Bongo Fury

read on here somewhere about upgradeing wire to rear 12v socket to run fridge or microwave, anyone done this? what wire do i need? and is it very difficult? any help would be appreciated.

DILLIGAF wrote:read on here somewhere about upgradeing wire to rear 12v socket to run fridge or microwave, anyone done this? what wire do i need? and is it very difficult? any help would be appreciated.

I have done it this year. I think I used two 6mm cables, convoluted conduit and an inline fuse holder directly wired to the leisure battery. I replaced the socket itself with a DIN socket but I kept a Fag lighter socket as well but replaced it with a marine one. The two sockets are linked together via piggy back spade connectors. A DIN Plug is more reliable and more suited electrically to a constant load. You can get plugs with a removable adaptor piece to fit both types of socket. I used colour matched shink wrap sleeving on mine and shrinkwrapped the ends of the conduit too. You could also use heat shrink terminals but they are dearer than standard ones.

If you use the marine socket like they sell in Maplins and most other places, put a spare plug in it and hold it there when connecting the spades on the back or the centre contact will pop out.
You need a pair of ratchet crimpers, and very strong hands for crimping 6mm. You might get away with 4mm but it is quite a long run and the start up current of a fridge is quite high.

I ran the cable and trunking as one down into the jack compartment and out through a pre existing hole, grommeted then up the chassis leg to the LP secured with clips at regular intervals.

The only problem I had was that I knackered a couple more fixings for the nearside side panel and it now keeps popping away from the window so I still have that to sort out. If you are a vet or a gynaecologist you can do the whole job through the hole the door pocket sits in, but I wouldn't recommend it.

I will try and take some pics next time I get a pass to do some tinkering.

Microwaves are very powerful, so find the wattage of the appliance and divide by 12 - this will give you the amperage cable required

Hi
Takes me back to School Days, John...and I think it was in "1066 and all that" that I came across Boyle's Law (Watt's Potts never Boyle)
Cheers
Helen

Running any high power devices (uWave especially) thru additional plugs and sockets is not recommended, you will often find that the Spec.s give two ratings one for "normal" use and one when connected directly to the battery only fuse and cable in the setup. Sockets are normally only rated to 10Amps that's 120Watts.

Don't forget suitable fuses at BOTH ends of the cable.

thanks everyone for the info, if you could do some pics VELOCETTE i would be really gratefull, its fantastic this forum for all the peeps with the knowledge.

i'm a great believer in the fusible link.

I put this just downstream of the battery terminal and use a short length (couple of inches) of much lighter insulated multi core wire joined to the low loss main cable with single choc block segments.

I've never had one blow yet but it's got to be better than either melting the main wiring if it chafes and earths anywhere on the way to the back or having to replace a fuse at the battery end after a momentary overload.

I also fuse the appliance leads as appropriate.


Frank

Diplomat wrote:i'm a great believer in the fusible link.

I put this just downstream of the battery terminal and use a short length (couple of inches) of much lighter insulated multi core wire joined to the low loss main cable with single choc block segments.

I've never had one blow yet but it's got to be better than either melting the main wiring if it chafes and earths anywhere on the way to the back or having to replace a fuse at the battery end after a momentary overload.

I also fuse the appliance leads as appropriate.


Frank

The fuseholder I used I wouldn't recommend, it is Mickey Mouse, I have since discovered.. It will be replaced by a flat fuseholder by the camping season, The type Willinton use. Is that classed as a fusible link? My wiring meets the specification of my particular fridge. I have never heard of a microwave you can run off a 12V car battery.

Velocette wrote:
The fuseholder I used I wouldn't recommend, it is Mickey Mouse, I have since discovered.. It will be replaced by a flat fuseholder by the camping season, The type Willinton use. Is that classed as a fusible link? My wiring meets the specification of my particular fridge. I have never heard of a microwave you can run off a 12V car battery.

I haven't seen the Willinton fuse but I prefer flat (blade) fuses to tubular glass ones, particularly the sprung tubular fuse holders which fall apart after a while.

I have seen strip type fusible links with bolt terminal ends but mine are just cheap and cheerful home made with junk box wire.

I don't know of 12V microwaves as they use magnetrons which need lethally high voltage and considerable current so would need to have a very beefy inverter. Best stick to mains hookup for any form of electric cooking and even on site fridge power.

For 12 volt power I use Cannon XLR audio connectors which can carry up to 20 amps DC, in preference to cigar lighter sockets. Those marine sockets are heavier than car ones but the device plug is not usually very well rated so I put XLR connectors on the fridge and other devices I use, mostly radio transceivers needing 15-20 peak amps.


Frank

Diplomat wrote:

Velocette wrote:
The fuseholder I used I wouldn't recommend, it is Mickey Mouse, I have since discovered.. It will be replaced by a flat fuseholder by the camping season, The type Willinton use. Is that classed as a fusible link? My wiring meets the specification of my particular fridge. I have never heard of a microwave you can run off a 12V car battery.

I haven't seen the Willinton fuse but I prefer flat (blade) fuses to tubular glass ones, particularly the sprung tubular fuse holders which fall apart after a while.

I have seen strip type fusible links with bolt terminal ends but mine are just cheap and cheerful home made with junk box wire.

I don't know of 12V microwaves as they use magnetrons which need lethally high voltage and considerable current so would need to have a very beefy inverter. Best stick to mains hookup for any form of electric cooking and even on site fridge power.

For 12 volt power I use Cannon XLR audio connectors which can carry up to 20 amps DC, in preference to cigar lighter sockets. Those marine sockets are heavier than car ones but the device plug is not usually very well rated so I put XLR connectors on the fridge and other devices I use, mostly radio transceivers needing 15-20 peak amps.


Frank

I think that is the same thing as the DIN Plug that I fitted, AKA a John Dere Plug. Got one on my bike too and my battery charger. I keep meaning to fit a charging socket on the car but fingers crossed the alternator keeps my starter battery tip top.. The marine socket is just for light duty use.

I agree about lighter plugs, before i uprated the wiring I melted yhe internal fuse out of one with just a 110W inverter.

this was my shopping list for the job from autoelectricsupplies.co.uk although i used a few other bits I picked up elsewhere

Products
Product Price Quantity Subtotal
84/0.30, 6.0mm2, 42A - cable OD 5.7mm Standard Cable - 84/0.30, 6.0mm2, 42A - cable OD 5.7mm - 010106 Black (per metre) £1.11 5 £5.55
6.3mm, 3.0-6.0mm2, Yellow Female Blade - Fully Insulated - 6.3mm, 3.0-6.0mm2, Yellow - 040305 (Pack of 10) £1.46 1 £1.46
Internal Dia. 12.7mm, External Dia 16.1mm Convoluted Sleeving - Internal Dia. 12.7mm, External Dia 16.1mm - 110402 (per metre) £0.83 5 £4.15
Crimping Tool For Insulated Terminals - Heavy Duty - 150203 (each) £27.35 1 £27.35
84/0.30, 6.0mm2, 42A - cable OD 5.7mm Standard Cable - 84/0.30, 6.0mm2, 42A - cable OD 5.7mm - 010106 Red (per metre) £1.11 5 £5.55
Hole dia. 8.0mm, Cable 3.0-6.0mm2, Yellow Ring Terminals - Hole dia. 8.0mm, Cable 3.0-6.0mm2, Yellow - 041118 (Pack of 10) £6.09 1 £6.09
Cable 3.0-6.0mm2, Yellow Butt Connectors - Cable 3.0-6.0mm2, Yellow - 041107 (Pack of 10) £5.10 1 £5.10

CONDUIT BOLTED TO HEATER STUD WITH PLASTIC CABLE CLIP. THIS TYPE OF FUSEHOLDER TENDS TO COME APART TO EASILY WOULDN'T RECOMMEND.






cONDUIT FITS BEHIND STEP TRIM AND PASSES INTO REAR TRIM WITHOUT MODIFICATION OF EITHER.
The conduit follows the chassis under the passenger seat and is kept well away from anything hot or moving.

c1rider wrote:http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WaveBox-WBP-T ... 416f6baf6e

Hmm. Looking at product description I wonder how well it would work, how long cooking times might be, how long leisure battery would cope, with this device. And it'll cost 200 quid to find out

Velocette wrote:

DILLIGAF wrote:read on here somewhere about upgradeing wire to rear 12v socket to run fridge or microwave, anyone done this? what wire do i need? and is it very difficult? any help would be appreciated.

I have done it this year. I think I used two 6mm cables,
You need a pair of ratchet crimpers, and very strong hands for crimping 6mm. You might get away with 4mm but it is quite a long run and the start up current of a fridge is quite high.

Isn't 6mm2 or even 4mm2 way overkill for this application? 2 x 2.5mm2 should be plenty big enough.