Where to put the batteries

[kb0zke]

I'm starting to measure things, and it seems that no matter how I try I can't quite fit in everything that I want. We have a 2021 Flying Cloud 30 RBQ. Under the forward-facing dinette seat is the hot water heater, so I have a space 22" wide (front-to-back), 15.5" deep (from hinge to hot water heater wall) x 14" high. Under the rear-facing dinette seat I have 22" wide (front-to-back), 29" deep (to the speaker box), x 14" high. I'd like to have as much battery capacity as I can fit in.


The installer mentioned putting the batteries under the bed, but I think he may have been thinking about a front bedroom trailer. The 8ga wires from the existing solar panels come down in the front on the street side, so that would make for a rather long run to batteries under the bed.


I'm going to have the trailer weighed in about a month, so I'll have a much better idea of weight capacity then, but I'm assuming that keeping the weight as close to the axles as possible is a good thing.


The MultiPlus II won't fit under the forward-facing seat, but will fit nicely under the rear-facing one. That would mean that I could only fit two batteries under the forward-facing seat.


Ideas?
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[vanderwielen]

Of course, it depends upon your needs, but I settled on a single Epoch 460AH marine battery in my rig. I used a V1 version that had a peak of 500A and continuous discharge of 300A which supported the minimum requirement for a Victron MPII. However, the new V2 specs are only 230 max discharge.

[BGClassic]

I had to look at your FC layout online. How about the front L-shaped couch area? You should be able to fit batteries and the MP under there. I know of owners that installed there in Classic 30s.

My solar cabling is OEM, and was run to the front compartment locker. I installed a breaker in there and ran it back to the love seat area on 4AWG. Ideally, I'd run new cabling down between the shower and the bulkhead.

[kb0zke]

Yes, plenty of room under the couch. I was hoping to keep wire runs to a minimum, and also keep the weight closer to the axles. The shore power enters under the refrigerator, and the breaker/fuse panels are there, too. Putting the batteries and MP under the couch would need 15-20' of wire running from the shore power inlet to the MP, then back again. The solar wires come in at the front, so that's a plus.

[BGClassic]

I think the couch area is perfect, although you may add some tongue weight. The length of the AC cabling is not critical, just get some new 6-3 AWG. I took the opportunity to add an inline Progressive Industries EMS.

Your DC cables would not be any longer as mine, as my 12VDC center is at my dinette. Additionally, that's not a huge load, just run adequate cable from the Lynx to the 12VDC load center. The cable I installed was larger than factory.

I was concerned about solar, and cable lengths, but just ran 4AWG from the controller. Even if I had perfect panels and wiring, we saw very little sun on our Alaska trip. I'm glad I didn't go wild with that portion, which is anemic from the factory.

You can always make some measurements for the hardware and cable lengths, and run the numbers. I bought my hardware from Boundless Power Systems. Ian provided a good schematic and answered tons of questions.