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Old 08-13-2016, 11:25 AM   #1
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12V hookup in A214HW

Hi y'all! I'm pretty new on here. I took delivery of my 2016 A214 about a month ago. It's back at the dealer now for a jammed actuator. Hope it doesn't take too long to get it replaced. I see others have had similar problems in the past, maybe FR has solved their problem by now. How much money do you think they saved by not putting one on each side?

Anyhow, I'm a CPAP user and would like to have a 12V outlet in the living space to hook up an inverter for it. Has anybody done this? Where did you hook in, at the battery, the WFCO, or someplace else? Where did you mount the outlet? I had two 12V batteries installed, do you think this will be enough to run one for a couple of nights?

Any thoughts or tips would be appreciated. Thanks!
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Old 08-13-2016, 01:20 PM   #2
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As a mechanical engineer myself I have found that this was way under engineered for the amount of the thrust required to lift the roof efficiently without damaging the planetary gears on the linear actuator. On the motor of the actuator is a decal that says load 500N that is newtons which equals 112 pounds it should be double that amount or triple in order to be efficiently lift the roof. I guess they're fixed was to add gas gas struts. I realized this after the third time we lifted the roof I had to replace the actuator. I bought a Duff Norton actuator rated at 1500 pounds.
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Old 08-14-2016, 08:15 AM   #3
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jacink -- do you have details on model and installation pictures etc

thanks
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Old 08-14-2016, 09:01 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bugsmasher View Post

Anyhow, I'm a CPAP user and would like to have a 12V outlet in the living space to hook up an inverter for it. Has anybody done this? Where did you hook in, at the battery, the WFCO, or someplace else? Where did you mount the outlet? I had two 12V batteries installed, do you think this will be enough to run one for a couple of nights?

Any thoughts or tips would be appreciated. Thanks!
I would locate the 12v outlet where you intend to sleep and put the CPAP. You could tap into the existing 12v line that goes to the back of the fridge, or just run a new line under the trailer directly to the battery with its own fuse.
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Old 08-14-2016, 08:57 PM   #5
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Need to know how many amps your inverter will draw with the CPAP running in order to determine what connection to make and how much battery capacity you need. Remember that you do not want to discharge the batteries more than 50% - i.e half the amp hour capacity.

This is my dual power outlet mounted near the floor between the Propane space heater and the converter:

[URL=http://s792.photobucket.com/user/bluepill_2009/media/POWER%20OUTLET%201_zpsovtktxbh.jpg.html][/U

It is rated for 15 amps DC maximum draw. I tapped into an existing fused circuit.



Almost directly above it is the GFCI 120 volt Master outlet. If you were to mount the inverter in the utility space where the space heater, converter, and water heater are, you could rewire that specific outlet to the inverter output. It would make a simple and clean installation. This would require a new GFCI outlet at the next-in-line outlet box.
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Old 08-16-2016, 10:06 AM   #6
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inverter

Your CPAP machine will most likely need a full sine wave inverter. Bluepill is right you'll need to know what the draw is of the CPAP. I am in the middle of an inverter install and my research shows to try to mount the inverter as close to the batteries as possible and then run a separate circuit to a 120 volt outlet near where you will want your CPAP machine label this outlet "inverter". The cables from the inverter to the battery are large depending on the inverter (1500 watt = 2 gauge, 1000 4 gauge) which complicates the cable run. Little bit of work but very doable.
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Old 08-16-2016, 10:32 AM   #7
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Most CPAP units are 90 watts maximum and as many have indicated, most of the load is the humidifier. If you turn that off you should be no more than 40 watts, which is a very small inverter or you can get a 12 volt adapter for most units. However, you need to get the specific 12 volt converter for your unit. I agree that with the power brick that comes with most units, a pure sine wave inverter would be advisable. I have a 1000 watt Xantrex and use it for my CPAP as well as for my TVs and other chargers.
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Old 08-16-2016, 03:23 PM   #8
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Another CPAC user.
Purchase a 12 volt converter line for your specific machine.
Run it from 12 volt....do not invert...your batteries will last longer.
No humidification...
Mine is wired from the exterior light, past the stereo , comingout as12 volt plug.
No issues ...using a dually good quality set of deep cycles....i can go at least 4 dayswithout a solar charge...and most likely 7 days if you conserve.
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