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Old 06-23-2018, 05:51 PM   #1
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Question battery cable routing between chassis and house?

Does anyone know where the main set of cables between the chassis battery and the house electronics run? (My inverter, etc. is under the driver side jump seat aft of the toilet/shower.)

I need to tap into this line or I will need to run a separate line from batteries to my ham radio. Radio takes over 20 amps when transmitting; good practice is to have direct (fused) power cables between radio and battery.

Single line schematics show how the circuits work however, I have not seen an actual routing diagram.

Thanks!
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Old 06-23-2018, 06:39 PM   #2
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Originally Posted by sheakev View Post
Does anyone know where the main set of cables between the chassis battery and the house electronics run? (My inverter, etc. is under the driver side jump seat aft of the toilet/shower.)

I need to tap into this line or I will need to run a separate line from batteries to my ham radio. Radio takes over 20 amps when transmitting; good practice is to have direct (fused) power cables between radio and battery.

Single line schematics show how the circuits work however, I have not seen an actual routing diagram.

Thanks!
One of the most direct paths is right there under that jump seat. In the area under that jump seat there should also be a battery separator that looks similar to one of the attached photos. It is labeled "Battery Isolation Manager" and made by Precision Circuits Inc. The large lug on the relay from the coach batteries would be a good place to connect your new fused wire to the radio. I've attached a copy of the 12VDC diagram with the separator circled in red.

Hope this helps,
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Old 06-23-2018, 06:58 PM   #3
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Hi

The main reason for the "best practice" is to reduce RFI on the power input. With modern radios and modern noise sources .... not quite as big a deal as it was when they first came up with the idea in the 1940's.

Bob
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Old 06-23-2018, 09:15 PM   #4
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Hi

The main reason for the "best practice" is to reduce RFI on the power input. With modern radios and modern noise sources .... not quite as big a deal as it was when they first came up with the idea in the 1940's.

Bob
Thanks Bob,
I'm pretty good on the RFI (it is a vertical antenna on the roof on HF so different than Land Mobile or cellular.) It's the voltage drop both the automatic tuning and the radio do not operate at all well in lower voltage conditions. A shorter connection will help there without having to put larger conductors.

Regardless, I still need to know where the main conductors are routed.
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Old 06-23-2018, 09:22 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by Boxster1971 View Post
One of the most direct paths is right there under that jump seat. In the area under that jump seat there should also be a battery separator that looks similar to one of the attached photos. It is labeled "Battery Isolation Manager" and made by Precision Circuits Inc. The large lug on the relay from the coach batteries would be a good place to connect your new fused wire to the radio. I've attached a copy of the 12VDC diagram with the separator circled in red.

Hope this helps,
It does help. I am still hoping to find a closer place to tap in. The radio will either be in the closet forward of the refrigerator/furnance (behind the driver) or in the area where the DVD is.

The BIM still leaves me a challenge of routing the wires from there to the front area past the the water closet, fridge etc. Perhaps that will be easy but I seriously doubt it.
Thanks!
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Old 06-23-2018, 10:19 PM   #6
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The run is from the primary battery under the driver's seat back to the enclosure where the BIM/Inverter, etc. are. Tapping would be possible at either end. It is a 1/0 cable or something like it.
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Old 06-24-2018, 06:20 AM   #7
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The run is from the primary battery under the driver's seat back to the enclosure where the BIM/Inverter, etc. are. Tapping would be possible at either end. It is a 1/0 cable or something like it.
Thanks, I will look at the chassis battery and see if I can discern the cable routing, i.e., is it routed along the Sprinter van frame underneath the the AI or if it is snaked thru the side panel of the AI.

When I can find a route (raceway) I will likely install 2 wires (likely 6AWG - depending on length) and connect them at the chassis battery and then to my radio.
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Old 06-24-2018, 01:06 PM   #8
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battery cable routing between chassis and house?

Quote:
Originally Posted by sheakev View Post
It does help. I am still hoping to find a closer place to tap in. The radio will either be in the closet forward of the refrigerator/furnance (behind the driver) or in the area where the DVD is.



The BIM still leaves me a challenge of routing the wires from there to the front area past the the water closet, fridge etc. Perhaps that will be easy but I seriously doubt it.

Thanks!

Closer to what? I thought you wanted to be close the the batteries. The coach batteries are behind the passenger side rear wheels. Only spot closer is to go right to the battery terminals. If you run a smaller gauge wire to batteries you would likely have more voltage drop than connecting to the BIM that has a 2/0 cable from batteries.

The simplest would be to just use one of the spare fuses on the 12VDC distribution panel.

If you are ok with tapping the chassis battery it is under the driver seat as amirm noted.
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Old 06-24-2018, 02:52 PM   #9
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If you are ok with tapping the chassis battery it is under the driver seat as amirm noted.
Mike,

I am going to tap into the distribution lugs (EK1) at the chassis battery. It is "closest" to the radio, i.e., shortest run from a battery to radio. There also appears to be an easy way to route my cables from there to the cabinet behind the driver.

Thanks,
Kevin
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Old 06-24-2018, 03:22 PM   #10
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Hi

If you are only pulling 20A, there isn't going to be a lot of drop with something like number 10 wire. 20 feet gives you 20 mili ohms and 0.4V. Your radio is outside the RV at that point.

Bob
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Old 06-24-2018, 08:10 PM   #11
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Hi

If you are only pulling 20A, there isn't going to be a lot of drop with something like number 10 wire. 20 feet gives you 20 mili ohms and 0.4V. Your radio is outside the RV at that point.

Bob
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Old 06-24-2018, 08:56 PM   #12
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Mike,



I am going to tap into the distribution lugs (EK1) at the chassis battery. It is "closest" to the radio, i.e., shortest run from a battery to radio. There also appears to be an easy way to route my cables from there to the cabinet behind the driver.



Thanks,

Kevin

Hi Kevin,
Just saw your related post on the Sprinter-Source forum. The EK1 distribution block shown in that thread is under the driver seat and you have to remove the seat to get to it. That is a real pain.

There is another distribution block right on the battery under the driver's floor. That is where Airstream ties into the Sprinter battery. I hope that is where you are going as it's pretty easy approach.

Edit: I found and attaching some photos I have of the terminal block on the battery under driver floor.
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Old 06-25-2018, 06:10 AM   #13
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Hi Kevin,
Just saw your related post on the Sprinter-Source forum. The EK1 distribution block shown in that thread is under the driver seat and you have to remove the seat to get to it. That is a real pain.

There is another distribution block right on the battery under the driver's floor. That is where Airstream ties into the Sprinter battery. I hope that is where you are going as it's pretty easy approach.

Edit: I found and attaching some photos I have of the terminal block on the battery under driver floor.
Yes, there is where I will go once I buy some torq drivers to get the panel over the battery off. I had "assumed" the EK1 was there as well but now I know. Thanks for pictures!

Kevin
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Old 07-22-2018, 05:19 PM   #14
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attached a fused cable to the vehicle battery under the driver's feet. It was easy to rout it under the seat and then along the outside wall and into the closet (between the refrigerator and driver). My cables come into that area from the roof (four cables).
Everything works well. Need to clean up the cables in the closet and then it will be time to get on the air.

Thanks again for all the ideas, comments and pictures.
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Old 07-22-2018, 06:25 PM   #15
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attached a fused cable to the vehicle battery under the driver's feet. It was easy to rout it under the seat and then along the outside wall and into the closet (between the refrigerator and driver). My cables come into that area from the roof (four cables).
Everything works well. Need to clean up the cables in the closet and then it will be time to get on the air.

Thanks again for all the ideas, comments and pictures.
Thanks for the follow-up it helps everyone on the Forum to know "how the story ended".
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