A 'learn as I go' trailer

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Re: A 'learn as I go' trailer

Postby Padilen » Sat Oct 01, 2016 1:57 pm

SCwood wrote:I'm not entirely sure, but I don't think a dc circuit has a ground like an ac circuit does. I'm thinking about it like a car- the negative lug of the battery is attached to the frame and the positive terminal is routed to a fuse block. From there you can attach an accessory like a radio by running a positive wire from the fuse block to the radio, and then grounding the radio to the frame. When you turn the radio on the current runs through the radio, the frame, and back to the battery


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I don't know I grounded my battery to my frame and my converter to my frame. It all works - so maybe it's right and maybe it's wrong but it works. I also used a grounding bus bar and a terminal bar.
I read another post and poster claims a battery is needed with a converter to use 12v - I'm thinking why have a converter? I've torn down many trailers and they didn't have batteries. So I talked to a former RV dealer, and he told me they would work without a battery. So I'm thinking why wouldn't a new one. I went out and disconnected my battery and my 12v works without the battery, with shore power. So the converter is converting. Now maybe the poster meant if you didn't have 110 shore power you'd have to have a battery.



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Re: A 'learn as I go' trailer

Postby antalog » Sat Oct 01, 2016 3:49 pm

Ok, that was it. I just connected an 8awg cable from the trailer frame to the negative post on the battery. Then ran the same circuit with the neutral of the light going to a small section of bar metal on the frame and 'Bingo!' light.

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Wire connection at the frame.

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Battery Red positive to cutoff switch -> Cutoff cables to PD4045 -> PD4045 power goes through fuse and out to light -> Light's neutral connects to frame -> Frame cable to Neg Battery terminal.

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And heres just a close up of my tenative neutral from light to frame.

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Modern invention says "Let there be light!"

I guess the question now is, how do I go about grounding all the different accessories in the most efficient and cleanest way? My first thought is the bus bar idea, similar to the one Padilen posted. Cause its got a slot for the 8awg from battery and then all 12 neutrals.


Out of curiosity I disconnected the battery entirely and connected the panel to shore power but was unable to get any 12v to work. And of course 110v did. So, the converter in the PD4045 is converting the 110v to 12v in order to just...? charge/float the battery? Its not converting actual 110 into usable 12v out of the fuse panel side? I dont want to bite off too much at once, but that seems odd to me.
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A 'learn as I go' trailer

Postby Padilen » Sat Oct 01, 2016 4:31 pm

Your close ups don't help me on my phone. But like I said up on my other post mine does. I'll go out and shoot you a video.
Ok here goes.
First video shows bathroom fan and light on. Then I disconnect the battery. Fan and light stay on. Second video I have fan and light on and I shut of main breaker to PD 4045. Fan and light stay on. Yes they are both 12v wired together.
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Right ? Don't know but I like how it works.


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Re: A 'learn as I go' trailer

Postby antalog » Sat Oct 01, 2016 5:42 pm

Hmm. Thats interesting. I also notice you still have your jumper piece in but also have the cutoff switch. On mine I just followed the instructions for the 4045 that tells to remove the jumper if you install a cutoff switch. Did you do a work-around to make that connection work?

Another thing thats interesting and maybe worth noting is that it looks like your model has that 120v hot bar on the far right that acts as the inbetween from the + battery to the 30amp breaker (if I remember correctly) . I just found out on their site that they removed that feature. which is the one I have. I wonder what kind of effect that has.

:thinking:

Thanks for sending those! I appreciate it. Gets my mind spinning.

So then you have shore power plugged in right? In both those videos?

I like your setup. Looks nice and clean.
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A 'learn as I go' trailer

Postby Padilen » Sat Oct 01, 2016 6:02 pm

I only used the disconnect because I had it. I've left the jumper in because I didn't understand what I was suppose to do. I hooked my disconnect to the negative of battery. So for my brain. Shut of 15 amp breaker and the disconnect. It's all disconnected . The disconnect was suppose to be for my tow vehicle. But I decided against hooking trailer battery to truck wiring.
Yes I'm plugged in to a 110 outlet from my pole barn with a 30 amp /110 15 adapter.

Here's an interesting (maybe) my moms TT has no battery disconnect, or at least it's well hidden. I unplug it from shore power and carefully remove battery and then tape up the wire terminals. Unplugging is easier than climbing on a step stool to pull a fuse.
Yep the AC panel by the floor under the sink area in the front of trailer. The DC is up above, by the ceiling in the center of trailer.


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Re: A 'learn as I go' trailer

Postby SCwood » Sat Oct 01, 2016 7:52 pm

antalog wrote:Out of curiosity I disconnected the battery entirely and connected the panel to shore power but was unable to get any 12v to work. And of course 110v did. So, the converter in the PD4045 is converting the 110v to 12v in order to just...? charge/float the battery? Its not converting actual 110 into usable 12v out of the fuse panel side? I dont want to bite off too much at once, but that seems odd to me.


When you removed the battery did you leave a wire going from the frame to the negative battery input on the PD4045? If not, try that. That's the only thing I can think of. The DC circuit still needs to connect through the frame back to the PD4045 somehow


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Re: A 'learn as I go' trailer

Postby antalog » Sat Oct 01, 2016 9:40 pm

Yeah, that does make sense. I removed the negative terminal as well. Since the cutoff is on the positive then the neg should still be able to make the connection. :thinking:

Since I was able to (kind of) make sense of the wiring I drilled holes through the joists and neatly ran the different accessory circuits through them. Ill take some photos tomorrow since I ran out of time today.

Another thing I need to figure out is how to use 120v power just off the DC battery. Im pretty sure I would need to purchase an inverter for that, but I wonder...

I appreciate your guys help. More progress to come.

Before I closed up today I tried out the LED light strip. Pretty sweet!
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Re: A 'learn as I go' trailer

Postby SCwood » Sat Oct 01, 2016 9:46 pm

antalog wrote:Another thing I need to figure out is how to use 120v power just off the DC battery. Im pretty sure I would need to purchase an inverter for that, but I wonder...

I appreciate your guys help. More progress to come.

Before I closed up today I tried out the LED light strip. Pretty sweet!
Image


Yep, you'll need an inverter to run 120v off a battery.

Looking good!!


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Re: A 'learn as I go' trailer

Postby SCwood » Sun Oct 02, 2016 8:50 pm

FYI- I hooked up my PD 4045 today and it works like Padilen's- without shore power when only connected to the battery, and on shore power with the battery disconnected (and also with both connected!). If you're going to use your frame as a ground you need to connect both the negative terminal of the battery and the negative battery input on the PD 4045 to the frame for it to work solely on battery or shore power. I didn't ground anything to the frame though, I used a buss bar. All my negative leads from accessories come back to the buss bar and then the battery is connected to the PD 4045 via the buss bar, so if one is disconnected the other still works. Where you see those two big black wires going into the buss bar one goes to the negative terminal of the battery and the other goes to the negative battery input on the PD 4045. Image


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Re: A 'learn as I go' trailer

Postby Padilen » Sun Oct 02, 2016 8:57 pm

Nice
Oh happy day!


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Re: A 'learn as I go' trailer

Postby antalog » Mon Oct 03, 2016 3:53 pm

Ahh ok cool, I like that! Thanks for the photo SCwood.

I would prefer to not ground off the frame if possible. Even though it sounds like a fun challenge, if I could avoid doing any invasive drilling I would rather take that route.
I like the buses that have been posted here, with the one large terminal. Im still searching for one here locally, hopefully I can get one today.

My next thought is where in the line would be the best place to install the inverter? If I had to guess it would be before the PD4045. (?) Maybe with an inline fuse.

Also, now that its coming up on the chilly season its become clear that I need to think about heat. Ive been searching out different infrared space heaters, or something similar. Something that I can just blast a burst of heat to keep us comfortable. Im open to hearing any suggestions if people have them. Ive also seen setups where people have a unit on the tongue or galley and send a dryer vent type thing into the cabin. But I havent been able to find those posts again. (TBH I haven't truly searched that hard yet)
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Re: A 'learn as I go' trailer

Postby SCwood » Mon Oct 03, 2016 8:16 pm

antalog wrote:My next thought is where in the line would be the best place to install the inverter? If I had to guess it would be before the PD4045. (?) Maybe with an inline fuse.

The closer to the battery you install it the better. The farther away it is the more voltage drop and decrease in performance you'll experience. I won't be any help on the heat though, in Texas the only thing we worry about is air conditioning!
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Re: A 'learn as I go' trailer

Postby antalog » Sun Feb 26, 2017 10:55 pm

Ahh, its been a 4 month! A sad reality, but with both some good and some bad.

The good:
As it was approaching the end of the season I was rushing to try to complete the trailer and was making decisions kind of hastily. Not how I wanted to do things. So with the start of the beautiful weather coming I feel rejuvinated and can move with better intent. It also gave me time to rethink some decisions and flesh out some new ideas.

The bad:
Mold!
In previous posts I mentioned the garage I work in leaks, well sure enough all that moisture worked its way under the tarps and formed mold on to some parts of the exterior and interior of the trailer. A quick internet search showed some interesting results but thought Id get some input from people who may also know first hand the best/healthiest approach. Hopefully since its been only 4 months and its just a bit it can be easily fixable, but Ive come to grips with the cost to treat it if it means it can be salvaged, safe to sleep in.

Excited to get back to work!
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Re: A 'learn as I go' trailer

Postby KennethW » Mon Feb 27, 2017 12:13 am

Sorry to here about the mold. Hope is is not to bad. Say good bye to nice wood finish.
But on some old clothes(when you are done they will be stained), glasses and plastic gloves. Get a gallon of bleach.
Wet everything with a sprayer, wipe what you can. Then get some fans to dry it out.
Paint with a stain covering paint. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Zinsser-1-ga ... /205009921
https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/sear ... tion=click
If you do a good job it will be safe to sleep in.
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Re: A 'learn as I go' trailer

Postby antalog » Mon Apr 24, 2017 11:50 am

I didnt take too many photos of the outside of the trailer because it was just too much of a bummer at first. Here is some of the mold.

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On one of the rare warm sunny days we've had here I was able to tackle it. I mixed 1 part detergent, 10 parts bleach, 20 parts water. I vacuumed everything super good at first, got as much of the mold and spores up as possible. Then scrubbed. It came up great, which was a super relief.

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Heres half vacuumed.

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And here are just a few pics of the first round of bleach scrub. Im going to do another round all over just to make sure.

Im also going to redo the galley. Fortunately it wasn't far enough along where I feel like its a total loss to pull it all out. A bummer none the less but still Im feeling much happier about it. Lesson learned. Back on track.
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