Well its my turn to brag

[bennu36]

So its my turn to brag a little. I took some time off between the holidays, to take advantage of a friend that had a warehouse that was nearly empty and I could get Morrison in. Three projects on the list

1) inside propane switch
2) two charging stations for the IOS devices
3) a battery monitor

I am happy to say,with the help of an often mentioned write up of the switch project, all were done in record time (about 12 hours spread over 3 days ).

I did change the the switch install procedure just a bit as I was able to find and identify the propane switch wire before they left the inside of the coach and so I did not need to run wires out side. for those think about doing this mod here is what I did.

There is a big wire loom that runs from the DC distribution panel towards the curbside forward of the battery box. I guess I should say I have the 2012 lounge model. From that loom another loom takes off and runs curb side between the battery box and the side of the coach. It is in this loom you will find a 120vac romex cable headed for the curb outside 120vac plug-in as well and the cable TV and 12vdc for the the other outside plug-in. Also in the loom are two red wires headed for the propane switch. It is my theory that the way this is wired is just the same way you are going to wire your new switch. The hot side of the solenoid circuit runs out the that switch and back in to the other side of the coach and back out again some where near the hot water heater. So it really does not matter which of the red wires you interrupt and routs back to you new switch the results would be the same. Here is a picture of where I got it just forward of the battery box. If I had to do it over again I would have interupted the red wire just aft of the battery box just be for it headed into the side of the coach, as it would have been much easier to do standing in the open back doors rather that on my knees hunch over the battery box.
The rest went like clock work included are some picture of all of this,including the shunt installation in the battery box for the monitor

[aa9zz]

How did you do the USB power stations?

[bennu36]

I used two of these cut the "cig lighter plug from the end of the cable and hard wired it into one of the spare places on the dc distribution pannel.

http://www.cesupplystore.com/modules...5928C36986.cfm

I will get a picture to show them attached a bit later,but is sort I screwed the to the side panels next to the bed and ran the cable behind the wall

[Boxster1971]

Nice work. I also plan to add some 12v sockets in the back area where I need them. I was surprised to find that the only interior 12 sockets are the two from MB in front cockpit and the one on the panel with the TV booster above the drivers head.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Boxster1971

Nice work. I also plan to add some 12v sockets in the back area where I need them. I was surprised to find that the only interior 12 sockets are the two from MB in front cockpit and the one on the panel with the TV booster above the drivers head.

Plus one exterior on the right rear quarter panel, which is a great place to plug in my little 1½-quart 12v slow cooker while camping.

[73shark]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

Plus one exterior on the right rear quarter panel, which is a great place to plug in my little 1½-quart 12v slow cooker while camping.

Don't you already have a 12V outlet on the right rear quarter next to the cable jack?

[aa9zz]

Has anyone used something this in their motor home?

15-Amp USB Charger/Tamper-Resistant Receptacle, 125-volt, 2.1-amp, T5630 : Combination Devices

[Bikerbill]

Just make sure if you buy the 115 with USB that the amperage of the USB is capable of Apple devices. Many of these are not capable of charging the iPads.

[aa9zz]

My current AC plug in units have butterfly type connectors. How would one connect a regular wall type socket?

[73shark]

Originally Posted by aa9zz

Has anyone used something this in their motor home?

15-Amp USB Charger/Tamper-Resistant Receptacle, 125-volt, 2.1-amp, T5630 : Combination Devices

Here's another solution that can be used elsewhere and doesn't require any wiring. Has 2.1 amp capacity which IIRC will charge iPads. There are other smaller plug-in units similar to this if space is a problem. Couldn't find the one I got that I plugged in under the 2nd row, driver's side but it only covers one outlet while adding three plus two USBs.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by 73shark

Here's another solution that can be used elsewhere and doesn't require any wiring. Has 2.1 amp capacity which IIRC will charge iPads. There are other smaller plug-in units similar to this if space is a problem. Couldn't find the one I got that I plugged in under the 2nd row, driver's side but it only covers one outlet while adding three plus two USBs.

Given how easy it would be to overload a circuit, I'd be leery of anything that adds more outlets to an existing circuit. Adding USB ports in place of an outlet, fine, but for me, adding USB ports and more outlets won't happen.

[Bikerbill]

Its not about overloading circuits. I know I only have 1000 watts on the inverter and a total of 30 amps on EVERYTHING. I am one who knows enough about overloading circuits as our last BIG motorhome had 50 ams and power and amp meters showing the loads on the electrical system. We would watch this as we needed to turn on various heavy duty electrical loads: i.e. 2-electric water heaters, electric kick-space heaters, A/C's, cooktop, m-wave, etc. BUT for me, I will be adding additional 110 volt out locations only so I don't have to run extension cords. I have a CPAP machine and IF I am on shore power I can run it from the outlet low on curbside via extension cord BUT if I am on inverter I have to run the extension cord from the overhead TV outlet curbside and I sleep on curbside. I will be adding an outlet in the rear of the unit driver side and also one in the area just behind the wheel well under the drink holders. This will be for convenience and this one will have the 2-USB connections built in. These will be connected to the inverter circuit AFTER the GFI which is located up front behind the driver seat. Then I will be adding another 110 volt outlet with 2 USBs up front behind the driver seat but this one will be located up high near the top of the counter. This will allow the use of my small electric heater when on shore power providing heat down the middle of the unit. I will also be adding a 12 volt outlet up front near the top of the kitchen cabinet and one in the rear under the riverside drink holder also and one in the far rear area with some lights that can be operated when the read doors are open.

[bennu36]

So the first thing I can report about my new installation (the battery monitor) is there is a .3amp draw even with the battery switch in the off position. I expect this in normal as there are several things that, I think, run from the house battery that are not on the switch. The solar monitor panel for one...... all the "detectors" for an other the smoke detector the CO2 detector and the propane detector. At any rate, I did some quick math ( not a strong suit for me so I may be wrong ) the two new batteries I have are the OEM models that provide 85 amp hours each for a total of 170, now I have been told by people that should know, mostly the tech at solar am just south of me, that you have about 80% useable amph of your total so that is 136 and .3 amps/hour is about 7.2 amps per day, so just sitting in the parking lot I figure I need to recharge completely about every 18 days. This is not figuring in any help from the solar panel and in the northwest this time of year the chances for sun and Slim and None and Slim has left town.

[aa9zz]

Bikerbill, show us some pix wand give details hen you are done.

[c21]

Kudos to you guys who are proficient at doing your own work. Unfortunately I am electrically challenged so I had my dealer install the interior propane switch. He charged a reasonable 1 hour + parts and did a very professional job.

[Boxster1971]

A 1 hour charge to install an interior propane switch is a good deal.

[c21]

Yes, I thought it was very reasonable.

[joemikeb]

I was charged for an hours labor to install a propane switch inside my 2013 Lounge model, but instead of putting the switch in the upper cabinet with all the other controls and switches, they mounted it near the battery switch under the Lounge. Not as convenient, but they wanted another hour or two labor to run the wiring up to the upper cabinet. It is still a darn sight more convenient than getting down on hands and knees to turn the outside switch off or on.

[c21]

Yeah, they had my coach in their facility for a full day and I seriously doubt that they only worked on it for 1 hour but that is what they quoted so they stuck to it. They did install mine in the upper control cabinet with a black panel switch that looks OEM.