Lazy man wants inverter disconnect switch INSIDE trailer
We do a lot of boondocking, and the inverter draws battery power even when it is turned "off," so I installed a Blue Sea disconnect in the battery box to completely disable it. It didn't take me long, however, to get tired of going outside and opening the battery box to turn that battery switch on or off depending on whether we wanted to watch a DVD or TV at the time. When I looked at the trailer battery disconnect switch, I got an idea.
I bought an Intellitec Big Boy 200 amp latching relay, like the one the house disconnect uses, but double the size. I wasn't comfortable with a 100 amp relay on a 110 amp fused wire. (This is a continuous duty latching relay. Be careful because Intellitec also makes an intermittent duty non-latching battery isolator. The non-latching isolator is not what you want.)
The only wires not shown in that photo are the two 4g wires from the 110 amp fuse, and to the inverter. I left them off so the relay would be visible.
I also bought the same control panel and wiring harness that Airstream used for the battery disconnect.
I installed the control panel above the bed in the closet wall.
I ran the wiring to the back of the closet,
and down through an existing opening into the water heater space
I took it out between the aluminum wall and the plywood partition, then into the outside basement between the aluminum wall and the plywood partition.
I ran it around the outside basement at the very top.
After running it into the 12v electrical bay beside the outside basement, I bolted the relay to the wall and wired the harness to it. (Very first picture at the top.)
It needed a GROUND wire, so I made a 12g white jumper wire and ran it to the GROUND buss bar. I put a ring terminal on the other end and put that and the harness' GROUND wire under one of the mounting screws holding the relay against the wall.
One caution: when wired according to the schematic, pushing the USE switch turned the inverter off, and pushing the STORE switch turned the inverter on. I solved that by reversing the brown and white wires hooked to the relay. That reversed the polarity of the switch.
This was not a cheap mod, but now I can turn the inverter off and on without even getting out of bed.
No holes had to be drilled to run the wiring harness. The only permanent modification was cutting a 3"x3" square hole in the closet wall to mount the control panel. (I did have to cut the 5/16" ring terminal off of the inverter's 4g wire and install a 1/2" ring terminal so it would fit on the relay. I also had to buy a 3' long 4g wire with a 5/16" ring terminal and a 1/2" ring terminal. Genuinedealz.com shipped it to me ready to bolt on.)
I bought an Intellitec Big Boy 200 amp latching relay, like the one the house disconnect uses, but double the size. I wasn't comfortable with a 100 amp relay on a 110 amp fused wire. (This is a continuous duty latching relay. Be careful because Intellitec also makes an intermittent duty non-latching battery isolator. The non-latching isolator is not what you want.)
The only wires not shown in that photo are the two 4g wires from the 110 amp fuse, and to the inverter. I left them off so the relay would be visible.
I also bought the same control panel and wiring harness that Airstream used for the battery disconnect.
I installed the control panel above the bed in the closet wall.
I ran the wiring to the back of the closet,
and down through an existing opening into the water heater space
I took it out between the aluminum wall and the plywood partition, then into the outside basement between the aluminum wall and the plywood partition.
I ran it around the outside basement at the very top.
After running it into the 12v electrical bay beside the outside basement, I bolted the relay to the wall and wired the harness to it. (Very first picture at the top.)
It needed a GROUND wire, so I made a 12g white jumper wire and ran it to the GROUND buss bar. I put a ring terminal on the other end and put that and the harness' GROUND wire under one of the mounting screws holding the relay against the wall.
One caution: when wired according to the schematic, pushing the USE switch turned the inverter off, and pushing the STORE switch turned the inverter on. I solved that by reversing the brown and white wires hooked to the relay. That reversed the polarity of the switch.
This was not a cheap mod, but now I can turn the inverter off and on without even getting out of bed.
No holes had to be drilled to run the wiring harness. The only permanent modification was cutting a 3"x3" square hole in the closet wall to mount the control panel. (I did have to cut the 5/16" ring terminal off of the inverter's 4g wire and install a 1/2" ring terminal so it would fit on the relay. I also had to buy a 3' long 4g wire with a 5/16" ring terminal and a 1/2" ring terminal. Genuinedealz.com shipped it to me ready to bolt on.)
