How to access electrical panels & monitors hookup

[yourpcgeek49]

We have a 2011 Bighorn 3670 that we plan to use for full time living starting in about a year. We anticipate doing extensive boondocking, and are planning to install Solar Panels, Inverter, etc. I have a theoretical plan for doing this. However, I don't see how one gains access to the breaker panels, or the area with all the switches & meters, etc.

If you remove the panel in the "basement" you can access the pump & plumbing, & you can even see the PD converter .. but how to reach the breaker & fuse panels & be able to do any meaningful work???

Thanks,
Mark

 

[jimtoo]

Hi Mark,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and to the family. We have a great bunch of folks here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge when needed.

Enjoy the forum.

Jim M

 

[porthole]

Remove the screws from the front. The panels are surface mounted.

 

[danemayer]

Hi Mark,

Some floor plans are easier than others. On our Rushmore, to add 12V circuits, I pulled the fuse box out into the living area but had a bit of a job to route wires back into the basement to a point where I could reach them. Had to go around some wood structures. And in the basement, a lot of work requires contorting your body to get into limited space. Some people have rearranged stuff in the plumbing area to get more working room.

 

[Jim.Allison]

I used a fish tape on a 2014 Big Country 3650RL, Lowes sells a fish tape by SouthWire for less than $10. Like someone else said you carefully remove the breaker panel and the bundle should go into the basement, same with the switch panel. For future reference; when installing data interface for inverter, trimetric, solar control panel, I used the supplied templates on the paneling and easily cut them with a sharp case cutter/sheetrock knife, by making several light passes with the blade.

The wire from the breaker panel to the basement was pretty straight forward, but those wires that ran from the control panel to the basement required the fish tape.

http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay...gId=10051&cmRelshp=req&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1

Dont know how this applies to your rig but Im sure there are similarities. Good luck.

 

[JohnDar]

Duane (porthole) nailed it. Remove the breaker panel and/or the fuse panel from the cabinet wall and you have access. Going through the basement won't get access to the connections.

As far as the switch cabinet, you will have to fish wires if you want to mount anything there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[yourpcgeek49]

Thanks for the ideas and insights. Has anyone created an access panel from inside the cabinets behind the breaker panels? Or will that not work?

 

[brianharrison]

I found there is enough slack in the AC and DC wiring to just remove the whole panel(s) from the wall, as mentioned. My coach is a different layout, and location of panels but the amount of slack in your wiring would be similar, in my opinion.

Maybe you can elaborate on your desire to create an access panel.

Brian

 

[Jim.Allison]

I found there was ample slack in the wires, and if there was no slack, I managed to create it by untwisting it from the poorly bundled wires behind the basement walls.

 

[yourpcgeek49]

Brian, Thanks for the Pic. I will see how much slack I have. Working with the wires & connections out & open DOES look better than my original thought!

 

[brianharrison]

You're welcome. Others on this forum have installed similar systems (solar, inverter, increased battery banks, etc). There are threads/posts with good information. The picture is from when I installed my inverter/charger, larger battery bank.

If you have not already - check out the Inverter/Converter forum, and the Solar Forum.

As well, consider installing a Electrical Surge Protection with voltage/ground protection, such as the Progressive Industries EMS-HW50C, or similar. They also come in portable. Well worth the investment. I purchased mine from RVUpgrades(dot)com.

Brian