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Old 08-02-2021, 12:44 PM   #1
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2017 30' Flying Cloud
York , Pennsylvania
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Victron 712 Basic wiring question

I'm trying to wire a Victron 712 battery monitor into my battery box on a 2017 FC 30.

Does anyone know how to pull the wires from the outside battery box to inside? I'm not sure how to make get the wires inside and not cause a leak from the outside.
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Old 08-02-2021, 01:27 PM   #2
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There is always the option to place the shunt inside so you avoid having to run a wire through the body, which is what I did. Unless, of course, you want to use the battery temp feature.
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Old 08-02-2021, 11:21 PM   #3
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On my 2020 FC 27 I followed the existing bundle of wires from the battery box and they entered the interior thru a grommet in the floor. This let to the inverter. I passed the communication cable from the shunt to the interior the same way and then mounted the BMV 712 display into a panel under the front queen bed. It isn't easily visible in that location but I find the phone app display more useful than the 712 display. Hope that helps.
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Old 08-04-2021, 01:19 PM   #4
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I don't see any access from the inverter access. Do I need to remove all of the seating structure in order to get at the electrical?
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Old 08-04-2021, 01:27 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tomarty View Post
I don't see any access from the inverter access. Do I need to remove all of the seating structure in order to get at the electrical?
Hi

You need to get to the DC distribution bus in the front of the trailer. It's somewhere under something up there. Given how AS loves to change up how they do this or that, the only way to find it on you trailer is to poke around until you find it.

In most cases, there isn't a lot of disassembly required to get to it. On our Classic you only have to pull out about 1/3 of the sofa.

Once you find the distribution bus, there will be a ground bus next to it. That's where the battery negative feeds into everything but the inverter. You run a nice thick cable from the battery negative over to that area. The shunt screws into the floor (or whatever) next to the negative bus. A short jumper goes from the "ground" side of the shunt to the bus. Another jumper ( or possibly the existing cable) gets the inverter negative to the same point on the shunt.

Once you find the right section of the trailer, there will be no problem finding a hole to get the cable through. Lots and lots of wires go in and out of that area.

Another note: It might help if you added your trailer info under the User CP so that it shows up under your name. It will help you avoid answering the question "which trailer do you have?" roughly twice an hour for weeks on end ...

Bob
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Old 08-04-2021, 03:46 PM   #6
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Follow the battery leads into the cabin, there will be a floor grommet which has other wires also, you should be able to pass it through there without issue.

Buy some 1/4" wire loom or plastic wire braid to protect the telephone wire and make it cosmetically pretty.

The routing inside is another story depending on where you mount the display unit.
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Old 08-04-2021, 05:47 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by uncle_bob View Post
Hi

You need to get to the DC distribution bus in the front of the trailer. It's somewhere under something up there. Given how AS loves to change up how they do this or that, the only way to find it on you trailer is to poke around until you find it.

In most cases, there isn't a lot of disassembly required to get to it. On our Classic you only have to pull out about 1/3 of the sofa.

Once you find the distribution bus, there will be a ground bus next to it. That's where the battery negative feeds into everything but the inverter. You run a nice thick cable from the battery negative over to that area. The shunt screws into the floor (or whatever) next to the negative bus. A short jumper goes from the "ground" side of the shunt to the bus. Another jumper ( or possibly the existing cable) gets the inverter negative to the same point on the shunt.

Once you find the right section of the trailer, there will be no problem finding a hole to get the cable through. Lots and lots of wires go in and out of that area.

Another note: It might help if you added your trailer info under the User CP so that it shows up under your name. It will help you avoid answering the question "which trailer do you have?" roughly twice an hour for weeks on end ...

Bob
Thanks Uncle Bob.

I updated my trailer as you suggested.

I see you are in Carlisle. Not far from me.
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Old 08-05-2021, 08:59 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by Tomarty View Post
Thanks Uncle Bob.

I updated my trailer as you suggested.

I see you are in Carlisle. Not far from me.
Hi

Yup, just up the road and not as far along getting things going this year ....

Bob
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Old 08-06-2021, 08:40 AM   #9
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I got everything installed yesterday. I started unscrewing the front lounge. The most difficult one was for the arm rest which was inside the lounge about 3 feet. Then is was able to move the lounge forward and access the wiring harness (birds nest) in the front. Then it was just a matter of figuring out where the battery wires came in. It was easy to see the inverter side, but the main one was difficult mostly due to the number of wires coming in the same area.
Once I had everything traced, it was just a matter of wiring in the switch and the Victron 712. Now, everything is inside and functioning properly.
I'd like to monitor the battery temperature, but that looks like it's more trouble than it's worth. The access points through the floor are filled with sealant to keep everything dry. I may try to snake a wire through an existing battery line casing. But, I will leave that for another day.
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Old 08-07-2021, 08:42 AM   #10
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Hi

Having a pile of zip ties handy as you sort out the wires is often a good idea. Some like to use ones with little label "tabs" on them to tag each wire after it's been ID'd.

Poking something fairly stiff (carefully) through the sealant should allow you to drag the battery temp monitor wire down to the batteries. It is a bit of a pain getting under there to run it to the battery box.

Bob
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Old 09-04-2021, 06:09 AM   #11
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Hi, Sorry to bother you but I have a question about your Victron install. I'm about to install a simpler Victron Smart Shunt but still don't understand the wiring. Did you end up putting the shunt inside? If so, did you pull inside all the negative wires from the battery to attach to the inside shunt? Then run a nice thick cable (as Uncle Bob advised) from the shunt to your battery through the hole provided? Thanks!
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Old 09-04-2021, 08:14 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by farafield View Post
Hi, Sorry to bother you but I have a question about your Victron install. I'm about to install a simpler Victron Smart Shunt but still don't understand the wiring. Did you end up putting the shunt inside? If so, did you pull inside all the negative wires from the battery to attach to the inside shunt? Then run a nice thick cable (as Uncle Bob advised) from the shunt to your battery through the hole provided? Thanks!

Isn't the neg buss bar inside your trailer?
The neg wires from the batt's should be attached there.

On our Classic the batts are in two separate outside compartments.
I just connected those two neg wires together where they enter the AS with copper eyelets and attached them to the buss bar with a short length of 4g wire.

Bob
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Old 09-04-2021, 08:50 AM   #13
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Hi

A *lot* depends on your trailer having an inverter or not. Since we have both "yes" and "no" answers to that question in the group .....

If you have a factory inverter, the cables for it go direct to the batteries in the battery box on the tongue of the trailer. They don't go to the "DC Bus" area simply to keep the distance down.

If you do not have a factory inverter, then the battery cables mostly head over to the DC Bus area. The exception is the wires for the "Zamp Solar" connector on the tongue (if you have one).

Either way, the Victron gizmo is not designed to tolerate road crud and water very well. Moving it indoors is the recommended solution.

With the "no inverter" setup, you have fewer wires to deal with. Either way the net result is the same. All the grounds go to the low side of the shunt. Only the batteries go to the high side of the shunt.

Bob
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Old 09-04-2021, 09:36 AM   #14
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Thanks for the patience. You guys are a few steps ahead of me as I understand very little about wiring. Let's say I want to put the shunt inside. I have one battery outside and I do have a Zamp connection. Black wires for the negative terminal go inside the trailer. My understanding is that I need to disconnect those wires from the battery and connect them to the shunt. So if the shunt is inside, I need to pull the wires inside as they don't need to go outside to the battery anymore. But then, I need to run a new black wire from the battery negative terminal outside to the other terminal on the shunt inside. Red wires get left alone except I add the power wire to provide power to the shunt. IS this correct?
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Old 09-04-2021, 09:47 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by farafield View Post
Thanks for the patience. You guys are a few steps ahead of me as I understand very little about wiring. Let's say I want to put the shunt inside. I have one battery outside and I do have a Zamp connection. Black wires for the negative terminal go inside the trailer. My understanding is that I need to disconnect those wires from the battery and connect them to the shunt. So if the shunt is inside, I need to pull the wires inside as they don't need to go outside to the battery anymore. But then, I need to run a new black wire from the battery negative terminal outside to the other terminal on the shunt inside. Red wires get left alone except I add the power wire to provide power to the shunt. IS this correct?
Hi

That's about it.

Some folks leave the "Zamp Solar" wires on the battery. If you do and use that connector it will mess up the smart shunt readings. If you never use it, just leave it where it is.

Bob
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Old 09-04-2021, 10:22 AM   #16
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Obviously not ideal, but I put my smart shunt in the battery box for now, and may rewire things to add a 3000w inverter and lithium. I have also thought about putting shunt inside and adding a neutral buss in the battery box for the inverter, tongue jack etc.
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Old 09-04-2021, 10:38 AM   #17
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Hi

Indeed, if there is room, you can run a pair of wires out to the battery box. Put in a terminal block for the return / ground ( neutral is something that applies to AC wiring ....) there.

Bob
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