Trailer Mod - Battery Disconnect Switch

Sorry for the long absence.  The railroad has me working hard.  I have been doing little things to the camper to get it ready, but took a few trips off to go camping this weekend.

Today's mod, we put in a battery disconnect switch.  My Roo did not come with one from the factory, although, I believe new models are coming with one.

The main reason for the disconnect is so that you can store your trailer without hooking up the power.  What happens, there are little parasitic draws on the battery, and if you don't disconnect or plug in, you are going to kill the battery.  Drawing the battery too far too many times is a good way to shorten its life.

Some of the parasitic draw are:

• Refrigerator Electronics (never had this issue in the 90s)
• Safety Devices (Propane alarm, and any other 12v detectors)
• Clock Radio
• Television

On the forums, some people said to break the ground, so that if you accidentally ground the terminals on the switch, no harm.  The problem I see with that is the trailer breakaway is now disabled if you forget to turn the switch on.  So, I decided to break the positive just before my converter charger and put the switch there.

I bought a single battery switch from Blue Sea Systems, model #6005.  I liked this because there were 3 mounting options, a removable "key" to turn it on and to remove when off, and it was quite small. I chose mounting it by sandwiching the paneling between the front and back, and using the thicker wood on the sides to help brace it.  I also had to shave some of the edge off my propane alarm due to the tight fit.  One mistake I did, the hole saw grabbed and marked the wood.  I will have to get some of that furniture fix stuff to get rid of the mark.

Besides the switch, other supplies I needed were:

• 4 #10 by 2 1/2 screws and nuts (Ace Hardware)
• 6 foot piece of 8AWG battery wire (Autozone)
• 3/8" 8AWG terminals (Autozone)
• Holesaw (Ace Hardware)

Battery Disconnect mounted and in the ON position.

Proximity to my Converter.  Only needed on short piece of 8 gauge wire to do the job.

Trailer Mod - LED Awning Lights

A popular mod going around is the installation of LED Light Strip under the awning.  These relatively inexpensive item gives the camper a nice glow to it.

On the forums, pretty much everyone I see installing these had an electric awning.  I have a good old fashion manual awning.  They had a nice hole to run a wire through, I didn't.  I had to make my own hole, and that was the most nerve racking part of this mod.  If you can avoid making holes, that is the best way to go.

 

The dreaded hole in the camper.  I hope I know what I am doing...

 

The bushing.  I felt that this was the way to go.

 

I decided to cut the connectors off, since I was not going to drill a hole big enough for the connectors.  And they wouldn't go through the bushings either.

 

.Little help from my father, all wires soldered and each individual wire was heat shrinked, then the hole cord was heat shrinked. One nice thing about the Dometic LEDs is that the controller has terminal screws.  I wish this one did.

 

Don't forget to clean the surface for better sticking.

 

I was able to use nearly all of the LEDs.

 

A little test.

 

One more Test.

 .

 

A little silicone.  Goes on white, dries clear in 1 to 2 weeks...as what the package says.

 

I still don't have the finger smoothing down yet.  Hope that when it dries clear, it looks a little better.

I also put some silicone on the ends of the strip, as recommended by someone on one of the forums.

Trailer Mod - Bathroom Light Fan Switch

One thing a seasoned RVer knows, always shut the fan off before you flush.  There is a good chance that you will suck the beautiful smell out of you black tank and into the living area.  Well, with a 7 year old, who is the shortest in her class, that could be an issue.  Especially when the light and fan are on the same switch. 

So, I decided to take the switch apart and take the trim ring down off the fan and see how this is wired.  I was in luck.  the feed went to the fan, then down to the switch, back to the fan, then to the light.  Jiggled a few wires back and forth, and the wires move freely.  Great.  This former alarm tech should have no issues fishing a new wire so I can put the fan on a dedicated switch.

So, I went down to my friendly RV dealer and parts supplier, Rousseau's RV.  I picked up a double switch, which looked black with sunglasses on, but was actually brown.  Close enough.  Here is what I did to get everything all together.

 

Single Switch to control Lights and Fan.  Can you say penny pinching.

 

Pulled the trim ring down, and found out the feed (near the knob) came through the ceiling, then back into the wall, to the switch.  Then it came back out and to the splices.

 

So, I tied a good size #14 primary to the wires.  #14 should handle the 4 amp motor, being capable of handling 15 amps.

 

Pulled the wire through...  Retied it a few feet further down...

 

Then I pulled the factory wires back to the switch location.

 

Made my connections.  The dark blue was factory.  The light blues and yellow are mine.  I always use quality shrink wrap connectors with a 1000 watt heat gun to shrink them.  I feel they look a lot better.

 

Remade the splices, once again, shrink butt connectors.

 

Here is the new switch.  Not exactly the same, but this camper only has 2 switches.  This one, and one for the outside porch light.

 

One more look at the final product.

Trailer Mod - Electric Hot Water Switch

One of my first mods I did to my trailer is install a switch so I can control the electric portion of the hot water heater.  Most of the newer trailers come with a combination propane/electric heater.  Some have both switches located inside the trailer.  Mine, did not.  To turn on or off the electric, you had to either 1) Go outside, open the hot water heater, flip the switch, and head back inside or 2) Open the fuse panel, and flip the circuit breaker for the hot water heater, causing premature wear on the circuit breaker.

So I did some thinking, and after confirming it on Forest River Forums, I wired in a switch with indicator light so that I can switch the electric portion of my hot water on and off when desired.

Here is a few pics of the mod.

The Reason I put the switch where it is, was due to the fact, the previous owner installed an outlet there.  He also never wired it.  So, I had an outlet there that did nothing.  Not only that, he used the wrong kind of box.  But, I did use the cover for the switch, which only came in white at Home Depot.  I then used the outlet to replace one in my garage.