Fuse box location

[markhusbands]

I see that many people put their battery or batteries in a tongue box, but then put their fuse box in a compartment in the galley or sleeper cabinets.

Why not just put battery and fuse box in a tongue box, and then just route wires into the trailer?

Thanks in advance.

Mark

[absolutsnwbrdr]

Thats kind of what we did in my friends teardrop. Except we mounted his batteries underneath the trailer (near the axle to keep tongue weight down) and then put all his fuses and power center in the tongue box. Whatever works best for you.

[_Ryan_]

I think one thing to consider is the distance from the fuse box to the electrical device. The longer the run the more voltage drop, and to counteract this, the larger gauge wire you must use. The distance is calculated as round trip from the fuse box and back so every extra foot counts 2X. Also most of the electrical components are in the galley/cabin so having the the fuse box close makes a lot of sense.

[markhusbands]

Good advice. But I am wondering if that will be a significant effect given my very simple electrical plan.

All 12v.
Charge battery with portable charger.
No shore power.
No AC.
No heater
No refrigerator.
No TV or stereo.
Galley - light, maybe one or two cigarette jacks.
Cabin - small fan in center, small porch light over each door, reading light near front, maybe one or two cigarette lighter in cabinet or near head, maybe small 12v oscillating fan.

So central would be better I guess, but require more cabinet planning. I am going to use a tambour back in the galley, and it will be parked above the cabin cabinet near the ceiling, which seems to be where a lot of folks put their power center. Doable, but the measurements will need to be right...

[Dale M.]

Just put it someplace easy to get to and you can see it as well..... Fuses only blow Or wires come loose as fuse panel when you can not find the flashlight and its dark, its raining, or you are in middle of preparing something in galley and you need the power, but have all your meal preparations in the way....


Dale

[GuitarPhotog]

I put my battery and fuse box (PD 4045 Converter/Charger) in my cabin. The wiring is mostly on a cabinet door for easy access.



I've been wiring up stuff all my life, most of it in uncomfortable places to work. For this project I wanted to make it easy to wire the first time, and easy to maintain over time. I can sit on my bed and work on the wiring in comfort, even in the rain.

<Chas>

[pmowers]

I mounted my converter/fuse panel inside my trailer, because it is much easier for me to just run two large wires to the battery than to run all of the other wires to/from the tongue box. Unlike AC, DC voltages drop very quickly with distance, and I eliminated at least four feet from each lead. It is also easier to trace where a break is if you have fewer/shorter wire runs. YMMV

Pat

[markhusbands]

Makes sense. I'll try to make a little space in the cabin cabinet.

[pmowers]

Just make sure that you account for ventilation if you are using any voltage converters (12>120 or 120>12), or charging system. I built mine into a location that was out of the way, but still easy to get to.

[markhusbands]

Good advice.

Personally, I don't need any 120 appliances, and I almost never camp around RV hook-ups, so I am not planning any 120 at all. And my plan for recharging the battery is: open tongue box; place alligator clips on battery terminals; plug portable charger into extension cord leading to garage; charge; close tongue box. If I ever want to have more battery life than 2-3 days I'll hook up a simple portable solar panel, I figure.