What material is this white electrical mounting board?

[ADKCamper]

I am just starting a similar project on our Elite I, using many of the same components referenced above. There's not a lot of room left in the mechanical compartments to move stuff around / add new components!

Victron BMV-712 battery monitor, negative busbar, positive busbar, master DC disconnect switch, and a 2nd ANL type fuse (150A) for the non-invertor DC loads (Xantrex specs a 250A fuse for their ProWatt SW 2000 watt invertor). My primary motivation is to reduce the number of cables in the battery compartment... there's not a lot of clearance and its a real bear to align the 4 or so cables on each battery post when removing batteries for winter storage or re-installing them in the spring.

I am using marine King Starboard HDPE (high densite polyethylene) for additional component mounting space, available from multiple sources. It *seems* denser/stiffer than regular PVC lumber. I ordered mine from TAP Plastics:

https://www.tapplastics.com/product/plastics/cut_to_size_plastic/king_starboard/526

When completed, I should only have (2) 4/0 battery cables, the small Zamp Solar temperature sensor cable and a small battery midpoint sensor for the Victron battery monitor (I have the two 6V Lifeline AGM batteries connected in series).

 

[mossemi]

That looks like an excellent product for our needs.  Do you source it locally or order online?  What is the cost of a 12" x 12" piece?

Mossey

[bhncb]

54 minutes ago, ADKCamper said:

 

I am using marine King Starboard HDPE (high densite polyethylene) for additional component mounting space, available from multiple sources. It *seems* denser/stiffer than regular PVC lumber. I ordered mine from TAP Plastics:

Glueing HDPE in not recommended and there are no adhesives that will adhere to it reliably.  Fastening HDPE board to fiberglass will require mechanical fasteners. 

If screw retention is a concern with expanded PVC, use expanding threaded inserts or press in t-nuts prior to epoxying the board in place.

 

 

[John E Davies]

1 hour ago, bhncb said:

If screw retention is a concern with expanded PVC, use expanding threaded inserts or press in t-nuts prior to epoxying the board in place.

That is a great idea for something that might never move, but you can't relocate components easily.

Using a thicker piece of the expanded PVC takes care of the retention - the 1/2" thick stuff Oliver uses is simply too thin; you don't want the screw tip to bottom out on the underlying fiberglass, which can cause the threads in the plastic to strip, so you are stuck with about 3/8" of thread length. This is unacceptable for a big fuse block holding a massive and poorly supported 4/0 cable! Using a 1" thickness lets you get 7/8" of threads, a HUGE increase. Drill the pilot hole a little small, use the right diameter screws (many of mine are undersized) and there should be no problems.

Locating this material locally, in small "remnant" sizes, is a big problem. This is what I ordered: ... Celtec Expanded PVC Sheet, Satin Smooth Finish, 25mm Thick, 12" Length x 12" Width, White

EDIT: That EPVC offers free returns through Amazon. I ordered 2 pieces, if I don't need the second one, I will return it. That is hard to beat...

John Davies

Spokane WA

Edited June 13, 2020 by John E Davies

[Overland]

Have to agree with all of that.  HDPE sounds like a good choice as does the 1” EPVC, provided you aren’t tight for space.  

John, another good thing about the EPVC is that you can write on it with a sharpie.  

Edited June 13, 2020 by Overland

[SeaDawg]

2 hours ago, mossemi said:

That looks like an excellent product for our needs.  Do you source it locally or order online?  What is the cost of a 12" x 12" piece?

Mossey

Mossey, I've purchased some smaller (though not that small) cutoff pieces of King starboard at Farco on 19 and 118th in Clearwater. There's probably a supplier in Tampa as well.

I think the thickest guage is about 1.5 inches.

Btw, King Plastics is a Florida company. (NorthPort)

Sherry

 

 

[SeaDawg]

I'm curious,  though, why all of you want to use a plastic material like Starboard, in an interior area.

Starboard is really expensive, twice the weight of plywood, and requires special (read expensive, not found normally in our garage, often two part heat fusing plastic welds) adhesives, usually backed up by mechanical fasteners . Like any other plastic, it expands a bit with heat. Which might make me a bit nervous about screws in some applications.

Starboard's big claim to fame is uv resistance in a marine environment.  And, that in can be worked easily with woodworking tools. We've used it in a number of places on our boat in exposed areas for mounting replacement gauges and lights. Places where in our younger days we might have used solid teak. We don't want the teak maintenance any more than we already have, and teak is pretty much unavailable or equally expensive,  so starboard fits that bill. As a matter of fact, it's  simply wonderful. 

In unexposed areas in the trailer, however,  we've used plywood and wood blocks epoxied to the fiberglass to mount our 12v danfoss/ secop fridge, and fasten drawer glides, and a few places in creating my microwave replacement storage cabinet. I know Oliver doesn't like to use (ply)wood, but I  don't have any problem with it in interior spaces that aren't exposed to water. It's lighter, cheaper, holds fasteners well, easily bonded with epoxy as mounting blocks, etc.

Sherry

 

Edited June 13, 2020 by SeaDawg

[mossemi]

Sherry, 

I had never heard of Starboard before ADKCamper's post, but I am always interested in learning about new things or products.  One of the questions I asked was how much does it cost and you answered "expensive".  Ok, so far I have used 3M 5200 to attach some scrap 1"x4" PVC board to a lower hull wall to mount a battery cutoff.  I have also used marine Goop to attach 1-1/2"x1/4" PVC board in the lower hull to which I mounted lights with 3M VHB mounting tape.  And as previously mentioned, I mounted a piece of oak which I salvaged from some shelves I demo'd in my house and remounted the afore mentioned battery cutoff to.  So with the additional information you have provided you can rest assured that I won’t be running down to Farco for a piece of Starboard as I still have lots of left over shelving and PVC board.  And it’s not like I’m cheap, I just don’t like to waste money.  And I can justify wasting money if pressed.😆

Thanks again Marine Queen for your expertise,

Mossey

PS:  Marine Queen is meant as a compliment.

[ADKCamper]

It is indeed difficult to beat the price of salvaged scrap material :)

Sherry and Bhncb are correct that HDPE/Starboard does not accept adhesive well. Mine is mounted with mechanical fasteners on top of the battery compartment where there is limited clearance. Cost for 12" x 18" x 1/2" thick from TAP was $22.95 + shipping... significantly cheaper than West Marine but still not cheap LOL. The busbars and Victron shunt will fit there. The battery disconnect switch and additional ANL fuse holder/cover (both of which are too tall) will have to be mounted elsewhere.

Still a work in progress!

[mossemi]

Looking forward to pictures of the project.

Mossey

[SeaDawg]

Mossey, I'm not opposed to spending the $ either, if there's  a clear advantage. Like you, we're more likely to reuse scrap lumber or on hand materials if it suits the purpose. If there's  a true advantage long term, well, then, I  can open the wallet and let the moths go free. 😁

When Paul and his friend wanted  Starboard for a couple projects on our boat, I remember being shocked at the prices I found, even buying cutoffs. I don't remember the exact price, as it was 4 years ago. But, for what we were working on, it was the best available material. We needed the uv protection and the inherent waterproofing, plus the ability to use normal woodworking tools was great. No adhesives involved.

I was wondering,  honestly,  what was the advantage, in this particular case,  given the expense, and other considerations,  when John wanted a material he could mount with epoxy, which isn't exactly the case with Starboard.

There is indeed a lot of carryover in marine materials and fixtures from our boat to the Oliver. Honestly,  our long term experience with a fiberglass hull is one of the reasons we bought the trailer in the first place. 

Sherry

 

[ADKCamper]

Positive and negative busbars are essentially complete, except for some cable ties here and there. There are now 6 fewer cables connected to the batteries with just the (2) 4/0 cables, Zamp battery temperature sensor and Victron battery midpoint sensor remaining. Much cleaner looking. I still haven't finished connecting the Victron battery monitor (shunt is installed though). I'm waiting on parts for mounting the positive busbar's ANL fuse and master battery disconnect switch.

 

[mossemi]

Nice work, the installation looks great.  I was confused looking at the Starboard view because the stock hardware didn’t look like mine.  So I finally looked at your profile and sure enough I was looking at an Elite.  Thanks for allowing me my first peak under the bed of an Elite, I feel like a voyeur.😮

Mossey

[GraniteStaters]

It is interesting to review this thread and I appreciate everyone's perspective.  I just did some work to add in the Tuson TPMS repeater and take advantage of the battery voltage monitor/display on the TPMS LED display that we put in our TV.  I added some an additional grounding bar and extended from the main bus bar to a Blue Sea 4 circuit bus bar under the dinette seat adjacent to the pantry.  The repeater is under the dinette seat adjacent to the bathroom to get as far forward in the compartment as I can.  I used some existing space of the PVC below the transfer switch for the small bus bar.  It has a cover so there is little risk after it is energized coming in contact with the ground bar just a few inches below, but I will always disconnect when I work on it or be very careful.  The bus bar is fused in the cable and again at each of the four circuits as required.  The repeater uses only 11 milliamperes so I just used a 1 amp fuse.  Will test next week because the repeater sleeps unless the trailer is moving.  

David

[John E Davies]

On 6/17/2020 at 6:54 AM, GraniteStaters said:

  I just did some work to add in the Tuson TPMS repeater and take advantage of the battery voltage monitor/display on the TPMS LED display that we put in our TV.  

Why did you feel the need to monitor the trailer voltage while towing? Can you start a new thread with some pics?

Thanks,

John Davies

Spokane WA

[GraniteStaters]

John,

I really didn’t but because it is a feature you get when you install their repeater, I wondered if it might be useful.  I will add some pictures later today after I get back from getting the A/C fixed on our Prius.  It is going to be very hot here again today and for the next few days all over the Northeast 

[ScubaRx]

On 6/10/2020 at 12:22 PM, katanapilot said:

I'm curious why you would install plywood over the PVC?  I understand plywood might have better retention of the screws, but the PVC is waterproof and some plywood generally is only water resistant.

I agree.

[MAX Burner]

On 6/14/2020 at 7:17 AM, SeaDawg said:

When Paul and his friend wanted  Starboard for a couple projects on our boat, I remember being shocked at the prices I found, even buying cutoffs. 

Being the "cheapo fabricators", we re-purposed an old poly cutting board from our junk/recycle shelf in the shop to mount the main battery cut-off switch and positive bus bar...  Significantly reduced the battery connections down to the 4/0 cables plus a mid-point battery monitor for the Victron Smart Shunt and a batt temp probe.  Placed it on top of the Battleborns - seems to work fine.

[mossemi]

On 10/16/2023 at 11:35 PM, MAX Burner said:

Significantly reduced the battery connections down to the 4/0 cables plus a mid-point battery monitor for the Victron Smart Shunt and a batt temp probe.

I’ve been out of the country for a couple of weeks and I’m just getting back to the forum and started poking around.  As you have stated before and the picture confirms it, you have 3 BattleBorn Batteries.  I am not a math major, so where is the mid point of a 3 battery system?🤔😂

Mossey

[MAX Burner]

7 hours ago, mossemi said:

I am not a math major, so where is the mid point of a 3 battery system?🤔😂

HA!  🤣  Funny, but good question.  The closest I could get to the center for that Smart Shunt  probe is the positive terminal of the middle BB.

Been out of the country the past 2 weeks also, Mossey - headed back late this PM, FYI.  I'll be installing a Victron DC/DC charger in the Casa Blanca after I shake off the jet lag this weekend.  Plan to start a post on that one, too.

[SeaDawg]

You do have to be careful of mechanical fasteners in plastic board. Some are better than others. 

Using an unknown plastic cutting board leaves some options open. 

Check, and recheck.

Many of the plastics don't accept mechanical fasteners well, and look to chemical fasteners,  as well. 

Keep an eye out, and be well.