Re: Newbie to Lazy Daze Reply #50 – September 02, 2020, 11:41:00 am Wiley my hats off to you. I built my own house with trees I logged off my land and lumber manufactured in my own sawmill but I would never take on the project you have! It will be interesting to watch your progress and I hope for lots of pics.We have someone in here that rebuilt their whole rear end due to rot which was fun and informative to follow. Your project will be worthy of a book or blog anyway. 1 Likes
Re: Newbie to Lazy Daze Reply #51 – September 02, 2020, 01:56:01 pm "the fuses/breakers are there to protect the wiring, not the components connected to the wire."Right. Here's how I learned to think of it. Imagine a simple circuit consisting of a car battery and a light bulb, connected by a few feet of wire. Suppose you put a fuse near the light bulb. What happens if there's a short in the connecting wires? The wire between the short and the battery will heat up and catch fire. The fuse will do nothing.Now suppose you put a fuse next to the battery. What happens if there's a short in the connecting wires? The fuse will blow, protecting the wires. As Eric said, that's what fuses/breakers are for: to protect the wiring.It follows that in general, fuses or breakers should be placed as close as possible to the power source. 3 Likes
Re: Newbie to Lazy Daze Reply #52 – September 02, 2020, 03:12:15 pm Quote from: Jane and Scott - September 01, 2020, 09:38:39 pmLarry, Bus bars on 120 V absolutely.However, do you do that with 12v also? Definitely, most boats have 12-volt systems. Larry
Re: Newbie to Lazy Daze Reply #53 – September 02, 2020, 03:29:35 pm Quote from: Andy Baird - September 01, 2020, 09:28:44 pmI had plenty of experience soldering in non-RV/non-boating situations, so I was initially inclined to go that route. But ABYC recommends against soldering connections on boats, and their reasoning applies equally to RVs or any mobile application. The reason is that solder stiffens the end of the wire, and that can lead to metal fatigue and breakage when there's vibration and flexing. They recommend crimped connections.For large wire gauges, you will need a bigger crimper. There are three ways to go. In order of increasing cost, they are hammer crimpers, hydraulic crimpers, and long-handled compound crimpers. Hammer crimpers don't do the best job, but they're cheap--twenty bucks or so. I don't have experience with hydraulic crimpers. I've read that there are some bad ones out there--bad meaning the dies are the wrong sizes--but that's all I know.Because I have had to work with cables up to 4/0 in the past, I use an FTZ 94284 "Correct Crimp" compound crimper. It has handles about 18" long--believe me, for large wire gauges you need all the leverage you can get! It handles wire gauges from AWG 6 up to 4/0. It sells for about $150, and believe it or not, that is about the least expensive compound crimper you can find for these large wire gauges. $300 and up is more typical. QuoteYou will never find soldered connections on aircraft, off-road equipment and any other equipment subjection to vibrations.Well done crimped connections work well as long as they are secured to prevent movement.I used a hammer crimper for years at work, primarily for field repairs. The connections do not last as long as a compound crimper. I tried hand hydraulic crimpers and was disappointed in the results, now I use a pro-grade, FTZ 94285 crimper, along with a large cable cutter that cuts 4-0 cable cleanly.Larry As an Amazon Associate Lazy Daze Owners' Group earns from qualifying purchases.
Re: Newbie to Lazy Daze Reply #54 – September 03, 2020, 03:39:15 am I was lucky enough when I was making 4/0 battery cables, to be able to take parts to work and use a table mounted hydraulic crimper (electrically powered). Really miss that machine! RonB
Re: Newbie to Lazy Daze Reply #55 – September 03, 2020, 03:42:38 pm Ok, maybe we are hitting the issues in an older RV vs newer RV.As I said, I was surprised there is no gangboxes (none, nada, zip) in our 89 TK, and that includes 120V for outlets. There might be an exception in the refrigerator one, I would have to double check this to confirm.While I don't think LD did any splices (with wirenuts) in the walls, I have not torn off all the walls to confirm. They did (where I have checked) to proper attaching to the structure at the regular intervals.In our LD, there is a TV area in the back of the lounge with 120 V wiring exposed in the cabinet - again no gang boxes so live wires in that cabinet that could have come lose/in contact with whatever was stored in that cabinet, but that could have been installed after purchase - it didn't look like the typical LD work style in the rest of the RV.Ron alluded to this - if I read between the lines correctly, but if someone can confirm...Do the newer LDs have gangboxes? For 120V? For 12V (e.g. lights, fans, etc where the fixture does not have a gangbox included)? I have to say when we shopped for new lights (to move to LED and change the look from the very old lights), there are few RV light fixtures (if any) that have a proper gangbox built into the light (e.g. that would withstand a loose wire touching whatever is close by).It is a lot of work to place a new gangbox for all the 12V spots where there is just a few wires like lights, it would mean make a hole in the ceiling large enough for a shallow box, and create an appropriate cover. It is easier when it is inside the cabinets and one of our ceiling light wires actually came thru a stud just to throw another wrench in the works. Using butt splices and fusion tape is easier and a big improvement above the wirenuts, which I was surprised to find were in very good condition after 30 years and 100,000+ miles (though I don't know how much was smooth roads vs rough off road bouncing).Again, this may all be old RV vs new RV issues.Jane
Re: Newbie to Lazy Daze Reply #56 – September 04, 2020, 12:24:28 am Ok - I take some of that back.I checked and our refrigerator outlet (inside the outside refrigerator bin) does have a gangbox. I took the cover off the 120v outlets (in wall) by the entry door and it had a gangbox. I didn’t check the one by the sink (bottom of a cabinet).The only other one, in the rear lounge cabinet does not have a gangboxes. It is inside that open area between the bottom shelf and the bottom of the cabinet (chase area) that is the only one 120V I had touched previously. There was some additional 120V that was in the cabinet - not in a gangbox, for a TV I think, again that might be after purchase and not done by Lazydaze.None of the 12v has been in a gangbox (I have worked on the switch inside the door, I think all the lights, and one of the fans. They are either in chases, or Just resting inside the light fixture (no gangbox in the fixtures).Jane
Re: Newbie to Lazy Daze Reply #57 – September 04, 2020, 07:12:39 am Quote from: Jane and Scott - September 03, 2020, 03:42:38 pmAs I said, I was surprised there is no gangboxes (none, nada, zip) in our 89 TK, and that includes 120V for outlets. There might be an exception in the refrigerator one, I would have to double check this to confirm.JaneA side note. In the 80's in my great Aunts new single wide mobile in a senior park in RI the outlets and switches didn't have a box. They were special made in a manner where boxes weren't needed. Of course, no wire nuts used either. US Hardware Mobile Home/RV Duplex Receptacle 1 9/16" x 4 1/4" - Electrical... As an Amazon Associate Lazy Daze Owners' Group earns from qualifying purchases.
Re: Newbie to Lazy Daze Reply #58 – September 05, 2020, 11:19:59 pm Here's something I should have mentioned earlier when talking about heavy-gauge cables: if you just need a few, and you don't want to buy the Power Lugs and FTZ crimper needed to do a good job--not to mention heavy cable in what are usually 25-foot minimum lengths--you can have cables custom-made for you by GenuinedealZ. Despite the bargain-basement sounding name, this is a respectable marine electrical supplies seller.Their website has an ordering page that makes it easy to specify exactly what you want--gauge, color, lug style, etc. Once when I was traveling and didn't have my big FTZ crimper with me, I used this GenuinedealZ service to make the cables I needed, and the quality was fine--tinned marine grade wire and heavy lugs, properly crimped and sealed with dual-layer heat shrink tubing. And the prices, as I recall, were reasonable.So if the cost of tools and supplies is deterring you from making heavy cables for battery connections and the like, GenuinedealZ is a viable alternative.P.S.--They also sell marine-rated cable by the foot. 2 Likes
Re: Newbie to Lazy Daze Reply #59 – September 09, 2020, 03:42:50 pm Quote from: Wiley - August 27, 2020, 05:14:06 pmHere is my our new project and intro to the Lazy Daze lifestyle. My girlfriend and I have been looking for a vintage rv under 22 feet to do some traveling in around the state and to see our kids in the surrounding states. I've always like the lazy daze line and after see many other brands of this era, we decided on this one. Its a '73 year model. Very dirty from sitting for the past year next to a farm field but overall in good condition. Low miles and little wear. I will post more pics upon getting it home this weekend.I hope you're not a renovation/carpentry newbie, though. This is an awesome, but advanced project I suspect.
Re: Newbie to Lazy Daze Reply #60 – October 01, 2020, 06:16:57 pm I look forward to your before and after photos, too! Thank you for sharing.Kat
Topic: Newbie to Lazy Daze (Read 1495 times)
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Topic: Newbie to Lazy Daze (Read 1495 times)
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