USB Charger Upgrade

[ckreef]

My 2600rb has two charging stations. One in the bedroom and one on the thin divider wall between the dinette and theater seating. GD uses standard charging ports and since my phones have Qualcomm chips that wasn't going to do. Here's my upgrade.

I bought 2 Qualcomm v3 dual charging ports. I wanted a round mounting plate instead of the square one GD uses. It needed to be at least 2 1/2" in diameter to cover the old screw holes and at least 3/8" thick to offset the charger enough so it would fit inside the thin divider wall. I put on a face mask, braved going into Hobby Lobby, and found exactly what I needed. I drilled out my main hole and two screw holes in the wood disks. I then gave them a quick paint job. In order for it to fit in the original wall hole I couldn't use the supplied mounting ring so I used high temperature hot glue to mount the charger ports to the mounting plates. Seems to be holding good for now. If they ever comes loose I'll peel off the hot glue and epoxy them on. I didn't want to use epoxy because it seemed like such a permanent solution and I wanted to make sure this was going to work as planned or I would have to go to plan B. Repeated all this for the bedroom.

I think it came out decent for a cheap, quick upgrade. If your phone has a Qualcomm chip it'll turbo charge it otherwise it'll fast charge.

[howson]

My 2600rb has two charging stations. One in the bedroom and one on the thin divider wall between the dinette and theater seating. GD uses standard charging ports and since my phones have Qualcomm chips that wasn't going to do. Here's my upgrade.

I bought 2 Qualcomm v3 dual charging ports. I wanted a round mounting plate instead of the square one GD uses. It needed to be at least 2 1/2" in diameter to cover the old screw holes and at least 3/8" thick to offset the charger enough so it would fit inside the thin divider wall. I put on a face mask, braved going into Hobby Lobby, and found exactly what I needed. I drilled out my main hole and two screw holes in the wood disks. I then gave them a quick paint job. In order for it to fit in the original wall hole I couldn't use the supplied mounting ring so I used high temperature hot glue to mount the charger ports to the mounting plates. Seems to be holding good for now. If they ever comes loose I'll peel off the hot glue and epoxy them on. I didn't want to use epoxy because it seemed like such a permanent solution and I wanted to make sure this was going to work as planned or I would have to go to plan B. Repeated all this for the bedroom.

I think it came out decent for a cheap, quick upgrade. If your phone has a Qualcomm chip it'll turbo charge it otherwise it'll fast charge.

Awesome! I'll probably "steal" that upgrade and do it in my 315, too.

[TucsonJim]

That's a clean install!

And for us electronic "geeks" that need to charge a ton of devices at once, I put together a quad, high powered outlet with parts I purchased on Amazon.

[Beachcamper]

I would love having a 12 volt plug and USB charger in the main room of my 303rls for those times I am boondocking. It would be great to connect my 12 volt fan, my 12 volt weboost antenna power option. I guess everyone just goes to inverters instead?

[howson]

I would love having a 12 volt plug and USB charger in the main room of my 303rls for those times I am boondocking. It would be great to connect my 12 volt fan, my 12 volt weboost antenna power option. I guess everyone just goes to inverters instead?

Does your 303 have the USB outlet in the hutch like my 315? If so, the USB outlet is tied into a 12v line. The pic below doesn't show the juncture, but if you keep pulling out the wiring attached to the USB outlet you'll find it connected to a much larger 12v wire pair.



It should be easy to replace the USB outlet with a 12v socket outlet. I haven't done any "homework" on this topic (there's total amperage to consider, etc) but I've seen the wiring--should be doable.

Maybe Gene ( gbkims) has a recommendation?

Howard

[Beachcamper]

Does your 303 have the USB outlet in the hutch like my 315? If so, the USB outlet is tied into a 12v line. The pic below doesn't show the juncture, but if you keep pulling out the wiring attached to the USB outlet you'll find it connected to a much larger 12v wire pair.



It should be easy to replace the USB outlet with a 12v socket outlet. I haven't done any "homework" on this topic (there's total amperage to consider, etc) but I've seen the wiring--should be doable.

Maybe Gene ( gbkims) has a recommendation?

Howard

Yes, in the hutch not the island which is where I would love my fan to be connected without using an extension. I also have a 300w inverter that is 12v plug in, might be too much drain on the hutch usb?

[mbopp]

Our trailer didn't come with charger ports. I made a shelf above the bed and installed a dual port for our phones. Also added a 12V outlet and USB port near the radio for our Sirius radio.

[howson]

I also have a 300w inverter that is 12v plug in, might be too much drain on the hutch usb?

To ensure I'm communicating clearly, what I'm proposing is completely removing the USB outlet and its two small, thin wires (going back to where GD spliced them into the larger gauge camper wiring). Now there's just the camper wiring with 12v on it. Splice in a 12v "cigarette" outlet (or whatever type is desired) and it should work fine for low amperage devices like the fan, etc.

For the inverter, at 12vDC/300W it could draw up to 25 amps. (300/12=25) Most of the 12v circuits in the camper have a 15A fuse. You could get it to work, but not (safely) to it's full potential. For the inverter I'd run a dedicated, protected circuit with oversize gauge wiring to minimize loss. This would be a totally separate circuit from the OEM wiring.

I'm fairly certain it is doable to run the wires to the island but will require some work. Cate&Rob would know for sure as he's intimately familiar with the 303.

[Beachcamper]

To ensure I'm communicating clearly, what I'm proposing is completely removing the USB outlet and its two small, thin wires (going back to where GD spliced them into the larger gauge camper wiring). Now there's just the camper wiring with 12v on it. Splice in a 12v "cigarette" outlet (or whatever type is desired) and it should work fine for low amperage devices like the fan, etc.

For the inverter, at 12vDC/300W it could draw up to 25 amps. (300/12=25) Most of the 12v circuits in the camper have a 15A fuse. You could get it to work, but not (safely) to it's full potential. For the inverter I'd run a dedicated, protected circuit with oversize gauge wiring to minimize loss. This would be a totally separate circuit from the OEM wiring.

I'm fairly certain it is doable to run the wires to the island but will require some work. Cate&Rob would know for sure as he's intimately familiar with the 303.

Thank you, it is clear now and glad I asked. Will read up on this some more and see if I can wire for separate 12 v to connect the inverter.

vivian

[Cate&Rob]

Yes, in the hutch not the island which is where I would love my fan to be connected without using an extension. I also have a 300w inverter that is 12v plug in, might be too much drain on the hutch usb?

Hi Vivian,

I did run a new 14 ga paired wire from the main panel to the island for a 12V accessory outlet (cigarette lighter outlet). I had to drop the coroplast along the curb side to fish the wire from the island to the pass through storage area . . . not an easy task.

Another idea (that did not occur to me at the time) is that you may be able to tap into the propane alarm 12V power which is already in the island . . . depending on OE wire gauge and fuse.

A 300W inverter will draw more power (25 amps) than any "cigarette lighter" outlet can provide for any extended period of time without over heating. If you are looking to use this inverter at the island, I would suggest 12 ga (or even 10 ga) wire and an outlet designed for at least 30 amps.

Rob

[AlexPeterson]

The junky USB outlets in our rig seem to not have any internal current limiting circuitry, so they simply burn out when connected to, well, almost anything. I replaced the double USB with two units, each with a USB A and USB C. I put two in the location in the dinette for the simple reason it took two to cover the existing hole. I also replaced each in the bedroom cubby holes.

As was suggested by Amazon commenters, I removed the springs and sliding covers which looked to be a nuisance and are unnecessary.

I do not know exactly what circuit these are on, but it would be trivial to find out. Total current for the pair shown could be 6 amps input.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C3L6YX6S

[Jlawles2]

I dropped 2 of these under the sconce lights (one each side) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 as GD in their infinite wisdom chose to put one (1, uno, single) double USB port right in the CENTER POINTING DOWN of the overhead cabinet. Completely useless device (IMHO) as the cords will hang down at night, when trying to charge devices, into the space between occupants or directly onto the forehead of said occupants.

I like that one since it has the USB-C. Might need to swap out the one in the coffee hutch since that one is about 1/600th the power needed to charge a phone in a reasonable time.