Powermax Boondocker Install

After careful consideration I decided to run a wire to the frame. I didn't want to because I knew it would be a pain, due to the way the wires were routed out of the compartment. The wires ran through the wall into the pantry cabinet and under the floor. I had to remove the bottom shelf to access where the wires ran through the floor to the frame. All done now so I should be good. Thanks for your replies.

Katdaddy wrote:

RJsfishin wrote:
I grounded the ground lug on my stand alone to where all the other grounds were grounded. I never thought about asking :)

I am leaning this way.

IMO be careful here as to where "all the others" go.

This is a converter not an inverter, but with an inverter's chassis ground lug, it is important not to bring that wire from the chassis lug around to the inverter's own neg input terminal as way to reach the battery neg which is frame grounded.

With a converter, the DC is output so I don't know if that still applies, but I would pretend it does unless I knew better. I would not just stick it in with the other grounds unless those are actual frame grounds and not just somewhere on the way to the frame. (except it would be ok to ground that lug to the metal box of the power centre if it is in there since that is how lower portions are grounded)

Also the lower portion on some converters (like 7300s) have no ground with their 120v input, but some do when they have a plug in like those PowerMax's do. The 120v input three wires go inside to the circuit board input side for white and black and the green ground wire goes to an internal lug on the chassis, same chassis as the external ground lug is on. So there is a path there back to the frame when the external lug is wired.

Now with some you end up cutting off the 120v input plug and hard wiring it to the places where the old 7300 was wired to -black to the circuit breaker and white to the neutral buss, but now you have this extra ground wire the 7300 didn't have. Presumably that would go to the ground buss with the other 120v grounds.

Unless I knew better it is ok, I would not put the chassis ground from the lug back around to the ground buss the 120v input ground wire is on (if it is) although that is frame grounded by way of that fat bare copper wire of the shore power cable's input to frame and power centre metal box. IMO just put the ground lug to frame more directly.

Actual electricians here can advise how much of the above is hogwash and if any is correct, but without knowing more that is how I would do it.

RJsfishin wrote:
I grounded the ground lug on my stand alone to where all the other grounds were grounded. I never thought about asking :)

I am leaning this way.

I grounded the ground lug on my stand alone to where all the other grounds were grounded. I never thought about asking :)

The chassis bonding lug is wired to RV frame.

If the original "lower portion" converter part of the power centre was replaced with a "deck mount" then you get that confusion. The original lower portion is already chassis grounded by being attached to the metal box the whole power centre is in (the metal box is grounded to frame via the bare copper wire of the 120v 30a input wire to the main breaker etc so the 12v and 120v are both grounded to frame in common)

If you install a deck mount elsewhere (they can go anywhere) then it needs the chassis ground to frame using the lug. Now, if you put the deck mount in as the new lower portion it depends on whether its chassis is in contact with the rest of the power centre's metal box whether you need to ground it again. Easiest thing is to just ground it to frame anyway, since you can have as many grounds as you like, no problem.