Relocating battery's in travel trailer

[mixter7]

Has anyone relocated their batteries inside the trailer? I'm planning on installing solar with a lithium battery. We have a 2018 Jayflight and it appears the ideal location is under the sink area. This is near the controller and near the refrigerator vent where I would like to run solar wire. There seems to be enough space under the sink to accommodate all the devices for solar, plus the convenience of proximity.

My question is, aside from returning the wire from the front of the trailer, is there a way to splice into it near the controller? And if so, what happens the wires on the other end so the tongue jack and other things still work? I also hear lithium batteries don’t charge well cold, so having them inside would be more ideal .

[JB13502]

Originally Posted by mixter7

Has anyone relocated their batteries inside the trailer? I'm planning on installing solar with a lithium battery. We have a 2018 Jayflight and it appears the ideal location is under the sink area. This is near the controller and near the refrigerator vent where I would like to run solar wire. There seems to be enough space under the sink to accommodate all the devices for solar, plus the convenience of proximity.

My question is, aside from returning the wire from the front of the trailer, is there a way to splice into it near the controller? And if so, what happens the wires on the other end so the tongue jack and other things still work? I also hear lithium batteries don’t charge well cold, so having them inside would be more ideal .

There are many, many posts on this forum regarding installing solar and relocating batteries. Use the search engine from the sticky...
https://cse.google.com/cse/publicurl...95:_douuy_o5dq

Try searching on BATTERIES INSIDE or SOLAR INSTALL
There's more than enough reading to keep you busy for days.

This post may get you started in the right direction..
https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...lar-73189.html

I'm sure that others that have done it will chime in with what worked for them as well.

[MrKABC]

https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...ml#post1009800

Here's my build thread! I relocated my batteries to under the dinette. I can answer questions if you have any?

[mixter7]

Thank you for the advice. My main question is that if i move the battery inside, what do i do with the connections on the other end? I have 2 red and 1 black. It appears they go to a nearby junction box. For the red, it looks like one feeds the nearby solar port and tongue jack. The other seems to be the main positive. I assume i could jumper them together with a small distribution bar. But the main black is by itself, not sure what to do there.



And as far as when I begin wiring the battery's near the controller, do i use a distribution bar there to tap into it? I notice i have a 15 amp breaker labeled "Converter". Is that were i distribute the positive and negative to? Appreciate your help good sir.



-Mic

[MrKABC]

Originally Posted by mixter7

Thank you for the advice. My main question is that if i move the battery inside, what do i do with the connections on the other end? I have 2 red and 1 black. It appears they go to a nearby junction box. For the red, it looks like one feeds the nearby solar port and tongue jack. The other seems to be the main positive. I assume i could jumper them together with a small distribution bar. But the main black is by itself, not sure what to do there.

And as far as when I begin wiring the battery's near the controller, do i use a distribution bar there to tap into it? I notice i have a 15 amp breaker labeled "Converter". Is that were i distribute the positive and negative to? Appreciate your help good sir.

-Mic

I assume that you are looking at the front junction box. You have a red and black wire that goes to the battery, correct?

Those wires should be disconnected from the front junction box. I don't know exactly what your wiring looks like in there but for me those wires, once pulled, didn't impact any of the other wires (see photo/diagram, red arrows/dotted lines indicated removed wires). Just be sure that wherever those wires connected to in the j-box are hooked up to your tongue jack and other items out front.

I merely took out the battery wires and secured the connections to the existing (+) and (-) wire nuts. Since there is already power wiring going to your circuit panel inside the trailer, there is no need to run anything new. You will, however, need to run new wires from your battery(s) to your circuit panel input (+) and (-) wires. For that I needed two bus bars (see my diagram).

A picture of your j box wiring would be really helpful!

[RogerR]

I was lucky as my solar routing came down at the front of our 195RB, into the access/storage door area under the bed. I took the existing battery cables off the tongue and pulled them into the same area and located my MPPT, Lithium battery, solar connections and maybe in the future, an inverter to make some AC for my TV or other AC needs.

[mixter7]

Here's the pics of the wiring going back to the junction box. The red and black both feed back to the box. It looks like the red one eventually goes back to the controller, but i can't seem to find the black one inside the box? This rats nest of wires is intimidating .

[mixter7]

I may consider this, but I'm a little iffy on drilling a hole towards the front of the RV. I would also have to run wire down the bedroom closet and use a wire cover to hid the wire in between the closet and night stand, since its not one piece like some are.

[boatguy]

I was planning for 200ah of lithium for my 166fbs . Instead of relocating the batteries to inside the RV somewhere , I just went for the Renogy Heated Lithium batteries. 100ah x 2 , wired in parallel = 200ah . The renogies are very close in size to group 24 series Marine/RV deep cycle batteries . 2 of these fit just fine in group 24 battery boxes in the stock battery location on the front of the trailer. I got some locks for them as well. Seems to be working out pretty well , and I didnt have to move them to the inside of the trailer and rewire everything.
I will see if I can find some pictures ......

[boatguy]

Renogy Smart Lithium 12v 100ah with self heating in stock 24 series battery boxes , in the front stock battery location ........ x2 = 200ah .

If you have any questions , or need any details let me know. So far has been working out great and I didnt have to deal with moving the batteries, and the wiring redo .

[mixter7]

Those look nice.....do they have they have Bluetooth monitoring built in?

[boatguy]

No bluetooth out of the box , unless you add a Renogy BT2 module . I did and it was only about $30. , plus I had to add the RJ56 Cat6 ethernet cable between the two batteries so they could communicate between each other , that was another $8.
Pretty slick set-up once the two batteries are linked. Smart enough to control charging input amperage individually even though the main batteries are linked in parallel with the main battery cables . The batteries have a pretty high tech BMS .
With the BT2 Renogy app , and the link RJ56 cable , it automatically knows the total ah is 200 , and controls them accordingly and shows usage for the 200ah . You can also check into individual battery info at any time as well .


Also, the heated feature does not pull ANY power from the batteries . The heaters only activate when the battery BMS senses the batteries are low temperature .......and senses an incoming charge . It will use the incoming charge amperage to warm up the batts first. After they warm up , the BMS lets the charge go to the battery .

[FISTEP]

Boatguy, where did you get the bat box locks? can you share a link on name?


Thanks!

[boatguy]

Originally Posted by FISTEP

Boatguy, where did you get the bat box locks? can you share a link on name?


Thanks!

The actual locks were Brinks keyed alike , looked to be more secure than regular pad locks . Just got them via Amazon .

https://www.amazon.com/Brinks-673-70...5706310&sr=8-3

The actual battery brackets are from B&D Battery Lock . Will keep the quick, lazy or honest thief away , but like anything else can be defeated with the right tools. Seem to be pretty robust .

B & D RV Battery Lock For RV travel trailers and popup campers.

[castolon]

Originally Posted by mixter7

it appears the ideal location is under the sink area. There seems to be enough space under the sink to accommodate all the devices for solar

Conventional/best practice: you don't locate electrical equipment/wiring below fluid lines/sources.


A leak would be ugly.


Electrical installations above fluid areas is fine.

[RogerR]

If there is a Stodor vent in there the humidity will likely be way to high for the MPPT and other devices.

[videoarizona]

I went from two golf cart 6 volt batteries located in the front tongue to a 200 amp lithium that I moved inside on the trailer. I left the two wires that came from the power Center that charged the batteries and relocated them to a Harbor Freight tongue box. They are connected to two small buss bars. This gives me the capability of connecting a portable solar panel system as well as having 12 volts up front on the tongue that I could use for my portable tire inflator if I had a flat tire. I also store my wood blocks for leveling, etc., In the storage box!

The two wires that came from the tongue that used to charge the battery from the power Center 12 volt panel... I moved them to two buss bars. The positive wire went through a 30 amp circuit breaker then the positive busbar. I made two new wires and connected one end to the buss bars and the other end to the power Center 12 volt panel via a 60amp circuit breaker. At this point I now have the power center powering the bus bars as well as powering or receiving power from the tongue.

The lithium battery is located nearby and is connected to the buss bars via 200 amp fuse, a battery shut off and a shunt.

When I install the solar system I'll run the two power leads down to the bus bars and there will be a shut-off there as well as a 40 amp circuit breaker.

As a picture will show, everything comes to the bus bars and is protected via either a fuse or circuit breakers. The circuit breakers are waterproof. So no worries of leaks in the trailer.
The circuit breakers also give me the capability of turning off or isolating both the tongue, the solar panels, or the power center, from the battery system.
The two pictures of the electronics...one shows components without the power center connected. The other shows the system complete except for solar.

[Ryan31b]

I feel really dumb for asking. Don't let my incompetence as an electrician be a gauge for my competence elsewhere. Where am I pulling the power from, to relocate my battery? Is there just 1 main red feed that leaves the converter to the battery box out front?
I will have a 100AH lithium and Victor shunt and monitor.
Additionally, what gauge of wire should I pull? I'm envisioning that I cut the main charger cable, land on a bus bar and use the bus bar to feed my monitor and battery... although I might be completely in left field here.

I look forward to someones help

[RogerR]

I have two wires coming from the main fuse box/power center to the tongue. Rather than messing with anything I simply drilled a hole in the floor under the bed and near the tongue and pulled the wires up and attached to the battery under the bed. Then I mounted the new MPPT a couple of feet over where I brought the solar feed down from the roof and connect the MPPT to the battery. I have cut off switches between MPPT and solar and battery.

[Ryan31b]

I can do that. I got a bus bar box to land everything cleanly in and get rid of that household j-box. Then I’ll follow the wires back into the frame and (hopefully) up through this gaping hole by the fresh water tank and re-foam it. Torrential rain just hit… maybe tomorrow I can get on it