I would like to upgrade the electrical on a future trailer to include things like converter/inverter, fuse block, battery monitoring systems and additional led's and other things. I do not have any electrical skills at all, and to be honest I am somewhat afraid to make a mistake. Does anyone take their trailer to an RV place or other types of shop to have this custom type work done?
Does anyone here pay to have electrical upgrages installed?
- Thread starter GkraneTX
- Start date
Today I had local car stereo place install solinoid between Jeep engine battery and rear house battery running ARB frg/freezer, this way I no longer need to recharge house battery every few days - which was getting old. The coach battery charges house battery whenever Jeep is running.
D
Deleted member 9101
Guest
12V electrical wiring is about as simple as it gets. No need to be fearful of it.
rayra
Expedition Leader
none of it is hard to do, there are some basic technical and safety techiques. And much of that is described here in a few topics. Learn something new. And if you are really concerned, do 95% of the build and leave it disconnected from the power source and pay to have someone look it over and connect the setup.
Next thing you know you'll be doing 'crazy' stuff.
Next thing you know you'll be doing 'crazy' stuff.
Nobody else cares about your stuff as much as you do. Take the time to do the research, learn the process, and do the work yourself. Electrical tools are cheap and simple to use, and you can have a little pride in the job. More importantly, YOU will know how to troubleshoot and repair something that YOU built.
In addition, there are LOTS of choices to be made, and LOTS of potential compromises and ways to cut corners when doing electrical work. Do you really want the reliability of your system to be based on the wire routing chosen by a kid at best buy that was thinking about getting off the clock before his boss starts yelling about productivity?
In addition, there are LOTS of choices to be made, and LOTS of potential compromises and ways to cut corners when doing electrical work. Do you really want the reliability of your system to be based on the wire routing chosen by a kid at best buy that was thinking about getting off the clock before his boss starts yelling about productivity?
sam-aye-am
Member
This.
If you insist on having someone else do it, look for a high end car stereo shop. Ask to see examples of their work, particularly the wiring.
If they use a quality crimp tool (hydraulic for large diameter high amp cables), heat shrink over crimped connections, take great care to route wires and cable so that they are protected, and solder where appropriate, they will probably have a decent level of attention to detail.
While harder to judge just by looking, equally if not more important is using the proper sized wire/cable and other components. Chances are though that if they've been doing it long enough and get repeat customers, they understand this well.
I have a friend who managed the car audio install shop at a circuit city back in the day. He did all of the custom jobs that came into the shop and had several repeat customers. I learned a lot from him and I've got a masters in mechanical engineering but worked most of my career in nuclear power operations and maintenance with A LOT of electrical training both for ops and maintenance with more than just a couple of electrical fires I've seen over the years.
ultraclyde
Observer
I really enjoy doing the electrical stuff. Anything you don't know is easily found on line, the components are fairly cheap and snap together*, and it's rarely rusted solid or covered in grease.
*once you learn to install a terminal anyway.
*once you learn to install a terminal anyway.
dreadlocks
Well-known member
Red to Red, Black to Ground/Chassis.. thats 99% of it right there.. put appropriate fuses on every new circuit and route/secure/zip tie all the red wires in such a way that vibration wont wear the shielding off and short to ground (on a neg ground system assume anything it can touch is ground and will blow a fuse).. if you pass through anything, use grommets to protect wire, if wires are external wrap em in tougher shielding thats UV stable or use outdoor cabling that can handle the elements (the sun will degrade the shielding on most cabling over time unless its designed for it)
Use Wire Gauge/Circuit calculators to figure out what gauge wire to use, better to use too thick a wire than too thin a wire and make sure your fuse dont exceed wire capability.. if you do get a short you want that fuse to pop BEFORE the wires start melting.. The length of wire is both Pos and Neg combined.. If you have 10ft of dual strand wire you have 20ft of wiring for your device, if you have 10ft of positive and 2ft of ground (to chassis) you have 12ft of wiring for your device.
Since I doubt you know how to use a soldering iron crimp connectors will be fine if you use quality ones, for really thick cabling (like main battery cables) just buy it pre-made off ebay/amazon because trying to crimp a 00-6awg cable can be hard to do in a way that will last without some nicer tools and experience w/soldering...
Go to harbor freight and get your self:
Multimeter - Check Polarity (Pos/Neg), Continuity (this wire here is connected to this over there) and Voltages (is this positive wire really dead before I start working with it?)
Assortment of HeatShrink - Much better than electrical tape, just use a lighter to shrink it.. dont take much heat at all.. Marine grade has a glue on inside that seals out water.
Wire Strippers - These Self Adjusting ones are fast and easy, can even strip a section out of a middle of a cable to create a tap/splice w/out cutting it and work very well in tight confined spaces.
Ratcheting Crimper - Will give you good quality and strong crimps
Crimp Connectors I get elsewhere for better quality, I tend to perfer waterproof ones with built in heat-shrink sleeve on em for Auto/RV use.. make sure they are appropriate for your size of wires, the colors indicate what size wire they take.. Most Automotive stores carry a wide selection of good, but overpriced connectors.. once you know what sizes/kinds you commonly use consider buying in bulk online.. If you need quick connectors for portable/temporary devices, check out Anderson Powerpoles, they are the best by a long shot.
When buying cabling avoid at all costs Coper Coated/Clad Aluminum (CCA), buy oxygen free pure copper cables.. anything really cheap will undoubtedly be aluminum.. I use Red/Black ZIP wire I buy in bulk off Amazon for most of my projects.. less likely to mess up than using something like speaker wire thats same color and only way to tell pos from neg is if its textured or not.. and wait, was textured ground or was it pos? (use the multimeter if your not sure)
Consider picking up a soldering iron and learning how to use it correctly, the trick is heating up the copper wiring so it melts the solder directly.. the flux in the solder will draw the solder to the heat source, so you cant use the iron to melt it directly, you'll just get a cold solder joint that will fail.. practice on your scraps and then do destructive tests to see how strong it is.
There tons of videos on YouTube that'll teach you any skills you dont have, dont be afraid of the electrons.. the stuff is super easy, and once you learn it and build up some confidence you'll be able to use this ability for the rest of your life.
Use Wire Gauge/Circuit calculators to figure out what gauge wire to use, better to use too thick a wire than too thin a wire and make sure your fuse dont exceed wire capability.. if you do get a short you want that fuse to pop BEFORE the wires start melting.. The length of wire is both Pos and Neg combined.. If you have 10ft of dual strand wire you have 20ft of wiring for your device, if you have 10ft of positive and 2ft of ground (to chassis) you have 12ft of wiring for your device.
Since I doubt you know how to use a soldering iron crimp connectors will be fine if you use quality ones, for really thick cabling (like main battery cables) just buy it pre-made off ebay/amazon because trying to crimp a 00-6awg cable can be hard to do in a way that will last without some nicer tools and experience w/soldering...
Go to harbor freight and get your self:
Multimeter - Check Polarity (Pos/Neg), Continuity (this wire here is connected to this over there) and Voltages (is this positive wire really dead before I start working with it?)
Assortment of HeatShrink - Much better than electrical tape, just use a lighter to shrink it.. dont take much heat at all.. Marine grade has a glue on inside that seals out water.
Wire Strippers - These Self Adjusting ones are fast and easy, can even strip a section out of a middle of a cable to create a tap/splice w/out cutting it and work very well in tight confined spaces.
Ratcheting Crimper - Will give you good quality and strong crimps
Crimp Connectors I get elsewhere for better quality, I tend to perfer waterproof ones with built in heat-shrink sleeve on em for Auto/RV use.. make sure they are appropriate for your size of wires, the colors indicate what size wire they take.. Most Automotive stores carry a wide selection of good, but overpriced connectors.. once you know what sizes/kinds you commonly use consider buying in bulk online.. If you need quick connectors for portable/temporary devices, check out Anderson Powerpoles, they are the best by a long shot.
When buying cabling avoid at all costs Coper Coated/Clad Aluminum (CCA), buy oxygen free pure copper cables.. anything really cheap will undoubtedly be aluminum.. I use Red/Black ZIP wire I buy in bulk off Amazon for most of my projects.. less likely to mess up than using something like speaker wire thats same color and only way to tell pos from neg is if its textured or not.. and wait, was textured ground or was it pos? (use the multimeter if your not sure)
Consider picking up a soldering iron and learning how to use it correctly, the trick is heating up the copper wiring so it melts the solder directly.. the flux in the solder will draw the solder to the heat source, so you cant use the iron to melt it directly, you'll just get a cold solder joint that will fail.. practice on your scraps and then do destructive tests to see how strong it is.
There tons of videos on YouTube that'll teach you any skills you dont have, dont be afraid of the electrons.. the stuff is super easy, and once you learn it and build up some confidence you'll be able to use this ability for the rest of your life.
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