Xantrex RS2000 Install in a Vectra 36RD (long)

[cbeierl]

When the charger portion of my factory installed Dimensions 2000W Quasi-Sine Wave Inverter/Charger started acting up I decided to bite the bullet and replace the whole thing with a Xantrex RS2000 Full Sine Wave Inverter/Charger. Special thanks to John Canfield for his documentation of the similar upgrade he performed on his Horizon (see his web site: Jane and John's RV Pages ) and for his willingness to answer numerous questions I tossed at him along the way--without his lead I'm not sure I would have had the confidence to make this upgrade myself.

The only really difficult part involved figuring out how to run the new 25' Cat5 cable for the Xanbus link between the RS2000 and the Xantrex System Control Panel from the electric bay to the OnePlace center. I had hoped I might be able to use the existing flat 8-wire Dimensions cable to pull the new one, but the existing cable didn't want to move, so that was out. I also spent some time with a fishtape trying to get from under the OnePlace back to the under-bed space in the bedroom, but finally had to give up on that as well. Ultimately, I did find a good route for the cable, as described and illustrated below.

Here's how things look midships on the drivers side of the hallway on my 36RD. From front to back it's the kitchen sink/counter, the OnePlace, the toilet room door, the washer/dryer, and the bedroom.


Here's the OnePlace with the new Xantrex System Control Panel in place. I only needed to widen the rectangular cutout used by the original Dimensions panel by about 1/4" to allow the new Xantrex SCP to fit perfectly.


Below the OnePlace is a shallow storage compartment with the DustBuster and rechargeable flashlight--this is where I think I would put the AutoGenStart panel should I get it in the future (since you can monitor/control everything through the SCP and don't actually need to see the panel). I glued some small blocks of wood behind each of the screwholes for the footlight (at the bottom of this picture) to give the screws a little more to bite into than just the thin wall panel.


Here's the footlight directly below the OnePlace. By removing this I could get access (just barely) to the wires heading up to the panel.


Here's the hinged panel under the sink (it comes up as the slide comes in).


This is under the sink with the panel swung up. On the left is the back of the propane detector. Just below and left of center in the pic is the Cat5 cable (inside a split wire loom) coming out of a small hole I drilled to come out by the footlight. If you look carefully below that hole you can see that there's a small gap under the wall next to the tile edge--although I could get the wire through there I decided to go ahead and drill a hole (after making sure I was clear of any wires on the other side) to make it easier to get the loom through as well.


Here's the the outward side of the undersink space. The Cat5 cable/loom is visible along the back wall, heading outboard to the wire/plumbing chase along the outside toilet wall.


Here's what the toilet room looks like before opening up the chase.


And here it is with the chase open. You can just see the Cat5 cable/loom coming in from the forward side and heading back out under the washer/dryer to the rear.


Here's the panel covering up the Water Heater under the washer/dryer.


And here it is with the panel removed. The Cat5 cable/loom comes in under the DirtDevil and ends up inboard of the Water Heater.


Here the Cat5 cable/loom dives down under the floor. The rear wall below the floor here is actually the front wall of the electrical compartment. About a foot inboard under the tile floor (accessible only by feel at the limit of my reach) is a small opening full of other wires/cables. I was able to pass the Cat5 cable/loom through that hole at which point it was visible/reachable at the forward edge of the electrical compartment, just inboard of the inside wall of the compartment. From there it went back to the rear of the compartment, still inboard of the inside wall.


Here's the underbed space with the bed up. (You can also see the two brass-colored handles I attached to the engine cover under the bed, to facilitate removing it when needed.)


And here it is with the safe and panelling removed.


Visible here below where the safe goes are the battery cables coming in from the battery compartment on the starboard side, among other stuff. The small round gray wire with the loop of split loom coming off it is the old Dimensions temperature sensor wire to the battery. I was able to use that wire with the loom to pull the new sensor wire from the electrical bay to the battery, reusing the split loom when I pulled it back the other way.
The Cat5 cable/loom came out here as well (as did the old, flat Dimensions control cable) and then headed into the rear of the electrical compartment to the right of the picture.


Here's a pic of the final install in the electical compartment. As John indicated it was necessary to attach lugs to the ends of the 12V cables from the battery, as well as the green ground cable. I used a Dremel tool cutoff wheel to cut off the old Dimension mounting studs flush with the wall and then used stainless steel bolts, lockwashers, and nuts to secure the new unit. The upper three bolts were positioned at the same level as the old cutoff studs so that they would go through the re-inforcing U-channel which is welded to the backside of the wall. All six bolts were accessible from underneath on the backside of the rear compartment wall. (You can also see my hard-wired SurgeGuard install in this picture.)


I'm very happy with the results and I (and the Advantium, TVs, etc.) really like have the pure sine wave 120V power.

[cbeierl]

When the charger portion of my factory installed Dimensions 2000W Quasi-Sine Wave Inverter/Charger started acting up I decided to bite the bullet and replace the whole thing with a Xantrex RS2000 Full Sine Wave Inverter/Charger. Special thanks to John Canfield for his documentation of the similar upgrade he performed on his Horizon (see his web site: Jane and John's RV Pages ) and for his willingness to answer numerous questions I tossed at him along the way--without his lead I'm not sure I would have had the confidence to make this upgrade myself.

The only really difficult part involved figuring out how to run the new 25' Cat5 cable for the Xanbus link between the RS2000 and the Xantrex System Control Panel from the electric bay to the OnePlace center. I had hoped I might be able to use the existing flat 8-wire Dimensions cable to pull the new one, but the existing cable didn't want to move, so that was out. I also spent some time with a fishtape trying to get from under the OnePlace back to the under-bed space in the bedroom, but finally had to give up on that as well. Ultimately, I did find a good route for the cable, as described and illustrated below.

Here's how things look midships on the drivers side of the hallway on my 36RD. From front to back it's the kitchen sink/counter, the OnePlace, the toilet room door, the washer/dryer, and the bedroom.


Here's the OnePlace with the new Xantrex System Control Panel in place. I only needed to widen the rectangular cutout used by the original Dimensions panel by about 1/4" to allow the new Xantrex SCP to fit perfectly.


Below the OnePlace is a shallow storage compartment with the DustBuster and rechargeable flashlight--this is where I think I would put the AutoGenStart panel should I get it in the future (since you can monitor/control everything through the SCP and don't actually need to see the panel). I glued some small blocks of wood behind each of the screwholes for the footlight (at the bottom of this picture) to give the screws a little more to bite into than just the thin wall panel.


Here's the footlight directly below the OnePlace. By removing this I could get access (just barely) to the wires heading up to the panel.


Here's the hinged panel under the sink (it comes up as the slide comes in).


This is under the sink with the panel swung up. On the left is the back of the propane detector. Just below and left of center in the pic is the Cat5 cable (inside a split wire loom) coming out of a small hole I drilled to come out by the footlight. If you look carefully below that hole you can see that there's a small gap under the wall next to the tile edge--although I could get the wire through there I decided to go ahead and drill a hole (after making sure I was clear of any wires on the other side) to make it easier to get the loom through as well.


Here's the the outward side of the undersink space. The Cat5 cable/loom is visible along the back wall, heading outboard to the wire/plumbing chase along the outside toilet wall.


Here's what the toilet room looks like before opening up the chase.


And here it is with the chase open. You can just see the Cat5 cable/loom coming in from the forward side and heading back out under the washer/dryer to the rear.


Here's the panel covering up the Water Heater under the washer/dryer.


And here it is with the panel removed. The Cat5 cable/loom comes in under the DirtDevil and ends up inboard of the Water Heater.


Here the Cat5 cable/loom dives down under the floor. The rear wall below the floor here is actually the front wall of the electrical compartment. About a foot inboard under the tile floor (accessible only by feel at the limit of my reach) is a small opening full of other wires/cables. I was able to pass the Cat5 cable/loom through that hole at which point it was visible/reachable at the forward edge of the electrical compartment, just inboard of the inside wall of the compartment. From there it went back to the rear of the compartment, still inboard of the inside wall.


Here's the underbed space with the bed up. (You can also see the two brass-colored handles I attached to the engine cover under the bed, to facilitate removing it when needed.)


And here it is with the safe and panelling removed.


Visible here below where the safe goes are the battery cables coming in from the battery compartment on the starboard side, among other stuff. The small round gray wire with the loop of split loom coming off it is the old Dimensions temperature sensor wire to the battery. I was able to use that wire with the loom to pull the new sensor wire from the electrical bay to the battery, reusing the split loom when I pulled it back the other way.
The Cat5 cable/loom came out here as well (as did the old, flat Dimensions control cable) and then headed into the rear of the electrical compartment to the right of the picture.


Here's a pic of the final install in the electical compartment. As John indicated it was necessary to attach lugs to the ends of the 12V cables from the battery, as well as the green ground cable. I used a Dremel tool cutoff wheel to cut off the old Dimension mounting studs flush with the wall and then used stainless steel bolts, lockwashers, and nuts to secure the new unit. The upper three bolts were positioned at the same level as the old cutoff studs so that they would go through the re-inforcing U-channel which is welded to the backside of the wall. All six bolts were accessible from underneath on the backside of the rear compartment wall. (You can also see my hard-wired SurgeGuard install in this picture.)


I'm very happy with the results and I (and the Advantium, TVs, etc.) really like have the pure sine wave 120V power.

[Pusherman]

Excellent post! Thanks for all the great pictures. It sure shows what's involved in running the Cat5 cable (and we can sure tell it wasn't trivial -- but doable).

[John_Canfield]

Chris - We have been really pleased with our RS2000 and it was worth the expense and effort for us.

A bonus of an install like this is more awareness of your coach - you get to look at stuff that most owners would never see. After doing my install, I really liked what I saw in terms of plumbing wiring, etc.

[rebelsbeach]

Nice job Chris!!

My goodness, I believe we have us another "John Canfield" capable techie/modifier on the site!



Thank goodness the new coach already comes with a true sine wave.

[jcar6109]

Excellent write up. This is another of the things that I am very interested in. This knowledge will be very useful when I retire and start my own upgrades. Thank you for sharing.