The 23FB forum

[leedav]

Is there a panel under the under-bed storage that lifts up?

Originally Posted by Wolfwhistle

From the shunt in the space curb front under the bed to wherever you want the monitor.

Mine is here. Wall next to wardrobe behind dinette seat that faces rearward. I mounted towards the outside edge as far as I could and not have a hole show.

There is a hole through that wall and in front corner of bottom shelf of wardrobe.

Clint

[PKI]

The plywood cover on the bed is screwed in place at the head. It covers the compartments shown in the picture. The hinged portion of the under bed storage covers from just above this picture to the foot and has spring lifts to hold it up while you store your stuff. There is a screwed down plywood hatch over this electrical cabinet on the curb side front corner. The dark rectangle is a vent screen that is located beside the end table. The wiring dives into the curb side shell (center bottom of picture) and comes out in the area under the water heater. It then goes under the floor at a point below the front dinette seat and transits to the converter under the refrigerator. Note exterior access storage is cabinet to the left in the picture.

Edit - Clint - how did you feed the monitor wire to your mounting location? I'm looking at feeding it between the bed frame and the hot water heater cabinet and then up the closet wall to about where the furnace/AC control is mounted. Not as nice a location as yours, but easier to access and the furnace/AC control wiring needs a cover inside the closet to protect it from the storage in the closet. Can we assume you located the shunt where the battery cable attaches to the constant on breaker strip just above where the cables dive into the wall? Somewhat confused. My 700 series monitor instructions say to locate the shunt on the ground side and connect the fused red lead on the positive side of the battery. Is this just a difference in model types or ???

Hope that helps. Pat

[leedav]

Thanks Pat,

That's exactly what I was looking for. I'm also quite interested in how the wires are pulled.

Lee

Originally Posted by PKI

The plywood cover on the bed is screwed in place at the head. It covers the compartments shown in the picture. The hinged portion of the under bed storage covers from just above this picture to the foot and has spring lifts to hold it up while you store your stuff. There is a screwed down plywood hatch over this electrical cabinet on the curb side front corner. The dark rectangle is a vent screen that is located beside the end table. The wiring dives into the curb side shell (center bottom of picture) and comes out in the area under the water heater. It then goes under the floor at a point below the front dinette seat and transits to the converter under the refrigerator. Note exterior access storage is cabinet to the left in the picture.

Edit - Clint - how did you feed the monitor wire to your mounting location? I'm looking at feeding it between the bed frame and the hot water heater cabinet and then up the closet wall to about where the furnace/AC control is mounted. Not as nice a location as yours, but easier to access and the furnace/AC control wiring needs a cover inside the closet to protect it from the storage in the closet. Can we assume you located the shunt where the battery cable attaches to the constant on breaker strip just above where the cables dive into the wall? Somewhat confused. My 700 series monitor instructions say to locate the shunt on the ground side and connect the fused red lead on the positive side of the battery. Is this just a difference in model types or ???

Hope that helps. Pat

[leedav]

BTW I was looking at the Victron Monitor Install thread. Some good info there. I was surprised to learn that the subwoofer is always on. I will add a switch in that cabinet

[PKI]

Originally Posted by leedav

-- snip -- the subwoofer is always on. -- snip --

Until you get it installed, you can unplug the unit. Pat

[Bobbo]

Originally Posted by leedav

BTW I was looking at the Victron Monitor Install thread. Some good info there. I was surprised to learn that the subwoofer is always on. I will add a switch in that cabinet

My sub-woofer is sitting in the top of a closet in my S&B house. Of course, I should mention that we don't listen to the radio, or route our television sound through the sound system.

Gave us more storage space.

[Fair_Enough]

Last thing first. I’ve heard the sub is always on but I don’t see any parasitic load from it. Nada.

If you (leedav) are going monitor only, only the shunt goes in that forward compartment. It is between battery negative and loads (-). It needs 12v (+) power and wiring from there to the monitor (TM-2030) I routed the monitor feed (4 by 24 ga) across the top storage bin, at the outside wall, thru the storage bin wall and wardrobe wall into the water heater / subwoofer space then over and up in the corner.

Surface mount TM-2030RV

With the correct Bluetooth Victron monitor, all hardware is in the compartment with no physical monitor required. Bluetooth is nice but I prefer a monitor that I only have to turn my head to see... less technology to deal with. But to each their own.

The pic shows the end of the PVC “conduit” next to water heater and the hole going up thru the wardrobe bottom. The other thing there is a 300w Samlex PSW inverter I use when i only low amp 120 volt things. A fan for instance or charging my laptop.

You can see the conduit in the forward compartment at the other end. You won’t have all the other crap there I have, so don’t let that concern of worry you.

Best wishes

Clint

[Fair_Enough]

Sorry photos are sideways. Their right side up on my phone.

I forgot to mention that I also use their solar charger which has a second 24 ga (4 conductor in a jacket) that you won’t need

FYI, using both works very well in a parallel panel configuration (required with PWM Charger technology). I have all the parameter options and elaboate history data. But no graphic display nor Bluetooth.

[leedav]

Clint...brilliant, thank you. I was hung up on getting the wires from the shunt through the skin, bc I thought it lived in the battery box. The monitor install looks like a piece of cake. And even easier if it’s the Bluetooth unit, which I think can also have the physical monitor.

[leedav]

Sooo... after much study and deliberation, I decided the best short-term bang for my buck is to get the PD4655 Wildcat main board converter replacement. Even if the WFCO can be teased into boost mode, I won't ever be able to get the control I want, and DW's priority is minimized generator time. I spoke to Randy at Best Converter and I won't need to screw around with the fuse board, so minimum time lying on the floor. Four wires and maybe a wire nut and a short piece of 14 ga. Minimal modification to the new toy. That's an emotional hurdle still. Also will reroute or replace the battery cables so I can check the water level and use the hydrometer.

If that doesn't get me to the level of comfort I had with the Bambi, then the monitor is the next step to fine tune the system. Maybe the monitor will go on the birthday list.

[pcskier]

Originally Posted by Wolfwhistle

Last thing first. I’ve heard the sub is always on but I don’t see any parasitic load from it. Nada.

Agreed. I Just did a Victron BMV-712 Monitor install a couple weeks ago and did a lot of testing. All Loads are on the shunt. The propane detector measures between 0 and .1 amps, it basically pulses between the two. I removed the fuse from it, and amps went to 0. Unplugged power from the subwoofer, plugged it back in...no change. This of course is with stereo in complete "Off" mode (not the 'off' mode that shows the time, etc. FULLY off).
My factory 1,000W inverter also draws NO standby load, as long as it's OFF. Obviously it draws amps if it's "ON" and waiting for some 120V load to be used. But if its turned off via the remote button on the wall...no parasitic load.

While it's commonly repeated that subwoofer and inverter draw phantom standby current, that seems to be urban legend...at least on my trailer. The propane detector is the only parasitic load I could identify on my 23d, and that was very negligible.

[leedav]

Good to know. Thanks

[Bobbo]

Originally Posted by pcskier

My factory 1,000W inverter also draws NO standby load, as long as it's OFF. Obviously it draws amps if it's "ON" and waiting for some 120V load to be used. But if its turned off via the remote button on the wall...no parasitic load.

You are lucky. My inverter drew a small but definitely measurable load when OFF. I put a Blue Sea disconnect on the hot wire from the battery to the inverter. I unplugged from shore, turned off the battery with the OEM disconnect switch, made sure the inverter was OFF, and put the ammeter on the hot wire. Turning the Blue Sea off and on caused a definite decrease and increase in amps drawn even then. If the inverter wasn't drawing current, that should not have happened. The only change was power supplied to the inverter's hot wire.

[PKI]

Evidently the battery draw on the 712 monitor is less than the draw on the basic 700 series monitor. Not an issue for our application as all will be turned off when the coach is in storage. But worth knowing when you are shopping and designing the wiring on the system. Pat

[Fair_Enough]

Originally Posted by leedav

Sooo... after much study and deliberation, I decided the best short-term bang for my buck is to get the PD4655 Wildcat main board converter replacement. Even if the WFCO can be teased into boost mode, I won't ever be able to get the control I want, and DW's priority is minimized generator time. I spoke to Randy at Best Converter and I won't need to screw around with the fuse board, so minimum time lying on the floor. Four wires and maybe a wire nut and a short piece of 14 ga. Minimal modification to the new toy. That's an emotional hurdle still. Also will reroute or replace the battery cables so I can check the water level and use the hydrometer.

If that doesn't get me to the level of comfort I had with the Bambi, then the monitor is the next step to fine tune the system. Maybe the monitor will go on the birthday list.

Wildcat is the pendant that allows forced Boost / Bulk mode, right?

You will remove the old converter which entails wires to breaker / neutral / ground and the heavier red and white (6 ga, I think) that runs to the fuse block board. Not that bad at all.

Going with a bluetooth monitor is much simpler and not a bad way to go. Assuming you have a smart phone. You could make an old iphone dedicated for battery status only.

Clint

[leedav]

Yes. It includes but does not require the pendant. BTW here is the daylight in my water pump box.

Originally Posted by Wolfwhistle

Wildcat is the pendant that allows forced Boost / Bulk mode, right?

You will remove the old converter which entails wires to breaker / neutral / ground and the heavier red and white (6 ga, I think) that runs to the fuse block board. Not that bad at all.

Going with a bluetooth monitor is much simpler and not a bad way to go. Assuming you have a smart phone. You could make an old iphone dedicated for battery status only.

Clint

[51hunter]

Originally Posted by Wolfwhistle

Today I finally did something about the awkward location of the comfort control. Where it was I could barely read the display. So it swings out now. Just bare wood right now.
Clint

How do you keep it from swinging while you travel? Or does it stay in place?

[Fair_Enough]

Originally Posted by 51hunter

How do you keep it from swinging while you travel? Or does it stay in place?

I used a self-closing cabinet hinge. It doesn’t move.

I’ll get a bronze one and replace the silver one and stain the 1/2” birch dark, eventually.

Using it now for 6 days, I love it. Why AS puts it too high to operate while in bed but too low to use standing is beyond me. I could have mentioned that in the bitch session.yesterday but didn’t. Most of the issue is the display that has to be viewed straight on. Slightly off the side and I can’t read it.

I need to see if this fixed in the newer models.

I’m at the Doswell WBCCI rally

Clint

[Fair_Enough]

Originally Posted by leedav

Yes. It includes but does not require the pendant. BTW here is the daylight in my water pump box.

]

I just looked at mine. I see light where fittings penetrate the metal cover under the fresh water tank.

Clint

[leedav]

Originally Posted by Wolfwhistle

I just looked at mine. I see light where fittings penetrate the metal cover under the fresh water tank.



Clint

I don't love that. Last year there were wasps living in my propane cover when I picked up the Bambi from the yard. If I hadn't noticed one crawling in when I pulled up it would have been a disaster. Not thrilled about the possibility of a colony inside next spring.