Running New battery cables (Extras)

[Rust]

I have a 2011 F C and want to run two more number 4 cables from the battery box into the trailer has any one else done this through existing harness. I can't look at mine now to see since it is being stored 3 hours away.

Thanks George

[idroba]

My 2014 20' FC already has two sets of #4 from the battery box to the interior, under the front bed. One set is for the coach power, the second for the inverter power.

When I pulled in a phone wire sized cable for the Tri Metric meter I installed I was able to go through the same entry point as the cables, but it was not easy. Now, if the hole were the same size as mine, but there had been no second set of #4's for the inverter, it would have been a piece of cake. So, not knowing what you have now probably limits the usefulness of my comments. But it is the best I can do.

[Scaler113]

idroba,
To set up your Trimetric your have to install a shunt in the negative cable. This would mean combining the negative cable for the inverter and power into one cable. At least those are my thoughts since I will be making this installation this on our 2012 25FC FB in a couple weeks.
Phil

[idroba]

Yes, all the power from the negative side of both sets of cables in my 20' FC now goes through a shunt on top of the batteries. The cables were there from the factory installation of the inverter and from the factory "normal" 12 volt system. All I did was add the shunt and the wiring to it, plus I got my 12 volt power for the tri metric through a fuse on the positive side of the batteries. I used a phone wire type cable which had 6 wires in it, I used 4 of them.

[lsbrodsky]

The hardest part of what you want to do is penetrating the sealant that Airstream uses in the sealant around all of the cables. You can drill through it, but you need to be careful about the existing wires.
Larry

[lewster]

The Airstream factory uses SikaFlex 221 to seal the holes in the floor where the battery cables enter the trailer. The easiest way I have found (I run very large cables directly to the batteries when installing solar charging systems and/or inverters) is to completely remove the sealant if you want to run new cables (or any other type of wiring) thru these holes. It's a simple job to replace the sealant, and it will adhere nicely over itself if you happen to leave any residue when initially removing it.