Hi Courtney,

This past winter I added a DC breaker box and Link 10 E-meter whereboth
products are available through West Marine (http://www.westmarine.com/).The
DC breaker box is from Blue Sea Systems (Bellingham, WA) and is availablein
sizes from 3 breakers to hundreds of breakers (in "kit" form). Theone I
purchased has 8 breakers, 6 of which have 15 A and 2 with 20 A breakers.I
have also purchased wire and cable from them in specified sizes (thereis a
West Marine store located locally although I have also used their catalogin
the past). I am quite happy with the end result as I always found it
bothersome to change fuses. I also appreciate the ability to further
distinguish DC appliances with more control over separate lines. Irecommend
that you request a catalog as their new '99 catalog is quite descriptiveand a
good source for many RV common projects.

I run two batteries in my tow vehicle (a Ford conversion van) in whichI have
an isolator to charge both batteries. One of the batteries is the starting
battery and the second battery is a deep cycle used for all the conversion
electronics, etc. (both batteries are Optima AGM batteries). I haveyet to do
this but plan on getting to it later this spring and that is to runa 4 gauge
line from the isolator to the Bargeman connector at the back of thevan. I
figure I need about 20 ft. As it stands now the positive is a 10 or12 gauge
and is not adequate for the recharging task of the trailer batteries.I have
selected the 4 gauge based on articles by RV technical writer BillFarlow and
feel that his recommendation sounds useful. What I don't know yet iswhether
to hook up to the van deep cycle battery terminal or directly to the
alternator terminal. My contemplation in this selection is that hookingup to
the van deep cycle battery means that the trailer batteries will bein
parallel with the van deep cycle and thus I will be mixing batterytypes as
well as potentially causing a drain of the van battery when I leavethe
electrical tow line hooked up. OTOH, if I wire to the alternator terminalI
will only receive power to the trailer batteries when the tow vehicleis
moving which is acceptable and preferred. However, I am concerned thatthe
large trailer house batteries will dominate the power output of thealternator
and thus potentially limit the available power to the two an batteries.At
this point I think I am going to try to wire up to the alternator butwill
need to monitor the output to ensure that I am not robbing the vanbatteries.
Any suggestions are welcomed.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Tom Howarth
WBCCI #6490
 
 

Courtney Gwyn wrote:

> Hi Folks, My 66 Caravel's previous owner was an electrically challenged
> individual. When I opened the roadside inspection door, it lookedlike a
> multi-colored spaghetti dinner. Does anyone know of a reasonablemail order
> house that handles 12v distribution panels, wire in lengths otherthan 500'
> etc? Are circuit breakers preferable to fuses? And, lastly, whatgauge wire
> should run from the tow vehicle alternator to the Bargman for 12vbattery
> charge to the trailer? Thanks- Courtney
>
> PS- Does anyone know the products and method used to get that killer
> home-made shine on the 31' rig at the Hobo rally?