7x7x16 V Nose Cargo Trailer Conversion, First Build

[featherliteCT1]

Looking great! Thanks for posting all the photos. I just bought a pocket hole jig from Harbor Freight. I have never used one.
What size and length of screws did you use?

[hankaye]

jr9744, Howdy;

The vent is to allow the hydrogen gas that the batteries off-gas when they are being charged is
lighter then air so it is for out flow.
Also, consider that if the batteries require maintenance (topping off water level in the cells),
you'll need to have access to the tops of the batteries ... sliding shelves maybe ???

You are doing a great job getting that put together.

hank

[jr9744]

@hankaye That makes sense, so I'll probably put the fan behind the vent and have a switch or something on it. Well, to late for the sliders! I'm hoping a funnel will work or I 'll just have to do manpower until I eventually give in and add the sliders. lol

@Iconfabul8 Creativity is a must. And I'm not going to mention the 25 bucks I spent for some cheap plastic thing that will come from hong kong in like 7-10 days. lol

@featherliteCT1

This is the sizes that come recommended with the Kreg System:


I also bought there screws which are a little more expensive, but no thinking involved (For the 2x2's).



You can probably find these cheaper if you look for another brand.

[featherliteCT1]

Thanks jr ... I much appreciate the effort you took with such completeness to reply to my question... excellent! I saw these same screws at Menards and noted how expensive they are ... but I now know they are worth it.

[flboy]

I bought a similar Kreg tool and etc. for building my cabinets. I used the same screws and etc.. They worked great and the tool made it so easy.

I also used a lot of wood glue on everything. Would take a lot to shake it all apart with the screws and glue.

[McDave]

Wow!
You're really making some progress now. Looking good.

McDave

[jr9744]

Well, I managed to wire up and test mostly all of my AC Sockets. 3 I ran wire and will wire up when I build the back cabinet. One of these is for AC and the other two are just generic outlets. In total I wired and tested 9 sockets. When all said and done, I will have 12 AC Sockets.

I ended up using 3 circuits for the AC. One circuit for the left side, one for the right side, and one for the AC. I imagined myself going ore complex with this at first, but I decided to keep it simple.

Right Side of sockets installed, tested, and working:



Random picture of socket:


Left side of sockets installed, tested, and working:


All wiring to power center


Wiring Along wall



Ac wiring:


Generic picture of the rig after ac was done:


I had big gaps on the sides of my floor, so I used this roof stuff that worked out pretty well to seal them:


Electricty seems to be a little scary at first, but it wasn't really that bad. The first couple sockets were a pain. I did use GFCI sockets as the first socket for each circuit. After the first couple it wasn't bad. I learned that it is best to just keep things simple. I had a complex way of wiring the sockets where if one failed the all stood on, but this used up much more wire and was a pain for me. So I ended up just wiring the sockets together and it seemed to work and save wire.

One question on electricity, should you ground the AC from the Power center to the chassis of the trailer? I did not do this, and it seems to work. Anyone know if we should do this?

This upcoming week I will start wiring up all the DC stuff. I have a rocker switch unit I will use to set up the DC outlets. After the DC is wired, I may look at either building the cabinets for the kitchen or starting the bathroom.

[flboy]

Deleted so folks don't use this information. Safety ground and ground reference can be too confusing. RV should have a safety ground at connector input to chassis and we were discussing the power panel and then nuetral bonding. Too confusing for this medium of discussion and I do not want there to any safety issues.

Follow the power panel instructions for grounding. Intent is to have a proper safety ground in the CTC and AC ground and AC nuetral should be isolated from eachother within the CTC.

[featherliteCT1]

flboy,

I presume you do not use a ground to earth rod with your generator. Correct?

[John61CT]

You need to be **very sure** any AC circuits are grounded to only one earth-sink at a time.

This is a life-and-death issue!

If in doubt have it inspected by a pro.

[flboy]

[John61CT]

I ground my hurricane backup 6KW Generator via a ground rod driven into the earth when it is tied back into my house breakers via a transfer switch.

NP since the house is also so grounded, they share a common ground, the actual Earth.

[flboy]

Exactly. :-)

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[McDave]

Doing all the good jr.. 12 ac outlets should be plenty. I have 4 total. Also 1 in the inverter. The rooftop A/C wiring runs to the circuit breaker. But this is the time to put em' in if you want them. Really good progress.

McDave

[flboy]

All, I deleted the electrical AC ground information as I can see it may be confusing to some and terms get used loosely. Safety ground and nuetral/ground bonding and etc.. is not something I want to leave in any kind of gray area.

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