We Replaced the original 3 bulb incandescent Grims lights with new fluorescent "Thin Lites". These are MUCH more efficient electrically and provide much more light too. The new fluorescents worked fine on battery . . . but they would not work on the original 12V AC Univolt system. We upgraded the electrical system to a state of the art Inteli Power 9100 with the charge wizard module as well. These are great! They keep the battery at a proper state of charge and can be left plugged in continually.
We also replaced our water pump with a new Shurflo. We needed to upgrade the electrical system in order to make this change as well.
Here is some reasons we upgraded the electrical and some other options as well
The shurflo pump works on battery and not on city power because the newer pump we installed works only on 12 volts DC. The battery supplies 12 volts DC, but the city power uses a transformer that provides 12 volts AC (it actually provides 19 volts AC to the pump and fans for a little extra power, but this is not relevant to this situation).
The options are several:
Install an old pump that works on AC and don't install fluorescent lights
Wire the new pump so it is only battery powered.
Install a bridge rectifier to convert the AC to DC for the pump circuit.
This is cheapest (under $10), but dose not provide clean smooth DC for any
florescent lights or other electronics, and dose not charge the battery.
Install a new modern 12 volt power supply. This is the option I went with. It provides clean 12 volt DC. It also charges the battery, monitors the state of charge in the battery and keeps it properly charged at all times. It can be left plugged in continually and will not overcharge the battery - very convenient and worry free. The model I installed was the Intelipower 9100 with the optional Charge Wizard (around $160 from the Intelipower website for a factory refurbished one). This is a major project to install as far as Airstream electrical projects go, but it is well worth it in terms of convenience and maintaining the battery. You may not have paid much attention, but electronics have changed a bit in the last 37 years. You might want to take advantage of this.************************************************************************
Below is a write up for Fred on replacing a 1964 univolt with an intelipower. Perhaps this will help you as well. Each year of trailer has its own wiring setup others are not the same as 1964.
Fred,
I wish I had more time to send you a more detailed response, but we are packing up for a week long trip and I wanted to get you something to think about. I do not have anything specific to offer you regarding your current lack of connection as your system is currently set up. There is a substantial amount of original wiring that is not necessary and should be removed to make a much cleaner installation. I am not providing you a wiring diagram for the completed installation of the Intelipower, but the basics are quite straight forward.You basically have the following in your new system:
The Intelipower is plugged into a 110v source.
The Intelipower output feeds power to the four 12v circuits (via their circuit breakers) and the battery.
The neutrals from the Intelipower, the four circuits, and the battery are all connected.
Take a good look at the original simplified circuit in your owners manual.
(You are working with one I hope? I have attached a scan from the manual if
you do not have one.) You can see that all the switches for shore and
battery power can be removed when you install the Intelipower in place of
the original transformer.
In actual application, I removed the four circuit breakers from the switch
box and mounted them on the wall with pop rivets (picture # 1,2). I also
installed a bus bar to the wall as well to attach all the neutrals to
(picture # 3 ). I screwed the Intelipower to a sheet of 1/16" thick
aluminum (with the ends slightly bent to conform to the curve of the wall)
which I pop riveted to the wall as well (picture # 1). I think it is
preferable to mount the Intelipower to the wall rather than the floor
because of any possible water damage and less dust (remember that it is fan
cooled). One last wiring simplification was to tie all the positive feeds
going to the circuit breakers together with a strip of 1/16" X 1/2" copper
with holes drilled for each input stud (picture # 2). This is not a
necessity but it sure helps clean things up! The feed from the Intelipower
and to the battery positive terminal are also mounted to this strip (picture
# 2). Many of the original wires in our trailer were rather sloppy and of
excessive length. After mounting the breakers and bus bar many of these wires can be shortened - but do leave some slack. All terminals that I used
are crimp-on style with a piece of heat shrink tubing over them to help
relieve stress. I mounted the Charge Wizard (which I do recommend
installing) to the outside of the 110v breaker box where it is easy to see
with the cabinet door opened (picture # 4). The excess wire to it was wound
up and tied with a tyrap.
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