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Old 02-18-2011, 07:33 AM   #1
Bob Landry
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Underneath Access

I'm doing some planning in anticipation of delivery on my new Outback. We're moving out of the cold season, at least for when and where we camp, but I'm looking ahead for next fall.
I'd like to add a 20A inlet and run a couple of wall outlets to various locations so I can run ceramic heaters off pedestal power and not trip the breakers in the converter. How much of a PITA is it to drop the chassis cover on one side to run additional wiring? The 20A inlet will most likely be with the 30A inlet mainly for asthetics. I'm moving up from a Jayflight and wiring it was no problem at all being as it was open underneath and it was a simple matter to attach wiring to the chassis with cable holders. The Outback looks a little more challenging. The 30A power comes in right at the rear and behind a fixed table between the rockers so that looks like a likely place to install a curcuit breaker panel. The idea is to then go back out and along one side of the frame, then go up through the walls in a couple of suitable locations foe the outlets. I would really welcome some guidance from someone who has actually done this on one of these trailers or a similar Keystone trailer. I don't know what kind of issue are involved in snaking a wire through the wall on these. I just don't want to end up with extension cord running all over the place, and I've alread figured out that it's cheaper to heat using the CG's power instead of my propane.

Thanks
Bob
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Old 02-27-2011, 07:07 PM   #2
larlino
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Great question Bob. I'm surprised you've gotten no responses.I'm waiting on my Bullet 278RLS and wondered about the same thing. My previous trailer was closed in with interlocking metal panels and it was a bear to get in underneath to install fresh water tank heater.
Have you made any progress? Good luck.
Larry O.
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Old 02-27-2011, 07:49 PM   #3
Bob Landry
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No,but this doesn't seem to be a very active forum, or at least the activity seems to be pretty selective. I guess I'll just have to wait until my trailer comes in and then look at it. My first job is going to be to install the Progressive Industries EMS and I was thinking it woud be easier to do everything at once. I'll ask the tech when we do the walk through.
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Old 03-01-2011, 03:13 PM   #4
JerJan10
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Underneath access on Copper Canyon

Bob,

We have a Copper Canyon 273WFRET but I'll bet the underneath cover is similar to yours. I had the sides (under the slides) of the cover unfastened today so I could see how to get to the slide motors in case I needed to retract or extend them manually.

The CC has 3/8" hex head self-threading 1" bolts fastening the cover to the frame. No problem getting them out with the cordless drill. I did "prop-up" the center of the cover with a big cardboard box because it started to droop when I took out the screws. I didn't want it to stretch and didn't know if it would or not. It does have some foam filler around the edges near the frame in the back and axle shackles but I didn't pull the cover loose at those spots.

No problem getting the cover fastened back when I was done.

And, the next day after we got home with the FW, I installed a Progressive Industries EMS. I had read a few post about flaky power and wanted to prevent any problems with that. The read-out is handy to see how much power is used for different components.

Sorry this post is so long!

Good luck. Jerry
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Old 03-02-2011, 07:32 AM   #5
camper 2010
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I have a 27rls and added extra 120 outlets for the same reason. The botton cover of my trailer is held in place with several 3/8" metal screws about 1" long. Once this is lowered, you can run the wireing along the frame.
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Old 03-02-2011, 12:41 PM   #6
Bob Landry
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Quote:
Originally Posted by camper 2010 View Post
I have a 27rls and added extra 120 outlets for the same reason. The botton cover of my trailer is held in place with several 3/8" metal screws about 1" long. Once this is lowered, you can run the wireing along the frame.
I'd be interested in knowing if you ran into any issues fishing the wire up through the walls for the outlets since it's solid foam insulation. I also have a Prog Ind EMS that I'm going to need to install. Did you by chance also install anything like that?
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Old 03-02-2011, 07:10 PM   #7
Firecapt
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Bob,

I installed a Progressive EMS-HW30C. My shoreline cord comes in under an inside closet in the rear bunk room. Four screws remove the access panel to the cord storage area and cord junction box. I installed the EMS between the cord and the junction box and ran the small cord for the remote display up through the bottom of the closet and mounted it inside the closet (didn't want to be bothered by the display at night).

There was no need to run any additional wires, just cut the power cable leaving about a foot going into the junction box and install the EMS between the two.

This arrangement has worked well and the EMS has saved our butts on several occasions due to bad ground, low voltage, etc.
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Old 03-03-2011, 07:56 AM   #8
Bob Landry
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I agree witht he display at night. Mine is under the galley sink where the EMS is. I don't need to see it flashing all the time. if there's a power issue, it will shut it off and that's what counts. I'll usually look at it when I first hook-up just to see what the power situation in that park is, and if I get bored, I'll look to see how much power something is drawing. Other than that, it's out of sight, out of mind.

What about snaking the wire up the walls through solid foam insulation to get it to the outlets? How much of a struggle is that?
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Old 03-03-2011, 12:44 PM   #9
Terrydactile
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Bob if your walls are like mine, laminated luan, foam board and Filon then I don't think you will be able to fish wires through it. I installed one outlet such as you are thinking about doing but I installed it in a removable panel that was just below my converter. It just so happens that behind this access panel is where my shore power cord comes in. Can you mount an outlet on the access panel that has your shore power behind it? If not you will probably need to find a place to mount an outlet somewhere inside that has a hollow wall and not laminated. You may also consider mounting an outlet on a wall and running the wire up through the floor and inside wire mould to conceal it. Hope I am making sense. Please ask questions if you need to.
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Old 03-03-2011, 12:59 PM   #10
Bob Landry
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Thanks. That all makes sense. The additional outlets would only be used as auxilliary outlets powered off of the CG power pedestal and would only be used to run a space heater or two. I could put the outlets in a closet or in a cabinet as you suggested. It wouldn't matter if I had to run an extension cord under the door to get to it since it would be used on rare occasions. I'm thinking one close to or in the bedroom and another in the living area. I'm also thinking of adding a central vacuumn and I'll need to figure out how to get power to it also. I have a Blue Sea AC CB panel left over from a van conversion that I'm going to feed from the 20A plug just so everything is protected by circuit breaker. I'm just trying to think ahead and cover all the bases. When you're running the water heater and fridge in shore power, 30A starts getting spread a little thin. I ran a 115V line to my pass through on my current trailer to power my air compressor and will probably do something similar on the new one if it doesn't already have an outlet their. I'll just have to star removing panels and looking around. It'll be exactly like an adventure, only different.
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