Adding a 40 amp fused circuit to my house batteries

[CZNEDY]

I am adding Boogey lights to our Ventana and plan on adding a 40A fused circuit which will feed a sub panel with (2) 20A fuses to power the Boogey lights controller.

How would you go about connecting the new fuse to the battery bank? Right to the battery positive terminal or to the line side of one of the existing fuses?

[Dutch Star Don]

In your front run bay, bay under the driver's window, there are large (12 volt +) cables in that bay that are bolted to terminals. Connect to one of the terminals with a fuse and then run the wiring out the back of the bay. You can use a coat hanger to push through that black blown in foam and then pull the wires through. Unless the controllers need to be accessible (not remotely operated) you could mount the controllers in there too.

There is also a panel in there with fuses. You may find an unused fuse (Spare) that you can connect to for power, no separate fuse needed.

A 40 amp fuse for LED Boogey Lights is probably overkill. I'm guessing 10amps, maybe 20 amps for two.

When I installed under coach lights on my 2014 DS, I placed them on both sides, between the front and rear wheels. It was easier then, to pull power from the water hose reel or power cord reel circuit as they were right there.

[twinboat]

If your using flooded batteries, connect at a hot side of a fuse holder it that wire can handle the added draw.

If AGM on Lithium connecting to the battery post is fine. No chance of corrosion.

[CZNEDY]

Thank you. I am using a 40A fuse because the the controller is a dual zone, 20A each. Should have mentioned that.

[hohenwald48]

40 amps of "boogey lights" should make you the center of attention in any RV park or campground. [emoji106][emoji846]

[CZNEDY]

Hahaha, yes that seems like it would be alot of lights. Just the underglow and under the PS slide out. Since the controller has (2) 20A fuses, I was going to put a 40A in the battery bay and then run it to a DC sub-panel. Maybe I will just wire the controller right to the + terminal, since each power lead is already fused at 20A.

I guess I am overthinking the final termination.

[Clemson]

Way too much overkill. I have 95 feet OF undercarriage Boogey lights with timer and dual zone controller interfaced under the drivers seat electronics bay. Directly into the 12vdc BUS there. The Boogey Lights have a in line fuse installed, so no need for anything else IMHO

[CZNEDY]

Got it. Is that 12 VDC from the chassis or the house battery? Or maybe both?

Thanks for your input.

[Clemson]

Originally Posted by CZNEDY

Got it. Is that 12 VDC from the chassis or the house battery? Or maybe both?

Thanks for your input.

If you use a VOM you will find stable 12vdc on the BUS in the electronics bay. With inline fuses provided by Boogey Lights it’s straightforward to pull power. I also installed a 12vdc timer before the controllers. To automate the on/off sequence….good luck…

[CZNEDY]

I took a ride over to the RV yesterday and took a picture of the electronics bay. I see where the 12 VDC connections are on the left side, but that looks like the chassis battery cables. I’m either going to make the connections there or run two # 12 wires with another fuse over to the house battery bank. I like the idea of keeping the controller in this compartment.

[Dutch Star Don]

Just a suggestion....I added under bay LED's to my 2014 Dutch Star. I initially installed them by gluing them to the frame behind the bay doors. I found that they shown straight down and did not give me the effect I wanted. I wanted something that shown onto the patio area a little, lighting up the area where you sit, without blinding you or ruining the evening sky.

I went to Home Depot and in the carpet department, they make a 1/2" x 1/2" x 6' aluminum angle that is lightweight and rigid (not the metal area). I drilled through the "V" in the center and then mounted it to the frame rail behind the bay doors, with self-tapping screws. I added the LED strips to one side, which angled them toward the patio area.

I used contact cement on the aluminum and LED strips to augment the LED strip sticky back.

Lastly, I added a control box in the passenger bay, that is not under a slide, so I could easily access the controls. Another poster gave me a good idea.....I connected the lights to a spa timer. At night, I would take the current time, subtract it from 10:00pm and set the timer for that amount, 2 hours, 3 hours, etc. This way, the lights always went off at a reasonable time on the nights that we used them.

Having them angled out on both sides, made for a great docking light when backing into a site at night.

[CZNEDY]

Thanks Don, I saw those posts when I was researching boogey lights in the newmar section. I installed them in our last MOHO and spent more time researching how I was going to go about doing it this time than I have spent with the actual installation.
I mounted all of the lights to the T12 channel that Boogey lights sells and have the diffuser cover over the channel. I have (2) 16’ strips on the DS and the PS between the drive and steer tires. I mounted an aluminum angle iron to the generator frame and ran a 6’ strip in the front. I also ran a 4’ strip on each side in the rear behind the tag axle and am figuring out where I am going to mount a 3-4’ strip in the rear.

The rear chassis runs (strips) will all terminate in the DS rear bay where the chassis batteries are and connect together in a junction box. From there, I am running a single cable up to the front and terminate that run in the battery bay/driver side junction box. That part is going to be a 2 man job. Have not run that wire yet since I really don’t want to get crushed under my RV.

The two 16’ strips on the DS and PS run to the front bays (battery bay on DS and Freezer bay on PS. From the PS freezer bay, the wire goes to the junction box mounted in the battery bay and they both connect together there.

So now, I have all of the LED wires (except the front run) together in a water proof junction box mounted in the Battery Bay.

All that’s left to do is:
*Get the rear LED wire run up front and inside so I can land it in the battery bay.
*Run the LED wires from the battery bay to the electronics bay
*Run the front LED wires to the electronics bay
*Connect all of the LED wires to the controller (Zone 1) in the electronics bay
*Power the controller, either direct to the house battery or the DC bus in the electronics bay.

Then, when I finish all of this I am going to start running the LED’s from the Kitchen and Bedroom slide outs (under the slide).

I’m in Florida and I have my RV in storage so I have been going over there when I can and doing a little bit at a time and then going back home to work. When I get back to the Northeast, I can tackle the slide outs.

[Dutch Star Don]

Originally Posted by CZNEDY

Thanks Don, I saw those posts when I was researching boogey lights in the newmar section. I installed them in our last MOHO and spent more time researching how I was going to go about doing it this time than I have spent with the actual installation.
I mounted all of the lights to the T12 channel that Boogey lights sells and have the diffuser cover over the channel. I have (2) 16’ strips on the DS and the PS between the drive and steer tires. I mounted an aluminum angle iron to the generator frame and ran a 6’ strip in the front. I also ran a 4’ strip on each side in the rear behind the tag axle and am figuring out where I am going to mount a 3-4’ strip in the rear.

The rear chassis runs (strips) will all terminate in the DS rear bay where the chassis batteries are and connect together in a junction box. From there, I am running a single cable up to the front and terminate that run in the battery bay/driver side junction box. That part is going to be a 2 man job. Have not run that wire yet since I really don’t want to get crushed under my RV.

The two 16’ strips on the DS and PS run to the front bays (battery bay on DS and Freezer bay on PS. From the PS freezer bay, the wire goes to the junction box mounted in the battery bay and they both connect together there.

So now, I have all of the LED wires (except the front run) together in a water proof junction box mounted in the Battery Bay.

All that’s left to do is:
*Get the rear LED wire run up front and inside so I can land it in the battery bay.
*Run the LED wires from the battery bay to the electronics bay
*Run the front LED wires to the electronics bay
*Connect all of the LED wires to the controller (Zone 1) in the electronics bay
*Power the controller, either direct to the house battery or the DC bus in the electronics bay.

Then, when I finish all of this I am going to start running the LED’s from the Kitchen and Bedroom slide outs (under the slide).

I’m in Florida and I have my RV in storage so I have been going over there when I can and doing a little bit at a time and then going back home to work. When I get back to the Northeast, I can tackle the slide outs.

Nice.....I know what it's like when you have to carry everything to a jobsite. You forget one thing and you're screwed. I've been lucky and have the coach at home, I do projects at my leisure and have everything here.

[Mile Marker 42]

I was pleasantly surprised that no boogey light police are out yet. It's still early:-)