Couple of electrical questions

[VanMetricSystem]

My wife, daughter and I arrived home yesterday from a very enjoyable 3 week camping/road trip in which we tent camped, hoteled and couch surfed the majority of, except for 6 nights which we stayed at a cabin with my family.
Boy what a learning experience!
With that said, I am now planning on buying a Hawk in the near future.
I haven't decided whether it will be a Shell model or fully built but I do know it will have the rollover couch so my daughter can have her own bed as well as a larger seating area for her, my wife and I.
My main question concerns the electrical system. I have a dual battery setup already installed in my truck, I put it in to run a 65qt dometic fridge a couple 12v plugs, LED lights and a voltage meter.
I used a Perfect switch dual rectifier (battery isolator) mounted under the hood of the truck and ran 1/0 wire with a 10ga negative lead to the rear of the bed. Here is where the wires come out.


From there I ran the wires into my Decked bed drawer ammo can and then to the accessories. I'll post some pics of that later when I get a chance.

From what I understand, the plug for the camper comes out at the front and usually plugs in at the front of the bed.
My question is whether or not the plug can be re-routed out the back of the camper or if there is enough clearance under the camper and around the wheel wells to just run the wire from the front to the rear of the bed where my wires are.

 

[CougarCouple]

Hello VD13
Welcome to the forum. Can't speak for all, but mine (ATC) the power connection is on the passenger out side part of the bed not the front. They might be built to put the connection on the side the vehicle battery is. The lighting for the rear lamps and clearance markers is in the rear. I'm cuerious why you ran a single 1/0 and single 10awg wire for power to the rear? I'm Sure others will post up on there hook ups.

Russ

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Hi Van, welcome to the group. Before you make a decision on what style camper you want, I recommend you visit a dealer or factory to see the various layouts. We started with a FWC Grandby, rollover couch, and quickly found we really didn't like the couch. My big feet took up a lot of the aisle, making it hard for The Bride to use the counter, or even get by me. With the couch rolled out to a bed, there is no aisle, making it hard to use the Porta Potti.

We ended up selling the Grandby, and going with an ATC Bobcat and side dinette. You can still have a single bed there, plus the aisle is not impacted. Certainly worth looking at the side dinette.

I can't say enough good things about the ATC team. They are very open to customization, and are really focused on making sure the customers get what they requested. It's a small shop so when you call them, you're talking to Jeff or Marty, the owners. Marty's favorite phrase is "Yeah, we can do that." I think you'll find that ATC camper owners are really pleased with the quality and ruggedness of the campers.

To answer your electrical question, I do think you can make an extension to go to the back of the truck. FWC has their electrical on the driver side towards the front, and as Russ mentions, ATC uses two on the passenger side.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Welcome to the "cult" Mike.
Exactly what Wandering Sage said.
I have had a side dinette Bobcat since 2009 and have put over 45K miles on it.
Lots of long road trips. Although there are only two of us, the reasons WS gave for the side dinette vs the rollover
are very valid.

Also ATC is a great group to work with.
Good luck in your search for the right camper for you.
Frank

 

[VanMetricSystem]

Hello VD13
Welcome to the forum. Can't speak for all, but mine (ATC) the power connection is on the passenger out side part of the bed not the front. They might be built to put the connection on the side the vehicle battery is. The lighting for the rear lamps and clearance markers is in the rear. I'm cuerious why you ran a single 1/0 and single 10awg wire for power to the rear? I'm Sure others will post up on there hook ups.

Russ

I haven't done much research on the ATC campers. My main concern is weight so I am leaning toward a shell model and then outfitting it to meet our needs from there.
As far as the wiring, I ran the 1/0 positive from the battery isolator to the rear and the 10ga from the start battery (which is already grounded) to the rear.
I also ran a separate shorter length of 1/0 from the negative buss in the rear of the truck through the 2nd hole in the bed to the frame for redundancy. Just want to make sure everything is grounded properly and safe.

 

[longhorn1]

Van, welcome, sorry I can't help you with electrical. You have heard from some pretty knowledgeable people. We have a 2014 FWC Grandby with a front dinette. We like the seating arrangement. One day it will be made into a bed for one of our grand children. Not only should you check out FWC, but ATC as well. Two fine companies. Good luck as you make your decisions. jd

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

I haven't done much research on the ATC campers. My main concern is weight so I am leaning toward a shell model and then outfitting it to meet our needs from there.
As far as the wiring, I ran the 1/0 positive from the battery isolator to the rear and the 10ga from the start battery (which is already grounded) to the rear.
I also ran a separate shorter length of 1/0 from the negative buss in the rear of the truck through the 2nd hole in the bed to the frame for redundancy. Just want to make sure everything is grounded properly and safe.

A shell is a smart way to go. I do recommend having the furnace/propane factory installed so you don't have to mess with that later. ATC also cut in the water fill and sink drain for my shell so I can easily add those later if I want. Oh, get a Fantastic fan and second vent. The insulation pack is a good idea too if you're not handy with a sewing machine.

 

[VanMetricSystem]

A shell is a smart way to go. I do recommend having the furnace/propane factory installed so you don't have to mess with that later. ATC also cut in the water fill and sink drain for my shell so I can easily add those later if I want. Oh, get a Fantastic fan and second vent. The insulation pack is a good idea too if you're not handy with a sewing machine.

Thanks for the advise.
Regardless of what I end up with, heater/furnace, insulation pack, hot water tank, stove and sink are non-negotiable as far as my wife is concerned. If I want to keep camping and adventuring with my girls I need them to be comfortable while doing it.
A porta-potti is pushing it lol.
I should add that the camper will be riding in a 2011 4.6l Tundra.

 

[VanMetricSystem]

Welcome to the "cult" Mike.
Exactly what Wandering Sage said.
I have had a side dinette Bobcat since 2009 and have put over 45K miles on it.
Lots of long road trips. Although there are only two of us, the reasons WS gave for the side dinette vs the rollover
are very valid.

Also ATC is a great group to work with.
Good luck in your search for the right camper for you.
Frank

Looks like I'll have to do some more research and seek out some dealers so I can take a look before I make a decision. Like I mentioned earlier, we just returned from a long trip so I don't plan on rushing into anything right now.

 

[longhorn1]

This forum is a great place to learn and get answers to question. If you can't find somethings, others will guide to the source. Climbing in campers is a good idea. jd

 

[ntsqd]

There is no reason that you can't add a junction in you battery cables near the front of the bed. I laid out mine like this. I used one of these bolted to the frame rail: https://www.westmarine.com/buy/blue-sea-systems--dual-powerpost-cable-connectors--P009_273_004_505?recordNum=49

FWIW 12 VDC doesn't behave like 120 VAC. The voltage isn't dangerous to all but a very few and conductor ampacity is usually the biggest concern. Grounding is important, but not usually for safety reasons.

 

[VanMetricSystem]

I ran all of my cables to the back of my truck through conduit.


This was to avoid any rocks or debris possibly puncturing or cutting the cable and causing a short as well as keeping the lines clean and moisture free.
It wouldn't be impossible to cut the conduit and splice in a junction, but it would be a bit of a pain and would defeat the purpose of running the conduit. If I can find an easier way to re-rout the cable in the truck bed to the back and just use the existing cable run, I'd rather do that.

 

[CougarCouple]

Hi VD13
Do do a lot of D.C., but when I run A.C. Circuits the hot and neutral are the same size, I can downsize the safety ground. Just kinda surprised me on the different size wires.
When we ordered our camper from ATC they framed and ran water and gas for our water heater. I have been installing a Suburban SW6D unit and have almost finished this project. Plus one on the fantastic fans we got two lovem. Ours dry 1240 lbs.
link to ours http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/13748-heresssssssssss-johnny/?hl=%2Bcougar+%2Bcouple#entry161335

I think either way you go you will be happy. There are a lot of really nice nice used campers out there to look at and consider. As others have said go see some at a dealer if you can. Best of luck !
Russ

 

[VanMetricSystem]

Hi VD13
Do do a lot of D.C., but when I run A.C. Circuits the hot and neutral are the same size, I can downsize the safety ground. Just kinda surprised me on the different size wires.
When we ordered our camper from ATC they framed and ran water and gas for our water heater. I have been installing a Suburban SW6D unit and have almost finished this project. Plus one on the fantastic fans we got two lovem. Ours dry 1240 lbs.
link to ours http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/13748-heresssssssssss-johnny/?hl=%2Bcougar+%2Bcouple#entry161335

I think either way you go you will be happy. There are a lot of really nice nice used campers out there to look at and consider. As others have said go see some at a dealer if you can. Best of luck !
Russ

Hi Russ, nice camper!
I can't wait to get one and get out on some trips.
From what I gather it sounds like ATC might be a little more willing to work with me to do some custom work. But I still haven't decided if I'm going to buy new or used yet. All I know is that it's going to be a FWC or ATC.

I work with AC power daily and a little bit of DC from time to time.
From what I know on AC the neutral carries current so the cable needs to have the same rating as the positive leads and the ground can be a small gauge because it typically doesn't carry any.
But on a DC system only the positive carries current. Which is why you only have to fuse the positive connections. So in my case it was just easier to run the larger gauge cable and a small cable together in the same conduit. The 10ga cable that is connected to the negative terminals on both batteries is the redundant ground, as both batteries are also grounded to the chassis of the truck using 1/0 cable.
-Mikey

 

[CougarCouple]

Hello VD13
Ok I think I get it, you are using the frame as a conductor!

Russ

 

[ntsqd]

Current flows the whole length of the circuit, only voltage drops across the load. Ancor Marine's voltage drop tables and calculators all insist on the total length of the circuit, out to the load and back, for the conductors to be sized correctly.