Class B Electrical Systems 101

[Rok]

Maybe we should have a "B RV Electric" topic. I could use some brushing up on my electrical knowledge, particularly when it comes to RV electrical systems. I'm probably qualified to bring some people who haven't worked with electricity half way to where they should be, but I sure don't know all the ins and outs of electricity. But here is what I know:

1) The subject isn't trivial, but some questions ARE trivial.

2) There are two main systems in most RV's 110V AC (Alternating Current) and 12V DC (Direct Current).

3) You can change the power from one of the systems into the other buy using either a "converter" (turns AC into DC) or an "inverter" (turns DC into AC).

4) There is a TON of power stored in a gallon of any of the petrolium products: gasoline, propane, or diesel. That power can be converted into AC or DC using a generator. A generator is usually specific to one petrolium product, in other words, you usually can't use a diesel generator and power it with gasoline, or propane. I have seen a few strange engines that run off of both gasoline and propane gas, and theoritically they could be used to generate electricity, but I've never heard of it before.

5) It gets really confusing when you start converting Amp-Hours into Kilowatt Hours into horsepower into volts. Each mean a different thing and sometimes stuff is left out when someone talks about one of these things. (For instance when someone says a battery has so many Amp-Hours, they often leave out how many volts the battery has because a 6 Volt battery with 500 amp hours is the same size as a 12 Volt battery with 250 amp hous.

O.K., so with #5 I'm starting to get into an area that I'm not entirely sure of.

This is a subject I'm interested in, so I think I'll start another thread and duplicate this post to start it out.

If it catches wind it'll be great. If others aren't interested, I guess we will find that out as well.

..............Rocky