Would this wiring diagram be correct? I have 2 6v batteries wired in series for 12v and bought a truck bed tool box to house them in thinking that one day I may want to go to 4 batteries and this will give me the room to do that. I also bought a 600w power inverter that will be installed in my front pass through. I chose a 600w model since I will be using about 400w of AC at most while dry camping. I bought and will have to install 2 power junction posts because the way the batteries will be housed in the box, the battery cables from the camper won’t reach the battery terminals. I also chose to go with a circuit breaker rather than a fuse for the inverter. I want to make sure before I start drilling holes and mounting things that I have the wiring correct. Thanks!

RobWNY wrote:I bought and will have to install 2 power junction posts because the way the batteries will be housed in the box, the battery cables from the camper won’t reach the battery terminals.No need for anything fancy, just extend the length of each cable with more cable and splicers like these and enclose them in heat shrink tubing.Wiring diagram is what I did except I do also have a separate cable running from the battery negative terminal to the inverter.

Curious why you want to run the + directly to the battery bank but the neg to the post? Why not be consistant?

Looks reasonable to me, with the exception that I would very strongly suggest adding (or moving) a main fuse before the positive lead to the trailer circuits. This fuse should be as close to the batteries as practical. I think it's particularly advisable here where the wires are going through a couple of holes and may be exposed somewhat to the elements and damage in general and have more than a completely trivial chance of shorting out at some point.

You still need a battery in the trailer to comply with the law regarding your emergency breakaway system.Adding a Trimetric monitor to that will be difficult for locating the shunt.Adding solar can be done by just running the controller's output over to the inverter's terminals, with the controller near the inverter.

Correct in the fact that it will work.Best is whatever method allows for the shortest path from the battery bank to the inverter.

Help with Wiring | Good Sam Community

20 Replies

DrewE
Explorer II
Feb 24, 2017
Fuses vs. circuit breakers: there's no inherent reason to always prefer one over the other in my opinion. Probably circuit breakers are a little handier in most situations.

Fuses are generally less expensive and often smaller in size, but obviously cannot be reset. Circuit breakers can be reset and (depending on the type) can also be used as a disconnect switch. Either one, properly sized for the wire, will safely prevent overcurrent in the case of a short circuit or overload and so keep the wire from getting too hot and potentially starting a fire, which is of course their primary purpose.
SoundGuy
Explorer
Feb 24, 2017
jhilley wrote:
There is no need to run 4 cables between the camper and truck. The inverter and converter can connect at the same place on the camper. You didn't comment on what size cable you plan to use. For that distance 2 gauge would probably be preferable.

Actually there is. The stock terminal strips often used by trailer manufacturers are minimal at best so it's difficult to fit the termination lugs used on heavy gauge cable to all fit properly on these terminal strips. I have this exact situation on my own Coachmen and it's the reason I did run a separate set of 4 gauge cables from my 1000 watt PSW inverter 6' to where the battery is located. Since the OP is intending to power an even smaller 600 watt inverter 2 gauge is way heavier than he needs.
jhilley
Explorer
Feb 24, 2017
There is no need to run 4 cables between the camper and truck. The inverter and converter can connect at the same place on the camper. You didn't comment on what size cable you plan to use. For that distance 2 gauge would probably be preferable.
Clay_L
Explorer
Feb 24, 2017
Just need to make sure the converter is turned off when the inverter is operating. You may already be doing that with a transfer switch but I couldn't tell.
RobWNY
Explorer
Feb 24, 2017
Ok, points well taken. I'll make some changes. Two more questions. Is there any advantage to using fuses rather than circuit breakers for both the inverter and/or the main trailer feeds? And, where does one find those splicers? What are they actually called? A google search didn't show me anything like them.
beemerphile1
Explorer
Feb 24, 2017
Correct in the fact that it will work.

Best is whatever method allows for the shortest path from the battery bank to the inverter.
BFL13
Explorer II
Feb 24, 2017
You still need a battery in the trailer to comply with the law regarding your emergency breakaway system.

Adding a Trimetric monitor to that will be difficult for locating the shunt.

Adding solar can be done by just running the controller's output over to the inverter's terminals, with the controller near the inverter.
DrewE
Explorer II
Feb 24, 2017
Looks reasonable to me, with the exception that I would very strongly suggest adding (or moving) a main fuse before the positive lead to the trailer circuits. This fuse should be as close to the batteries as practical. I think it's particularly advisable here where the wires are going through a couple of holes and may be exposed somewhat to the elements and damage in general and have more than a completely trivial chance of shorting out at some point.
hedge
Explorer
Feb 23, 2017
Curious why you want to run the + directly to the battery bank but the neg to the post? Why not be consistant?
SoundGuy
Explorer
Feb 23, 2017
RobWNY wrote:
I bought and will have to install 2 power junction posts because the way the batteries will be housed in the box, the battery cables from the camper won’t reach the battery terminals.

No need for anything fancy, just extend the length of each cable with more cable and splicers like these and enclose them in heat shrink tubing.

Wiring diagram is what I did except I do also have a separate cable running from the battery negative terminal to the inverter.

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