Electrical Mod -- Feedback Requested

[Cate&Rob]

Hi Howard,

Flat steel has little strength . . . be it 1/8" or 1/4". And, is heavy as you have noted. "Angle iron" has strength because of the vertical leg. If I were doing this, I would be using aluminum angle (or square tube) and plywood. The best strength-to-weight materials . . . Consider that most of the structure of our trailers is built from aluminum square tube and plywood . . . there is probably a reason for this .

Rob

[Country Campers]

Good thinking Rob, for some reason I was thinking he was welding to frame, not sure where that idea came from.


Brian

[gbkims]

I looked at 2 pieces of 1/4" 1.5" x 1.5" x 39"L aluminum angle in the garage, weigh 5 lbs together.
So about 10 lbs for 2 68" lengths.

I wonder how the 1/4" aluminum weight and strength compares to 1/8" 1.5x1.5 steel angle for 68" span along with wood or straps to tie them together.

[Nomado]

Placed my order with AMSolar tonight. I'm expecting it late next week, but may hold off on the full-blown install for a few weeks due to work requirements. In the meantime I'll finish the prep work needed under the trailer and map out the DC wiring. I may tie all the grounds into a bus bar (removing the wire nut) before I start, too.

Congratulations! Your process sounds very similar to me. Crazy amount of planning, ordered everything but then had work commitments so it sat for a couple weeks in our dining room before I started the process. I did do a fair amount of prep work before starting the install like you are doing which helps a lot. Also, I made the battery cables at home before I took everything to the trailer which saved some time.

Also, you had questions on hooking up the DC side of trailer and I just did it yesterday. First, be sure to hook the positive and negative from your existing battery bank to the new system. The negative is likely a ground chassis that you will want to connect to new system if you don't use that as your chassis ground. These wires are already tied into your DC system for the old batteries. Second, when you hook up the Smart ATS you will need to pull the panel. As you are doing this look behind the panel. My guess there will be a normal household plug located on the backside of your main panel for the converter. Unplug this from the main panel and just leave it behind the panel. Then the most important part....make sure your old battery disconnect is in the ON position. I ended up being on the phone for 45 minutes last night with AM Solar trying to figure out why it wasn't working until later that night I realized I never switched the old battery disconnect to ON...Duh! Worked perfect after switching it.

Good luck with the install and post pics!

[howson]

The first shipment of parts arrived today. I'm anxious to get started, but I will have to wait until mid-April to actually start installing. Fran and I have a trip scheduled for the end of March and there are only 6 non-work days between now and the departure. I don't think it will be wise to tear apart the electrical with such a tight schedule.



I've also tentatively decided to put everything in the passthru storage area. There are two issues that made me change where I am going to put the inverter and batteries: 1) weight and 2) the substructure I was contemplating (under the trailer) would have to be right the first time.

Weight: To ensure that lower area under the trailer supported all of this equipment I was going to build a substantial sub-structure. I can't afford to add more weight unless it is absolutely necessary. Additionally, due to weight what might be normally carried in the pass-thru storage area must be kept elsewhere, thus why not just use the space available? As you can see by the picture below, the batteries will align almost perfectly with the Nautilus panel and water pump, so I'll still have considerable room for "stuff". (For those not familiar with the 315, the dark shadow in the back left corner of the picture is where the water pump is located. The Nautilus panel is facing the street side of the camper. I am shooting this picture from the curb side looking into the storage compartment.)



Has to Be Right: Sometimes you just need to look in the mirror and recognize your limitations. I'm not an engineer, and the thought of building that structure under the trailer is something that will cause me many sleepless nights. Did I mention the weight of it will be too much, too?

For those who may know the layout of the camper, all of the electrical items will be under the dryer--not the washer. I'm going to add a water alarm to the setup, too, to ensure if there is water intrusion into the compartment I'll know ASAP. (There's a lot to think about...)

The batteries arrive tomorrow and then all the bits and pieces (wire, lugs, etc) are close behind. I can't wait to start playing with this stuff!

[gbkims]

Howard,
Good looking gear.
I think you've made a good choice on putting it in passthru, you'll be able to get to easier also.
Noticed you started this thread on 02-10-2019, up to 3472 views!

[Country Campers]

And I forgot the info on weight bearing angle(what do they say about forgetting stuff).
I think you will be happy with it in the pass thru. Mounted under the floor would even worry an engineer.

Brian

[Nomado]

Congrats on the new stuff. This will also take one additional complicated item off your list of items with the install. There are enough complicated and time consuming items already with just doing the basic install. I think it is a good decision to keep it in the pass through. Good luck on the install!

[howson]

The last of the equipment showed up today, including the Battle Borns and the crimper. Played with the layout--I think I've got it figured out. I sent a laundry list of questions to Garret at AMSolar so when I get back from my upcoming trip I can get right to the installation. I can't wait!

This will give you an idea of the layout. (Back panel is the size of the one from the pass thru storage--see pics below to understand what I'm referencing.) I'm probably going to use 3/4" plywood in place of the original panel to secure the devices. Still much to figure out.)

[howson]

No paperwork or manuals came with the Distributor nor is anything available online.

So after looking at pictures and then having the Distributor in my grubby hands I assumed the device's output is to the two connections sticking out of the left side. (You would too, right?) Pictures 1, 2, 3 and 4 show the layout.

In case it is not obvious how this goes together, I placed the fuses in pic 3 and "x'd" out the tabs that will get removed. The ground 2ga wire goes underneath the hot 2ga wire (not shown but hopefully you can figure it out from the picture).



Based on what I'd seen I made my layout. What I couldn't find was hardware to attach the 4ga wired lugs to the Distributor's output. It was then I found out that (as usual) I was wrong. Those connections on the left are for connection to a device called the Lynx Shunt (not the same thing as the shunt for the BMV-712!). A dummy panel removes from the right side and I'm supposed to use those connections on the right side as the output. (sigh) That, of course, forces a complete change to the layout. It's always something. Glad I wasn't in a hurry!



The diagram below doesn't show the 3/4" plywood I'll add to make an open-ended box so I have a secure platform to secure the components and act as a base for the battery suspended over the curb-side tray.


One other note: if you look closely at picture 2 you'll see female black connectors on the ends of the circuit board. These power the LEDs making the board "smart". When I'd read the brochure online it said it was "powered by the shunt". At the time I thought, "Great! I'm getting the shunt with the BMV-712 so I'm all set!". Nope. The connector on the BMV-712's shunt (which is completely different from the Lynx Shunt is an RJ-45 (ethernet) while the connector on the Distributor is an RJ-11 (telephone). I have a fancy, expensive, dumb (but good looking?) integrated bus bar. Not sure if I should add a frown or smiley emoji...