Twin slider cable route

S

Sirrell85

Member
Evening all - Any tips/advice on routing cables from under the seat to the back of the van? I have a twin slider, looked at going up through the seat belt pillar, how do you come back down to the control panel which will be situated in the back? Looks like I may have to drill a hole?? Also I'm trying to figure out cable sizing.

7 x Led lights (1.4amps) x 12 metres. 2.5mm?
Usb sockets x 2 (4amps) x 8 metres. 4mm?
Feed from fuseboard to controller x 6m. 6mm?
Future solar x 200w max, x 7metres. 4mm?

Feels like I'm going a bit over sizing on cables

Any advice/tips much appreciated
 
Mine go out through the big grommet under the seat then via the big void under the offside underbody plastic trim.
They then come back in through a hole drilled where the offside step used to be. Grommet fitted obviously.
I took my floor over the void where the step was and then used that gap underneath to run my cables and fix my Victron blue smart 240v charger.
So I have the live feed for my fuse panel, the 230v inlet from the EHU to the consumer unit, the wires from the LB to the Victron, the wires for the diesel heater, I think that’s about it.
I then have a back panel on my unit that has the consumer unit and 12v fuse panel fitted to it.
I have blanked off the void with a piece of ply trimmed with carpet that has my 12v isolation switch on it.
Hope that makes sense.

IMG_6542.jpeg
IMG_6543.jpegIMG_6545.jpeg
 
Bigsidavies said:
Mine go out through the big grommet under the seat then via the big void under the offside underbody plastic trim.
They then come back in through a hole drilled where the offside step used to be. Grommet fitted obviously.
I took my floor over the void where the step was and then used that gap underneath to run my cables and fix my Victron blue smart 240v charger.
So I have the live feed for my fuse panel, the 230v inlet from the EHU to the consumer unit, the wires from the LB to the Victron, the wires for the diesel heater, I think that’s about it.
I then have a back panel on my unit that has the consumer unit and 12v fuse panel fitted to it.
I have blanked off the void with a piece of ply trimmed with carpet that has my 12v isolation switch on it.
Hope that makes sense.
Click to expand...
Hi - thanks for the reply. So you ran your cable under the van and back up in the step? Did you put it into any copex or conduit? What size cables did you use?
 
Yeah you can see in the photo that it’s in flexible conduit-that silver stuff. That runs all the way from there under the van and up through the floor under the seat.
The 12v supply to the fuse panel is maybe 16mm I think. You can see it’s nearly the same diameter as the blue Arctic mains cable. Overkill for a fridge and 6 down lights and a water pump lol.
 
Bigsidavies said:
Yeah you can see in the photo that it’s in flexible conduit-that silver stuff. That runs all the way from there under the van and up through the floor under the seat.
The 12v supply to the fuse panel is maybe 16mm I think. You can see it’s nearly the same diameter as the blue Arctic mains cable. Overkill for a fridge and 6 down lights and a water pump lol.
Click to expand...
did you put your leisure battery under the drivers seat? I'm just trying to get my head around it all haha. How do people get the cables down the van as in from the void running around the top down to the wheel arch area?
 
Yeah. LB and dc-dc charger under the driver’s seat.
If you have your 12v fuse box where mine is then you can run stuff to the wheel arches and beyond inside/behind your furniture.
That what the cables are in the black conduit in my photos. It’s the wiring to the water pump, usb sockets, Renogy One control panel, lights etc.
The only wiring that goes along the top is the feed wire to the roof mounted interior lights and the solar cables. They were fitted when the pop top was put in to make it easy.
 
Bigsidavies said:
Yeah. LB and dc-dc charger under the driver’s seat.
If you have your 12v fuse box where mine is then you can run stuff to the wheel arches and beyond inside/behind your furniture.
That what the cables are in the black conduit in my photos. It’s the wiring to the water pump, usb sockets, Renogy One control panel, lights etc.
The only wiring that goes along the top is the feed wire to the roof mounted interior lights and the solar cables. They were fitted when the pop top was put in to make it easy.
Click to expand...
Thank you, I'm going to do exactly the same. Was scratching my head earlier trying to plan it and was struggling to find a solution. Sorry for all the questions but what size cable did you wire the circuits in? I was going to feed the control panel in 6mm, reading lights with usb sockets in 4mm, led lights in 2.5mm, solar in 4mm ready for when I get the pop top fitted. I feel like I may be going over the top regarding cable sizes but was reading horror stories on voltage drop haha.
 
I think it was 2.5mm for usb sockets and 2.5 for lighting and water pump also. I have 2 usb sockets that can draw max 3.1amps each so 6.2 amps total. So even allowing for voltage drop the 2.5mm seemed to cut it.
That’s from memory, it’s 4 years ago, but I did add up all my amps and then chose cable that could handle way more amps than max load.
Anyway I’ve had no problems in 4 years.
 
Bigsidavies said:
I think it was 2.5mm for usb sockets and 2.5 for lighting and water pump also. I have 2 usb sockets that can draw max 3.1amps each so 6.2 amps total. So even allowing for voltage drop the 2.5mm seemed to cut it.
That’s from memory, it’s 4 years ago, but I did add up all my amps and then chose cable that could handle way more amps than max load.
Anyway I’ve had no problems in 4 years.
Click to expand...
Superstar thank you
 
Not sure. I’d have to look at the offcuts tomorrow if I can find them. I only have a 100w panel which generates 7amps absolute max.
 
In general if you are installing stuff that's going to be difficult to get back to I'd favour sizing up on the cable and making sure you get some decent branded stuff from a known supplier - you may regret saving the cash when you have to take the floor up/cabinets out to rerun cable.

If you plan to run a fridge then I don't think having a substantial feed to the back from the battery is a bad idea at all, compressor fridges are very sensitive to voltage drop as the moment the compressor motor starts it's effectively a dead short for a second or so.

Both approaches leave room for expansion or increased consumption in the future.
 
Hi - sorry me again. How many outlets do you have on your victron charger? I'm looking at getting one but not exactly sure what I need
 
Not sure who that's aimed at (you can mention specific people by typing @ and their username - then they get alerted)

In general you'd only have one set of terminals for one battery - unless you specifically wanted a multiple battery charger which is rare in smaller vans.
 
roadtripper said:
Not sure who that's aimed at (you can mention specific people by typing @ and their username - then they get alerted)

In general you'd only have one set of terminals for one battery - unless you specifically wanted a multiple battery charger which is rare in smaller vans.
Click to expand...
Thank you, it was aimed at you. Still struggling to use the app correctly haha
 
Bigsidavies said:
Mine go out through the big grommet under the seat
Click to expand...

Hi @Bigsidavies. Just read your post on cable routing from the drivers seat to the void where the step used to be. I need to do the same thing basically but just wondering exactly where the bung is under the seat. I’m putting a big 230Ah battery in so wondering if I’ll still be able to get some cable and conduit out of it. What do you reckon?
 
The large grommet is pretty central in the under seat area. Obviously the 230 underseat battery will cover it, but I’m not sure if the battery sits flush to the actual van floor or not. Decent cables from 12v planet etc are very flexible and I’d guess you only need a gap that is little more than the thickness of a 16mm2 cable.
Depending on how much (if any) clearance there is above the battery you may be able to make a spacer from some ply.
Others who have fitted that battery may be able to help.
 
Yeah, had a feeling it was going to be central. And wishful thinking on 16mm2…..I think I need 95mm2 for an inverter that’s going to be at the back of the van. Will need to see how much clearance I can have with the battery then. Cheers for replying.
 
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