sportsmen classic underbelly

[GordonThree]

Greetings everyone!

I have a question about accessing the underbelly of my KZ Sportsmen Classic (a 2013 model 200). I haven't crawled under it yet, but feeling around down there, it seems to be covered by some sort of plastic fabric, and its kind of squishy, like it is filled with spun glass insulation.

The folks at the KZ factory seem to love their pneumatic stapler, looking at how everything else is put together in the trailer, I assume there are a million staples holding this fabric onto some sort of framing. Do any KZ owners have any stories or tips about accessing the underbelly? I don't really want to cut or rip down the fabric, because how to you fix it afterwards. I want to access the underbelly to drill some holes for running conduits, to facilitate installing some additional batteries and an inverter.

My plan is to install a Magnum inverter and two or three group 31 AGM batteries into the aft dinette seat storage box (just rear of the axle), and run 120v through conduit under the trailer over to the compartment housing the existing converter. I will be re-using the converter's AC/DC distribution panel, but not the 120V to 12V power supply portion (the Magnum will take over as the 120v to 12v power source.)

Diagram of what I'm talking about:

[GordonThree]

I stuck my head under the TT today and was happy to see the darco and insulation are not very "thick" in the areas I plan to install conduit.

I'm thinking rather than cut any kind of slit or large opening in the darco, I can cut an X in it and slide through a PVC bulkhead fitting, either 1" or 1.5". Then I use silicone or some sort of RTV sealant around the bulkhead, both inside and outside, and then tighten down the retaining nut. I'll keep the threaded side of the bulkhead inside the camper, and the flange side facing out. Then I can cement a PVC street elbow into the bulkhead. Repeat the process on the other side, and put some pipe between the two. There are clips screwed into the under side holding the holding tanks and rigid gas line, so I plan to screw some pipe-strapping into the same location to support the conduit.

[westend]

I'm doing something similar, 1 1/2" conduit under the floor, from passenger's side to driver's side to connect to the distribution center. Fortunately, nothing is in my way except the frame rails and frame gussets.

Is there a chance that you can cut the fabric across the width and add in a support directly over the cut? When you seal it back up you could tape and fasten to your new support. If you really got fancy, both edges of the cut could be bound with metal, covered with a trim piece and you would have an access point in the future, should you need it.

[mwebber78]

On my Jayco, they used grey expansion foam to seal inlets and outlets thru the Darco, but I also have the enclosed underbelly. Maybe black colored Eternabond would work?

[GordonThree]

mwebber: thank's for naming what it is for me. searching for repair tips, a lot of folks seem to use a cloth duct tape (duck, gorilla, etc) ... I suppose another option would be to cover over the cut piece with a new piece, I imagine I can find rolls of it on e-bay, etc. Looks like this will add more work to my plans.

[mwebber78]

That would be the water proof Darco wrap keeping the fiberglass held in place. It is wrapped on the edge and attached, will be very difficult to remove and reseal. On certain models and brands they have an additional enclosed layer between the frame rails. Sorry I don't have any good advice on this one.