Ram Promaster Forum banner

preferred van battery-to-house battery cable routing?

12K views 33 replies 16 participants last post by  StanVanFan 
#1 ·
I've been plowing through posts for a day or two, looking for solid info on how people like to route their battery cables from the van batt. back to the house batteries. Is there a typical path that folks prefer? Would love some advice or a redirect to known threads. Right now I'm planning to have my house batteries on the right side of the van, just behind the sliding door. Maybe this is crazy or stupid, since it's electing to make a longer-than-optimal run, but I have a great spot in my lay-out for house power in that spot, so hoping to make it work and just pay the premium for bigger wire. Once I get a solid idea of the routing I'll use the Blue Sea calculator and see what I'm in for in terms of wire gauge. Thanks.
 
#2 ·
Out of the battery box, under the foot well plastic, under the mat to rear of the driver's seat, down the step and into a groove that's cut into the polyiso insulation under the floor to wherever.
 
#6 ·
I remember that someone said it was a fairly high amperage. I didn't think those little connectors could support that high a current. But if that's the spec, they must have some thick cables going to it.

I guess one needs to be careful creating the connections as a poor quality one will get hot (possibly dangerously so) at the max rated current.
 
#7 ·
Well lucky me, turns out I have the upfitter connection in the right B-pillar! I found a cable route out under the upfitter tray, into the passageway under the sliding door, and right into the area rear of the door where I want to install my batteries. Nice and direct. Now I just need to find a connector that matches the stock upfitter plug (MTA 4440400). I reckon that info is in the forum somewhere, but if anyone knows where I can purchase such a thing, let me know.
 
#9 ·
Wire Size



The upfitter wire size is sized for that run. You have to be careful if you are adding a cable onto it at the pilar as that changes the length calculation for the wire. The upfitter wire both black & red to that location on my 2018 PM was about #6 . As I used that 70amp supply I abandoned the factory #6 and had to go with #2 for a 2% voltage drop based upon 14v 70amps & my total cable run

I believe the upfitter cable length starter battery to pilat is about 6’ for the red & 6’ for the black adding up to 12’ total or maybe a bit longer. If you connect to that whatever the total length you add to it will need to be taken into consideration

FYI; Wire Barn has a good wire size calculator
 
#8 · (Edited)
If I remember correctly, my van had the plastic hosing for the connectors, but not the metal connectors. MtBiker on the forum had done a bulk purchase from Europe and was selling pairs cheap. PM him to see if he still has any.

The connector is an M800. I think MtBiker used 8 AWG for his run.

http://www.rambodybuilder.com/2014/van/docs/vf/euppowerconn.pdf
 
#10 ·
I'm brand new to this forum. I'm facing the same task of connecting the Van battery to my house batteries. I'm concerned about the wire size in the upfitter box. Looking at the photos in the pdf attached by ThomD, it looks like I could just connect my positive wire to the stud on the van battery that's connected to the 70amp fuse indicated as the Power Connector Fuse Location. Can anyone comment on that strategy?
 
#11 ·
If you do not use the upfitter for other feeds you will be fine. I did not use it due to the location being on the opposite side of the van from my electrical.
 
#12 ·
Can’t understand why they would have chosen that location either. Totally useless. When I ordered my new van I didn’t even give a second thought to not adding the upfitters connection (even for $35) a total waste. If I had it in a van wouldn’t even consider using it!
 
#14 ·
My electrical will be on the floor, between the slider and pass rear wheel well. So, if I used the upfitter cable in The B pillar, I would have to have a connection there and run more wire over the slider and down.
I don't want any splices between point A & B and like RV8R pointed out, I'd feel better with 2ga wire if I'm doubling the distance.
I want the shortest distance possible, so whatever that is. I may bury it in the floor insulation, like the pics posted here.
The connections in the B pillar are convenient if you want rear speakers or have a use for the aux and fan buttons on the dash. Otherwise I agree that it's not of much use in a practical DIY camper build.
 
#17 ·
Thanks for the prompt replies. My house batteries will be on the driver side around the wheel well, so connecting directly to the van battery and running down that side is the most convenient for me; and I can use the right size wire. The Circuit Wizard app from Blue Sea recommends AWG 4.
 
#19 ·
FYI: I just messaged MtBiker and he is sending me the inserts for the power connector. My van (2019) had the housing for the big power connector.

For the upfitter connector, I found these on eBay:

Upfitter connector + speakers:

Upfitter connector only:

Speaker connector only:
 
#20 ·
2019 with 2 sliders. Has anyone tried to use a channel that is part of the door slider track? On the underside of the bearing wheel roller mechanism. It will accommodate 4 awg wire. My plan is driver side run to house batts of less than 8 feet. Keyline 140A. I have NOT yet looked at a route to get wire from front of the track routed to the van batt. If anyone has used this routing would appreciate how you did it. Or if it appears to be a mistake? Thoughts? Thanks.
 
#21 ·
Trying to squeeze it into a track under a moving roller sounds like a failure waiting to happen to me.

Keep in mind that the cables do not need to be inside the van. You could punch them through the floor, under the van, and then back up where you need them. Some split loom to protect it and zip ties to mount it would be fine.
 
#22 ·
I've decided to run mine under the flooring. Attached to floor and covered with flexible waterproof flashing. Ran right from battery behind slider up the middle between ridges to the spot between the front seats where the battery is. There will be a hard floor panel installed between the 2 seats eventually that will cover the wire. The wire will be bridged over with supports from wood on the side of it and polyiso over the top. I haven't heard of anyone else doing this but it seems to make the most sense to me.
 
#23 ·
. . . run mine under the flooring . . .
Nice. I did something similar, taped the cables to the metal floor inside the valleys, put the polyiso in place, pressed down hard on the polyiso using a piece of plywood so the cable made marking indentations on the underside of the polyiso, then cut a channel out, following those indentations.
 
#26 ·
Boondogger...sorry meant to also mention that I have not done this yet just looking at the possibility. Still hoping to find a good route out of the track up to the batts mentioned. Think I could maybe put a few spots of rubber glue on the cable(should hold from moving around but be removable). Just investigating at this point.
 
#27 ·
I believe you're talking about the sculpers, fully underneath the track, and coming back up in c pillar or one of the triangle covers. I had a similar thought, but discarded it. I know people used that path on the driver side, but I don't believe it connects from cab space. I believe there's a wall. It's been awhile, but I don't have the upfitter connection and I've put my arm pretty deep in the b pillar. It dont remember it seeming to continue through to the cargo frame. Plugs I could find went to the exterior. I didn't investigate a ton, but I do intend to use some of those plugs in the underbody eventually rather than new holes. Maybe I missed the route, and if so, just protect the wire with grommets and/or silicone where it goes through holes in the metal
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top