Wiring a fish house

[shootnmiss09]

Hi-

I am just starting to design a wheelhouse that I am going to be building. I jsut have a few questions about the electrical part. I have 3 ceiling lights, 3 switches, 6 outlets. How do i go about this? do I use like 14-3 wire? What is my best way to power my house? Battery, Generator, Solar? Thanks for the help.

[teamlund]

Hey, I am in the middle of builing a shanty also. I am going with a 12v batteryy set up. there will be an interior light, an exterior light, a fan, and 2 12v power outlets..... I am wiring mine up just like a boat with a power and ground. 14 ga wire. Not sure how to wire it up with a generator as a power source. I went with a battery set up becasue there isnt any noise or gas to worry about and we move sometimes as many as 12 times in a day so a generator would be a pain to deal with. I am sure I will be able to run all my lights, face, ect all weekend without any problems of a low battery.

Sounds like your shack might be alittle larger than mine so your needs and desires might be diff than mine. Good Luck

[shootnmiss09]

I was thinking, Could i just run everything 120volts, and run it to like a small fuse box, and then go from the fuse box to a generator?

[Saskbush]

Yes you could run everthing 120 v and go to a small fuse box powered by a generator. But I would think about putting a 12 volt system in as well.

I have my shack wired for 12 volts. And I just plug into a deep cycle battery. Its easy, simple and quiet. And I think that this is the best way. The lights, stereo, all my electronics all run off of 12 volts. I have never yet had the need for 120v well fishing

But why not have both options. Install 120v and 12 volt system so you could have the best of both worlds when ever you wanted

[shootnmiss09]

sorry if these are dumb questions, but im new to this. lol. i was just looking at the ice castle website, and the ones i looked at were all 110v. not 12v. so how do they power a wiring system like that?

[teamlund]

PS-You can go to a camper dealer and they will have tons of 12v lights and fans to choose from. Or www.fishhousesupply.co m

[dcso3009]

I'd do both 110 and 12V.  Hook up your generator to charge the 12V system.  Have both 110 lights and 12V lights and outlets.  Then you have a very diverse system.  You could also add the Solar for battery charging, but that can be hit and miss with the amount of light we get that time of year.  14/2 romex should be fine for any 110 wiring you will do.  It has 2 insulated wires, and a bare ground.  Are you looking to have each 110 light on a separate switch or all together?  If you are going to do them all together you will need a 4way switch, and 2 3way switches.  You will also need to study hard on how to wire it all together.  I have 2 4way switch/light setups in my home.  A real nightmare to wire, but sure is nice to turn on/off all the lights from 3 places.

[shootnmiss09]

Would this work- Wire everything up in 110v, and have a generator, two deep cycle battereies with 2 bank on board battery charger, then use a DC to AC Inverter, so I could have the generator off sometimes, and still get power through the batteries?

[dcso3009]

It would work, but I think you would find it cheaper, and more efficient to go the other way- AC to DC.  Inverters chew up a lot of power.  Then just some simple 110 lights for when the generator is running.

[Saskbush]

This is what I would do.

Stick with 12volt lighting and have some 12 volt outlets for your electronics. This would all be powered by your bank of deep cycle batteries. Have a charger on your batteries that can be connected to your genorator. (similar to an charging system on a boat) At the same time put in a couple 120 volt lights and outlets as well.

I would stay away from all the inverters they are not very efficient and you don't really need them and your money would be better spent on something else.

I am an electrician by trade and I can try help you as much as I can with the wiring of your wheelhouse . Feel free to PM me if you like.

My best advise would be... Just keep it simple. the more complicated you make it now the harder it is to fix when it breaks down on the lake and your trying to get to work. More time fishing and less time fixing

[ice dawg]

My shanty is wired mainly for 12v power. I also have a few 110v outlets and an on board charger. I usually charge my batteries for a couple hours in the evening so I plug in my 110v TV and watch a DVD while charging. In the morning I like drip coffee so I start the generator and while I'm charging the batteries I make coffee. I also have computer fans to circulate the heat and they draw very little current. By doing it this way I can get away with using two 30 Amp hour batteries to keep the weight down as they weigh about half of what a single deep cycle would weigh. I heat and cook with propane and my 1000 watt generator works out great.

[akjw7]

like many have said I'm also putting in both - it's just so much more flexible and easy to do that it really is the way to go.

a couple questions though -

on the 12v system - where are you guys putting your battery? Just curious about off gassing during charging and if you're putting them outside in a box or in a sealed off/vented box inside the shanty or...just sticking them in the shanty out in the open??? 

on the 110 system - is a breaker box really necessary? I think my little generator has a breaker so I don't really plan to put in another one.

My 12 volt system will have 2 x 12volt flourescent lights inside, a cigarette lighter socket, and perhaps an outside low draw LED 'porch' light if I can find one locally cheap. Oh and my heater (vented catalytic). With the lights and heater running I'm figuring about a 2-3 amp draw so should get long life out of a decent deep cycle battery.

I'll only use the generator on longer trips when a 12v recharge might be needed, but when the generator is running I'll have an inside light - an outside flood light - and a couple of outlets just for convenience to run chargers etc off of.

[ice dawg]

I have a storage box in the front of my dropdown house that also doubles as a bunk. My batteries, on board charger and storage bins are in it. There is also a duplex 110v outlet inside the box and the same thing plus a 12v outlet on the outside of the box. My AM/FM Cassette is mounted in the side of the box also. Since I have ten 12v 25 amp hour sealed batteries that I could build into a box for extended trips, but when I take my dropdown the generator goes with me.

[akjw7]

yeah sealed are nice...I don't have any    so I've got to deal with venting...

part of the problem with sticking it in a box outside is the cold - we have regular 20* below zero temps and several times a winter cold snaps will be 40* below and colder.  That can more than half the batteries amp/hour capability...

If it's inside it stays warm but vents flammable fumes, if it's outside it's half a battery. 

I guess what I probably need to do is build a box inside that is just minimally vented to the outside...just makes it more complicated (getting into the sealed box to disconnect and reconnect wires, charger, etc). Nothing a little money wouldn't cure with a disconect switch and a charger I could leave in the shack...but I have to make do for now.

[shootnmiss09]

I've come to the conclusion that i'll run two seperate systems, on teh 12volt have a few lights, one or two twelve volt outlets, and a car cd player. with 2 deep cycle batteries, and an onboard charger.

On the 110v system i would have like four duplex receptacles, and thats pretty much it. So is there a way to power this system w/o the generator always running, so i can watch tv and such? Once i hook up all the outlets, how to i go about getting this to the outside of the house, so i can hook it up to a generator? Do i just run the 12-2 wire, through the wall, and have a outlet on the outside of the house, and run a cord from there to the generator?

thanks so much for the help guys!

[dcso3009]

I would run the 2/12 out and wire a plug on the end to plug into the generator.  Make a small box on the outside that you can coil the cord and keep it inside.  Maybe even a lock on it so no one steals it to turn in the copper.

[indeeptreble]

i have seen a few shacks that use solar powered lights they carge all day come on when its getting dark might not last all night because of the short daylight chargetime and if you mount 1 on the outside of your shack makes it easy to find in the early morning

[ice dawg]

I've come to the conclusion that i'll run two seperate systems, on teh 12volt have a few lights, one or two twelve volt outlets, and a car cd player. with 2 deep cycle batteries, and an onboard charger.

On the 110v system i would have like four duplex receptacles, and thats pretty much it. So is there a way to power this system w/o the generator always running, so i can watch tv and such? Once i hook up all the outlets, how to i go about getting this to the outside of the house, so i can hook it up to a generator? Do i just run the 12-2 wire, through the wall, and have a outlet on the outside of the house, and run a cord from there to the generator?

thanks so much for the help guys!

If you go to an electrical supply outlet like the contractors use, they will have a round outlet with a male end in it for the outside of the shack. This is what I used, but I can't remember the name of it. An extension cord plugs right into it.

If you want to watch a 110v TV without generator power, you will have to use an inverter which will use extra juice to run it, or you could buy one of those jump starters with a built in inverter.

[ice dawg]

yeah sealed are nice...I don't have any    so I've got to deal with venting...

part of the problem with sticking it in a box outside is the cold - we have regular 20* below zero temps and several times a winter cold snaps will be 40* below and colder.  That can more than half the batteries amp/hour capability...

If it's inside it stays warm but vents flammable fumes, if it's outside it's half a battery. 

I guess what I probably need to do is build a box inside that is just minimally vented to the outside...just makes it more complicated (getting into the sealed box to disconnect and reconnect wires, charger, etc). Nothing a little money wouldn't cure with a disconect switch and a charger I could leave in the shack...but I have to make do for now.

Try asking one of the telephone companies up there for the old batteries from an NEC system  or some kind of electronic phone system, as I believe they change batteries yearly and throw the old ones out. The ten that I have sitting on shelves in my garage are all hooked together so I can charge them all at once. If I don't keep the ones in my shanty charged when I'm fishing, I just stop home and change them out for fresh ones. Too bad you don't live closer as I could hook you up with some. My on board charger gets plugged in when my shanty is in my driveway to de-sulfate the batteries.

[akjw7]

wow great idea!

my 3 stage charger died...need to buy another but haven't yet

I ended up getting my wiring done this weekend...turns out it's no fun at 36* below zero...who would have guessed it?

I have a 110v circuit coming from the an external outlet I can plug the generator (or extension cord from the house) into - that feeds 2 outlets inside, one light inside, and one flood light outside (to light up the ice behind the shack where I'll shovel out an ice rink for the kids to skate on when they get bored!)

I also have a 12v circuit coming from a battery that I will enclose inside the shack in a seat bench (boxed in with a small vent to the outside). Two 12v flourescent lights inside, power for the propane heater (auto ignition and exhaust fan), a cigarette lighter plug (for charging the cell phone or running the flasher or camera), and an exterior light by the door. I would have liked to put in an exterior power outlet, but it just wasn't needed and I didn't have enough romex. (not needed because if I needed something outside powered I could just plug it direct into the generator or an extension cord if it's at home)

Glad I took the time to hook in both 110v and 12v...sure going to be nice.

[ice dawg]

Sounds like ya have everything covered. I don't have any outside lights on my drop down shanty. It's kind of like you said, it could be plugged into a generator. I have a clamp on light that I attach to the back gate of my pickup cap for light when cooking on my tailgate. The roof on my shanty is fiberglass and extends about 1" beyond the outside walls so I could clamp my flood light onto the roof. 36 below doesn't sound like much fun for wiring. I put the heater in my shanty before I finished panelling it so I could be warm while working on the inside of it. Maybe I will actually get on the ice shortly after Christmas. Keep us informed with your progress.

[derek_buck]

Try asking one of the telephone companies up there for the old batteries from an NEC system  or some kind of electronic phone system, as I believe they change batteries yearly and throw the old ones out. The ten that I have sitting on shelves in my garage are all hooked together so I can charge them all at once. If I don't keep the ones in my shanty charged when I'm fishing, I just stop home and change them out for fresh ones. Too bad you don't live closer as I could hook you up with some. My on board charger gets plugged in when my shanty is in my driveway to de-sulfate the batteries.

I also live in NE South Dakota and am looking for some deep cell batteries, wondering if you know of any good places in the area to get them.

[ice dawg]

I would check with companies that install alarm systems. They replace batteries often and would probably give the old ones to you. The batteries in my wheelhouse have been in it since 2006 and I need to replace them soon.

[derek_buck]

I would check with companies that install alarm systems. They replace batteries often and would probably give the old ones to you. The batteries in my wheelhouse have been in it since 2006 and I need to replace them soon.

Thank you for getting back to me, I will try that. 

[fish-kabob]

I've come to the conclusion that i'll run two seperate systems, on teh 12volt have a few lights, one or two twelve volt outlets, and a car cd player. with 2 deep cycle batteries, and an onboard charger.

On the 110v system i would have like four duplex receptacles, and thats pretty much it. So is there a way to power this system w/o the generator always running, so i can watch tv and such? Once i hook up all the outlets, how to i go about getting this to the outside of the house, so i can hook it up to a generator? Do i just run the 12-2 wire, through the wall, and have a outlet on the outside of the house, and run a cord from there to the generator?

thanks so much for the help guys!

i would put in some means to charge the battery off the generator like this link

 http://cascadeaudio.com/power_converters/power_converters.htm


and have two power cord one for ac one for dc charging all you got to do is run a junction box to he out side with no hole punched out of it high enough it will not get wet from snow... run a rubber cord and a wire clamp off it may want to bend some emt or electrical metallic tubing and terminate in the first box like outlet boxes along the string... sorry but to dc ac and dc in the same trailer you need two circuits one for dc out put the other for ac out put they got to be separate from each other and you can't use 14/3 or 12/2 for dc  wrong amount of connectors. at least in michigan it is a code violation...

also dont for get to fuse the dc wire each of them one from the battery with in 18 inches of were it connect to the positive battery sized for the whole load then each individual branch circuit. same goes for the ac mite want to consider a small panel so you got over current protection water and electricity does not mix like the kind that pops is a kid stick a fork in a outlet lol's ? then when doen you should be able to run a small generator when needed  and not run one and spook fish... btw i think the max you can have is 8 outlets on a 12/2 wire for ac at least in michigan it is   reason is to prevent to much drawl   they got to be fused with a breaker like 20 amps ac for outlet and 15 amps ac for lights  and so on. 14 gauge for lights 12 gauge for outlets on ac wiring. any how you never have every thing over load all at once but could happen so do put a over current devise in for sure! 

[Arctic Addict]

I am running two deep cycle marine batteries with a 100 watt solar charger.  Led interior lights, a wired marine stereo, plenty of 12v accessory plugs to recharge cell phones and a fan.  Places to check out 12v stuff are rv outlets, big rig accessory shops and marine suppliers.  The possibilities are endless.  Best advice would be to plan ahead and figure out your expected power usage needs are and then put in a system that will cover your needs and have a built in reserve.  For me, fishing a day or two separated by work then fishing the following weekend, solar makes a lot of sense.  If you fish every day then a small generator wired 120/may make more sense.