Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Dale,
I did kind of the same thing. I put the battery in the tongue box but I put the charger in the galley. I didn't want to put my expensive battery charger anywhere near the elements or battery gases. It left more room for the miscellaneous stuff you need when you camp like chocks, blocks, etc. The picture below shows the battery box with an elcheapo charger in the box that died shortly after the picture was taken. I ran the 12V output from the green charger in the picture directly to my fuse block so the output is fused.





Bruce

Bruce, my converter I ordered is the WFCO with integrated 3-stage charger, which will be somewhere in my galley cabinet inside the trailer. The only electrical components in the box will be the battery, shore cable and main breaker. In the picture of your box, is that device sticking out of the front of the box, with the red wire running to the battery, a shutoff switch? With my converter setup, I don't know if I really need a shutoff switch until I see how it all connects. I plan on leaving shore power hooked up to it at home to keep the battery on maintenance float charge.

Dale, I bought the same converter as you. A breaker before the converter isn't needed. The WFCO is wired directly to the shore power it has a built in 2 breaker A/C panel. That's the main reason I bought it.

I've been told before on this forum that a main panel was needed...why I don't remember. I think it is redundant. I bought one, but when I get my converter, I may agree and return it. I got a small panel box for $11.49 and a 30 amp breaker for 6.28. That won't break the bank, and if I do use it, I have a main shutoff in my tongue box.

I also found shallow plastic outlet boxes. My GFCI outlets are 1 1/4" deep, and these boxes are not that deep, But, they also have a box extension that will allow the shallow box to be as deep as needed. In this case, 1 1/4" deep. The box and extension together are about $2.25 total. I didn't buy the boxes as I wasn't sure how deep my outlets were at the time.

cracker39 wrote: My GFCI outlets are 1 1/4" deep, and these boxes are not that deep, But, they also have a box extension that will allow the shallow box to be as deep as needed. In this case, 1 1/4" deep.

This is where I'm missing something:

Isn't the framing we're talking about only 3/4" thick, add a 1/8" skins, and you need a box 7/8" or less? What boxes are you guys talking about that will fit in a measurement like this without sticking out?

I never saw any this size at HD or Lowes.

Nope...I'm putting my outlet boxes in the front and rear walls where the depth is 1 1/2". That's why I made those walls that deep. The roof is also that deep, but more for structural purposes. Side walls are 3/4" and I'll only have a couple of 12V switches there on panels without boxes.

cracker39 wrote: In the picture of your box, is that device sticking out of the front of the box, with the red wire running to the battery, a shutoff switch?

Dale,

Yeah, that's what it is. I wanted an accessible switch for a battery main shutoff. Even though all my wiring is fused, including a circuit breaker on the battery line to the main fuse panel, I wanted a way to quickly isolate the battery. Battery shorts are an ugly business. I need to learn to use it when I'm working on the wiring. I've blown four fuses dinking with the stereo and lights. No big deal if everything is fused, just replace the fuse and be more carefull.

You may or may not need a main circuit breaker with the panel if it has two 15A circuit breakers. You'll only be able to power 15A worth of load split between the two circuit breakers if you use a 15A plug. I'd go with a 30A plug if you want use all the capacity. Make sure that #10 wire is used to feed the line side of both the 15A circuit breakers. But, if there's a short upstream of your panel you'll be relying on the campground circuit breaker to protect your wiring. I used a circuit breaker at the point where my wiring entered the trailer so all my stuff is protected by my circuit breaker. I didn't want to rely on the campground circuit breaker to keep a years worth of work from burning down. Also, NEC requires a circuit breaker there anyways. There's that ugly "C" word but I think there's a good reason for the circuit breaker. I've seen some nasty wiring at campgrounds.
Bruce

cracker39 wrote:Nope...I'm putting my outlet boxes in the front and rear walls where the depth is 1 1/2". That's why I made those walls that deep. The roof is also that deep, but more for structural purposes. Side walls are 3/4" and I'll only have a couple of 12V switches there on panels without boxes.

Got you. Yes, you're right. Which means I too COULD have recessed my front wall outlet as well with a 1 1/2" box, now that I remember how the spars are positioned.

But I didn't, so I didn't.

(If The Crab doesn't blow up, it's gonna be a total miracle.)

OK, Bruce, that's reason enough to keep the box and 30 amp breaker I bought today. Redundancy, yes, but also more protection.

Ira, the only 1 1/2" boxes I saw were metal, and they had no way to mount them except to put a screw through the side into a stud, or lay install them sideways attached to a spar. I may do that and just use the metal ones...they're also cheaper than the plastic two piece box which is my alternative.

I'm still working on the spars for the back, and I can put another one in the front to mount the box on. And then, I may just put a thin (4-5 inches or so) "cabinet" from the counter to roof on the left side, to mount my converter and outlets in.

This sure gets complicated doesn't it?