Best Of

@ScottG, I believe I have separately shared with you the following two statements, which I previously received from Creed at nüCamp.  I also posted them back in November 2019 in connection with a long discussion about the WFCO converter and "grounding."  I am re-posting them here simply to add to this very interesting conversation.  I have inserted the bracketed numbers (i.e., [1}, [2] and [3]) in the 11-14-2019 statement so that I can reference the individual points in my comments below: 

INFORMATION PROVIDED BY CREED (11-08-2019):  “The 12V Side of the converter is grounded to the bus bar.  And the 120V side of the converter is grounded to the Chassis.  The way we ground is specifically by RVIA standards.  It would make sense to have a single ground point as the bus bar, but for some reason RVIA wanted it grounded differently.  So, unfortunately, I cannot give you a specific reason why it is so.”   

INFORMATION PROVIDED BY CREED (11-14-2019):  "Here is the response I got from foreman and quality control - - [1] The copper wire is only for the 120V side.  [2] The only ground to the chassis on the 320 is out of the junction box to the chassis. Small white wire.  [3] The bare copper wire from the converter to the frame is the main ground as all 12-volt assemblies run thru the converter."

@Bayliss comments:

The first part of the foreman's statement (i.e., that the copper wire is only for the 120V side) is consistent with what I originally surmised.  It seems obvious at first blush, but I too have long wondered if somewhere along the line, the AC and DC grounds are connected.  The second part of his statement (i.e., that the only ground to the chassis on the T@B 320 is out of the junction box to the chassis) appears to be inaccurate, because there are either two separate grounds (one for AC - - the bare copper wire between the converter and the trailer chassis; and one for DC - - at the chassis/frame bonding screw adjacent to the junction box, OR the DC ground somehow ties in with the AC ground (deliberately, or accidentally.)  The third part of his statement seems to contradict the first two, because he refers to the bare copper wire as the "MAIN" ground, and that all the 12-volt assemblies run through the converter.  The last statement tends to support what I had thought in the past, but I never opened up the the converter to take a look (however, I don't see a common connection in the photo you posted above.)

The second photo included at the beginning of this discussion thread is of my 2019 320 S junction box - -  I am a bit perplexed why the foreman refers to that ground wire  (red arrow) as a "small white wire" (red arrow.)  I wouldn't describe it as "small," because it is a bit more substantial than a small wire (maybe 10 gauge?)  BUT, maybe he meant to say "a short run white wire," since it only extends a short distance between the far right (#7) junction box terminal and the chassis bonding screw (yellow arrow.)]

Too bad we don't have those "in the know" at nüCamp handy to ask these questions in a one-on-one conversation.  That would be enlightening.

I don't trust AI to provide information. You need to follow the links that are the source for any AI-provided information in order to evaluate the credibility. Often, you'll find its just bad information. Frankly, there's no credible reason I've seen to worry about bypassing the WFCO converter. I use a standalone Victron charger or our Victron solar set to lithium settings to fully charge a 100AH LiFePo retrofit. The WFCO doesn't error or complain when the higher lithium charge voltage is implemented, and on its own our "never detect" unmodified WFCO will only charge the battery to 80%, which is the ideal storage charge for the battery when I have the trailer covered for the winter.