PD4045 wiring questions

[jgizzi]

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=102 ... 0306028065

We are about to install our Power Converter and I have a couple of questions. I posted a photo of the panel and my plan to the FB group but seem unable to post it here. I made an attempt to post the URL above so we will see what happens.

I have been through tnttt.com and saw the excellent PD4045 wiring guide but it is silent on a couple of issues and the box has changed since then as well.

1. Is the battery neg connection block connected to anything else in the box or do I need to jumper it to the GRND bus?
2. I figured this one out but would welcome confirmation - Shore power hot comes into the box and is supposed to go to a 30A breaker. I now know that we are basically reverse feeding the AC bus through this breaker and it is ok, at least with the breaker that we purchased.
3. I figured this one out but would welcome confirmation - The converter section power is supposed to run through a 15A breaker. I now know that the reverse feed into the main breaker powers up the breaker bus and that I am then to connect the black converter power wire into this breaker.
4. I don't know the significance of the two red DC circuits in the first two DC fuse positions, are they different somehow and if so, how? It would appear, and has been mentioned by another builder, that the two red circuits are heavier wire and therefore higher capacity. I see no specs mentioned on this in the PD manual. Does anyone have any further info on this?
5. In reading tnttt.com it seems that the Green Gnd bus connects to the trailer ground. Can this be the same lug that the trailer lights use?
6. When I run a DC circuit I am guessing that the Red wire on the device will connect to one of the black wires coming out of the converter. Then the black wire from the device will home run back to the green bus bar. Do I have this right?
7. Is it correct that the negative terminal on the battery is also run to a grounding lug on the trailer?

Hopefully someone in the group is able to help a bit here and is using the same power converter.

Thanks,

Jim

[troubleScottie]

Check here: long answer and other cross references http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=6 ... 5#p1263020

[jgizzi]

By golly, even having read that document I missed the connection between battery neg post and the gnd bus bar. Thanks for that.

[jgizzi]

Updates for anyone that finds this thread in the future and has the same problems.

1. Is the battery neg connection block connected to anything else in the box or do I need to jumper it to the GRND bus?
I was wrong that the posted PD4045 wiring guide is silent on this issue. It is explicit, the Battery Neg Connection needs to be wired to the green ground bus. Why Progressive Dynamics doesn't make this connection is a mystery, but it needs to be connected.
2. I figured this one out but would welcome confirmation - Shore power hot comes into the box and is supposed to go to a 30A breaker. I now know that we are basically reverse feeding the AC bus through this breaker and it is ok, at least with the breaker that we purchased.
3. I figured this one out but would welcome confirmation - The converter section power is supposed to run through a 15A breaker. I now know that the reverse feed into the main breaker powers up the breaker bus and that I am then to connect the black converter power wire into this breaker.
4. I don't know the significance of the two red DC circuits in the first two DC fuse positions, are they different somehow and if so, how? It would appear, and has been mentioned by another builder, that the two red circuits are heavier wire and therefore higher capacity. I see no specs mentioned on this in the PD manual. Does anyone have any further info on this?
I was wrong here as well. If I look very closely at the PD4045 in the wiring guide I can see that the 2 red leads are for 30A ckts and the black leads are for 20A
5. In reading tnttt.com it seems that the Green Gnd bus connects to the trailer ground. Can this be the same lug that the trailer lights use?
6. When I run a DC circuit I am guessing that the Red wire on the device will connect to one of the black wires coming out of the converter. Then the black wire from the device will home run back to the green bus bar. Do I have this right?
This is correct. In my case it will be easier to install a few small bus bars rather than home running each light back to the ground bus but the theory is the same.
7. Is it correct that the negative terminal on the battery is also run to a grounding lug on the trailer?

I am still not 100% sure that both the battery negative terminal and the green ground bus are both connected to a lug on the trailer. This would mean that the trailer lights, AC ground and DC ground are all on the trailer. Can anyone confirm this?

[Tom&Shelly]

Updates for anyone that finds this thread in the future and has the same problems.

1. Is the battery neg connection block connected to anything else in the box or do I need to jumper it to the GRND bus?
I was wrong that the posted PD4045 wiring guide is silent on this issue. It is explicit, the Battery Neg Connection needs to be wired to the green ground bus. Why Progressive Dynamics doesn't make this connection is a mystery, but it needs to be connected.

7. Is it correct that the negative terminal on the battery is also run to a grounding lug on the trailer?

I am still not 100% sure that both the battery negative terminal and the green ground bus are both connected to a lug on the trailer. This would mean that the trailer lights, AC ground and DC ground are all on the trailer. Can anyone confirm this?

You should run a heavy gauge wire (perhaps 10 gauge; at least as big as the wire in your cord from the shore power station) between the green wire ground bus in the PD 4045 to the trailer frame. This is for safety. If a frayed AC wire, or something else, energizes the frame, the ground wire gives the current a path back to the shore power station, and a circuit breaker should trip, either there or in the PD 4045, saving you from electrocution.

Many trailers have their 12 VDC road lights (powered from the tow vehicle) with a current return through the trailer frame. That's to save money on half the wire. It's also possible to wire your 12 VDC system, powered by the trailer battery/PD4045 converter that way. If you're wiring your trailer that way, the negative terminal of the battery also needs to be connected to the frame as well as the appropriate terminal in the PD4045 (so it will charge from the converter). Then, electrically, the negative terminal of the battery will be connected to the PD 4045 green wire ground bus. But I wouldn't add an extra wire, it's not necessary.

I do it a little differently: I do not connect either my road lights or my 12 VDC system to the trailer frame. I spend a little extra for pairs of wires, but won't have to deal with flaky connections as metal corrodes. I do not connect the negative terminal of the battery to the AC green wire ground bus, and it doesn't bother the PD 4045 at all. However, there is a green wire ground from the converter itself that needs to go to the ground bus inside the PD 4045.

Does that help, or make it more confusing?

Tom

[jgizzi]

It is not too confusing and we bought the wire to do as you did but I have a couple more clarifications I'll need.

When I hooked up the Pd4045 I did not connect a battery for testing. At that point no dc circuit worked without the neg terminal being connected to the ground bus. When I do hook up the battery we will still need that connection, right. If both the ac and dc grounds are on that bus how are you avoiding the dc circuits being grounded to the trailer?

I am missing a piece still, sorry.

[Tom&Shelly]

It is not too confusing and we bought the wire to do as you did but I have a couple more clarifications I'll need.

When I hooked up the Pd4045 I did not connect a battery for testing. At that point no dc circuit worked without the neg terminal being connected to the ground bus. When I do hook up the battery we will still need that connection, right. If both the ac and dc grounds are on that bus how are you avoiding the dc circuits being grounded to the trailer?

I am missing a piece still, sorry.

I used a separate DC negative bus, outside of the PD 4045. There is a negative terminal for the converter, which I think you tied to the green wire ground? I tied it to the external bus, along with the negative side of the DC circuits, and also the battery's negative terminal. So my green wire AC safety ground bus is separate from my DC negative bus. If the negative side of your DC circuits are tied to the trailer frame along with the safety ground wire, they are all tied together, which is okay too.

I wanted to have a separate bus for the DC circuits negative side, and keep them physically separate from the AC safety grounds. Seems safer and less confusing to me, even on a teardrop where they are tied together electrically.

Tom

[jgizzi]

Thanks for taking the time to respond Tom, and Happy Thanksgiving.

I will adopt your philosophy, and that of Rad Trailers on the FB group, and separate the AC and DC sides. We had already agreed that we needed to buy and external ground bus to simplify things. And separating them simplifies things further. My daughter will be using the trailer on her own and if it is anything like our boat simplifying troubleshooting is a good thing ;-)

Jim

[Tom&Shelly]

Thanks for taking the time to respond Tom, and Happy Thanksgiving.

I will adopt your philosophy, and that of Rad Trailers on the FB group, and separate the AC and DC sides. We had already agreed that we needed to buy and external ground bus to simplify things. And separating them simplifies things further. My daughter will be using the trailer on her own and if it is anything like our boat simplifying troubleshooting is a good thing ;-)

Jim

Glad the comments helped Jim.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tom