:
-2700w
-120v
-23-25 amps
- 2 wire single phase

Plan is to slap a 20 amp female on it, use an adapter to plug the 30 amp male from the trailer into the 20 amp female from the generator.

This is all going to come together.. someday..

Strongly leaning toward not using buck rivets but instead bolts for the structural attachments. That 15 Strike Eagle that crashed was going maybe mach 2.. my Airstream won't go near that fast..
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Old 03-23-2011, 06:03 PM   #259
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Strongly leaning toward not using buck rivets but instead bolts for the structural attachments. That 15 Strike Eagle that crashed was going maybe mach 2.. my Airstream won't go near that fast..

Really bad idea Daniel. can I ask why you want to use bolts instead of bucks? exactly what do you want to "bolt" together instead of riveting?
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Old 03-23-2011, 06:06 PM   #260
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Why is it a really bad idea?
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