American Coach: Victron on 2000 American Eagle

[Dale70]

I am adding a Victron 712 to supplement the older Xantrex that is used in conjunction with my original Source Manager II to better monitor my house and starting batteries. (am aware I will just get voltage on starting batteries.)

Here is my question? (or two)

Has anyone mounted an additional battery Monitor (any brand) and where did you run the wiring and mount the discplay? preferably in an Eagle or Fleetwood product of my vintage?

I could try to mount it in the panel over the table in my 40EV where all the other monitors are mounted. (water level/propane/black/grey and Xantrex)
That is a long way from the batteries and not sure how to get the new wires there.

Another option I see is next to the bath room sink and water heater on a wall there. That is just adjacent to the battery compartment and up. The walls seems thick enough and has just the some rear light switches and water pump switches there now (those will all stay untouched of course)

thx Dale

[mackwrench]

Dale, I faced the same issue. I'd decided that if the next inverter set up didn't use the same type of serial cable the old source manager remote display used, I'd cut a opening just to right side of the existing breaker box under the bed. Yours should have a fake cabinet door over it.

However I did go with a Freedom 458 25, dual input/dual output. It used the same cable and was able to to have a remote panel instead of just a display.

....you adding a transfer switch?
Call or pm me if you need anything
Peace!

[jcussen]

I just left mine in the battery bay, and use the bluetooth app on my phone. No wires to run.

[Dale70]

Hello mackwrench

As of now my "Source Manager" is still working.

I do just find the original Xantrax Freedom display lacking, so am adding a better method to look at Percent capacity available, Voltage and Amperage being used. Because the Xantrex controls charging it must stay in place.
(or maybe it is just reading things but there are parameters that are set in it.)

I plan on leaving the Xantrex shunt in place and mounting this shunt in series between the Xantrex shunt and the battery -- all loads would therefore read. Or I might replace the Xantrex shunt as both are supposed to be 500A shunts. I will see as this progresses.

Anything I do now should always be usable in the future. I could just do as jcussen is suggesting and leave it as something temporary in the battery compartment and just use the bluetooth. With lead-acid batteries that is a somewhat hostile place to leave things permanently on a long term.

The trip in February will be my trial to see how it works. We are at an event every February in Key West where we stay on a big open field with no services for about 8-9 days. Hence the desire to know more about amps being used and battery charge status.

It looks like the bathroom sink wall would be good, but was just hoping for some other info before I start tying to figure out how to get something in that wall. I may have to cut a hole smaller than a blank switchplate and see what it is in there. Worse case I cover it with the switchplate. While that would not look fantastic, I could live with that.

thanks -- Dale

[mackwrench]

Sounds like you got your head around it....

The charger is what failed on my source manager, I tried to setup a 100amp battery charger and keep the source manager, but it couldn't keep up with my boon-docking

With the new freedom and 4 new batteries, I can run for 10-12 hours living like normal, just no a/c

[Dale70]

Well I decided to put it in the battery bay for now. It is installed and running as setup completed. My issues now, however, is bluetooth range. It seems with the Eagle steel surround battery box area that I cannot use bluetooth if I am more than half way forward either inside or outside the RV. So the range is about 20 feet.

jcussen -- perhaps your RV does not have a total steel battery box like the Eagles do???

That leads me back to looking at getting into the wall almost above the battery area.
We will see.

thx Dale

[jcussen]

My coach came with gel cell batteries so are just in an ordinary bay. If you could move the meter anywhere outside the battery box, bluetooth would probably work.

[Dale70]

Here are pictures of the wall I want to mount the Victron gauge to.
What are suggestions to get into this wall and route telephone cable size wire?

The picture on the top right shows the wall from the bedroom side with the bedroom slide on the right.

The bottom left shows that wall from the end -- it is about three inches thick and the bedroom bi-fold door goes against that wall when closed. Again slide is on the right of that picture.

The bottom right picture, from the outside, shows where the slide is relative to the battery compartment door (the latch)

There are obviously electrical wires in that wall for items on both sides.

again -- thoughts?????


thx Dale

[mackwrench]

Dale, the hot water heater is under the sink, and also accessable from the outside, perhaps it's possible to fish a cable from the battery compartment, just behind the left rear tires, to the compartment under the hot water heater, then come up to wall from water heater area?

[Dale70]

Hello Todd, that sounds like a possibility.

I think I will have to get under the sink and see if any panels provide access to the water heater from the inside or maybe even into that wall.
I could easily cut a panel out there also.

We will see

I think I like the Victron already, expecially when I get some bluetooth. range. After 20 minutes I already know more about my charging system and the batteries then I ever did with the old lights of the Xantrex panel.


thx Dale

[mackwrench]

Dale, I'm boon-docking with limited internet, but on mine the door under the right side of sink has a panel that's easily removed. Full access to the heater. And it's on the same wall as the switches in your pics...

[vsheetz]

Get the monitor unit out of the metal area. Should then work ok wirelessly.

[Sandracer]

On my 1998 Eagle I put a gauge by the dinette above the switches and
ran the wire straight down into the first compartment and then into the 2nd compartment and then along the frame to the batteries.

[mackwrench]

Racer....not to jack this thread, but what's the black box thingy just above the light switch?

Dale, if you can run the cable as racer described, why not go in up onto the overhead cabinet, then over the the same place the old monitor was?