How to protect electrical equipment in the front storage bay

[steveluannj]

I have finished upgrading the electrical system in the front bay of out 280RS. I would still like to use the remaining space for storage, but want to make sure nothing shifts and damages or shorts out anything in there. I have not seen a solution to this so far, and 20 minutes of searching this forum has not yielded results. Do people have ideas that provide electrical protection, and perhaps some security for these expensive components? Seems like it should be a common issue, but I can't find any answers.

[TucsonJim]

I made sure all +12V connections are covered with insulated caps. I also installed plywood to the floor and then mounted strut channel to keep items like my tool box from sliding. You an install hooks on the floor and then use tie down straps or bungee cords to keep items from shifting.

Jim

[acoleman43]

I have finished upgrading the electrical system in the front bay of out 280RS. I would still like to use the remaining space for storage, but want to make sure nothing shifts and damages or shorts out anything in there. I have not seen a solution to this so far, and 20 minutes of searching this forum has not yielded results. Do people have ideas that provide electrical protection, and perhaps some security for these expensive components? Seems like it should be a common issue, but I can't find any answers.

You can add a lot of work, time and money to the project like I did

I have a different setup than yours, but I basically rebuilt the entire area to cover all electronic equipment. Below you see where my distribution bus bars, shunt, solar charge controller, fuses, etc are located. At the bottom are where the batteries are now located.





This is the finished product (as of last year). All devices are behind 1/2" or 3/4" plywood panels with vents to aid in air flow.






Inverter is located above for easy access.





I did some re-design on the bottom hatch over the batteries to stiffen it up with aluminum channel's to support additional weight. I now have a slide-out tool tray that carries all my tools.




Many things you can do to protect your expensive equipment If you think of something, please share so we can see what you did.

[Country Campers]

This is what my install looks like.


I have a strap holding the batteries down in built boxes, 4 and 2. This is all screwed down to 3/4" plywood on the floor. I do have some parts boxes that sit on top of the battery boxes, with the lip they do not touch the equipment on back wall. There is nothing generally needed in here when we are camping but the door is usually open when dry camping and the solar is working hard to refill the batteries. This equipment will make some heat under heavy loads.

Brian

[Yoda]

I have finished upgrading the electrical system in the front bay of out 280RS. I would still like to use the remaining space for storage, but want to make sure nothing shifts and damages or shorts out anything in there. I have not seen a solution to this so far, and 20 minutes of searching this forum has not yielded results. Do people have ideas that provide electrical protection, and perhaps some security for these expensive components? Seems like it should be a common issue, but I can't find any answers.

Check over on IRV2. There was a picture of a plywood and plexiglass barrier in front of his switches. The plexiglass was so he could see the MPPT status. I did as Jim suggested and covered all my connections. As for the Multiplus I put a piece of tape over the switch and just make sure the air vents are open, and pack so things can't slide around. My 4-6 volt battery box protects most of the stuff too.

[howson]

I did as Jim suggested and covered all my confections.

Must be a sweetsetup. (Sorry--couldn't stop myself, Keith. Hope you don't mind the good-natured teasing.)

[Yoda]

Must be a sweetsetup. (Sorry--couldn't stop myself, Keith. Hope you don't mind the good-natured teasing.)

DOH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dang spell check Revenge will be sweet

[steveluannj]

This is what my install looks like.


I have a strap holding the batteries down in built boxes, 4 and 2. This is all screwed down to 3/4" plywood on the floor. I do have some parts boxes that sit on top of the battery boxes, with the lip they do not touch the equipment on back wall. There is nothing generally needed in here when we are camping but the door is usually open when dry camping and the solar is working hard to refill the batteries. This equipment will make some heat under heavy loads.

Brian

I had not seen anyone considering the heat produced as a design issue- I have a solar array that will produce 500W, and a 2KW inverter, so is that an issue? Do people add forced air cooling to this bay to allow the door to stay closed? My battery monitor has a temperature sensor I can access, so I will keep an eye on it once temperatures get into the range that a little heat in this bay is not a good thing. For now, in Idaho, temps are more in the range that they limit working on the trailer than causing problems for electronics.

I think my first stab at storage will be to build a vertical wall to contain the storage stuff to the left side of the bay. I may build a shelf over the batteries eventually, I assume that every bit of storage becomes important eventually. I also need to change length on several of the factory wires and tie down all of the new ones, but for now I have verified that is all works.

[Country Campers]

steveluannj

I have not seen excessive temps but only one time and that was the solar controller itself that was pretty warm, I do not remember the temp that I had on my temp gun. There have been some putting cooling fans in other locations but I have not seen any in the front storage. I am not too worried about it as I just will open the door and let it hang down, when around the camper.

Brian

[howson]

steveluannj -- battery temps are typically my limiting factor when running heavy loads (usually air conditioner) in hot conditions (usually at a rest area for a break, etc). I'd give airflow much more consideration if redoing the install in my 315RLTS (travel trailer).