So I understand drivers side towards the back. My breaker panel is located in the front wall of my bedroom, which is placed in between the second and third window(from the back of the bus). The relay will either go in the same wall or I could put it on a bay wall, not sure if the relay can(or should) go inside. The generator will most likely be in the middle bay. Since I have not drilled into the side if the bus yet I am not sure what to expect. Where the bus frame comes down from between the windows I am guessing that it is solid and I will not be able to run cable without drilling through it, which probably is not a great idea. What I am looking for is some information and ideas on the routing.
Thanks
Hi,
On my 1981 MC9 I put the main breaker panels in the middle bay on the drivers side. They're mounted to the bulkhead between the first and second bays. I built a wall separating the front bay into two compartments and my generator is on the drivers side of the first (forward) bay. My inverter is mounted in the cubbyhole of the first bay where the A/C evaporator and heater coils used to be. The third, or aft bay on my bus is the "wet bay" and houses the fresh water, black water, 20-gallon water heater, pump, water filter, and routing control board. My shore power cord exits through the floor of the middle bay, and my dump hose exits through the floor of the aft bay. The water inlet is also in the floor of the aft bay. So far, this arrangement has worked like a charm for me, but your needs may be different.
After reading through this, it's a little confusing, but it's basically:
Front bay - generator, tool storage, inverter
Middle bay - electrical distribution and free storage
Aft bay - Wet bay with all plumbing and limited free storage
My batteries are in the old condenser bay. There's also some free storage under the driver's compartment and the spare tire compartment up front. I'm not carrying a spare.
I found that it's much easier to do most cable routing in the bays and come up through the floor where necessary. I also designed a cable raceway on each side above the windows in the form of either a window valence, or having the cable inside a cabinet.
Hope this helps...
That sounds like a well thought out set-up. Are using a 30 amp shore cord on a roll? Step up to 5amp? Did you rig some type of hinged door to keep out rodents and such?
Mine is a 50-amp setup, but I have adapters so I can run off a 30-amp service (reduced functionality, of course.) Right now I'm just coiling the cable up and throwing it in the bay, but I'm thinking about building a cord roll thingy to make it easier. Where the cable exits the floor, I put in a 4" PVC threaded pipe plug adapter. I used a drill and Dremel to cut the threaded plug so I can put the cable through the hole, put the plug over the cable, and screw it down a few turns. It works well. A hinged door would work too. Just make the hole in the door like a keyhole so the cable will fit through it and you can close the door shut around it.
The beauty of the pipe plug is that I can have one that is cut to allow the cord, and a solid one to block the hole completely. Whatever works my friend. Part of the fun of this for me is the creative problem-solving.
Great ideas thanks. Keeps me from going through the side of my bus also.
Adam -
This is what I have on the side of my coach for shore power. It's mounted between the opening of the rear baggage bin and the rear wheel, above the rub rail, but below a line drawn equal to the top of the bin door. Roughly waist high.
http://www.amazon.com/ParkPower-Marinco-6373EL-BRV-Stainless-Enclosure/dp/B000NV2VXU/ref=sr_1_38?s=boating-water-sports&ie=UTF8&qid=1446153853&sr=1-38 (http://www.amazon.com/ParkPower-Marinco-6373EL-BRV-Stainless-Enclosure/dp/B000NV2VXU/ref=sr_1_38?s=boating-water-sports&ie=UTF8&qid=1446153853&sr=1-38)
However, my coach is a 5C, and the rear baggage bin is different than your 9, as I have about a foot between the bin opening and the rear wall in front of the axle. Thus this plug is mounted thru basically sheet metal between the vertical supports.
FWIW & HTH. . .
;)