57 Overlander, Let the journey begin... and end!

[albert]

I'm going to post often about the journey of destruction and rebuild of this sweet thang. I bought it in Las Vegas, it now sits in Reno, NV alongside my two other bullets.
I will post photos and many many questions that I will have along the way. I hope you can be entertained and of some help when i need it! And oh, will I need it!

I did do a full gut and restore of my 1970 Ambassador and I will post photos of that too, hopefully you will enjoy the ride with me!

Cheers!

[albert]

Where I started...

[albert]

where I sit today after a HUGE dump run and cleaning out the guts!

So guys, what I am struggling with now is, how to run new wires throughout. Both 110 and 12V. I kinda get the 110, but I am struggling(as a non electrical kinda guy) on how to run 12V.
Why are there 5 12v wires running from the whip to the tail lights? Do I need 5 for the remodel? what do all five wires do? Any help would be appreciated!

[65CV]

Albert --

Great trailer and good work so far on the restoration!

On the electrical for these old girls, I strongly recommend forgetting what they did years ago and simply focusing on your new design. eTrailer has a good page here that will help understand your wiring. Brake and charge wiring are well worth the investment in time to understand your situation -- especially wire size v/v charge rates.

I posted a wiring diagram here that may be helpful in designing your plan.

The two best electrical ideas I can recommend are:
- add more, larger wires than you think you'll need
- video and annotate your wiring before putting the inner skins back on

Sweet Airstream.

John

[albert]

Hi John, thanks so much for all of that great info! Very helpful!
Can I ask a couple questions about it...

Your diagram showing your wiring setup, showed TWO Inlets for power, One is for the shore power of 30A, what is the other one?

Power center, is that where your batteries were located or where the breaker panel was located and used as a starting point for the wiring?

Was the "loop" in the center actually a loop that you then pulled from to supply each light, etc? Or is it better to just run lines from the power source to each light etc?

Lastly, I LOVE your idea about video of the wiring with notes, that is something I would have regretted like crazy once I put the skins back on! THANK YOU!

Originally Posted by 65CV

Albert --

Great trailer and good work so far on the restoration!

On the electrical for these old girls, I strongly recommend forgetting what they did years ago and simply focusing on your new design. eTrailer has a good page here that will help understand your wiring. Brake and charge wiring are well worth the investment in time to understand your situation -- especially wire size v/v charge rates.

I posted a wiring diagram here that may be helpful in designing your plan.

The two best electrical ideas I can recommend are:
- add more, larger wires than you think you'll need
- video and annotate your wiring before putting the inner skins back on

Sweet Airstream.

John

[albert]

I wanted to post a couple pics of my 70 Ambassador so I dont look like I just fell off a rock!

Originally Posted by albert

I'm going to post often about the journey of destruction and rebuild of this sweet thang. I bought it in Las Vegas, it now sits in Reno, NV alongside my two other bullets.
I will post photos and many many questions that I will have along the way. I hope you can be entertained and of some help when i need it! And oh, will I need it!

I did do a full gut and restore of my 1970 Ambassador and I will post photos of that too, hopefully you will enjoy the ride with me!

Cheers!

[kdickinson]

Beautiful work on that Ambassador!

[albert]

Thanks a lot! it was fun!

Originally Posted by kdickinson

Beautiful work on that Ambassador!

[Bill Lynch]

No matter the gauge, 12v DC loses power along the way. You need to keep your wire runs as short as possible. Better to have multiple short runs from a distribution box than a long run with drops along the way.

[albert]

Thanks Bill, thats good advise! So more fuses and shorter runs to each outlet, etc.
Thanks!

Originally Posted by Bill Lynch

No matter the gauge, 12v DC loses power along the way. You need to keep your wire runs as short as possible. Better to have multiple short runs from a distribution box than a long run with drops along the way.

[albert]

Does anyone have advise or tips on how to braid 2 wires together to make long runs through the trailer? I tried and it was as frustrating as it gets. Gave up and started running them loose, but I want it cleaner if possible. Thanks!

[calais66]

You could try this!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YAquFszYZ1k

[Unka Jack]

When you say braid, are you asking how to connect 2 wires end to end, or just how to group them together over their length? If it's the latter, I use spiral wrap to keep the wires neat.
readily available from many sources.

[albert]

'Ha! that is so funny, I came across a video VERY similar to this and tried it, it worked great. I had some runs that were 30-40ft long. Thanks for looking out for me!

Originally Posted by calais66

You could try this!

[albert]

Thanks! I used the drill method once I found a video on how to do it. But for the 2 long runs that I didnt use the drill, I think I will look for this wrap, thanks so much, great solution.

Originally Posted by Unka Jack

When you say braid, are you asking how to connect 2 wires end to end, or just how to group them together over their length? If it's the latter, I use spiral wrap to keep the wires neat.
Attachment 267967 readily available from many sources.

[Bill Lynch]

Originally Posted by albert

Thanks Bill, thats good advise! So more fuses and shorter runs to each outlet, etc.
Thanks!

Well I'm talking about 12 volt DC. AC to outlets and other loads can be longer without concern.

[65CV]

Albert,

Sorry about the delay. I don't visit the forums as often as I used to!

There is one power inlet, the Marino. Are you looking at the symbol to the right of the Sub Panel? That is the electrical symbol for ground. If not, what may be confusing is that I brought the power into a panel with 2 breakers, splitting off the A/C immediately, since it was adjacent to the power inlet. That way, I only had to run a 20A line to the smaller power users via the distribution box.

Maybe this would help -- the picture in the post shows, from right to left:
- Boondocker Converter
- A/C Distribution Box, with 110v plug below
- 12V Fuse Box, DC Buss Bars for Positive and Negative and a TriMetric Battery Monitor Shunt.

It may be overkill, but I like a lot of separate fused lines on the DC side. Really helps in troubleshooting and keeping line losses under control. I ran each 12 volt line from the battery, through the fuse in the Fuse Box, to the Buss bar, then to the light or fan or whatever. You can certainly skip the Buss Bar.

John

Originally Posted by albert

Hi John, thanks so much for all of that great info! Very helpful!
Can I ask a couple questions about it...

Your diagram showing your wiring setup, showed TWO Inlets for power, One is for the shore power of 30A, what is the other one?

Power center, is that where your batteries were located or where the breaker panel was located and used as a starting point for the wiring?

Was the "loop" in the center actually a loop that you then pulled from to supply each light, etc? Or is it better to just run lines from the power source to each light etc?

Lastly, I LOVE your idea about video of the wiring with notes, that is something I would have regretted like crazy once I put the skins back on! THANK YOU!

[albert]

Thanks John, this clears it up some for me! What does the Buss bar do?

Originally Posted by 65CV

Albert,

Sorry about the delay. I don't visit the forums as often as I used to!

There is one power inlet, the Marino. Are you looking at the symbol to the right of the Sub Panel? That is the electrical symbol for ground. If not, what may be confusing is that I brought the power into a panel with 2 breakers, splitting off the A/C immediately, since it was adjacent to the power inlet. That way, I only had to run a 20A line to the smaller power users via the distribution box.

Maybe this would help -- the picture in the post shows, from right to left:
- Boondocker Converter
- A/C Distribution Box, with 110v plug below
- 12V Fuse Box, DC Buss Bars for Positive and Negative and a TriMetric Battery Monitor Shunt.

It may be overkill, but I like a lot of separate fused lines on the DC side. Really helps in troubleshooting and keeping line losses under control. I ran each 12 volt line from the battery, through the fuse in the Fuse Box, to the Buss bar, then to the light or fan or whatever. You can certainly skip the Buss Bar.

John

[65CV]

The Fuse Box is tight and only connects the hot wire from each DC wire. With a Buss Bar for each of the hot and ground wires, the stress from the runs into the wall can be separated from the Fuse Box and -- if you keep all hot and ground wires in order -- it makes it easy to test any wire run with a multimeter.

Without the Buss Bars, you may end up with a bit of a rat's nest.

John

Originally Posted by albert

Thanks John, this clears it up some for me! What does the Buss bar do?

[albert]

SO I have all of the 12v and the 110v wires going to their homes, but Im not sure what next... I'm really itching to get the insulation in (pun intended) and the skins back in. BUT, I think I may be skipping some steps, maybe 100 steps. Can anyone enlighten me of where to go from here?

I'm worried about the placement for the outlets, lights, switches, etc. Im thinking I should drag the old skins in and lean them against the wall and mark which existing holes I will reuse and which I need to patch over.