FYI House vs Chassis wiring

[Joe Hogan]

Some interesting discussion on the House Wiring post.
When do you use automotive grade connectors vs household type connectors??
Granted the RV environment is much more demanding than a standard stick and brick application.

Kevin brought up some good points on this. The constant vibrations and flexing during travel of a RV far exceeds the design limits of most S&B electrical connectors.

Preparing to install the Hughes Autoformer Surge Protector combo. These connectors will all be HD Hughes connectors but connectors all the same. These wires will carry lots of current, are out of the way not easily checked and if loose can get hot, real hot.

Any tips?

General experience using various connectors in the RV is welcomed.

 

[Rich W.]

I’ve seen a lot of 120v wiring on RVs (including my current one) that is inferior to standard residential wiring. My method is to use good quality commercial connectors, wire, outlets, boxes, etc. When adding outlets in the basement I also removed the cheap OE outlets and replaced them with the same stuff I’d use when building for myself.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

Back to basics! Wire nuts or half nuts for stranded, no exception! Torque terminal stripes. Aluminum wire use no ox and approved al connectors.

Properly installed wires will show little heat!

 

[Stuart W]

Have you all seen a lot of 120V issues, in my experience almost all issues, especially Newmar have been in the low voltage side, or a failed component. I agree with using the best possible for any additional work.

 

[Rich W.]

Have you all seen a lot of 120V issues, in my experience almost all issues, especially Newmar have been in the low voltage side, or a failed component. I agree with using the best possible for any additional work.

I haven’t had any but when adding a couple 120v outlets I was disturbed by RV type OE outlets because they look like cheap imitations so I replaced them. Like you, all my electrical failures have been low voltage components - water pump module, slide modules, emissions components, shade motor, etc.

 

[Wemustrv]

I am a fan of soldering all small gauge low voltage wiring and double insulating the joint with UL listed shrink tubing. If you are going to solder make sure you do it properly as if not done correctly you can cause yourself more problems.

For 120 Volt resi wiring I use wire nuts again properly installed. With the proper wire twists per inch and torque they will not come loose. UL testing requires pull out and vibration testing as wire nuts not moving down the road can be used in commercial and industrial in some pretty sever applications which require good retention qualities.