I am looking to tap into 12VDC in the living area-

I'm looking to mount a pair of cigarette lighter receptacles near my entertainment area on my '07 24RL 5th Wheel to power my Sat Receiver and TV set. I will plug the TV directly into ONE receptacle, and run the receiver off another using a small 240watt inverter.

Total draw on both will be less than 100 watts (about 8 amps).

The stereo is mounted on the wall where I'd like to put the receptacles (and it uses 12vdc), but there's no obvious way to get behind the wall to see the wiring, or know if it's suitable for 8 amps. No obvious screws securing the stereo to the wall, either.

The photo below shows the wall where I'd like to mount receptacles. If I could pull the stereo (just above the arrow) out of the wall, I could reach down and install the receptacles in the wall right beneath (at the arrows).


I could drop the belly liner and run new wires, but that seems like more work.

Anyone already done this?

Bob

We haven't removed our receiver unit, but others here have. They say it is a simple procedure. Have you tried to pull it out? Maybe gently pry the silver colored frame - and then pull out the unit (might be a couple screws holding it in).

I'm sure it won't be long before you get a definit answer.

Bob, a foot behind the lower portion of that wall is the wall in the basement. Try to run your power directly to that wall from your battery; drill into the basement wall and drill your holes for 12v receptacles where you want, then fish them up from the basment using fairly stiff wire. Should be pretty straight forward.

TC

Closest place would probably be the stereo, but I would recommend you running separate lines in from the battery with separate in-line fuses on each.

TC

The outer frame of the radio should just pop/pry off, remove hidden screws behind the outer frame, pull out the radio and all the wires (and probably lots of sawdust) will be exposed.

You may have 12 volt running in the corner of the closet under the TV stand.

If you look under the radio you will see the slots to pop off the frame.

Yep-

The trim popped right off exposing the screws that would allow me to remove the stereo, giving access to the back of the wall to mount sockets, and going down from there should be a piece of cake.

I am going to do the same w/ the power converter to mount one in the panel next to it.

I ordered another battery box, and will use 2 golf-cart batteries to give me more amp-hours for boondocking, as well as a 45 watt solar kit (w/ charge controller) I bought like 10 years ago and is still in the box. 45 watts isn't much (maybe 3 amps X 8 hours or 24ah charging in a day), but the kit's already paid for. It would minimize how many hours I would have to run my Honda EU2000i to top the batteries up, anyway.

Probably half of the boondocking would be quick overnights in WalMarts, truck stops and rest areas enroute to a destination, so the TV would recharge the batteries the next day on the road.

Thanks!

Bob

God luck with the project. Post pictures when you're done.

TC

Coleman use to stock a 60 that looked just like the Harbor Freight 45.

Good luck and have fun.

BTW, I ended up mounting 2 cigarette lighter sockets close to the floor next to the step to the bedroom so accessible w/ the slide retracted (wired them forward to the battery through a 20a breaker), and two more next to the converter in the rear, wiring them to the battery wire inside the converter, again through a 20a breaker.

Also added a 120v duplex outlet by the converter, and another up by the added 12v outlets near the bedroom stair for a portable heater (2 places to plug in the heater, or any other appliance), wiring it to the GFI CB in the converter. I ran 14ga Romex in flex conduit up under the belly liner from the converter cabinet to the front duplex outlet.

Lastly, I ran a coax from the entertainment shelf to the slide wall to connect my Sat Antenna, and another one from the roof antenna amp in the bedroom (Aux input) to the entertainment wall so I could pipe Sat Receiver output to the bedroom.

Those added a lot of utility to use and placement of various appliances and components.

bobinyelm wrote:BTW, I ended up mounting 2 cigarette lighter sockets close to the floor next to the step to the bedroom so accessible w/ the slide retracted (wired them forward to the battery through a 20a breaker), and two more next to the converter in the rear, wiring them to the battery wire inside the converter, again through a 20a breaker.

Also added a 120v duplex outlet by the converter, and another up by the added 12v outlets near the bedroom stair for a portable heater (2 places to plug in the heater, or any other appliance), wiring it to the GFI CB in the converter. I ran 14ga Romex in flex conduit up under the belly liner from the converter cabinet to the front duplex outlet.

Lastly, I ran a coax from the entertainment shelf to the slide wall to connect my Sat Antenna, and another one from the roof antenna amp in the bedroom (Aux input) to the entertainment wall so I could pipe Sat Receiver output to the bedroom.

Those added a lot of utility to use and placement of various appliances and components.

pleeze.

TC