I thought to myself "when will I ever need nine circuits on an 18 foot trailer? Thats crazy talk!"...
Installed the fuse box in the electronics compartment (see previous 12 volt blog) and started my wiring. Connected the existing romex wire that fed the original four lights and the stove fan/light on the trailer to one circuit. Then connected the other existing wire that fed power to the water pump. Thought I was just about done...Not!
When I was doing the floor installation and had some of the wall panels out I ran new wires to areas of the trailer that did not have wiring circuits before. Such as: to the small ledge cabinet above the front window, the curb side seat area, the new water heater and to the rear closet area. I also wired the running light so they can be turned on while the trailer is not connected to the tow vehicle. Pretty soon I was out of circuits...
When I was doing the floor installation and had some of the wall panels out I ran new wires to areas of the trailer that did not have wiring circuits before. Such as: to the small ledge cabinet above the front window, the curb side seat area, the new water heater and to the rear closet area. I also wired the running light so they can be turned on while the trailer is not connected to the tow vehicle. Pretty soon I was out of circuits...
Here you see the fuse box and its dedicated 50-amp breaker. Thats 6-gauge wire all the way to the fuse box from the positive bus bar:
The wires going to the right are for the original circuits and the new circuits in the front of the trailer. I ran separate ground wires for each area. The wires going to the left are for the water heater and the rear closet area and those circuits also have their separate ground wires back to the fuse box. I could just use the shell to ground my circuits but I wanted to make sure that I had good grounds. The most common problem with trailer electrical circuits is poor grounding. I wanted to avoid that.
In the rear I wanted to add at least one light inside the closet. I also needed power for the composting toilet fan, the shower pan bilge pump and at least one more circuit for new LED under the overhead cabinets. So I split one of the wires from the main fuse box (ummm...did you say "main" fuse box?) into a secondary fuse box in the closet:
This fuse box has its own ground wire back to the main fuse box. Am I a little out of control?...I don't feel out of control, doctor...I used 10-gauge wire which gives this secondary fuse box a 30-amp capacity. My power needs for this area of the trailer are well below that amperage.
The on/off switch you see under the fuse box is to isolate the solar panel array, but that is conversation for another blog.