Help! Removing the couch when adding solar

[Kalashnikov]

I bought all my parts, ready to install them. Today I did some exploring within my 2019 FC28, pulled off all the couch cushions. This in the front of the AS.

It seems I'll need to take off at least part of the couch to get the work done
- I see the 12v panel when peering into the storage area under the couch
- Found the solar wires just around the corner from the panel
- Inverter is next to the water heater


Questions:
- How to open the panel? I can access the bottom two screws but the top two are blocks. How do the AS techs do this?
- Where are the "bus bars"? This is what I need to tap into?
- I found the solar wires. Are they long enough to extend to either the panel side or the water heater side?
- How to get the couch out?
- Is in sections?
- How is the large upholstered board attached?


The bare couch




The 12v panel under the couch, solar wires poking out on the left




Water heater and inverter (also subwoofer in that area)

[KSA63]

We have the same trailer but ours is a 2011. Also curious how to get to that DC distribution centre.
Following.
Kevin

[Kalashnikov]

Well I found another thread:
https://www.airforums.com/forums/f38...ud-159838.html


Seems like you just dive right in and start removing the philips screws that hold the boxes to the floor of the trailer. I'll post pics of my progress.


I'll ASSUME that all the components everyone else has posted really are back there (eg. bus bars...)


All the solar threads in general are very helpful but disassembly of the couches/beds is never covered for some reason Only the glorious wiring

[dhroberts]

We have a 30' Classic. For our 900w /600 ah system, we 'sacrificed' one of our dinette seat drawers to store lithium batteries. Has worked well.

[Kalashnikov]

Ok I've taken out about 20 screws and I'm still no closer to getting that 'couch' taken apart.


- All the screws have very small heads and are made of Cheesium(tm) (a soft metal allow similar to lead when trying to unscrew)
- The two halves of the couch are also screwed together! What's worse is that the screws are all blocked by the top left panel
- The top left panel won't pop off after removing all fasteners. I'm afraid I'll tear the upholstery if I push any further


I'm now planning on drilling two half-inch holes through the back of the board under the couch so I can just unscrew the top screws holding the 12v panel cover in place. Then I can just complete the wiring with the couch in place. (For some reason the cover screws are also very tight, already tried with a stubby driver and they wouldn't budge. What are they trying to protect?! No one's going under there.)

[Kalashnikov]

So it turns out the big cabinet DOES come out completely by itself! It was just jammed in there very tightly. No need to take apart the 'left' side unit.


Just remove the screws holding it to the floor and also on both sides, from under the storage area of the large unit itself.

[RosenBob]

I did this when I added solar to our FC 30RB.

1) The buss bars are in the 12VDC panel. There is one screw at the top that holds it to the wall. Remove that and you can pull the whole box out.

2) Once the phillips screws are out the long part of the couch slides out on the floor toward the galley. Just be careful not to mar the vinyl flooring like I did .

3) The large upholstered board can stay in place. You just need to get the 12VDC box off the wall so you can open it.

4) I don't know where you bring solar into the trailer. Mine are on the roof and I brought solar 12VDC cables from the roof, down through the closet, under the flooring to where the master distribution panel is under the fridge. Then I routed the solar cables past the water heater to the right-side dinette bench where my new lithium batteries are stored. I placed the charge controller under the short end of the L-shaped couch on the wall next to the batteries. Was very efficient for cabling and use of space under the dinette bench.

[Kalashnikov]

Thanks for the replies everyone!


Ended up drilling a couple holes in the back board after pulling out the main box of the couch. I would have detached the 12v panel but there was not room for a driver. Through the holes I could fit a screwdriver to reach the top two screws.


Note: They were "tight AF", I don't know how the AS techs are supposed to service these trailer through that tiny opening they left






This is how it looks after the couch is pulled out






Here's a piece of the upholstery pleather. Not the greatest material IMO.