Replace Fuse Block

[HiJoeSilver]

Looks very good, well done! Now you know what's what in the future. Just think about something on the edges of the holes to prevent chaffing. Split loom could work on the wires.
Hopefully this little endeavor increases your confidence for future repair work. It's all tackleable, think ahead, research on the forums and anywhere else you can find info and dive in.
Pictures for future reference always help. Digital pics are 'free' you can take 10 or 1000 no cost to develop. Everything I've dreaded turned out to be easier than expected, at least after lots of thought before hand.

[johnnywood]

Originally Posted by tarh2o

I have some cleanup to do with the wires on the left but at least everything is working.

Nice job tarh2o,
Can you list the wire colors and designations like HiJoeSilver did on a recent post?

Thanks
-johnny

[tarh2o]

Sure think Johnny - always happy to help out a fellow tin can fan . The wire colors are a bit washed out in the picture from the flash but I will describe what they are. A general note on the BlueSea Fuse Block 5026 I am using - any of the fused slots on the bottom are all positive (+) leads including the bottom post the and the double row terminals on the top are all of the negative (-) leads along with the negative post.

Starting at 12 O'clock and then going clockwise -

• Black with Blue Heat Shrink Wrap (HSW) AC/DC Converter (-)
• White with Blue HSW Car Battery (-)
• Black with Black HSW Airstream Battery (-)
• Blue with Blue HSW Car Battery (+) with 30amp fuse
• Red to top of Marinco Battery Disconnect Airstream Battery (+)
• Red from Left of Marinco Battery disconnect Airstream Battery (+) through 50amp inline fuse to fuse block with a 30amp fuse
• Red with Blue HSW AC/DC Converter (+) [that's at 6 o'clock bottom]
• White Fridge (+) with 15 amp fuse
• Brown Circuit 4 (+) with 20 amp fuse
• Pink Circuit 3 (+) with 20 amp fuse
• Yellow Circuit 2 (+) with 20 amp fuse
• Purple Circuit 1 (+) with 20 amp fuse
• Black Fridge (-)
• Grey Grey Water (-) [I have the grey power (+) disconnected as the motor is burned up but it would go in a fused slow with a 10amp fuse]

My AC/DC converter is also fused on the box with 2- 35amp fuses as well. I have a bit of overkill on the fuses but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Some thoughts from my experience -

• Get a good quality wire stripper that will handle up to he 6 gauge wires
• The older wires sheathing is tough and is hard to strip cleanly so be patient
• Buy appropriate copper clamp terminal connectors (shown) to clear the fuse block slots for the heavy gauge wires
• Buy appropriate smaller gauge terminal connectors that will clear the fuse block slots
• Label all of your wires
• Connect all of the wires before putting any power on the system. Test the DC (battery) circuit out first before flipping your circuit breaker for shore power. This will help you isolate any potential problems without risk of a big shock

As HiJoeSilver states it seems daunting but it can be done with plenty of patience and the proper tools.

Thanks

[johnnywood]

tarh2o,

Thanks for taking the time to list out the circuits. Between you and HiJoeSilver, you guys have made this much more clearer.

Thats the fuse block I'm going to use on my AS.

-johnny

[tarh2o]

It is really an easy thing to replace (I can say that now that I have done it - HA!). One other note on mounting the fuse block to the wall. I drilled holes and used through bolts and nylock nuts to prevent them from backing out. This secures it really well.

--Curtis

[tarh2o]

Originally Posted by drboyd

Slightly distracting question: Why does Airstream additionally fuse the negative side of the circuit? Personally, I suspect that halucinogenic drugs may be involved.

That's a good question. It WAS the 70's. I suspect that they had situations where there was a voltage spike from some source and they were just being cautious.

[crnjarich]

Originally Posted by tarh2o

And what happens to the blue wire from the car battery? Will that also go to the bottom positive (+) terminal?

I wired in a new Boondocker converter and new fuse box. This left me with the thick blue wire from the tow vehicle battery left. What do I do with it? Add it to the positive red wires on the fuse box?

Also, there are blue wires run all over the trailer. Do I need these? I have gotten all the lights/fans working with out them. What did the blue wires do?

[Boxite]

Just found this thread and haven't followed all the way thru it...but thought I'd point out that the factory website has electrical schematics for download. It sure answered a lot of questions on my AS for me.

[HiJoeSilver]

Originally Posted by crnjarich

I wired in a new Boondocker converter and new fuse box. This left me with the thick blue wire from the tow vehicle battery left. What do I do with it? Add it to the positive red wires on the fuse box?

Also, there are blue wires run all over the trailer. Do I need these? I have gotten all the lights/fans working with out them. What did the blue wires do?

To be safe I ran the tow vehicle charge line "blue wire", to the side of my fuse block so it could be protected by a fuse on the trailer end.

There sh/could be a blue house 12vdc circuit. This powers things in the trailer, it's different than the charging circuit. I don't have my reference material with me so I can't remember for sure but I think mine did my radio, tv amp, and a couple lights.

[Lata de amor]

Can I add an addional fuse box to my trailer if there aren’t enough negative connections coming out of the converter fuse box?

[tarh2o]

Lata de amor -

There should be no issue with doing that. You would just need to add the additional fuse block and put appropriate +/- jumper connection wires from the 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock wires to the new block. Then wire in the new runs that you need.

Jumper from the original block 12 o'clock to the new block 12 o'clock and then from the new block 6 o'clock to the original block 6 o'clock. Make sure to use a big enough gauge wire to not cause too much inductance and heat in the jumper wire.

Show us the results. :-)

[HiJoeSilver]

Originally Posted by Lata de amor

Can I add an addional fuse box to my trailer if there aren’t enough negative connections coming out of the converter fuse box?

Absolutely, if you do I recommend adding it like a whole fuse panel utilizing positive and negative terminals. If it’s ONLY negatives you need more of you could just use a terminal block for the negative sides no fuses needed as the circuits should be protected by fuses on the positives. For easier future growth though I’d use a Bock with both positive and negative terminals and fuses. A short length of 8 gauge wire should handle plenty of current. Lowe’s and HD often sell it by the foot so it’s easy to get just a little bit.

What converter is it?