Rectifier or 120volt to 12 converter

[CaptAng]

Hi everyone!
I was hoping you might could help me out on a wiring issue...

I live in NC and have a 38' 1969 RiverQueen and my friend and I are in the middle of rewiring her but I've come into a snag. My friend is quite the jack-of-all-trades, Master of quite a few! However, he nor I have ever rewired a boat. Fortunately, he is an electrical engineer!

So I asked my friend, Rolf, to explain in layman's terms what our dilemma is. Here is the email he sent me:

To keep the batteries charged, as you know, there is a 120 volt to 12 volt converter. The converter has 6 wires attached to it. It would seem that the 120 volt input side must have a 120 volt breaker in one of the two breaker boxes for the 120 volt system. The power lines may not come directly from the breaker box. The power might go through a switch. I noticed a switch to the left side of the steering wheel, and just below it, that says, Koeler, off, and shore. So there are several questions about the 120 volt power supply for the converter.

1. Is there a 120 volt breaker that would turn off the input power if you turn off the breaker?
2. Is there another switch in the power input side that allows you to turn off input power to the converter?
3. Do the 120 volt output lines go directly to the battery in the back or is there a switch or breaker that allows you to turn off the power going to the back?
4. I assume this converter is the charging unit for the battery

[FONT=&quot]On your boat, there is a power diverter in the back by the battery compartment. Notice that I am now talking about a power diverter, not a converter. A diverter is used to distribute power to one or more places. It is red and has a 4 position dial on it. This diverter looks like you can run 12 volt power to either one battery pack off the left side, one battery pack off the right side, two battery packs at one time, or turn the power off going to all the batteries. The input power to this unit looks like it should be 12 volt power coming from the converter. So the questions are:[/FONT]

1. Is this type of power diverter used on all the same type boats or was this an add on unit?
2. If it is the same for all boats, is the red wire the 12 volt power line coming from the converter?
3. Are there any switches or breakers prior to the diverter unit that could keep the power from coming to the diverter?
4. Do the wires for the 12 volt input to the diverter come all the way down the starboard side of the boat?

[FONT=&quot]There is also a yellow unit in the battery compartment that looks like it is a charge indicator. It has a left side and a right side. There are two diodes for each side. One light is yellow and the other is green. There are wires that go directly to each battery pack. It would appear that if the battery pack is being charged, the yellow light comes on and when the battery pack is fully charged, the green light comes on. But there is a 120 volt input wire to this unit. So the questions for this unit are:[/FONT]

1. Does this unit convert any 120 volt power to 12 volts to charge the battery?
2. Is this unit purely a charge indicator, as it appears to be?


Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks again,

CaptAng

 

[alldodge]

I'm having some trouble understanding your terms, and maybe its because you came from across the pond in another land, or at least I hope. If you are from the USA then we have some real issues going on, and your friend needs some term clarification.

Boat wiring for 120VAC and 12VDC are kept totally separate. The 12VDC is supplied by batteries full time. Either a battery charger or Alternator is used to either keep the batteries charged or to recharge the batteries. When on shore-power, 120VAC is provided to the boats AC breaker panel, and feeder circuits branch out to items and one of them is a battery charger. When motors are running the batteries are kept charged by the alternator.

 

[alldodge]

Just for others clarification the River Queen is a House boat type



Here is AC wiring and probably show more then you have. In has dual 120VAC power, an inverter/charger and Generator wiring with a subpanel. Note in this case there is an inverter/charger which chargers the batteries when plugged into shore power, and will convert 12VDC to 120VAC when needed.

 

[jimbo_jwc]

There are two kinds of converters for campers some only make the 12vdc for house/boat use and the Battery is the backup when away from your 120vac source .The other has a separate battery charger built in you so can keep your Batteries charged .My pickup Scamper Camper has the one and the Motorhome has the other .Have repaired quite a few ,enough to keep some parts around .