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03-28-2020, 12:19 PM
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#1
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: St. Louis
Posts: 67
Year: 1984
Coachwork: International Harvester
Chassis: S1753
Engine: V8 6.9L
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Running Wire(s)
What’s The Best And Safest Way To Run Wire To Both Sides Of A Bus? My Battery Bank And Breaker Panel Is In The Rear Left Of The Bus.
Any Suggestions On Conduit, Voltage Drop, E.T.C
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03-31-2020, 12:30 PM
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#2
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Apr 2018
Posts: 421
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When I put the floor in (1 inch rigid board insulation, 3/4" plywood) I placed a 3/4" PVC pipe from one wheel well to the other through the insulation board, with a 45 degree angle coupling at each end that points up. I pre-ran six 18 gauge wires through this in anticipation that I'd need to power three devices on the other side of the battery bank. At the time I didn't know what the final design/layout was, but that ended up being correct--I have a diesel heater, a fridge, and device charging outlets on that side.
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03-31-2020, 01:01 PM
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#3
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Athens, TN
Posts: 1,574
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Amtran
Chassis: International RE
Engine: International T444e
Rated Cap: 76
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Conduit is a good idea.
If you mean DC:
Put the largest wire you can (within reason) in conduit from the rear to the front. Near the batteries put a breaker inline; and near the middle tee off to a DC subpanel. At the end of the run (front of the bus), install a DC subpanel in a convenient location.
You can run just positive and negative to chassis or run both negative and positive. This gives you several convenient places to tap off of for DC appliances.
Any wire AC or DC should be concealed either by being inside a wall, panel/cabinet or conduit.
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03-31-2020, 01:09 PM
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#4
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Bus Geek
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Eastern WA
Posts: 6,401
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: All American RE (A3RE)
Engine: Cummins ISC (8.3)
Rated Cap: 72
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kazetsukai
Conduit is a good idea.
If you mean DC:
Put the largest wire you can (within reason) in conduit from the rear to the front. Near the batteries put a breaker inline; and near the middle tee off to a DC subpanel. At the end of the run (front of the bus), install a DC subpanel in a convenient location.
You can run just positive and negative to chassis or run both negative and positive. This gives you several convenient places to tap off of for DC appliances.
Any wire AC or DC should be concealed either by being inside a wall, panel/cabinet or conduit.
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I would recommend that you use a wire size calculator (many online) and determine what size wire is appropriate to your need. Then run it through conduit being mindful of allowable conduit fill (also available online).
I would also recommend placing your batteries and DC load center as close together as practical.
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03-31-2020, 01:12 PM
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#5
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Bus Geek
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Eastern WA
Posts: 6,401
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: All American RE (A3RE)
Engine: Cummins ISC (8.3)
Rated Cap: 72
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheArgobus
When I put the floor in (1 inch rigid board insulation, 3/4" plywood) I placed a 3/4" PVC pipe from one wheel well to the other through the insulation board, with a 45 degree angle coupling at each end that points up. I pre-ran six 18 gauge wires through this in anticipation that I'd need to power three devices on the other side of the battery bank. At the time I didn't know what the final design/layout was, but that ended up being correct--I have a diesel heater, a fridge, and device charging outlets on that side.
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That is pretty much what I am working on now. Except that I am using 1" pvc conduit. One end will come up behind the refrigerator and the other in the back of the kitchen cabinets.
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04-01-2020, 11:32 AM
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#6
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Apr 2018
Posts: 421
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PNW_Steve
That is pretty much what I am working on now. Except that I am using 1" pvc conduit. One end will come up behind the refrigerator and the other in the back of the kitchen cabinets.
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Yeah I put mine in without knowing the final layout, but it worked out okay. On the battery bank side, the conduit exits directly under the inverter/charger, so I had to put that on a raised platform of sorts. On the other side, it exits under the refrigerator, which is already raised.
I also preran a guide line through in case I wanted to run any additional wires, but unfortunately when I tried using it, it didn't work out. Oops.
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04-01-2020, 12:53 PM
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#7
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: St. Louis
Posts: 67
Year: 1984
Coachwork: International Harvester
Chassis: S1753
Engine: V8 6.9L
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheArgobus
When I put the floor in (1 inch rigid board insulation, 3/4" plywood) I placed a 3/4" PVC pipe from one wheel well to the other through the insulation board, with a 45 degree angle coupling at each end that points up. I pre-ran six 18 gauge wires through this in anticipation that I'd need to power three devices on the other side of the battery bank. At the time I didn't know what the final design/layout was, but that ended up being correct--I have a diesel heater, a fridge, and device charging outlets on that side.
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Would You Happen To Have A Photo Of This?
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04-01-2020, 01:41 PM
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#8
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Apr 2018
Posts: 421
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Here's are two photos during installation.
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04-01-2020, 01:45 PM
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#9
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: St. Louis
Posts: 67
Year: 1984
Coachwork: International Harvester
Chassis: S1753
Engine: V8 6.9L
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Not A Bad Idea. Only Thing Is, My Floor Is Done And Really Have No Way To Wire The Other Side Of My Bus
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04-01-2020, 01:57 PM
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#10
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: Suburbs of Winterset, OH
Posts: 802
Year: 2005
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: FS65
Engine: Mercedes 6.4L
Rated Cap: just the 2 of us
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could you run conduit under the bus from one side to the other? Just make sure it is well clear of anything that moves...suspension, drive shaft and such.
Also, in my basement, I used surface mount conduit....low profile, square painted metal..you could use that maybe across the back over the E-exit...it wouldn't work on curves though.
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04-01-2020, 09:05 PM
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#11
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Brazoria County, Texas
Posts: 819
Year: 1997
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: International
Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: 32 Passenger
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NfiniteMile
Not A Bad Idea. Only Thing Is, My Floor Is Done And Really Have No Way To Wire The Other Side Of My Bus
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I ran 3/4” EMT with watertight couplings & connectors under the bus from back to front and crossed over to the other side. I used 6”x 6”x 4” deep junction boxes. Use #12 THHN stranded wire for your 15 amp circuits. That way you won’t overload anything.#10 for your 30 amp circuits.
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04-01-2020, 09:29 PM
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#12
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 2,831
Year: 2007
Coachwork: Thomas Built
Chassis: Minotour
Engine: Chevy Express 3500 6.6l
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I’ve always been an advocate for conduit, but after working on my bus a lot I decided that using split loom for DC is the way to go. I have a shorty though, with pretty small requirements, fridge, lights, water heater, stereo, water pump.
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