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Mon Nov 17, 2008 7:16 am

Every topic i read on powering accessories in a camper is based on using an aux. battery, a power inverter, etc. My question is, for those of us lazy bums that enjoy camping where there is a 110v hookup is there a way to hook our radios to that, so that the radio is powered off the 110 and some sort of inverter instead of off the battery? My westie is way to low to go out on some random trail and out in the middle of nowhere and camp. I prefer to have showers close by but "rough it" in my little "RV". Is there something or some way to make the radio in my bus power off of 110? The idea i have is some sort of switch to switch it from battery power to 110 power.

after doing a search only thing i can find is "i don't want to be on shore power" or "Aux. Battery hookup" all things to get away from the trusty 110 at campsites. i want to hook to the 110. my ultimate goal is to be able to watch a movie in my bus using my busses radio as the sound source.

some of you may say bring a boombox with you. To that I say, there's not room after loading the ice chest, the chairs, the side awning, the food, the bedding and the two dogs and wife.

Mon Nov 17, 2008 7:29 am

Connect your radio to the aux. battery and charge it with an AC to DC converter or good sized battery charger while plugged in.

Mon Nov 17, 2008 7:38 am

That's easy, all you need is a decent AC to DC converter.
Depends how cheap you are but if you know what you are doing you could use an old computer power supply.
When picking out a converter make sure you pay attention to how many amps it puts out, the more the better.
Here's what I did when I first wired mine up for camping at the state parks.
Cheap and easy.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=127433

Mon Nov 17, 2008 7:54 am

mightyart wrote: That's easy, all you need is a decent AC to DC converter.
Depends how cheap you are but if you know what you are doing you could use an old computer power supply.
When picking out a converter make sure you pay attention to how many amps it puts out, the more the better.
Here's what I did when I first wired mine up for camping at the state parks.
Cheap and easy.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=127433

that was exactly what i was looking for...thanks

Mon Nov 17, 2008 11:10 pm

There is nothing to say you have to have a proper converter hooked up to an aux battery. If you are lazy you can hook it up to the main battery that way you can keep all of the wiring the same and the converter will power all of your lights, amps, 12v cig sockets etc along with your radio.

Aux batteries are usually the first step to improving the electrical system. The addition of a converter is a step up which is why you normally see it connected with the already installed secondary battery system. Check germansupply.com they seem to have a reasonably priced unit. After all you said lazy not cheap.

Thu Nov 20, 2008 7:21 pm

I have the German Supply unit for my auxiliary battery, but what I was thinking is more on the order of a 110v to 12v converter, hardwired into the system like they did with the later buses. Seems about half of the campsites have shore power whether I want it or not, and this would mean that I could run my 12v appliances to my heart's content for many days.

http://www.busdepot.com/details.jsp?partnumber=701070519C

(What circumstances I would be in where that would be necessary is another matter)