Wiring Routing Ideas

[LongWalker61]

Hello all!

I'm planning for the rewiring of my '69 Starflyte (both AC & DC).

Background - I worked at a military facility that had extensive upgrades done, one being building wiring. The wiring going in was not the standard 3-in-1 found in homes. Upon inquiry, the electricians told me that it was much easier to replace a single wire vice 3. What a reality!!!

Looking at how my trailer was built, I do not like the notching of structure to run wiring. I'm considering installing plastic conduit, with the single wires.

Anyone seen, or already done, this? The DC system with most likely have a vehicle fuse panel (plentiful and inexpensive).

[Bob]

I ran conduit in my garage, I think that it would be great in a camper. You wouldn't have to notch any framing, you wouldn't risk hitting the wiring with a nail or screw, it's easily expandable and you could install it last - after all the walls and cabinets were finished. You probably don't see it much because of the extra cost and work that's involved. Are you thinking about using a cable raceway system like: www.lowes.com/pd_242749-35681-CH512-KTA_0__?productId=3202327&Ntt=raceway&pl=1¤tURL=%2Fpl__0__s%3FNtt%3Draceway&facetInfo=

[61 Shasta]

Certainly use any method you prefer to wire your trailer. I have been in the wiring business the majority of my years and the only place I will use conduit, plastic or other wise is as a raceway to my trailer tail, marker and turn lights since most of this is ran along the framework to get from point a to z. As far a notching the structure, if you do it right and don't make it any larger than necessary you won't interfere with the structural integrity of your unit. If you look at how most homes are wired you would see holes drilled and studs notched to accommodate the wiring. No different than your trailer. All of your 115 volt stuff will be ran with romex (3 in one) wires and again, as long as you don't run them in an area that is likely to have traffic or be exposed, you will not have any problem. The 12 volt stuff is a bit different as it is individual wires that do need to be protected when they are exposed so here you might consider some type of loom as in the potomac post but to a very limited extent since they are obviously low voltage and little hazard involved. I honestly think when all things are considered, the versatility of using a combination of romex wires (115 volt) and single conductors (12 volt) will far out weight any advantage to trying to fit a conduit system into the your trailer. Remember corpusbrag, I am not trying to change your mind or tell you what to do, these are simply my opinions. Good luck and keep us posted.

[Bob]

Making the Mid-Century Modern Industrial look fit a camper might be a bit of a challenge. ;D

[cowcharge]

My '76 has little stud-width pieces of steel conduit in each frame wire hole, I assume to make up for any weakening.

One nice thing about using plastic flexible conduit for the 12v stuff is the ability to remove or add more wires later without tearing the walls apart (if you decide to add another light fixture or just plain forget something). Especially if you leave a piece of fishing line in the conduit too, that's twice as long as the conduit, so you can use it to pull a wire through from either direction whenever you want.