Quote:
Originally Posted by michaelt0120
Can I effectively take the chassis ground cable from the hub post on the distribution panel and connect it to the load side of the shunt, and disconnect the negative battery cable from the junction box and connect it to the battery side of the shunt? This should theoretically satisfy the needs of my battery monitor...
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This makes sense to me, and eliminates the frame connections as part of the operating circuit. I don't have any issue with putting lots of current through the frame (that's normal for motor vehicles), but the connection points to the frame can be problematic (the way they're done in a typical car is carefully designed and unlike the method used in a trailer, including an Escape).
Remember that the cable and connections from battery negative to shunt and shunt to any connection hub must take all the current delivered by the battery - with an inverter that could be very large (about 130 amps for a 1500 watt inverter at full load, plus whatever is going through other circuits). Escape usually runs separate positive and negative cables to the battery in inverter-equipped trailers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by michaelt0120
... but then all of the DC circuits would terminate at the battery negative post and not chassis ground. I have read that low voltage DC circuits don't necessarily need to be "grounded." I'm not sure, however, if I would then need to run a grounding cable from the negative battery post to the chassis to complete the circuit for the trailer running lights (which will remain grounded to the chassis).
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I would connect the battery negative to the frame... in this case the original connection as built by Escape could be used (and a new cable used for the battery-to-shunt connection).
Do the running lights really use the frame as part of their return of their circuit? I hadn't heard of that being done by Escape, and in any case the running lights are not run by the trailer's battery. Normally the only connection between running lights and other trailer wiring is sharing a "ground" wire to the tow vehicle (which does connect to the trailer frame), and while many trailers use the frame as part of the running lighting circuits, I would rather avoid that due to the issue of frame connections (not the flow of current in the frame).