Breaking up the 30 Amps

[soldiermedic]

I am curious what the normal breaker setup on most Airstreams is. With 30 Amps, I assume there is one circuit for AC (How many amps is this breaker?), and another for the 110 volt plugs (Microwave, etc, etc).

My situation is unique since I have no propane furnace or propane for water heater. My AC distribution panel has 4 circuits each on a 15 Amp breaker switch. One runs to the electric water heater, one runs to each 110 volt plug, and one runs to a dead end that was set up for a rooftop AC unit (Will never be in use).

I am looking at adding an underbunk AC/Heat unit. This unit uses 12.9Amps @115v for AC and uses 19.1 Amps in heating mode. Will a 20 Amp breaker work for this unit?

I assume that if I am running my AC and it is drawing12.9 Amps, I cannot plug in my microwave into a different AC outlet and use it as I would be drawing over my 30 Amps.
Also, if I run a 20 Amp breaker on the AC line, can I still have 15 Amp breakers on the other switches, or do I have to drop them down?

Thanks for the info,

Steve

[rmpray]

ONe of the breakers would be dedicated to the AC. You probably want to run the new power to the AC using that circuit from the abandoned roof connection. It is a short run, although I would run #10...probably overkill but with the electric heat it taint a bad idea. On one hand, you been surviving with the existing panel...but you probably would be better off with a fifty amp feed. Does not sound like the original box, and my 73 is probably on the edge with thirty...but no microwave etc.
The inboard AC sounds interesting. I've seen some Scamps with AC built inboard and it does keep the profile clean. You do sacrifice inboard space, but that might be outweighd by the cleaner profile and less stress on the roof.

[soldiermedic]

This trailer was completely refurbished and nothing is original on the inside. Originally, there was only 15 Amps running to the 110 distribution panel since the original 110 input only accepted 110. I added a 30 amp pigtail to allow hookup to a 30 amp connection.

Steve

[thecatsandi]

I have a dedicated breaker for my AC with heat strip 20A, microwave 20A, Inverter 20A, water heater 15A, outlets20A GFCI, and a main 30A.

[soldiermedic]

Michelle,

Can you post a picture of your breaker box?

I assume that when you say dedicated, it means nothing else is running on that circuit. That shouldn't be hard at all to accomplish with the AC unit. Is your microwave built into the cabinetry and that is why it is running on its own circuit?

I completely forgot about the inverter....somewhere on one of those circuits the inverter is running of of it. Gotta look into that now.


As for all the other circuits you have, I don't think my box is large enough for that, but I may be wrong.

[thecatsandi]

need to put something here so it posts.

[soldiermedic]

That panel is significantly larger than mine, but that's to be expected since my trailer is old, and isn't set up for anything extravigant.

I should be ok as long as I don't run the underbunk heater and the hot water heater at the same time. I don't winter camp, so a small space heater should draw significantly less amps then the 19.1 from the underbunk.

At Morraine View I had my hot water heater on the entire night along with the space heater ans didn't trip any breakers. The fridge was also plugged in (Electric dorm variety), so there was a good amount of power being drawn.

Will get better pictures when I go home next time to get better input.

Thanks,

Steve

[iowaroots]

Soldier, I have a schematic layout that I think will give you what you want. Send an email and I will attach it back to you.

My email is earthcreeper@hotmail.com

[Chuck]

hmmm...perhaps you need to consider aquiring some GAS appliances??

seriously...its alot easier to carry energy in the form of propane than electricity. You'll need to be mindfull with all that electric stuff. It would be easy to overload that 30-amp input.

fwiw, my (smaller, older) trailer has 2 20-amp circuits; one dedicated for the rooftop a/c, and the other for "everything else".

[soldiermedic]

Chuck,

My water heater can run off gas, but the PO removed all gas from the trailer since he didn't "Trust" it. I hear different things about the difficulty of adding propane service to these trailers, but to gas hookup for my water heater is very close to the front A-Frame.

That is really all I need since all my meals are cooked over a fire or on the grill, and I don't winter camp so a furnace is out.

Steve

[richinny]

i think the heater load on the wiring/breaker might be a bit much.

[volvophile]

I only had a 15amp inlet on mine so updated it with a 30 amp Marinco plug.
It goes to a 30amp GFCI main with 10awg, then from there to 2 20amp feeder curcuits.
1 for the a/c (the whole reason for upgrading the wiring) and the other for "everything else"

I would prefere to break it up a little more, but decided to use the origional breaker box for economy's sake.
I can get away with that because its a 20 footer, and thiers only so many outlets you can stuff in there. Also the trailer was wired with 12guage copper, so a 20amp general circuit was ok.

Theres no real rule that the sum of the feeder curcuits need to be equal or less than the main breaker. But you might find yourself in the dark if your running the microwave when the heater kicks on.

The maximum amperage on the heater-A\C is for when the motors in the blower and compressor start. Once theyve spun up, then the pull less current.