A little Wiring Project

This week I was getting ready to open the camper and prepare for our upcoming trip.  As I went to the camper and unlocked the latches, I prepared to use the power lift to raise the roof.  Up goes the switch,... but ,... Up goes the roof it did not.  I forgot to disconnect the terminal from the battery and the LP/CO detector drained the battery down to 8.4 Volts!! Yikes!  I hope I didn't toast the battery.

First, I nursed the battery back to 11 volts on a steady rate charge, and then switched over to a bulk charge rate to bring it back.  Took a while, but managed to get back to 12.4 volts (after resting 2 hrs) at the end of the day.  Next day, placed on the solar charger and let the sun do the work and the battery is back to 12.7 / 12.8 V at rest.

So,.. learned my lesson.  Time to get wiring a disconnect switch that I've had planned for a while now.  Since we are going to be off the grid and using solar panels to recharge the battery, I need a way to monitor the voltage as well as isolate the battery for charging, or isolate it from the parasitic draw of the LP/CO detector when in storage (without disconnecting the terminals).  The Blue Sea 6007 marine switch will do just that. 

Off - disconnects everything from the battery
1 - Battery connected to camper as currently wired.  All functions work, needed to be in this position for towing to have brakes active and permit charging of the battery during tow.
2 - Battery disconnected from Camper, Solar charge controller connected to Battery for charging via solar panels.
1+2 - at a camping location, solar panels in use and connected, camper in use for LED lighting and water pump.

Mounting Box

Switch Fit Up

Mounted to Camper, In Position 1 as shown.  4 Ga wire to Battery

To monitor the voltage state of the battery, a Single Pole switch is going to be wired in the system off the porch light, with an LED volt meter to read the voltage.  This saves me from ducking under the bed, removing the battery cover, and placing my multi-meter across the battery terminals.  Important to note here is that when in Position 1 I'll be able to read the battery voltage, but if in 2 or 1+2, I'll be getting the charge voltage to the battery.

To make this nice, I found a solid receptacle blank cover and got to work with my dremel.  A few cuts later and melted plastic, I was able to clip in my meter and switch and prepare the leads.

Completed Dremel Work

Nice Clean Installation

So now I will have to mount the volt meter in the camper when I open it up next prior to camping.  I'll post an updated photo of the finished condition in working order from our camping trip.

Still here,.....

It has been a very very long spring and summer, and since this is a camping blog,..... there hasn't been any posts since there hasn't been any camping.  But, that is hopefully going to change next week as we finally get out and return to Assateague Island in Maryland.

Here is a sneak peak of what we have been up to though....

Before,....

After!