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Old 03-28-2011, 11:10 PM   #1
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battery, ground and a few other questions

Hi all -
I've searched through the forums and used the Google search exclusively for FRV, but can't find what I need:

1) For the battery, is it recommended to just run a wire of the (-) post out the top of the battery box and then bolt it to the frame for the ground? Is there a neater way to do this? Out the bottom? I'm sure either would work but would like feedback from others RE what they've done. Pics would be great.

2) For the positive (black in my case), I need an inline fuse from what I've read. What size fuse should this be, and can it be mounted in the plastic battery box, or is it better inside the rig?

Thanks in advance,
Mike
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Old 03-29-2011, 07:02 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Whitney View Post
1) For the battery, is it recommended to just run a wire of the (-) post out the top of the battery box and then bolt it to the frame for the ground?
My Fiber Stream has a (white) ground wire that goes from the Battery all the way back to the Converter's Ground Buss. Another short (white) wire goes from the Converter's Ground Buss to the frame. The "pigtail's" white ground wire goes to a junction box where the Brake/Tail/Running/Back-up Lights are routed from. A white wire goes from this junction box to the Battery's (-) terminal, and another short white wire connects the junction box to the frame.

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Originally Posted by Mike Whitney View Post
2) For the positive (black in my case), I need an inline fuse from what I've read. What size fuse should this be, and can it be mounted in the plastic battery box, or is it better inside the rig?
Mine is 20 amps, and it is inside the rig.
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Old 03-30-2011, 10:48 PM   #3
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Thanks for the info Fred. I have a pigtail coming in to a junction box as well. What I was missing was the inline fuse. Today I put one in on the (+) lead before the junction box, inside the trailer. I had bought 30A flat fuses, and a slick in-line fuse with a rubber casing/cover....I had bought these before reading your post....not sure if 30A is too high.

I was trying to avoid wires coming out of top of the battery box. My box has a bunch of holes in the bottom from the PO...I may just run the ground through there and tap to the frame...not sure if there's a potential issue with acid leaking through these holes and eating the frame ....?

M
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Old 05-13-2011, 12:38 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Frederick L. Simson View Post
My Fiber Stream has a (white) ground wire that goes from the Battery all the way back to the Converter's Ground Buss. Another short (white) wire goes from the Converter's Ground Buss to the frame. The "pigtail's" white ground wire goes to a junction box where the Brake/Tail/Running/Back-up Lights are routed from. A white wire goes from this junction box to the Battery's (-) terminal, and another short white wire connects the junction box to the frame.


Mine is 20 amps, and it is inside the rig.
I just bought a Fiberstream. Where is the battery exactly? We can't find it!
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Old 05-13-2011, 02:31 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Whitney View Post
Hi all -
I've searched through the forums and used the Google search exclusively for FRV, but can't find what I need:

1) For the battery, is it recommended to just run a wire of the (-) post out the top of the battery box and then bolt it to the frame for the ground? Is there a neater way to do this? Out the bottom? I'm sure either would work but would like feedback from others RE what they've done. Pics would be great.

2) For the positive (black in my case), I need an inline fuse from what I've read. What size fuse should this be, and can it be mounted in the plastic battery box, or is it better inside the rig?

Thanks in advance,
Mike
Hi Mike,

Grounding is an issue often discussed here on the forums. There are strongly held views and appear to be 2 different standard ways to do it from various manufacturers. Since Bigfoot RV is still in business, you could contact them and ask what they recommend.

The two common ways of doing it are: 1) run a wire from the negative battery terminal back to the converter and ground to the frame from there, like Frederick posted in his post, and 2) run a wire directly from the negative battery terminal to the frame near the battery box. This is how the factory wiring was installed in my Trillium, and which I confirmed with Trillium RV is a (not necessarily the only) correct way of doing it. My trailer also had a factory installed converter farther back in the trailer, with a wire from it to the trailer frame for grounding. So, either method will work.

As for putting the wires out the bottom of the battery box, I personally would not do that because any water or battery acid that gets in there could affect your wiring. I am not worried about it eating the frame, but the wiring down there should not be underwater or under-acid. I have all my wires running out of the battery box at the top (battery boxes are vented in the lid which makes it easy) and then behind the box so that it does not look bad.

As for what size inline fuse you should have, my Trillium has an auto-reset breaker for that, which is inside the trailer. The size of your inline fuse would depend on the size of your main wire between the fuse and the battery. If you have 14 gauge wire, you should use no more than a 15 amp fuse. If you have 12 gauge wire you can use a 20 amp fuse. I believe you can use a 30 amp fuse with 10 gauge wire, but I am not sure about that one.

However, on my previous Boler I mounted an inline fuse with weather resistant holder right at the battery on the plus voltage terminal. This served two purposes. It provided protection right at the battery, in the unlikely event that a wire shorted out outside the trailer before it got in there, and it also gave me a way to easily disconnect all of the electricity from the battery if I wanted to work on a circuit or whatever. It was very handy and I intend to do something similar in the new trailer.

Good luck,
Rick G
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Old 05-13-2011, 04:50 PM   #6
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Fiber Stream's Battery Box is in the Front Right (Curbside) Corner

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cyndivg11 View Post
I just bought a Fiberstream. Where is the battery exactly? We can't find it!
Check out these Fiber Stream photos in the Gallery. The Battery is usually in a metal Box, with an exterior access hatch, under the bunk on the right side, near the front right "corner" next to the curve. The first two photos (trailer with brownish red stripes) is 2nd Generation with the battery access door facing the front of the trailer, next to the right propane tank. The trailer with Blue stripes is 3rd Generation, and it's Battery access door faces the right side, next to the amber side marker light.
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Old 05-13-2011, 08:30 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Whitney View Post
Hi all -
I've searched through the forums and used the Google search exclusively for FRV, but can't find what I need:

1) For the battery, is it recommended to just run a wire of the (-) post out the top of the battery box and then bolt it to the frame for the ground? Is there a neater way to do this? Out the bottom? I'm sure either would work but would like feedback from others RE what they've done. Pics would be great.

2) For the positive (black in my case), I need an inline fuse from what I've read. What size fuse should this be, and can it be mounted in the plastic battery box, or is it better inside the rig?

Thanks in advance,

Mike
As has been said in other posts. The frame should never be used to conduct electricity, 12Volts or 120Volts. Therefore the only connection to frame from the negative battery should be at the converter where the 120Volt Safety Ground is connected. I understand there is an exception for the electric brakes. but that's an exception to rules. If you'd like to know the technical reasons for this, I think I supply or at least some of them.
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Old 05-30-2011, 03:37 PM   #8
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Hi Mike,


As for what size inline fuse you should have, my Trillium has an auto-reset breaker for that, which is inside the trailer. The size of your inline fuse would depend on the size of your main wire between the fuse and the battery. If you have 14 gauge wire, you should use no more than a 15 amp fuse. If you have 12 gauge wire you can use a 20 amp fuse. I believe you can use a 30 amp fuse with 10 gauge wire, but I am not sure about that one.

However, on my previous Boler I mounted an inline fuse with weather resistant holder right at the battery on the plus voltage terminal. This served two purposes. It provided protection right at the battery, in the unlikely event that a wire shorted out outside the trailer before it got in there, and it also gave me a way to easily disconnect all of the electricity from the battery if I wanted to work on a circuit or whatever. It was very handy and I intend to do something similar in the new trailer.

Good luck,
Rick G
I note that last weekend I was perusing my Trillium owners manual and it said that the main fuse from the battery should be no more than 20 amps. I presume that this means that, like it is on my trailer, the Trillium standard main wire was 12 gauge. I also did install the fuse holder (also 12 gauge wire) at the battery that I mentioned in the earlier post.

I just noticed that there is no Trillium owner's manual in the Document Centre. I will try to get one in there later this week.

Rick G
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