auxillary battery ground in a FWC?

[longboardcr]

Is there anybody out their who can provide an image for how/where (location) they bolted the auxillary battery negative ground in a FWC? I also was wondering if a ground bar is necessary.

Thanks,
Longboardcr

 

[Stan@FourWheel]

Hey Longboardcr


Most people are grounding it to their truck.

Or attaching it to the negative ground wire on your truck battery (which is also grounded to your truck).

You could possible use a ground bar as well, but somewhere along the line you will probably need to ground it to the truck frame.

Attached are some sample pictures of a simple ground bar.


Please call our service dept. Monday - Friday if you need any additional specifics.


FWC SERVICE

ASK FOR TERRY

1-800-242-1442


Thanks !

Hope this helps a little.




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[longboardcr]

Thanks for the reply Stan. I guess I'm a little confused now. When you say ground the Aux to the frame, are you refering to the ground that's coming from the truck(which is already in the duplex wire} or does that mean a new ground bolted to the frame from the camper? Will that mean I will need to connect and disconnect a ground everytime you slide the camper into the truck? The image you sent looks like your 10 2 stranded comes in on the passenger side. Also, is the battery for that set up just in front of that bench space? Lastly, am I to assume the campers aluminium skeletal frame is not a "bombproof" ground.

Longboardcr

 

[leadsled9]

Thanks for the reply Stan. I guess I'm a little confused now. When you say ground the Aux to the frame, are you refering to the ground that's coming from the truck(which is already in the duplex wire} or does that mean a new ground bolted to the frame from the camper? Will that mean I will need to connect and disconnect a ground everytime you slide the camper into the truck? The image you sent looks like your 10 2 stranded comes in on the passenger side. Also, is the battery for that set up just in front of that bench space? Lastly, am I to assume the campers aluminium skeletal frame is not a "bombproof" ground.

Longboardcr

I have a Hawk camper so my picture here should be similar to your camper. This is a picture of the "ground bar" located just in front of the battery separater (Sure Power 1314), under the cabinetry under the monitor panel. The "ground bar" is grounded to the battery separator....so anything you ground via the "ground bar" will be grounded to the frame (chassis).



The duplex wire coming off of the battery separator is the power cord you plug in and unplug from the truck when you install/uninstall the camper. If you follow that wire forward you will find it comes out under the hood next to the battery and is grounded (at least mine is) on the firewall (chassis/frame). The positive wire is attached to a 30 amp breaker, and then continues on to the positive side of the battery.

Here is a picture of the area where the Battery Separator is located...you have to remove the bottom cabinet door....then the screws holding the small wood panel covering the Battery Separator. Beware there is one screw coming in from on top (don't forget that one). Once you have the screws out...just slide out the panel to access the Battery Separator and the "ground bar."



The "ground bar" is grounded to the battery separator. When you plug/unplug the cord from the truck you are connecting/disconnecting the positive 12 volt power and the ground (chassis/frame). The "bomb proof" ground for the camper would be the "ground bar." You will see that there are many unsued grounds available from the "ground bar."

Hope this makes sense.

 

[longboardcr]

Hey Leadsled9,
I have a hawk and when I pulled off that cover the Sureflow water pump was exactly where your separator is mounted. I want to mount my separator model 1314 200amp next to the water pump. I'm a little concerned because it's next to all that plumbing and pump. More importantly, I'm trying to ground the camper aux. battery to the camper frame if possible. I have to believe the new diehard opti 31 is going to need a battery cable ground.

 

[Stan@FourWheel]

The ground bar might be grounded to the camper frame as well ?? but somewhere the camper will almost always be grounded to the truck frame as well (through the black wire that is inside the grey wiring covering that holds the black & white wire).

White wire goes to the positive side of things.

Black wire goes to the negative side of things.

The ground bar might be grounded to the camper frame (might?) but it might also be screwed into just the wooden camper base. So im pretty sure the ground bar is getting its "ground" connection through one of the main black wires that goes outside of the camper up to the truck battery ground or is grounded to the truck frame somewhere.

Most customers will have a "truck to camper" plug ---- male plug on the outside of the camper / female plug installed inside their truck bed somewhere so they can connect or disconnect the camper when taking the camper on & off their truck.

 

[Stan@FourWheel]

another picture


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[leadsled9]

Hey Leadsled9,
I have a hawk and when I pulled off that cover the Sureflow water pump was exactly where your separator is mounted. I want to mount my separator model 1314 200amp next to the water pump. I'm a little concerned because it's next to all that plumbing and pump. More importantly, I'm trying to ground the camper aux. battery to the camper frame if possible. I have to believe the new diehard opti 31 is going to need a battery cable ground.

I might have been editing my original post while you were replying. Check and see the labels in the pictures in previous post.

Also, see labels in picture below showing the duplex wire going to the truck as well as the duplex wire going to the auxiliary battery. I have TWO group 31 batteries wired to my 1314 with no problems.



The duplex wire going to the aux battery is a FWC factory setup. I then added another group 31 battery.

 

[leadsled9]

Hey Leadsled9,
I have a hawk and when I pulled off that cover the Sureflow water pump was exactly where your separator is mounted. I want to mount my separator model 1314 200amp next to the water pump. I'm a little concerned because it's next to all that plumbing and pump. More importantly, I'm trying to ground the camper aux. battery to the camper frame if possible. I have to believe the new diehard opti 31 is going to need a battery cable ground.


Question: Why are you instaling a 1314 with 200 amp? Are you planning on using the 1314 to help start the truck in case of dead batteries? If so.....you will need SUBSTANIALLY larger cables to connect to truck. The current FWC factory set up uses 10 awg.

In case I need to use my camper batteries to jump start the truck....I will just open the emergency window of the camper (directly above batteries) and jump from there with jumper cables.

 

[Stan@FourWheel]

another picture


leadslead, you are too fast for me !!




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[leadsled9]

another picture


leadslead, you are too fast for me !!

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Stan is right on as usual. If you follow that duplex negative it is grounded to the firewall. This was done at the FWC factory when the camper was installed. I might just extend that directly to the battery.....just for peace of mind. Can't have a better ground than the negative post of a battery. The firewall connection is prone to corrosion down the road.

 

[pods8]

You're over thinking things I think and misusing the term ground, there is only positive and negative lines in this DC system. This isn't like AC circuits which have an actual ground line. People sometimes say they "ground" the negative line to the vehicle frame but they'd just taking a short cut on running a negative line and using the frame to transfer the current back to the battery (poor practice in my opinion). There should be no need to tie your system into the camper frame.

Positive from the truck (whether that is from the alt or battery) should tie to the positive on the auxiliary battery (with whatever separator, etc. you want in the line). Feed your camper fuse block with the positive off the auxiliary battery.

Negative line from the truck should be on the battery negative terminal and runs to the negative bar in your camper, which also has the camper circuits and axillary battery tied into it.

2 lines only are needed between the truck and camper for this basic setup.

 

[longboardcr]

Stan and Leadsled9,
Wow...you guys are fast. Thanks so much for getting back so quickly- Pictures are all I need to get everything done. I believe this may be a useful thread in the future to those as electrically impotent as myself. Leadsled9, in answer to your question as to why I have a sure power model 1314/200 amp. Unfortunately I assumed owning a diesel F250 with 2 batteries and an alternator with a 136 amp capacity I would have exceeded the 1314 100 amp model's capability. I didn't quite do enough research, later realizing my alternator would never generate a amperage exceeding >100 amps. Not all is lost, I will in the future consider this purchase as a viable option for some offshore marine applications.

Thank you so much for all of the help. This forum's content goes beyond my highest expectations. Regards, LongboarderCR

 

[longboardcr]

pods8- I have learned a lot from you, and I will no longer use the word ground when referring to these 12V systems. I couldn't help myself based on the schematic found in the surepower pdf file. I look forward to installing a solar panel in the near future and will hit you up for more info later! Regards, LongboardCR





You're over thinking things I think and misusing the term ground, there is only positive and negative lines in this DC system. This isn't like AC circuits which have an actual ground line. People sometimes say they "ground" the negative line to the vehicle frame but they'd just taking a short cut on running a negative line and using the frame to transfer the current back to the battery (poor practice in my opinion). There should be no need to tie your system into the camper frame.

Positive from the truck (whether that is from the alt or battery) should tie to the positive on the auxiliary battery (with whatever separator, etc. you want in the line). Feed your camper fuse block with the positive off the auxiliary battery.

Negative line from the truck should be on the battery negative terminal and runs to the negative bar in your camper, which also has the camper circuits and axillary battery tied into it.

2 lines only are needed between the truck and camper for this basic setup.

 

[leadsled9]

I look forward to installing a solar panel in the near future and will hit you up for more info later! Regards, LongboardCR


longboarder,

brett13 started an Ultimate Solar Thread. Good reading for anyone wanting to install solar.
http://www.wanderthe...hp?/topic/3887/

 

[K7MDL]

Careful on the use of non-marine sealed electrical components on a boat.

You do not want corrosion getting into your contacts, but more importantly you do not want sparking at your relay contacts causing gas fumes to ignite. I am not sure the 1314 is explosion proof packaged, I cannot tell from the pictures I have and did not get a good look the other day at mine, but I did not see any statement in the specs I have claiming it is approved for marine usage. Just double check.

 

[Dern]

I'm going to install my electrical this weekend. What amp rating does the thermal breaker need to be? Also, what amp fuses should I use on the in line fuse assembly?

Thanks in advance,

Darren

 

[camelracer]

I'm going to install my electrical this weekend. What amp rating does the thermal breaker need to be? Also, what amp fuses should I use on the in line fuse assembly?

Thanks in advance,

Darren

FWC uses a 30 amp breaker but it really depends on what gauge wire you're using. Look up the max current capacity for your wire and fuse accordingly.