Trying to rewire my shanty to 12 volt

[TheDeadSea]

hey guys I have had my shanty wired with a series of 6 outlets to a male plug for the generator but now I want to go with the quieter and more efficient approach where should I start with converting and can I use these outlets for 12 volt sorry for the dumb questions! Thanks, Will.

[800stealth]

You could reuse the 120 outlets if you power them with a 12 volt to 120 volt inverter. Running 12 volts dc at the outlets though is a bad idea as there is no way to protect against reverse polarity... while it won't matter for some 12 volt lights you don't want to plug a dc product in backwards, best case scenario it blows a fuse... worst case it starts a fire.

[TheDeadSea]

O boy so my best bet is rewiring the whole thing

[800stealth]

Yup, start from scratch. I would probably buy a marine switch panel for a boat, they usually have fuse protection built into the panel and usually use water resistant switches. Ebay has a bunch of options.

[cstolp]

You could just pull the outlets and plates and put in speaker plates with black and red posts.  Then choose which wire is going to be your positive (white or black) and make sure they are all the same at each outlet, junction etc.

[beeverfishing]

You could just pull the outlets and plates and put in speaker plates with black and red posts.  Then choose which wire is going to be your positive (white or black) and make sure they are all the same at each outlet, junction etc.

 Agree, No reason to rewire, just know what wire will be used for positive, which will be used for neg.
Could use something like this too  http://www.amazon.com/Products-08-5010-Universal-Utility-Outlet/dp/B00076WQDG/ref=sr_1_8?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1419688559&sr=1-8&keywords=12+volt+outlet
 I'd also change to 12 volt fuses, but no reason to rewire everything.

[TheDeadSea]

Sounds good thanks for all the helps guys now it's time for a trip to the rv store

[beeverfishing]

A simple way to check polarity...
Get an analog volt meter (like a super cheap one from Radio Shack) and put the red (positive) test lead on one wire and the black (negative) lead on the other. If the needle moves to the right, then the positive lead is on the positive wire. Otherwise, its backwards.

[dane grasso]

  I just bilt a new 7x8 shanty 12 volt 20 watt solor panel out of northern tool for 80 bucks 2 700 lumens duel voltage led lights out of lowes 12 or 110 for 20 bucks have a 400 watt inverter if I need it, plus a power strip for 110 volt for a 1000 watt gen for 100 bucks new 12 volt exhaust fan for cigar smoke and if it gets to hot plus 2 12 volt ceiling fans , the fans are out of old computers  plus a wood stove looking to buy 2 more leds for out side floods,   just need ice now

[NHGunowner]

I guess I would ask what you plan to run from the 12v system?
Personally I would keep the system at 110v and just feed it with an inverter and battery.
But even if you decided you want 12v, certainly no need to rewire everything. Wire is wire, just change your "outlets" the speaker terminals or cig lighter ends or whatever.

[dane grasso]

I run a 12 radio and lights , combutor fans that run on 7 watts if I need the gen I take it out with me. I have an alcohol stove and a wood stove but the battery is1150 ca that lasts me one hole weekand

[thewyler]

You can use the same wireing, just keep all the same color wires together, check out fishousesupply.com, they sholud have a wall cigarette socket

[cstolp]

I guess I would ask what you plan to run from the 12v system?
Personally I would keep the system at 110v and just feed it with an inverter and battery.
But even if you decided you want 12v, certainly no need to rewire everything. Wire is wire, just change your "outlets" the speaker terminals or cig lighter ends or whatever.

If your only power is going to be a battery you are better off with a 12v system as the inverter is going to use up some of the energy in the conversion.