Drilling Holes in Rear Wall of WC for Inverter Installation

We want to drill 2 holes 3/8” diameter in the rear wall of our WC in order to install wires from 2 golf cart batteries (220amps) on our cargo carrier to an inverter. I am hoping that I can drill them behind the left chair just above the floor. Does anyone know if there are any wires in that area?

I suppose I could drill a little bit at a time and look to determine if I will run into wires (and try to move them up or sideways) which may go to the lights or speakers mounted below the overhead cabinets. I would think any power wires would run up from the dist panel and the speaker wires would be in the ceiling.

Any ideas how to tie into the 15 amp circuit for the tv/receiver outlets in the dist panel from the inverter with a power cord when boon docking. I would place a marine switch on the 2 wires coming into the inverter (from golf cart batteries) to cut the power before hooking up to shore power. While I'm at it I could also go to the DC side prior to the inverter but wold want the house battery (100 amp) shut off.

I wouldn't be afraid of drilling. Just use caution.

I'd get an automatic transfer switch (big AC relay). That way when you are on shore power, the switch will pull the contacts away from the inverter and save on the battery. That's the way I did it and it's fully automatic. The inverter is in the front compartment close to the batteries. I ran a 10-2 romex from the inverter to the ATS I installed near the converter/fuse box area. I ran it under the floor. The walls are a pain to fish wires. I also rewired the breakers so the outlets would be the only power being pulled off the inverter. (I didn't want the fridge, converter, AC to run off the inverter just the microwave and regular outlets) I used Square-D homeline breaker from Home Depot to reconfigure the panel. They fit just fine.

Here's my layout.

Why not just drill through the floor instead?

May I ask why you want to mount your system on the outside rear of the trailer? Why not in the basement? I'm putting my golf cart batteries and inverter in the front bay door "between the landing gear". That's a good bit of weight on the back end of the trailer.

Earl

Thanks for the responses.

Earl: The weight on the back of the RV helps me keep the RV's pin wt down so as not to exceed my TV's Payload. The factory hitch allows 250 lbs. The inverter would be inside near the dist panel as I would like to tie it into the 15 amp outlet circuit and may want to tie the batteries into the DC side for boondocking. The golf cart batteries are in a water proof battery box.

moo2613: less thickness of wall.

Could you just run the wires with the fresh water tank fill tube? On mine there is plenty of space around it going through the floor. I just hate the thought of drilling holes through the Cat if not needed.

My 2 1/2 cents worth...if you put your inverter and batteries in the front like Earl's doing, the extra pin weight will make your short box ride a whole lot better. I'm going to also suggest that a more permanent and fixed application will be alot less hassle in the long run.

I guarantee you're going to enjoy the inverter and the extra battery life regardless of how you install it. Just make sure you've got enough inverting power and battery amps to get you through a "worst case" scenario so you won't end up having to upgrade later.

TC

And don't try to run an air compressor off the inverter. :x

Thanks TC! The unit you sold me is working fine.

jetskier wrote:And don't try to run an air compressor off the inverter. :x

Thanks TC! The unit you sold me is working fine.

Jetskier,
I couldn't tell from this old post if you were being serious or sarcastic funny. I was looking at the posts for the specific purpose of installing an inverter to use with an air compressor. A little help, please? Is there a potential problem running an air compressor through an inverter?

Motors do not run very well off inverters, especially air compressors due to the fact they need quite a lot of power when they are restating when air pressure falls.
Sean

Good to know. I have a little 400w inverter in my truck that I hardly ever use. I will still install it for light use, but will figure something else out for the compressor. Thanks for the help

This is a really old post. I was wondering if magna94alh actually did this or moved to the front of the Cat?

I was being serious after frying my first inverter. I just run my AC compressor off the generator when I need to air up.

jetskier wrote:I wouldn't be afraid of drilling. Just use caution.

I'd get an automatic transfer switch (big AC relay). That way when you are on shore power, the switch will pull the contacts away from the inverter and save on the battery. That's the way I did it and it's fully automatic. The inverter is in the front compartment close to the batteries. I ran a 10-2 romex from the inverter to the ATS I installed near the converter/fuse box area. I ran it under the floor. The walls are a pain to fish wires. I also rewired the breakers so the outlets would be the only power being pulled off the inverter. (I didn't want the fridge, converter, AC to run off the inverter just the microwave and regular outlets) I used Square-D homeline breaker from Home Depot to reconfigure the panel. They fit just fine.

Here's my layout.

Question. I notice you connected your solar to the converter instead of the batteries. Never have seen anybody else do that but me. It seems that may have caused me some problems. I plan to hook mine directly to the batteries to see if I can cure the problem. Once the battery is charged the controller rapidly goes back and forth from not charging to charging.

Portagie1968 wrote:Question. I notice you connected your solar to the converter instead of the batteries. Never have seen anybody else do that but me. It seems that may have caused me some problems. I plan to hook mine directly to the batteries to see if I can cure the problem. Once the battery is charged the controller rapidly goes back and forth from not charging to charging.

What's your question?. I connected the output of the solar charge controller to the large DC lines that go from the converter to the batteries. I don't see why you have a problem if you hooked them up this way. I just utilized the large gauge DC wires they installed rather than another home run to the batteries. My panel only outputs 9-10A in full summer sun which the 10ga wires from the solar to the converter is more than capable.

jetskier wrote:
What's your question?. I connected the output of the solar charge controller to the large DC lines that go from the converter to the batteries. I don't see why you have a problem if you hooked them up this way. I just utilized the large gauge DC wires they installed rather than another home run to the batteries. My panel only outputs 9-10A in full summer sun which the 10ga wires from the solar to the converter is more than capable.

This is the same as my setup, it seems sensible to me not having to run another set of cables to the batteries.
Sean

jetskier wrote:

Portagie1968 wrote:Question. I notice you connected your solar to the converter instead of the batteries. Never have seen anybody else do that but me. It seems that may have caused me some problems. I plan to hook mine directly to the batteries to see if I can cure the problem. Once the battery is charged the controller rapidly goes back and forth from not charging to charging.

What's your question?. I connected the output of the solar charge controller to the large DC lines that go from the converter to the batteries. I don't see why you have a problem if you hooked them up this way. I just utilized the large gauge DC wires they installed rather than another home run to the batteries. My panel only outputs 9-10A in full summer sun which the 10ga wires from the solar to the converter is more than capable.

I guess the appliances will draw from both of them. I have heard pro and con on this. If I leave it your way I have to get some filters because the flickering is driving us nuts. Once the batteries are charged the Sun controller, as needed, goes from charging to not charging fairly rapidly. This also happens when we are running lights. This causes flicker in the florescent lights. We called Sun and the control is working properly so another fix needs to happen ASAP.

Since it is wired in parallel there shouldn't be an issue with appliances drawing too much current. I know my charge controller has a fuse to prevent this.

As I said in the other post, you should probably try a capacitor (aka filter) or try another controller.

First I am going to make the changes that were suggested by the individuals who design and sell the systems. The controller will probably be change at the same time. Then I will go from there.

schrowang: To answer your comment

I now have 2 sets of 6volt GC batteries on the back cargo carrier and I replaced the house battery with 2 GC's as well. Helps with wt in the front of the rv. Will need to weight at CAT scales as I haven't done it in a year and a half. Should be about 1500 lbs on truck hitch and 9000 lbs on 5th wheel's 2 axles. Will be in Big Bend about March 2 2011 for 6 days. Will see if each set of batteries on the back will last 3 days of tv and dvr then charge in Davis Mtn SP on th 8th of March. Use B&D smart charger 40,20,10,2 amp (can also use with Honda 2000i Gen to up amps).

When I drilled my hole in the back wall I placed as close as could to the shore power plug. I also have a stud finder that will locate metal studs. Helps.