Tuesday, September 17, 2024

Lithium Battery and Solar Upgrade to Our 2020 Arctic Fox 5th Wheel

For all of you who have trailers, campers, 5th wheels, vans or motorhomes, a lithium battery and solar upgrade is probably something you have thought about. 

We were thankful for the countless resources out there that helped us along the way.  It was helpful that the hours spent wiring our shop with my father's advice (who was an electrician) came in handy. We missed him for this project as he would have thoroughly enjoyed it.

We installed this lithium and solar upgrade on our 2020 Arctic Fox 28-5C 5th Wheel.  This was a much bigger project than we anticipated!

Step 1: Opening boxes and planning the layout

Equipment arrives, well some of it.  We quickly discovered that we would be ordering much more as the project progressed! 


We soon found out this initial layout was not close to correct!  

Step 2: 5th Wheel Preparations

All boards were painted black, and then 2x4's were installed by drilling through the steel in the front compartment storage area, making sure the existing wires would not get in the way once our board was in place.  Also, two holes were drilled in the plywood board to run wire to the new components.

Step 3: Making the Wires

These four essential Tools were a must:
 20 Volt Heat Gun, Wire Cutter, Ferrule Crimping Tool, Hydraulic Wire Crimper

The wire making process.  And there were a lot of wires to make!  We used #4/0 for the batteries and ground, #6 AWG for the components, #8 AWG for the solar, and #4 AWG for the black and red bus bars to the distributer.

Battery Shut-off Switch

We used a bus bar for the ground wires.  We attached copper lugs to the #4/0 wires for the grounding of the system and screwed it into the steel frame of the trailer. For a better connection the black paint was sanded off. 

Step 4: DC/DC Charger

Wire was run up under the King Pin of the 5th wheel, which then was routed under the front of the bed. 

Next the wire was run down to the front storage compartment where the DC/DC charger was installed.  It was surprising how far back the front of the storage compartment was located! The yellow tape is where the 2nd hole had to be drilled at an angle so as not to damage our bed frame.  The proper way to hide the wire was to pull up the carpet and add some conduit, but we decided on the easy route!  Tack it down, and duct tape over it!  After this storage area is filled, the wires won't be visible.

The wire coming down from under the foot of the bed to the front storage area.

The wire for the truck side of the DC/DC charger had to be run from the bed of the truck to the battery, where a fuse was added to protect the wiring.

Anderson plug that was added for the DC/DC charger 

This shows the kingpin plug and the truck bed plug connected.

The DC/DC charger was attached to the metal side wall to make room on the plywood board. Since the charger can get very warm, we also feel safer with it attached to metal.

Step 5: Trailer Wires

The old converter was removed as it was not needed with this installation.  The wires were relocated.

The transfer switch is designed to control the shore/generator power.  Since we don't have an on-board generator, we were only concerned with the shore power.  We ran a 6AWG wire to the inverter In.

Breaker Box showing #6 AWG wire I ran from old battery to power the DC.  

#10 Romex to #6 AWG junction box.  #6 AWG wire does not fit into a 30-amp breaker.  I added a junction box and joined Romex with the #6AWG.  I ran the Romex to the 30-amp breaker and the #6 AWG was connected to the inverter Out.

These are the old batteries where the first set of solar wires were attached.  Solar wires were run to the front storage section and attached to the first MPPT and disconnect switch. The old battery wires were relocated to a new junction box, where additional wires were connected that reached the Lynx Distributer and the Smart Battery protect. 

We ran the Cerbo wire from the basement of the trailer to the control panel.  The second set of solar wires (that our rig was prewired with) were coiled above this mess of wires which we FINALLY located.  Once retrieved, we attached more wire to them and ran them down to the front storage area, connecting them to the second solar disconnect and the second MPPT.

Cerbo GX installed on the basement ceiling for easy access, and no additional extension cord was required to reach to the screen.

We installed the Cerbo Screen for the Cerbo GX below our control panel, removed the old solar screen, and replaced it with a weather station.

Weather Station

Step 6: New Lithium Batteries

Angle Iron was installed to secure the batteries, which were insulated with the foam that was shipped with the batteries.  A strap secures all of this in place.

Batteries placed 

Step 7: Final wiring

Marine grade 6 AWG wire for AC in/out inputs for the Multiplus II.  This wire required long ferrules without caps.  Even with the longer ferrules, part of the insulation needed to be whittled to fit the wire into the Multiplus II securely. This is a difficult task. Victron, we love your products, but the A/C connections could be better!

The Plywood board is attached to the 2x4's on the wall, and most connections completed.

After connecting the batteries in parallel to the system, we programmed the components to match our battery bank.  We tested all the components with the voltage meter and heat gun to make sure everything was working correctly before turning on the shore power. 

Multi Voltage Meter and Infrared Thermometer Gun

System Installed and working!

Next, we said a prayer and turned on the shore power.  We then tested everything again.  For the final inspection we turned on every appliance, light, etc. to make sure everything worked (not all at once!)  And it did, and it was a happy day!

Step 8: Installing the solar panels

We have six Rich Solar 200-watt solar panels.  We put 600 watts of solar on each of the two MPPT charge controllers for a total of 1200 watts of power.  

Prior to placing the order for the panels, we cut a piece of cardboard to size and placed it onto the roof to confirm everything will fit as planned.

Solar arrives

Adding 4 T-plates to each solar panel 

All 6 panels have T-Brackets on them.

After cleaning the roof, the first rail was installed using Dicor self-leveling lap sealant where any hole was drilled.  Lag bolts and washers were put into place, and more lap sealant on top of them.  The panel was then placed on the rails and both sides were bolted to them. Now that the placement of the second rail was known it was bolted to the roof with lag bolt and washer like the first. Since our roof is both arched sideways and uneven front to back, I didn't attempt to bolt down both rails before the solar panel was attached.

Note: We have a wood framed roof, so we were able to screw securely into the 2 X 4's.  Some roofs do not allow that. 

All 6 panels are installed.  

For the final step we replaced the two old Zamp solar boxes with Bouge entry solar boxes.  We tied down the wires to avoid flopping around in the wind and the resulting wear and tear.  The last step was adding extension cords for the #10 AWG MC4 connectors and wired them in series.

Solar Completed

This massive upgrade is nice to have completed.  We had a one-step-at-a-time approach, never looking forward too much in our project, which served us well.  We are excited for our upcoming RV trips with more boondocking in our future!

Happy Camping,

Keith & Marie

Disclaimer:  We are not experts and are not recommending how to complete your project.  This simply shows how we navigated our installation.  We suggest you consult with an electrician!

EQUIPMENT LIST

Below is the equipment purchased for this project.  Links are provided for your convenience. We appreciate your support by clicking through our links if you find this information helpful.  Thank you!

Victron Equipment
We purchased our Victron Equipment through RV Solar Connection and so much appreciated their excellent help and service!  RV Solar Connections

RV Solar Connection Discount Code: MARIEROYER5

Non-Victron Items
(Above links redirect to RV Solar Connection)
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Lithium Batteries
(Above link redirect to Amazon)
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Misc Parts and Supplies for the Battery/Inverter upgrade
(Above links redirect to Amazon)

Solar: (1200 watts total)                      
(Above link redirect to Amazon)

Misc. Parts and Supplies for the Solar 
(Above links redirect to Amazon)

We also used 14-gauge strut channel with nylon channel cone nuts, steel brackets, angle iron, junction boxes, multiple screws, bolts, nuts, and washers, as well as a few other miscellaneous items along the way, all of which we bought at our local hardware store.





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