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tcab
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Dec 30, 2025

RV Queen entire removal: Circuit Breaker Panel relocate

I am removing the queen bed entirely in a 2012 2251S chevy c-class forest river forester and I see perhaps a floor vent not sure, but there is a breaker panel there in the box.  I want to remove this bed entirely and move that panel elsewhere. as a technical writer, I am ASTONISHED that there are NO DRAWINGS anywhere about structure interiors.  e.g.

1. what is under that queen box.
2. Purpose: need useable space when slide out is NOT slid out.

a. queen bed slideout instead of full or single, 
b. bed over cab will become storage/other use.
c. Where will I sleep: inflatable expandable portable bed instead of queen box.
d. dinette.  This area is being converted into an office area with fold up table
e. dinette: a futon foam chair has been acquired.
f. Seatbelts in dinette: The RV will never have more than two humans so seatbelts in dinette no needed.
g. Gas oven and stove top: will be replaced with electric convection oven and induction stove top. Please anyone make recommendation. It is likely the oven is useless.
h. intention: reduce footprint of propane gas and implement more electrical. Please anyone: tell me re: electrical implications/changes needed.
i. I have a network of engineers that can do this work.

Purpose of the RV:
a. Portable civil war historical and ancient indians history research station, weekender only no long distance trips.
b. video production studio

3 Replies

  • the only real question I have is why do you want to reduce the propane foot print and go to more electrical?  I'll polay the other side.  unless your going to have plugins availble everywhere you go, now you will have to either use a generator to supply power and recharge batteries which in that case you are now burning gas instead of propane (propane burns way way cleaner) or you have to invest heavily in solar and battery banks which is just expensive and if you want to run the ac then you might as well take out a small mortage. 

    I am all for going solar and LiFePO4 batteries and being self suficient, but I do that in conjunction with using propane for the furnace, cooking and fridge to keep the over head costs down to a reasonable amount.  

    now to the bed, breaker panel in a box?  does it have 12V fuses also?  if so you might be out of luck as it would require a re wire of most of the rv to moce the power station, or at least some creative ideas, and forget thoes engineers, why do you think your having issues like this in ghe first place, go find a local redneck who is always working on stuff.  I have been dealing with stupid ideas from engineers for as long as I can remember and most of the time I am embarassed to admit I am one.  

    If you are dead set on going electric for your cooking I would decide if you need a oven or not.  if not use that space for a cubbord by putting a door on it for pots and pans and just go induction stove top.  I do like your thought of induction as that is the most energy efficient version of an electric stove. 

    Now the fun part, how many burners do you think you need.  1, just get a portable induction stove.  that way you can plug it in outside or in side and make that whole stove area counter top.  or 2, you can get mountable single and dual burner rv spicific cook tops but I would be sceptical of the quality of them, the other route is to go with a smaller apartment sized induction top which are usaly about 24x24 or smaller.  I have seen some side by side 2 burner versions from actual apliance manufactures instead of cheep rv apliance manufactures.  normaly the two burner configuration for a rv is front/back to make more counter space but it is much easier to cook with a side by side setup.  

    THIS one kinda peaks my interest, it can be free standing or built in and is a side by side configuration.  in addition it has both a power mode and a temprature mode.  I use a induction samsung at home and I absolutly love it but this temp feature seams like it might be interesting, plus the price is deicent also.

    now electrical, if your hell bent on going electrical how far do you want to go?  what about the furnace?  are you going to use AC, are you going to have 30 amp or larger power available when you are at these places? the first thing you have to do is figure out these questions then do a power audit to get a ball park idea of how much power you will use per day.  then you have to look at what you will have availble for power.  if you have 30 amp thats good you can run 1 ac and you can shut it off when you are cooking.  if you have 50 amp you can do both at the same time and more.  the other thing is what do you do if you only have 15amp plug ins, do you tun off all the lights to crank out a two dish meal?  or do you inverst in battery storage and go with something like a victron multiplus 2 converter/charger or renogy's version that will combine shore power and battery power to let you do higher power apliances that you wouldnt normaly be able to do on 15amp power.   

    then there is the question of solar. but I won't get into that or batteries untill I know your power situation.  

  • I wouldn't be astonished about the lack of documentation in Rv's. This is pretty common. Quality control in the RV industry is not like auto manufacturing. 2 identical RVs can come off the assembly line wired differently. That's because you have the same people working on different models all day long. Instead of being focused on your particular RV's build sheet, it might help to learn how Rvs in general are manufactured. You'll find "themes" on how they are built and what components usually go where. As far as customizing your RV, have fun. Just be thoughtful on your power demands vs supply, the weight vs the GCWR of the chassis and how that weight is distributed. Also be cautious of how much weight you put in a slide. The slide mechanisms were spec'd to support the weight of what the coach had when it was built. You add any considerable weight and you could invite slide problems and failure with more weight and unequal distribution than the slide can handle.  Some slide mechanisms are already prone to issues. You mentioned replacing the LP stove with an electric convection oven and induction stove top. These are heavy amp draw items. Can your electrical connection and panel support those? Again, the coach was spec'd to handle what it came with. Adding more electrical items may mean a complete electrical upgrade - like from 30 Amp service to 50 Amp. This isn't a simple plug and play. You may find that if it has a 3500 or 4500 gen set, now you need a 5500. Again, a small root canal and expensive to boot. Lastly, moving a breaker panel is also a bit of a root canal. The way wires are chased in an RV can be pretty tricky to move things around. You will also find you have fuse panels and probably more than one. Hopefully someone in your network of engineers has some subject matter expertise in RVs. In your case specifically electrical, both 12V and 120.  There are lots of small custom RV builders that can turn almost anything (small buses, box trucks, vans, etc) into whatever you want. You may find all the things you want to do to this 14 year old Class C is more expensive, less cost effective, more labor intensive and not exactly what you want than starting from scratch. Older RVs are more challenging to maintain. Sealing, caulking, mechanical, plumbing, winterizing, etc. it's not only a 14 year old RV, it's sitting on a 15 or 16 year old chassis.  I can say with every confidence that whatever money you put into this project you will never see a dime of it back on a re-sale. I am sure that isn't the point, but it can't be understated. It's hard to state percentages but from where I sit about 90% of these DIY projects never get finished. With a custom build, you spec what you want, take it to a builder, you have one up front cost and get everything exactly the way you want it, from someone who does it for a living and it's easier to maintain. My $.02. YMMV. 

  • I’d suggest that if you don’t “know what it is” that you leave it alone and don’t attempt to “move it.”  
    Unless I’m mistaken and you have the skills and understanding to relocate what appears to be a major electrical component. 

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