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Old 09-16-2016, 08:53 AM   #1
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1975 31' Sovereign
Cameron , North Carolina
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Starting from scratch

Ok so this is my first post. I have just acquired a 1975 Sovereign land yacht . It has been gutted, skins and all. We have a lot of work ahead of us. I have been looking at a lot of posts on the form about electrical and was wondering was there a reason to have both 12v and 120 Volt on the interior? I will be running solar and shore power. When using solar I use a converter for everything I do (camping not in a trailer). So I guess the real question is do I need to also run a 12v system? Sorry if I did not make sense new to using forms as well as Airstreams.

Thank you.

Bobby & Cindy
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Old 09-16-2016, 09:05 AM   #2
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The towing lights and brakes run on 12V, the 12V house battery powers the emergency brake, so it's not optional to have some 12v. If you have solar, you will be charging a battery, and using that power is much more efficient if you use 12v directly wherever you can rather than powering an inverter to use 120V. Your water pump, fridge, and water heater will all need 12V unless you want to reinvent the wheel on RV appliances.

Do you need 120V? It's mighty handy to have the option, but possible to do without. Your AC will run on 120V, and unless you use a DC only fridge, your fridge will probably run on 120V when you have shore power. I don't see why you'd want to omit it.
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Old 09-16-2016, 11:38 PM   #3
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Since you AS is gutted anyway I would put both 12v and 120v wiring. It's easier to put it in now than later. I opted to go all 12v (with solar) including fridge but have AC and microwave just in case my wife wants to go glamping.
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Old 09-17-2016, 01:12 PM   #4
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1959 24' Tradewind
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I'm in the same boat as you. We just finished gutting it down to the ribs and outer skins.
I would say yes, you want to install 12v. You can put in cigarette lighter plugs (Cell Phone) and lights, backup camera or other ancillary devices.

Post some pics up of your progress
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Old 09-17-2016, 01:25 PM   #5
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1972 31' Sovereign
1975 31' Excella 500
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Starting from scratch

I ran very little 12 volt in my trailer.

Pretty much just the porch lights and the water pump.

I run everything else including the refrigerator through a hard wired inverter when I am not on shore power.

For me, this has worked out very well.




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Old 09-17-2016, 02:44 PM   #6
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FYI to all that have gutted interiors INCLUDING interior skins. The interior skins are an integral component to the structure of the trailer; removal weakens it, so a wet snow load or other weight on the outer skins could collapse them.

A gentleman up here in Ontario had an all new frame custom built for his 73 31' to the tune of $20k and also had the outside polished to a mirror finish. While renovating the interior, he removed the interior skins and during the winter the snow load crumpled his beautiful trailer in many places, totalling it.

Just saying, be careful.

Cheers
Tony
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Old 09-19-2016, 11:17 AM   #7
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1975 31' Sovereign
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The more I did research the more I figure I need to have both systems. I will post some pic's soon. Right now I am fighting to get the sub floors out. This is one learning experience at a time.
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Old 09-19-2016, 11:28 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by J. Morgan View Post
I ran very little 12 volt in my trailer.

Pretty much just the porch lights and the water pump.
Are you are forgetting the 12 V blower for the furnace? The break away switch?

Vent fans?
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Old 09-19-2016, 12:27 PM   #9
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Starting from scratch

No, I wasn't addressing the routine chassis items like light and brakes, and my furnace does not use 12 volts, just 120.

My furnace; http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/g...pspzqxpanf.jpg

My range hood is fan is 120 also. I don't presently use other vent fans, but if I were to do so I probably would run them on 12 volt.


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Old 09-22-2016, 03:26 PM   #10
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1975 31' Sovereign
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Always learning

Thanks for all the good information after reading what you guys are posted and doing more research definitely makes sense to have both

Thanks

Bobby

The picture is the day we found her.
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