BattleBorn/Victron Install

[CraigBair]

Hi Brian! I’m working on exact same project on my 310. How r u routing solar panel wiring from roof to controllers? I’m thinking about drilling home next to shower roof vent and bringing my 2ga wire down chase there to utility bay. I’m adding 1200 watts of panels and using the Multiplus II.

[brandtb1919]

Hi Brian! I’m working on exact same project on my 310. How r u routing solar panel wiring from roof to controllers? I’m thinking about drilling home next to shower roof vent and bringing my 2ga wire down chase there to utility bay. I’m adding 1200 watts of panels and using the Multiplus II.

Hi Craig,

I'm not sure what year your 310 is, but our 2021 has a chase that runs from a cover panel on the roof to the middle of the basement. To be fair, I haven't tried running anything through it yet, but one of the guys from the Dry Campers mentioned to me that most of the time it goes OK. Sometimes the string is stapled to the inside of the wall for some dumb reason. I plan to put a large Nema rated box over the hole on the roof with cable glands to run the panel wires through.

You should be happy with the Multi II. The hardest part for me was getting the 6AWG wire into the push in connectors simultaneously for the AC connections. Worked out OK though.

Brian

[210craig]

Brian,

For orientation in the final picture the batteries are behind the switches and fuse blocks or behind the Victron? Side question did you use existing carpet to cover the new panels or did you buy it and if so where?

I've watched all the dry camper video's and he's got nothing on you. Gorgeous job.

Duane

[brandtb1919]

Brian,

For orientation in the final picture the batteries are behind the switches and fuse blocks or behind the Victron? Side question did you use existing carpet to cover the new panels or did you buy it and if so where?

I've watched all the dry camper video's and he's got nothing on you. Gorgeous job.

Duane

Hi Duane,

Thank you! The batteries are behind the switch panel under the stairs. It was a perfect fit. I do have the ability to add more batteries to the system on the deck behind the Multi where the old converter was. I used carpet that I bought directly from Grand Design. I think I got 5 yards of it. Turns out the roll is almost 8 feet wide. I have plenty now.

Brian

[brandtb1919]

Brian,

For orientation in the final picture the batteries are behind the switches and fuse blocks or behind the Victron? Side question did you use existing carpet to cover the new panels or did you buy it and if so where?

I've watched all the dry camper video's and he's got nothing on you. Gorgeous job.

Duane

Do you have the Sumo springs on the 397? if so, how do you like them?

Brian

[treichelt]

I just bought the batteries from rich solar, 599.00 cheaper than the battle born batteries with all the same features.

[210craig]

I like them a lot. Not grossly expensive and pretty easy to install. Really helps the girl to calm down quickly on a nasty bridge transition.

[brandtb1919]

Phase two of the install began this weekend with the solar wires from the roof to the basement.

For anyone with a 2021(ish) 310GK, this was my experience:

There is a chase that runs inside the wall between the bathroom and bedroom that seems to be intended for running coax to a dish on the roof. The basement had a sticker that labeled it as such and had a string coming out of the 1/2 inch or so hole between the aluminum floor joists. This presumably connects to the cover-plate that is liberally dicor'd to the roof of the coach just behind the bedroom AC unit. After painstakingly removing the sealant and the cover, an approx. 2 1/2 inch hole in the roof was revealed. The other end of the string was indeed there but about 2-3 inches offset from the roof hole. To my disappointment, this string ran down into the wall cavity through another tiny hole. Hardly big enough for the two pairs of 4AWG wire I intended to run through the cavity.

Thus began the nerve racking task of enlarging the holes without inadvertently damaging my brand new RV. The basement hole was easy enough to handle with an oscillating saw. This revealed that the wall cavity at least was more than ample to run the wires through. The hole in the top of the cavity however was a bit more puckering. This involved a drill with a long spade bit at a severe angle drilling almost blind into the wood (since the roof hole was offset from the hole in the wall cavity, thanks Grand Design). After going through I scurried back down the ladder to see if there was a hole in my bathroom or bedroom ceiling. Luckily, no.

Running the wires down to the basement was rather uneventful save for the 30 or so trips up and down the ladder to pull things through and ensure enough length. Should have had a helper. The project on the roof was topped off with a sturdy NEMA rated box that I mounted over the hole in the roof with about a half a caulk tube of sealer and 10 or so screws. I hope I never have to replace this roof membrane! In the spring I can mount in some water tight cable glands for the solar panel wiring and install the panels themselves.

Sorry for the lack of pictures, I was solely focused on not ruining my roof. I have seen what water ingress can do to these things. I am just hoping to give some hope to anyone working on this project that it can be done with some patience and a lot of Dicor.

Cheers!

Brian

[brandtb1919]

I like them a lot. Not grossly expensive and pretty easy to install. Really helps the girl to calm down quickly on a nasty bridge transition.

Great to know. Short of going with IS, I believe that the rig needs some damping in the suspension. I haven't seen any of the aftermarket shock setups that looked worthwhile to me yet.

Brian

[aray8554]

I have a similar setup (only have 300ah) and I used 2/0 cable also and found that it will get pretty warm (resistance goes up) when pulling that much current and had issues with low battery status on the Multi Plus II. I switched over to 4/0
whiched solved all my issues.