The KIB M1086 Tank monitor came in today

[Steve Clark]

Fred, Who does your manicure? Your cuticles are spectacular!

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Steve Clark

Fred, Who does your manicure? Your cuticles are spectacular!

Way to go, you have just brought our off topic ramblings to a new all time low.

[Steve Clark]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

Way to go, you have just brought our off topic ramblings to a new all time low.

Thanks, Jim! I know nothing about monitors, but I can contribute in other ways

[tdf-texas]

Originally Posted by wetzk

Thank you! I just received notification that you had sent 2 messages a little while ago and was going to respond there.
I do not have the part yet so I was not sure where it went. I have the wire coiled up and waiting for when it gets here.

I wish that Escape could have run my wire for me - it's a lot more fun to do afterwards. At the time I bought, Escape refused to do any mods for me that were not already on their list. I don't blame them - new building, new style trailer, and my build was during the Christmas holidays.

The good part is that Rease gave me some paneling to replace the ones that I would have to remove to get at the wiring while I was at the Escape rally. The panels at the bottom of the cabinets are glued in and will self destruct when they are pulled out. Of course, they are going back in with velcro - not glue. Who knows when another mod might strike!

It's great that the KIB panels are available. I felt bad posting the mod and then having my source of the panels immediately disappear.

[Red Dog]

Originally Posted by Steve Clark

Fred, Who does your manicure? Your cuticles are spectacular!

Nails by Lola...Hee Hee!

Fred M.

[Red Dog]

Originally Posted by tdf-texas

It's great that the KIB panels are available. I felt bad posting the mod and then having my source of the panels immediately disappear.

No worries. I will finally get one!

Fred M.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by tdf-texas

It's great that the KIB panels are available. I felt bad posting the mod and then having my source of the panels immediately disappear.

No worries Tom, it was your initial legwork that got me doing more of my own to find what would work. I finally contacted MIB, something that I shoulda done earlier to save some search time.

The same thing happened to me with the toe-kick heater I found, which works great and offers the size and controls I was looking for, which for some reason they discontinued. Maybe to costly?

[wetzk]

I'm not sure how easy the other trailers are to do, the 19 ended up being very easy after my initial misfire. The first hole I made turned out to be unusable as there is a piece of wood in the inside of the divider right at the countertop level. There is a small 1 inch opening by the wall that the factory wiring passes through and that is where yours also needs to go. So I made a new hole on the other side of the factory wiring and then I was able to feed a fishtape through. The factory wiring helped to guide it.
After pulling the wire through with the fishtape its a simple matter of finishing the wiring at the monitor and tie wrapping the new wire along the factory harness. Then you get to contort your body to get at the junction box and add the relay and finish up. Eventually I'll patch the extra hole inside the cabinet but since it's out of sight there is no rush. I have an endoscope and it came in real handy when I needed to see what was in the way. I had some of the same black loom that escape used so I covered mine in the cabinet with it.

[wetzk]

And here is the final product. Of course it still does not work yet on 120V since I'm waiting for the relay but it does send 12V down to the water heater.

Fred I hope the 21 is as easy to do as this was.

[Red Dog]

Originally Posted by wetzk

And here is the final product. Of course it still does not work yet on 120V since I'm waiting for the relay but it does send 12V down to the water heater.

Fred I hope the 21 is as easy to do as this was.

I hope so too. What gauge wire did you run?


Fred M.

[wetzk]

Originally Posted by Red Dog

I hope so too. What gauge wire did you run?


Fred M.

14, I have a big roll of red abrasion resistant wire. A bit of overkill but I only needed to run 15 feet of it. All it needs to do is send 12v dc to a relay so you could easily get by with 18 or even smaller.

[tdf-texas]

Originally Posted by Red Dog

I hope so too. What gauge wire did you run?


Fred M.

I'm butting in on Ken's answer but the Suburban SWDEL manual says to use "18 GA., 105°C WIRE OR IT'S EQUIVALENT".

Bigger is OK - smaller, not so much. I ran an orange 18 ga GXL wire on mine.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Those letters on the Suburban wiring diagram are the wire colors: R = red, W = white, BL = black, BR - brown, O = orange. So I kept with the factory colors - makes troubleshooting easier.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by tdf-texas

I'm butting in on someone else's answer but the Suburban SWDEL manual says to use "18 GA., 105°C WIRE OR IT'S EQUIVALENT".

Bigger is OK - smaller, not so much.

I have 16g run because that's what was on hand, the current is very minimal

[wetzk]

The specs on the relay give 12 volts DC with 144 ohm coil so that means it takes .083 amps to power it or a little under a watt.
22 gauge multi-strand wire which is a bit on the tiny side can carry .92 amps so it would still be safe. 18 gauge has even more of a safety margin and the 14 gauge I used could probably power a whole fleet of relays. But if the manual says to use minimum of 18 gauge why not do what is says. Or go for maximum like I did

Here's the specs on the wire I used. As I said a bit overkill.

M16878/4 is used in high temperature electronic applications or where abrasion resistance is required. It has excellent thermal aging, solder damage, flame, and moisture resistance. PTFE resists solvents, grease, ozone and other chemicals. Low power loss, ideal for high frequency applications. Recommended for critical applications.
Conductor: Silver-plated stranded copper wire
Insulation: Extruded PTFE Insulation, wall thickness .010 in (.25 mm)
Temperature Range: -65°C to +200°C (-85°F to +392°F)
Compliances: MIL-W-16878E/4 Type E, MIL-STD-104, Passes UL VW-Flame Test and Birdcage Test, RoHS Compliant
Features: Excellent thermal aging, solder damage, flame, and moisture resistance. Resists solvents, grease, ozone and other chemicals. Low power loss, ideal for high frequency applications.
Voltage Rating: 600 VAC

[tdf-texas]

Don't forget voltage drop - on the 21, it's a fairly long run of wire so 22 ga would be pushing it. The wire you used is way more than needed but still good!

[wetzk]

Originally Posted by tdf-texas

Don't forget voltage drop - on the 21, it's a fairly long run of wire so 22 ga would be pushing it. The wire you used is way more than needed but still good!

So the switch should last a long time since its a low amperage draw.

I wish when I grabbed the roll of this and a roll of black that I would have bought several more colors. This came from a small electronics store up in Sarasota and I and I guess they too just assumed it was regular tinned wire.
When I checked it at home I was surprised. And of course someone else noticed and bought all of it.

[Red Dog]

Originally Posted by tdf-texas

I'm butting in on Ken's answer but the Suburban SWDEL manual says to use "18 GA., 105°C WIRE OR IT'S EQUIVALENT".

Bigger is OK - smaller, not so much. I ran an orange 18 ga GXL wire on mine.

I put this on my Amazon list!

Fred M.

[wetzk]

The relay arrived today but I am going to wait to mount it. I noticed the junction box was shallow when I was under the bed again so I contacted Tom aka tdf-texas and he confirmed I need to use flag terminals to do this. And they need to be non insulated as the insulated ones do not fit in the slots. I had the .250 type for the contacts but none of the .187 type so I had to order them. And he saved me from laying across that wood piece again under the bed. Remove the mattress and on the 19 there is a piece of plywood that is easily removed to gain full access to the water heater. Thanks Tom!! My neck and ribs will really appreciate that. After another slight delay for additional parts I should finally be set.
Sent you a note Red Dog

[Jim Bennett]

I pulled my fridge today, so will be running a bunch of wires (Cat5E's, coax, 12V) and installing the new control panel.

[wetzk]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

I pulled my fridge today, so will be running a bunch of wires (Cat5E's, coax, 12V) and installing the new control panel.

So how long before we see you parked with all the gear running in the trailer like the movies?
The sticker will look good on it.