Weingart DC plug connection

Bill,

Thanks for the info. I'm taking the TM out this weekend and will check my appliances as well as clean the "crud" off the inverter plug, etc.

This is good info because I would have just plugged about anything in there that had a 12V plug.   Gee, that's what I get for thinkin' ;D.

So what is the remedy here, are there 12V cigarette plugs that are rated higher than 5 amps and is it a matter of switching them out?

Chris

Well guys, I bought the replacement Weindgard outlet at Camping World yesterday to the tune of $28.00. that was an expensive lesson!

Someone asked the question about other DC outlets. I have bought a single bank of 3, 5 amp DC sockets that I am going to wire into the battery on it's own circuit. Plan to use these for light load DC appliances only when we dry camp and or on solar power only. This DC panel is fused at 15 amps.

Anyway, In researching this thing, I'm learning that pretty much, if you have a high current draw DC applicance, you either must run it on it's own circuit directly to the battery, or put in an inverter and use AC appliances. Always remember to protect the circuit with a fuse.

Chris - You bought a modified sine wave inverter then? Does it work well for you? I'd be wary of running the inverter into your wiengard socket. As Bill said, you're marginal on your amp load.

Anyway, I've been warned off of modified sine wave inverters. Have been hearing about problems with them damaging equipment and not running certain kinds of equipment. I'm concluding that inverters in general are almost more trouble than they are worth!

Best for now,

Gregg

Gregg,

My inverter is a Vector Maxx SST model VEC 024.  It is 400W with 800W Peak.  I found it very useful on our trip to Vegas.  I was very excited to use the 12V system. I have always depended on hookups but found some really cool state parks that were primitive only and the weather was cool enough I didn't need the A/C.  I ran the lights off the battery, and used the inverter for the TV/VCR to watch the news and a taped movie.  Worked great.  

Now, you guys have me wondering about all this.  Geez, I want to be able to boondock and get the most out of my TM, using a laptop, TV, VCR, water pump, etc.  I take it that this 5amp outlet is industry standard, am I thinking wrong :-/?

Did you place your outlets in different places throughout the TM or attach them all to the side of the refer?

Chris

Chris:
The DC socket panel I bought is 3 sockets in one unit. I had planned to put it near the front door, as on the 2619, there isn't a lot of room next to the fridge...

I may even put it on the front of the dinette storage cabinet seat...

One thing about the Manor - it does make you get creative when adding something.

Where do you put your inverter in your rig?

Gregg

Gregg,

Since I only used it once, I had it sitting on the mini entertainment center next to the fridge in the living room.  There are holes to mount it and I had thought about mounting it on the side of the fridge.   Now I'm wondering what to do, to buy one like yours or .........

I need to check my tv/vcr tomorrow before I make any decisions.  However, the first order of business tomorrow is new tires for the Pathfinder.

Chris

Chris:
A thought here. To be on the safe side. You can always remove the two screws holding in the socket and pull it out to have a look at it. If it shows any signs of melted plastic at all, don't use it for your inverter.

When you pull it out, look at the base of the socket where the small flat metal contact goes into the case. If there is any sign of damage from heat, don't use the inverter in that socket.

It's a simple visual inspection. Signs you are looking for - the plastic on the socket case is no longer smooth, but appears wrinkled, and may be slightly discolored, or there could be a burned out hole too... (worst case)

Hope that helps.

Gregg

OK guys, since I started this thing, thought I should update you to finish it off.

This saturday I replaced the winegard socket with another one. A simple 5 minute task. What I learned should help all of us.

I now understand what's happened on my unit and perhaps others, and why it is a random occurrance that doesn't appear on ALL TM's.

First of all, on my unit, TM used 16 gage wire for this socket. This is too thin a wire gage to support anything more than 5 amps. the socket is rated at 8 amps.

Next, in the replacement package, Winegard provided YELLOW color coded crimp on spade terminals. These are the same YELLOW coded terminals that were allegedly crimped onto the two spade terminals at the factory... These YELLOW color coded terminals are for 10/12 gage wire!

Both the black and white 16 gage wires that were factory crimped were loose. In fact, I really had to work to crimp the 16 gage wire onto those YELLOW replacement connectors, but I finally got it to work.

Anyway, the combination of loose crimps AND too thin 16 gage wire lent themselves to my heat problem at 7 amps that melted the original socket. When a wire is too thin for the load, it loses current to heat, and when a connector is not tight, it also loses current efficiency to heat. Thus this combination proved lethal to my original socket.

Anyway, sorry for the long winded post. From now on, I will only plug low amperage draw accessories into this socket - <5 amps.

The fix is to wire a separate circuit to this plug with heavier 10/12 gage wire directly from the battery. However, I'm not going to worry about doing that at this point.

Good luck!

Gregg in Portland

[Civil_War_Buff]

Thanks Gregg,

I am going to check the wiring on mine this week to make sure that everything is tight!  I bought a small 12v receptacle that I plan on putting into the cabinet seat area (with the furnace) that will be wired directly to the battery, mainly for use with my Coleman TE cooler.

Just as an aside, regarding the Wingard receptacle, I was using it over the Memorial Day Weekend to power the charger for my cell ohone, and when I pulled it out...1) the entire receptacle ripped out of the wall, and 2) the ground "sleeve" metal almost pulled out of the socket entirely.  I agree that the integrity of the Wingard leaves a lot to be desired, and I will just use it for the television as necessary. :P

Larry

Larry:
I can see how your unit came out of the cabinet since the screws are only screwed into the wooden panelling. I'm thinking of putting in a couple of molly's to help secure the socket to the cabinet panel.

BE CAREFUL. Check your socket carefully before putting it back in. If the metal "ground" contact sleeve in the socket is loose, it could already be suspect and may need to be replaced.

It just occurred to me - why did you actually pull the winegard unit out of the wall while trying to disconnect a DC plug? A DC plug should come right out of it's socket without having to be yanked or pulled out hard. That's when we first discovered the heat issue on my TE unit as it had melted in place, inside the socket of the winegard...

Better to be on the safeside.

Gregg

[Civil_War_Buff]

It just occurred to me - why did you actually pull the winegard unit out of the wall while trying to disconnect a DC plug? A DC plug should come right out of it's socket without having to be yanked or pulled out hard.

Gregg

Gregg,

The plug for the charger goes in tight and I will usually give it a little "twist" as well to make sure it is seated.  For some reason on this receptacle it was REALLY tight.

I may put something like a molly or expandable type fastener on it to ensure that it stays put in the future.  If I remember correctly, I can access the plate through the fridge vent area so I could even use machine screws with nuts, but they would be harder to remove if I wanted to take the plate off later for something.

Larry