12 Volt Outlet Question

[COArgosy78]

I haven't posted in quite awhile, but have a nagging question.

In the years we have owned our Argosy Minuet, we have looked unsuccessfully for a 2nd 12volt outlet the manual says we have,(our search uncovered the 1st under the mirror in the bath) but recently I discovered a tiny, partly worn out label saying "11 v", above what appears to be a 120v wall outlet hidden behind a front curtain, .

My question. We have never seen a 12v outlet that looks like a 120v. You know, the kind that the pronged plugs go into as opposed to the kind like a cigarette lighter. Is it possible an outlet can be both? We attempted to "try it out" by plugging a 12v fan into the outlet using the battery and adapter (not shore power), but nothing happened. I know the fan works on 120v in my house using the adapter.

I'm guessing I could use an inverter with the 12v plug in the bath area to run the fan off grid, but that is a lot of unnecessary strung out cord to get it up front and, darn it, I want to figure out if we do, in fact, have a 12v plug up front...!

Am I crazy - why would there be a "11v" label above the outlet? It really looks like it has been there forever. I thought maybe the outlet was originally wired up to be 12v thru the converter and the label put there for safety.

Anyone got ideas?
Thanks for the help.

[crabbey1]

Is it possible that the label says or said 110v? That makes more sense. Also there were 2 12v outlets in my Argosy. One was in the bathroom mirror like you mentioned, and the other was on the wall where the old TV antenna plugs in near the door. I have attached a photo of this...

[Silver Hawk]

Go buy an inexpensive circuit tester at HD or HF and test it - handy tool to have anyway.

[COArgosy78]

Hello again:

Well, Crabbey, you have probably solved at least part of the mystery. I went back and looked at the picture I took (which I haven't been able to post yet) of the outlet w/label and it does appear a 0 could have fit between the 11 and the word volt and maybe just wore off.

So, since we have not seen any evidence of a 12V outlet up front (maybe previous owner did away with it?), I am interested in the picture of what you have. Is it still attached to your Argosy? Also, would you know anything about wiring something like that into the 12V system? I would probably need some diagram or fairly explicit instruction. There use to be an 8 track system up in our overhead bins close to where this outlet is (again, previous owner), but now there appears to be just some wires coiled up and not attached to anything.

I'd be thrilled to have 12V outlet, but nervous about electric handy work.

Thanks.

[richinny]

that might be a connection for a tv antenna. back in the day, lol, they used one that looked like a regular 120v ac outlet with one plug.

[crabbey1]

1. The TV (antenna) connection is the small 2 prong holes in the pic that I provided above.

2. The outlet you are referring to is most likely a 110v (120v) It is referred to as either.

3. The photo I posed is not mine. I found that photo in the classified section, but it is exactly the same as the one that I had in my trailer. I have since removed it because of aesthetics.

4. If you would like to add a 12v outlet in your trailer, there are 2 ways. First you need to get your hands on a 12v outlet. Either, one like in the photo as to stay vintage and authentic or you can get a new one like this outlet. These are what I put throughout my trailer.

After you choose your outlet, you need to run power to it. I would recommend as the other poster did, to get a multimeter. This way you can test the wires that are hanging around. Maybe you will get lucky and you have 12v power just hanging out there, then you can just wire it up and mount the outlet.

Otherwise, you will have to run wire from the 12 fuse panel to the location of your choice for both 12v and negative. Then you wire it up and mount it...

Good luck either way and if you need more instruction or help, just ask. Be careful though because electricity is nothing to mess with. Always make sure the system is off when doing any electrical work.

[crabbey1]

One other idea I had, if you only want to add some USB outlets to power your phones and computers, you can replace one of your 120v outlets with one of these. I did this so that I don't have to carry around a wall plug on trips, just the cords.

[polarlyse]

I installed one of those USB / 120v outlets recently. It seems to work fine on my wifes dumb phone but is not compatible with a I-phone. So I still need to use the plug adaptor for that. So, they seem to be convenient but might not work with all USB stuff.

[crabbey1]

I think it is just the iPhone/iPad issue. I came across some cool solar chargers from Nokero that charge cell phones, except for iPhone/iPad. They must have some special tech in their converter for something.

[AtomicNo13]

Apple stuff and many Android devices require better than 2 amps to charge. Many of these USB charging devices are less than 1 amp out.... Way short of the requirement.

[DKB_SATX]

Originally Posted by polarlyse

I installed one of those USB / 120v outlets recently. It seems to work fine on my wifes dumb phone but is not compatible with a I-phone. So I still need to use the plug adaptor for that. So, they seem to be convenient but might not work with all USB stuff.

iThings are picky about chargers, probably intentionally so. Dedicated iThing chargers have some voltage on the data pins to tell the iThing how much charge to accept. Instead of having a default charge level when no voltage is present there, they just won't charge at all (perhaps so you'll go buy iChargers.) I have a couple of aftermarket chargers that have labeled ports, some of the ports say "Apple" or "iPhone" depending on the manufacturer of the charger.