need some idea about wire routing in roof. how to

manorlife · 01-18-2012, 02:21 AM

Time to upgrade the wifi connection. this is what I was thinking to get. http://www.jefatech.com/product/RV-K...t-for-RVs.html The question for me is how to install this unit permanently. the last thing that I want to have to do is set up another item. the TM has enogh to keep me busy and I want to be able to set up quickly. additionally there is a question of where to store the antena and repeater. I called the company and they explained that the best place to install the antenna is at the higherst point on the roof. This point happens to be the winguard cranking antena. The question then becomes how to attach this wifi antenna to the square tube winguard TV antenna. The next issue is once attached how do you route the wireing through the roof to the repeaters end point. for me this would be in the upper cabinets of the 2720 bed area. this would work well for two reasons. one its at a high location for good reception of wifi in the cabin and close enough to the cranking mechanism in the cieling. Only one thing remains to be figured out and that is how to route the wire inside the roof pannel about 2-3 feet to where the cabinets are to connection to the repeater box? has anyone attempted to run a wire in that insulation area in the roof pannel? could this be done by heating up a metal rod and inserting it into the foram insulation therby creating a tunnel to route the wire through...??? I'm afraid of melting something thats hidden in the roof pannel. any suggestions on this? another thing is just route the wire allong the roof in some sort of adhesive wire management channel. although not as nice it would be an easier install than hiding the wire in the roof. thanks for any suggestions you have.

Two other issues

1. anyone know if there would be any interfearance between the TV antenna and the wifi being connected to each other by some sort of bracket?

2. is there a concern about lightning strikes not that the wifi is the highest point on the roof? how do you achive safety if a lightning should strike the antenna? not sure how conductive it is but the wire is somewhat and seems to be made of some metal parts.
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scrubjaysnest · 01-18-2012, 05:44 AM

I wouldn't be to concerned about lighting strikes even if one has a better chance of getting struck by lighting then winning the lottery.
What I was planning to do was attach the wifi antenna to the crank up bracket, probably a L bracket, route the wire through the bracket then across the roof in some cord mate II. From there down the side of the front shell and bring it through the flap. Use the cord mate II down the side of the shell also.

A good example of this can be seen under the solar section and harveyrv's post on installing solar panels on the rear shell of a 2720SL.

Barb&Tim · 01-18-2012, 11:33 AM

I hope you can figure out the mounting to the tv antenna part.-->(Edit: And getting the Tv antenna to fold down properly)

Last year when I got my Jefatech system, I did mount the antenna to the existing tv antenna pole but could not figure out a way to leave it mounted and still be able to get the tv antenna pole to fold down properly. I discounted that as a viable option for me. I finally went with permanently mounting a PVC pole to the street side rear edge of the front shell which can be seen on post #11 Last pic, here:

http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...t=11539&page=2

On setup I just slip another Pvc pole with the antenna attached into the slip joint on that pole and route the coax in under the flap and to the repeater sitting on the fridge.

For permanently routing coax, I agree with what scrubjaysnest said. Also, just a word of caution, when running Coax, One has to be careful that it does not get kinked or crushed as this can alter it's signal propagation ability.

I did not test for television interference when i had the Wifi antenna mounted on the Television antenna but I did operate the system numerous times last year with the antennas within ~4 feet of each other and i did not notice any interference.

When a threat of lightning approaches, I disconnect the coax and the power from the Wifi repeater.

Tim

manorlife · 01-18-2012, 02:19 PM

I would think that attaching it to the outside (streetside) of the square tubes of the antenna would provide a good attachment point. from there you could drill one of the square tubes and run the wire inside it like the TV wire is run. then daylight it somewhere close to the bottom (again like the tv wire is daylit). after that its a good point to just run it allong the roof via a cord mate. I'm looking on the front shell of the TM there is a horizontal metal trim that makes the transition between the bent part of the front shell and the vertical part. I would bet its hiding something... either wireing for the outside running lights or an actual seam in the aluminum clad of the front shell... anyone know??? perhapsthis would be a good place to drill a hole to run it into the cabinets above the bed??? if not another place to investigate is the side plastic 'L' corner guards on the roof. here again it must be hidng a seam where one can drill to get a wire in. third option is the center metal seam on the roof... interestingly it cooresponds to another seam on the cieling of the TM... there too I think there may be a seam??? anyone know??? again it would be a much better place to drill into the cabin from the roof and perhaps be able to bring the wire in this way as that seam rund all the way to the cabinets I think...

scrubjaysnest · 01-18-2012, 04:13 PM

As an old time RVer I have learned to leave seam, corner trim and other trim pieces on the roof alone. They will develop enough leaks over time without help from us.

If you pull down one of the vent lights, and pull vent trim from inside you will see how TM runs the cables. They are between the sandwich skin with the Styrofoam removed.

As Tim said during lighting storms we power all electronics off. I never think about it. Its automatic from living in FL. Sometimes I'll even pull the shore power if we happen to use it. Having retired from a power company and having an electronics degree I have seen to many times what lighting will do.

We had an old class c motorhome and would power it from the house. Saw a storm coming and pulled the extension cord at both ends. The lighting still blew a chunk out of the porch wall, and the concrete pad the motorhome was parked on. The extension cord was toast also. That strike hit the transformer across the road from the house and jumped from the porch outlet to the extension cord. Also ruined my extension cord.

manorlife · 01-18-2012, 08:08 PM

hey check out what I found... http://members.iinet.net.au/~manins/...TV_aerial.html

manorlife · 01-18-2012, 08:10 PM

01-18-2012, 10:33 PM

Hi All,

FYI - I found the cable from the TV antenna hand crank area tucked away under the trim where the inner wall meets the ceiling running all the way back to the bag seal area and runs down the back shell and down the arm to end up entering the bottom of the TM and routing to the wall plate next to the Refer.

Ive never taken apart the Antenna hand crank area to see what's up in there but if another cable could fit maybe route the new cable to the front area through the side trim area.

Good luck
Bob

manorlife · 01-19-2012, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by retiredgoat

Hi All,

FYI - I found the cable from the TV antenna hand crank area tucked away under the trim where the inner wall meets the ceiling running all the way back to the bag seal area and runs down the back shell and down the arm to end up entering the bottom of the TM and routing to the wall plate next to the Refer.

Ive never taken apart the Antenna hand crank area to see what's up in there but if another cable could fit maybe route the new cable to the front area through the side trim area.

Good luck
Bob

i'm not sure how anyone could 'route' or 'snake' this unless you remove the trim, staple the cable and then reinstall the trim. if you have any suggestions on how to do this please let mee know.

manorlife · 01-19-2012, 10:14 AM

after much thought I'm thinking that instead of doing any snaking... it might be better to just bring the cable down the winegard and then run it straight to the front on the roof (outside) and drill a hole directly where the cabinets are over the bed area. only potential issue is i'm not sure how to leakproof the small hole i need to make. is there some sort ot bulkhead that I can run a cable through that would seal the hole and make it leak proof or at least leak resistant because we all know silicone breaks down after somee time.