Behold! to solar project monster!!!
And so it begins…. Prologue: This first post was started late into the project so there is a lot to catch up on and I do expect to get a few "TL;DR's". That said, I have added a lot of pics and tr...
Forum Discussion
Wires wires everywhere!
Happy holidays everyone.
This weekend was a long weekend and that was a good thing because I needed to take care of todo list items like oil change for the genny which is my lifeline until I get solar up and running as well as addressing a flat tire (always fun). We also had an opportunity to fix a cosmetic issue that was causing us mental anxiety and last but not least we dived into major rewiring this. So with that said, lets dive in
On the cosmetic front:
After altering the plans of the side cabinets to include a second cabinet door, the 5 gang light switch was no longer centered over the left cabinet door and that was going to drive me, and likely Dana, mad so that was going to need to get fixed.
PSA: Changing plans in the middle of a project will never cause you issues of more work
Dana dived in to that project. Pulling the cabinet doors back off she removing the 1/4 ply skin with no issues at all… snicker… I mean no issues other than every single brad nail pulling through and staying with the cabinet. On the bright side, Dana got to enjoy her podcasts while she pulled out each of the (way too many) brads that I had fired into it. In my defense, I didn't think we would be replacing it any time soon. And more in my defense, it was Dana's idea to add the second cabinet that resulted in the light switch being offset so really, she did this to herself. So really, when you think about it, this was in no way on me at all… Once that was over, she got a new sheet of 1/4 ply cut for it and followed in on her heals with router in hand and knocked out all the holes for cabinet.
Pro tip: a 4'x4' sheet of ply does NOT fit into an early model Hyundai sedan. I'm pretty sure Dana is not going to let me forget that one for a while.
Last but not least we made the call to split the 5 gang panel into two 3 gang panels. This worked out well as it breaks up and "defines" the switch sets. The left set operates exterior light which are porch, awning, and one extra for another project later (flood lights). The right set of three are for interior lights which are the main living room light, the light over the cabinet and the last will be counter accent lighting (again, another project for later).
Waiting on a new 3 gang to come in so in the interim I just went all Frankenstein on the 5gang I had.
On the solar front:
We decided it was about time we sat down and started thinking about how we wanted to set up the lower compartment where the batteries, fuses and transfer switch would live. Now I will say that this was the first time we really sat down to take a look at this and while I have had a general idea for how to fit thing, I have not done some serious planning on it so this was going to be more of an exploratory venture, stuffing batteries in, moving them around, moving them again, and again, then thinking of all the possible options we had to modify the compartment to make our lives harder. After that the only real work on that area we did was to drill a 5" hole from the living area strait down into the battery area which will act as the output vent. I'll give more details on this when I figure them out.
Wiring!:
Ok with everything else out of the way, including tire and oil change it was time for the main event which was pulling all the house 12v wire from the stock rear fuse panel to the new one we installed in the new cabinet. And when I say all the wire… I mean ALLL the wire.
we systematically chased, followed, pulled, fished, cut, extended, rerouted, retied, and reconnected ever single 12v wire to the new fuse box. I can now say that I have gotten so deep into of ever hole, nook, and corner of my rig, even a proctologist would blush. We even got to play with Dana's new endoscope. Dana also got to spend some quality time with her hand stuck up the RV's back side de-constipating the wiring by pulling spray insulation out from around the wires so we could see and manage runs. That took a while but once again... Podcasts for the win.
Ill spare you from most of the many MANY pics of wires everywhere
but I will say that
Dana and I
spent the weekend
with our heads suck up my asset.
I won't lie, the work flow was sometimes constipated
but it all worked out in the end.
We do still need to pull all the AC lines over but even with 4 days we were running short on time.
DISCLAIMER:
… What could possibly go wrong?
There are still a few DC wires I need to run and I want to add new runs of heavier gauge wires to new power ports but again… project for another day. At this point we are getting scary close to being ready to start wiring in solar gear and getting them set up and that scares the **** out of me. I have not done this before, so I am going into this with limited learning and know experience.
SO that’s the update this week. Be on the lookout for a few other independent posts regarding solar system prep/programing as well a chat on 12v "lighter socket" plugs and why I hate them so much.
Enjoy the rest of your holiday and happy new year!
-Warped
Happy holidays everyone.
This weekend was a long weekend and that was a good thing because I needed to take care of todo list items like oil change for the genny which is my lifeline until I get solar up and running as well as addressing a flat tire (always fun). We also had an opportunity to fix a cosmetic issue that was causing us mental anxiety and last but not least we dived into major rewiring this. So with that said, lets dive in
On the cosmetic front:
After altering the plans of the side cabinets to include a second cabinet door, the 5 gang light switch was no longer centered over the left cabinet door and that was going to drive me, and likely Dana, mad so that was going to need to get fixed.
PSA: Changing plans in the middle of a project will never cause you issues of more work
Dana dived in to that project. Pulling the cabinet doors back off she removing the 1/4 ply skin with no issues at all… snicker… I mean no issues other than every single brad nail pulling through and staying with the cabinet. On the bright side, Dana got to enjoy her podcasts while she pulled out each of the (way too many) brads that I had fired into it. In my defense, I didn't think we would be replacing it any time soon. And more in my defense, it was Dana's idea to add the second cabinet that resulted in the light switch being offset so really, she did this to herself. So really, when you think about it, this was in no way on me at all… Once that was over, she got a new sheet of 1/4 ply cut for it and followed in on her heals with router in hand and knocked out all the holes for cabinet.
Pro tip: a 4'x4' sheet of ply does NOT fit into an early model Hyundai sedan. I'm pretty sure Dana is not going to let me forget that one for a while.
Last but not least we made the call to split the 5 gang panel into two 3 gang panels. This worked out well as it breaks up and "defines" the switch sets. The left set operates exterior light which are porch, awning, and one extra for another project later (flood lights). The right set of three are for interior lights which are the main living room light, the light over the cabinet and the last will be counter accent lighting (again, another project for later).
Waiting on a new 3 gang to come in so in the interim I just went all Frankenstein on the 5gang I had.
On the solar front:
We decided it was about time we sat down and started thinking about how we wanted to set up the lower compartment where the batteries, fuses and transfer switch would live. Now I will say that this was the first time we really sat down to take a look at this and while I have had a general idea for how to fit thing, I have not done some serious planning on it so this was going to be more of an exploratory venture, stuffing batteries in, moving them around, moving them again, and again, then thinking of all the possible options we had to modify the compartment to make our lives harder. After that the only real work on that area we did was to drill a 5" hole from the living area strait down into the battery area which will act as the output vent. I'll give more details on this when I figure them out.
Wiring!:
Ok with everything else out of the way, including tire and oil change it was time for the main event which was pulling all the house 12v wire from the stock rear fuse panel to the new one we installed in the new cabinet. And when I say all the wire… I mean ALLL the wire.
we systematically chased, followed, pulled, fished, cut, extended, rerouted, retied, and reconnected ever single 12v wire to the new fuse box. I can now say that I have gotten so deep into of ever hole, nook, and corner of my rig, even a proctologist would blush. We even got to play with Dana's new endoscope. Dana also got to spend some quality time with her hand stuck up the RV's back side de-constipating the wiring by pulling spray insulation out from around the wires so we could see and manage runs. That took a while but once again... Podcasts for the win.
Ill spare you from most of the many MANY pics of wires everywhere
but I will say that
Dana and I
spent the weekend
with our heads suck up my asset.
I won't lie, the work flow was sometimes constipated
but it all worked out in the end.
We do still need to pull all the AC lines over but even with 4 days we were running short on time.
DISCLAIMER:
… What could possibly go wrong?
There are still a few DC wires I need to run and I want to add new runs of heavier gauge wires to new power ports but again… project for another day. At this point we are getting scary close to being ready to start wiring in solar gear and getting them set up and that scares the **** out of me. I have not done this before, so I am going into this with limited learning and know experience.
SO that’s the update this week. Be on the lookout for a few other independent posts regarding solar system prep/programing as well a chat on 12v "lighter socket" plugs and why I hate them so much.
Enjoy the rest of your holiday and happy new year!
-Warped
Moderator edit to re-size pictures to forum recommended limit of 640px maximum width.
