Installing your own camping 12v power gear can be incredibly rewarding and save you a bucketload of cash compared to paying someone to do it. However it must be done right, or you’re only going to end up with headaches – things that don’t work like they should.

SOLDERING

The absolute 12v camping power first skill you should learn. Use a pair of vice-grips or similar to hold the wiring in position, then apply heat with the soldering iron directly to the wiring. When the wiring is hot, feed solder directly into it. Continue to hold the tip of the soldering iron in place until the solder heats to the point that it flows into the wiring. Remove soldering iron carefully and don’t disturb the wiring for at least 30 seconds to allow the solder to set. This’ll guarantee that your 12v  camping accessories have the best shot at running properly.

INSULATION & SECURING

This is vitally important because unsecured, improperly insulated wiring is a hazard and will prevent your camping power setup working long term if neglected. Heat shrink is great, but sometimes on tight repair jobs it’s difficult to heat the wiring without prematurely shrinking the heatshrink. Quality electrical tape can do just as a good a job – apply it while the wiring is still warm, to allow it to form around the connection. After a few wraps, then apply pressure as you wrap. Finish by securing the wiring with cable ties but don’t force it into a position it doesn’t naturally want to sit in as this will stress the wiring over time and cause it to fail.

VOLTAGE FAULT-FINDING

Here’s the simplest and easiest way to find faults that are preventing your 12v camping gear from running properly. Put your multimeter onto the Voltage setting, and set the range to 20V (unless it can do auto-ranging). Connect the black lead from the COMMON (COM) or NEGATIVE port to a good earth point – ideally the negative terminal on the battery, or a clean, unpainted metal part of the engine or body. Now, connect the red lead to the 10A socket. Probe the positive side of your battery to check the multimeter works, the earth connection is good and the leads are plugged in properly – it should read around the 12.6V-12.8V mark when the vehicle’s off, and between 13.5V and 14.4V when it’s running. Take the red lead’s probe and start following the path of 12v from the battery to the problem area. Check both sides of any components like fuses, circuit breakers, terminals and the like. The sharp end of the probe can be used to dig in through wiring insulation to check voltage while only leaving a tiny hole in the wiring.                   

CONTINUITY FAULT-FINDING

The next thing you should learn to do with your multimeter is check for continuity, which is useful for checking for breaks in the 12v circuit through things like fuses and connectors to see if there’s power getting to your 12v camping accessories. Set the switch on the multimeter to the continuity setting, which looks like a little speaker symbol (check the instruction manual if you’re not sure). Connect the red and black probes together and the multimeter should beep – this indicates that it’s sensing a connected circuit. Now, use the probes to check for continuity through various components. An easy example to test are blade fuses used throughout camping 12v power installations – they have little exposed terminals on their head so you can check if a fuse is blown without taking it out. Connect the probes to both of the terminals, and the multimeter will beep if the connection is good. No beep, you’ve found your problem.

RESISTANCE FAULT-FINDING

A bit more advanced, but extremely helpful in diagnosing open or short circuits or faulty components if you have a factory wiring manual or similar that tells you the resistance values for various 12v camping gear components. Set your multimeter to the resistance setting, indicated with the Ohm signal. The display should read ‘OL’ – Open Loop. This means there’s no connection at all. Connect the two probes together and check what is shown on the display. Ideally it should be as low as possible but there will naturally be some resistance through the probe wires. Write down this value and then measure the resistance through the suspected faulty component. If it showns OL then there’s an open loop, a physically broken connection within the component that needs fixing. If it shows a reading then write it down and subtract that initial resistance reading from it, to find the resistance that the component has. Compare it to the factory spec to find out if the component is faulty.

THE $100 12V TOOLKIT THAT’LL SOLVE 99% OF YOUR PROBLEMS!

With a few of the right tools you’ll be able to install or fix almost anything you need to, and keep your camping 12v gear running sweetly.

• If you don’t have one you’re shooting in the dark. It doesn’t have to be flash, because even the most basic ones will solve the majority of off-road problems. $20 should buy you one that does auto-ranging voltage measurement, resistance and continuity. PRICE: $20
• Soldering iron. In our experience, unless you’re looking at the high-end stuff, then forget about gas soldering irons cause they suck. Get a decent 240v soldering iron, ideally one that has selectable dual power settings like 50w and 100w so you can solder small and large wiring. Run it off an inverter if you HAVE to use it out in the bush, or just ‘twist and tape’ securely to get you to where you can access 240v power. PRICE: $35
• Jaws-type wire stripper. This is a tool that turns ordinary blokes into 12v legends. Stops you from stuffing around with side-cutters in tight access places, and prevents accidentally cutting through the wire at the same time. PRICE: $15
• Ratchet crimper. Another example of a pro bit of gear that will massively increase the quality of your 12v jobs. You just can’t get as good a crimp using any other tool as you can with this. PRICE: $20
• Multi-pack of crimp terminals. This one’s well used and has been re-stocked, but instead of buying random packets one at a time and always running out, buy a multi-pack of insulated crimp terminals like this so you’ve always got what you need. PRICE: $20

TOTAL: $110. Okay, we blew the budget by $10, but these five bits of gear are the perfect starting point for a 12v toolkit that will get you out of trouble time and time again. Hunt around car parts stores, hardware stores, electrical component stores and online and you’ll probably get it all for under the $100 mark.