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Upgrading the electrical system was the 4th of eight projects to renovate my Four Wheel Pop-Up Camper.
Project 4: Electrical
Project 4: Electrical
I didn't just upgrade the system, I replaced it entirely. But I think this project was the most fun. And it just seemed to come a little easier to me than other parts. I took an electrical elective one semester in high school. I also had a little experience helping out an electrician part of one Summer between college semesters. I enjoyed that too. I think I got about 45 seconds of instruction that Summer and just figured out the rest for very basic house wiring. Maybe it was just that I am a very linear thinker and the whole experience seems very linear to me. Anyway, it seemed somewhat less laborious than other projects and I learned new skills in soldering thick gauge wires, using marine components, and other useful tidbits.
The least fun part of the wiring was the brake lights and signals. The Keystone model has an old-fashioned system and size so I couldn't replace it. Luckily I had a good friend shoulder almost all of the burden on re-wiring the auto lights. I ended up installing the black box for management, installing new bulb sockets, and using LED bulbs.
The most unpleasant part of auto wiring for me is the opportunity to create shorts that are very hard to find. Finding shorts is not my idea of fun.
I had already purchased a converter for a previous camper that didn't work out so I re-used it for this camper. Because I learned a hard lesson the first time about grounding it to the chassis (something completely omitted in the installation instructions), it went in quite smoothly this time.
I even kept it in its original box after uninstalling it from the dumped camper.
The DC branch circuits were a snap to run and connect. Same with the AC circuits run on three outlets with an initial GFCI. I used a 30A black extension cord from a previous camper and connected it to the converter. This resulted in a significantly superior system to the stock Keystone setup back in the day.
The converter was made to retrofit a model specific to another camper but I devised a plan to build around it to maximize space efficiency. This picture also shows the DC lines exiting the converter, the 30 A extension routed into it, and the 20 A Romex wired to it. Also, note the ground coming out that goes to the camper chassis. Don't forget that even if the instructions don't mention it.
This bank is charged by the converter when the 30 A extension is plugged into power. The bank also powers all DC circuits going out of the converter when it is not plugged into AC power.
The battery bank is worth explaining as it took a good deal of research and planning. Each number in the picture corresponds to the following descriptions:
Flexible 4 AWG wires come from the power converter described above, which is only about 2-3 feet away, though it took more wire than that to route it appropriately.
The 4 AWG wires run to 150 A Busbars screwed into the plywood. One bus is for positive and another for ground. These are great for managing everything.
The negative Busbar is grounded to the camper chassis with 4 AWG. The positive Busbar has 4 AWG positive running through an inline 80 A circuit breaker (not shown) and then going to the battery switch. The circuit breaker protects the batteries from high surges, which can happen with some types of shorts.
Blue Sea Systems m-Series Mini Battery Switch. Wasn't sure I needed this with a circuit breaker already inline that can be manually popped. But I followed good advice and included it. Indeed, I use the switch constantly and it is made for turning off, unlike the breaker.
4 AWG positive line from battery switch to positive terminals on batteries. Each battery has two positive terminals, one with a threaded rod that can be screwed down (that's the one being used in the photo) and the lead terminal (has a red plastic cap on it in the photo).
Two Duracell AGM batteries rated at 105 Ah each. These were previously used a few times over a couple of years, and even though they were maintained properly, they seem to have lost more capacity than reasonable. But they are usable.
The 4 AWG ground running from the batteries to the voltmeter and then to the ground Busbar.
Voltmeter/Ammeter fastened to the floor and passing the ground line. The positive line that measures the battery capacity is the thin wire that runs from the meter and loops on the floor before running to the positive terminal on the battery. I had the hardest time getting that wire to fasten to the meter in a durable way. It took a few soldering attempts, even though soldering is not supposed to be required. It is not the premium brand meter but it did appear adequate and I figured it is better than nothing.
The wiring to the inverter includes a positive wire (not shown in red because it is wrapped in black electrical tape) running from the positive Busbbar to the positive inlet. The ground runs directly from the inverter to the chassis and bypasses the Busbar.
Samlex inverter. I am pleased with this inverter. It has a manual on/off switch and two outlets for AC current from the batteries.
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