I made a pretty smart-looking grounding block this evening from a piece of aluminium. Here's it and some other 12v odds and sods that I've been gathering together:
That's a fine looking block, sir. Just a fine looking block. Beautiful job.
Thank you, soldier. At ease.
It's a 6-channel block, similar to the 6-channel fuse box, also shown. Of course, a grounding block can really just be a cluster of wires all twisted together on a piece of metal, but it's nice to keep organized, isn't it? Besides, I can only source and research materials so much before I really want to go down and build something.
The 8-gauge wire is the primary line from the deep cycle battery from the tongue through the roof (or maybe the floor) to the raceway. The 14-gauge is for the individual circuits (4 in use, 2 spare):
- Cabin 12v + USB outlet
- Galley 12v + USB outlet
- Overhead LED lights (cabin reading lights, galley hatch light)
- Vent fan
Want a closer look? Sure, you bet,
This thing will be fastened in the raceway. The bigger bolt is for the more major 8 gauge connection back to the trailer frame and the negative battery terminal.
The 12v interaction with the 120v system is pretty simple: the battery gets a trickle charge when it's plugged in to shore power. I considered more complex systems where the 12v gets a direct boost from shore and the battery charged as you drive, but they required a little more hardware and a lot more wiring. The battery charger is about the size of a computer mouse. I don't expect to run low on power over a weekend, and if we black out on a longer trip, we'll do what we've always done camping for years past -- use headlamps!
It could still be 2 months until my trailer is done. There will likely be a whole lot more of little items like this manufactured in the meantime!
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