Post by RinTin on May 10, 2017 15:24:41 GMT -8
I didn't take very many pictures of the 12 volt system as I worked my way through it. Also, a lot has been written in the forum about 12 volt systems in general so I am not going into great detail about how I did mine. That being said, I did a few things a bit different than others so I'll cover those plus a review of how I did mine. If any of you have questions about anything I do not cover here please don't hesitate to ask
The trailers’ 12 volt power is basically two systems, one for the house and one for the exterior running lights. I decided to locate the distribution center for the house under the curb side dinette seat. I did not want the distribution center taking up space in a cabinet. The other possibility was under the street side seat but that is where the water tank is and I didn’t want it in a potentially wet environment. I decided to have all the LED lights on one circuit, the stereo and amp each on their own separate circuits, plus separate circuits for the roof vent fan, LP/CO detector, USB charge port, 12v plug and battery voltage indicator. I hope to do some boon docking with this trailer so I am not installing a 12v water pump as you tend to use more water when using a pump. I did however run some wire so a water pump could easily be added in the future. The running lights will be run from a junction box that will be located on the front of the curb side of the trailer, probably screwed to the underside of the floor.
Wire runs through the trailer framing:
When these pictures were taken I had started installing the curbing before I remembered to get some pics of the wiring. I used 14ga. wire throughout which I now feel is overkill except for potentially high load circuits such as a water pump, refrigerator or fantastic fan. Ground wires were run to all the running lights, I am not depending on the skin for grounding.
The wiring for the lights are first run to the dinette overhead light, then to the space under the false bottom of the kitchenette wall cabinet to make the pigtail connections for the under cabinet lighting and to continue the wiring for the rest of the lights.
While I was at it the light fixtures were installed.
Kitchenette under cabinet lights and switch:
Ceiling and rear gaucho reading lights:
12v plug, battery voltage meter, and USB charge ports on the upper left of the curbside dinette seat, hard wired LP/CO detector on the right:
The house distribution center is laid out on a flip down panel with enough extra wire to easily service or reconfigure the layout should I want to add a solar controller and/or inverter in the future.
Notice the block I made to hold the seat lid up. I got tired of it continually slamming down on me so. It was easy and works well so I went ahead made blocks for the other seat lids too.
Getting back on track, here's the distribution center laid out on the flip down panel. The ground wire you see coming from the battery disconnect switch is not wired to the switch. I just ran it through the switch housing to keep things tidy. Also, I will be adding an automatic resetting circuit breaker between the disconnect switch and the fuse block, I just hadn’t picked one up yet and wanted to connect everything to a battery to test the system. I’m happy to report the house system works like a charm.
House system wires ready for connection to the battery:
The trailers’ 12 volt power is basically two systems, one for the house and one for the exterior running lights. I decided to locate the distribution center for the house under the curb side dinette seat. I did not want the distribution center taking up space in a cabinet. The other possibility was under the street side seat but that is where the water tank is and I didn’t want it in a potentially wet environment. I decided to have all the LED lights on one circuit, the stereo and amp each on their own separate circuits, plus separate circuits for the roof vent fan, LP/CO detector, USB charge port, 12v plug and battery voltage indicator. I hope to do some boon docking with this trailer so I am not installing a 12v water pump as you tend to use more water when using a pump. I did however run some wire so a water pump could easily be added in the future. The running lights will be run from a junction box that will be located on the front of the curb side of the trailer, probably screwed to the underside of the floor.
Wire runs through the trailer framing:
When these pictures were taken I had started installing the curbing before I remembered to get some pics of the wiring. I used 14ga. wire throughout which I now feel is overkill except for potentially high load circuits such as a water pump, refrigerator or fantastic fan. Ground wires were run to all the running lights, I am not depending on the skin for grounding.
The wiring for the lights are first run to the dinette overhead light, then to the space under the false bottom of the kitchenette wall cabinet to make the pigtail connections for the under cabinet lighting and to continue the wiring for the rest of the lights.
While I was at it the light fixtures were installed.
Kitchenette under cabinet lights and switch:
Ceiling and rear gaucho reading lights:
12v plug, battery voltage meter, and USB charge ports on the upper left of the curbside dinette seat, hard wired LP/CO detector on the right:
The house distribution center is laid out on a flip down panel with enough extra wire to easily service or reconfigure the layout should I want to add a solar controller and/or inverter in the future.
Notice the block I made to hold the seat lid up. I got tired of it continually slamming down on me so. It was easy and works well so I went ahead made blocks for the other seat lids too.
Getting back on track, here's the distribution center laid out on the flip down panel. The ground wire you see coming from the battery disconnect switch is not wired to the switch. I just ran it through the switch housing to keep things tidy. Also, I will be adding an automatic resetting circuit breaker between the disconnect switch and the fuse block, I just hadn’t picked one up yet and wanted to connect everything to a battery to test the system. I’m happy to report the house system works like a charm.
House system wires ready for connection to the battery: