Wiring the cabin for solar & generator

This week I finish installing both the AC and DC rough wiring for my solar panels and generator at the cabin. One step closer........

[@Maddie-lv5sg]

We are thankful for your information...not bored at all. Thanks for the instruction, as I said before we want to do exactly what your doing and do not have a clue as to what to do. Your helping us build our dream.

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

50% Deplorable Great to hear. There’s not much information out there about wiring DC in cabins but it’s the same as wiring a RV or a car. That’s where I got most of my information from.Good luck, you can do it!

[@ozarkliving5970]

Keep up the great work Karl!! Thanks for the info and sharing it. I also am going to use the T&G pine with the rustic tin for my ceilings. Smiled ear to ear when you said it.

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

Good luck with your cabin You will love it!! We have really enjoy ours, we can hardly believe it’s been two years already.

[@Roadkillstew]

great show this week thanks

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

roadkill stew Thanks for watching

[@Maddie-lv5sg]

Excellent ideas for lighting and power...especially using solar. great idea for shed conversions and almost anyone can do this themselves. Thank you, thank you, so much!

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

Thank you for spending time on the channel I appreciate your comment

[@CynBrown]

Great video with tons a tips.

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

Thank you! I am grateful you spent time to watch

[@mateoarteaga8274]

This guy knows what he's talking about! Great job karl!

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

Mateo Arteaga thank you so much Mateo! I appreciate all the hard work you put into The music in the opening scene. You and Diego are the greatest

[@FullTimeDreamRV]

thanks for instruction and showing us what you are doing love following the progress

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

Full Time Dream You guys are so awesome! Glad to be your friend. Do you guys use any solar with your RV?

[@spfb]

It's all coming together.. looking great.

[@WanderingWiley]

love the led lights, small wattage bright lights, great educational vid.

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

Wandering Wiley I can’t wait to see the finished product.Thank you for stopping by my friend

[@christiehuffman3823]

Good seeing ya!! Been looking forward to your next post and here you are!! Thanks for the bonus of the beautiful scenery in the beginning!🏞

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

Christie Huffman Thank you so much I usually post every Sunday morning but last week I was”on call”. Thank you so much for watching I appreciate your comment

[@Hoytman68]

Happy Father's Day Neighbor. Enjoyed the video update and great info for someone wiring off grid. 👍 The lights are a awesome idea. The young man and his black lab have a good channel 👍 You and he have great channels.

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

Wisconsin bowhunter1968 I’m glad you enjoyed it. You are awesome! I enjoy having your support

[@HomesteadingNorthernMichigan]

Been waiting for this video.... Love the cabin brother I'm so excited for you.... You're awesome my friend

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

Homesteading Northern Michigan I appreciate your support. I am so glad to be your friend, you definitely are one of the coolest KZbinrs I know. Keep up with the awesome videos!

[@bray7197]

I have that 12 volt panel in my bus and it works and looks great with the blue light. I. love it.

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

That’s great to hear. Thank you for sharing. Have an awesome week.

[@jimscardino2603]

Happy Father’s Day Karl! 🎉. Nice trucker hat I am jealous!

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

Jim 3228 Happy Father’s Day! I got that hat for my son last year on Father’s Day. I’m glad you noticed

[@yankees158]

LOVE THE EPISODE

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

Brandon payan- pine I’m so grateful that you stop by to view the video. Thank you for the support

[@ramsaycountry1177]

Nice job Karl, looks like you'll be at 3k very soon. Congrats 👏 man. 👍👍

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

Ramsay Country thank you so much I think you guys are the first people to notice. I appreciate your channel and our friendship . Keep up the great Videos

[@farmlifeoffgrid]

I basically wire the same way but instead I use a junction box and then run the wires to each outlet, love the little dc panel, we are probably going to run dc for all of our lights Great video!

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

Farm Life Offgrid with Robert and Oksana that is so cool did you make a video about it? I absolutely love your videos I have a steel MS 391 like the one you use on your log milling videos.I am going to binge watch your videos. Thank you so much for sharing your information. You guys are the greatest

[@farmlifeoffgrid]

@@karlsoffthegrid1378 Thanks Karl!! I've already binge watched all yours 😜 I havnt made any building videos yet, we are doing the footings on the foundation right now but we will be sharing every step, I've been doing Carpentry and remodeling all my life since I was big enough to swing a hammer so I'm going to try and pass on any knowledge that may help anyone who wants to make this journey. Thanks again! Looking forward to more updates!

[@thedillpickle100]

Oh my goodness. 😳

[@ArkansasWoodcutter]

Excellent work. This is very impressive

[@TurkeyDart]

Just found your channel.. really enjoying the build. Looking great

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

Thank you for joining us!

[@stevencrawford9576]

There are 12v and 24v ceiling fans. Your place looks great!

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

Steven Crawford I had no idea. This is what I love about KZbin, all of us sharing information. Priceless. Thank you very much I will check into it

[@stevencrawford9576]

Geek Aire Fan, Battery Operated Floor Fan, I like this one also. If you are a Dewalt fan boy and have several extra batteries you could use one of there fans to.

[@stevencrawford9576]

There are alot of DC appliances. 12 and 24 volt. Cook tops, desk fans, ceiling fans, DC only fridges, kitchen gadgets. Look at Camping World has a lot of DC stuff. DC strip lights, my favorite. It is a tape that you can cut to fit any space.

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

Steven Crawford Thank you so much for the info I will definitely check out camping world. This is great information I appreciate it

[@stevencrawford9576]

Also look on Amazon for solar attic fans. My favorite is DC direct. Only on when the sun is out. You can also put it on a battery and a switch.

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

Steven Crawford I am checking it out as we speak, thanks again I appreciate your help

[@donr.navarrete5112]

Coming along nice my friend. You must have hit the big time cause now your videos are interrupted by commercials (good grief 😆😂) looking good 👍

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

Don R. Navarrete Nick and I were thinking about you this weekend. We hammered the fish and we wish you were here

[@charliebrown3286]

What is the power source for the breaker box? If you don't mind me asking how much did the build cost including the cabin? Was it a kit or did you build it yourself?

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

I use the breaker box to house the wiring that is connected to an outside outlet that I can use to feed the house with my inverter or a gas powered generator.Here is a link to a video I did that breaks down the price of the cabin. Thanks for watching kzbin.info/www/bejne/jHnKladrdsZ0pKs

[@seancanney4547]

Hey Karl, as always, great stuff. Question, what kind of inlet or plug in did you use on the outside of the cabin for connecting the generator to your cabin? I'm doing the same and not an electrician. Thanks.

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

Great question. I started out using a GFI outlet and it didn’t work. After consulting with an electrician he advised me just to run a standard outlet in a waterproof junction box. He said the generator already has a GFI outlet on it and that’s why It didn’t work .After making the changes everything has been working perfect. Good luck

[@CandiceWA]

Hello Karl, thank you for the nice video. Two questions: You said using Strained DC wire is essential, why is that. I just bought DC Solid wire thought that is better. You said you found those lights on Amazon, what is the brand, or type of name that can help me search for it? Thank you so much!

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

Current tends to flow better on the outside of a conductor, so stranded wire is almost always preferred for solar applications. It gives you more surface area which gives you better conductivity which in short means you get better electrical flow. Here is a link that is similar to the lights that I purchased for the cabin. I usually don’t recommend one certain brand until I have had the chance to try it for a while so far these have been good. Ming's Mark 0403.4000 9090108 LED Reading Light Sorry it’s not letting me post the link. You can search on Amazon 12 V reading lights and there is a bunch of LED lights that you can choose from. Sorry I can’t do more than that

[@Maddie-lv5sg]

So you might not need an A/C unit but here in Florida we do. What would you suggest?

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

50% Deplorable I would check on Amazon for 12 V A/C units. You can find just about anything for 12 V nowadays. If you’re running 6 V they have that as well. You can also check at “camping world” it’s going to take a little bit but you can find just about anything

[@gregoutdoors7]

👍🏻😎👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@rlmast]

youve probably Mentioned this already in a video I haven't seen yet, but How much did this cost you for the Cabin and also what are the rough dimensions of it?

[@BigDreamsTinyBudget]

Great info! Where did you purchase those LED lights from?

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

Big Dreams Homestead I had to search through Amazon to find the right ones. I am excited to see if they work as good as my fellow KZbinrs did

[@DavidBerquist334]

If you have a kitchen i think you must have 2 20 amp circuits

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

That may be correct in some areas. I am just simply showing how I set up a simple system. I later on install a all in one solar set up that provides protection as needed.

[@andyteohockguan2235]

Happy Father's Day to all fathers

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

ANDY TEO HOCK GUAN Have a great Father’s Day

[@freedomfilledlife]

Is your dc wire 18ga

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

I believe I went with 12 gauge that I had left over from another job.

[@deanturman7539]

Why did you leave all them fish in the lake,,,,,,,,,Just Kidding lol.

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

It’s funny how many I see before opening day. Maybe next time. Thanks for watching I appreciate your support and your comment

[@killerdeamonking]

You should never pigtail your first or any outlet the way you did it. You will never blow a receptical and even if you did the rest will continue to work. Your pigtail just became the weakest link in your system (heat), there is a reason there are 2 supply lugs on recepticals.

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

I understand your concerns but like I said in the video 50% of electricians would tell me I did it wrong in the other 50% told me I did it right. So what I resolved to do was I asked our electrical inspector which way he wanted it done and I went that way. In reality I’ll probably never use the AC outlets, it’s been a year now and so far I have only used DC.I appreciate your comment thank you so much for watching

[@killerdeamonking]

@@karlsoffthegrid1378 Yeah its all good, I too only plan on using dc as everything that runs on ac just runs on dc internally anyways, its such a waste to convert from AC/DC , DC/AC anyways.

[@killerdeamonking]

@@karlsoffthegrid1378 I was not refering to your preveious working but rather stating that just abour everything runs on DC anyways, Was commenting on your comment where you said you have only used DC. I agree with this, since everything uses DC i see no reason for AC. But yes congrats on your things.

[@stevencrawford9576]

Amtrak Solar's Powerful 70-Watt Solar Attic Fan For some reason I can't send the link

[@richbolton2597]

it is clear to see you really have no real exp installing ac pigtails are a fire waiting to happen. that's why they have a buss bar on the outlets for the second wire and 99% of the time the buss bar doe's not burn out when the outlet fails . pigtailing is just another splice to heat uo as it gets loose in time and yes they all get loose

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

Thank you so much for the comment I knew this was coming. As for my experience I have been in the building trades since 1985. Ever since 1985 I have been listening to electricians debating on whether this is correct or not. This is the way that Wisconsin state electrical code Recommends. I agree I could’ve run it the way you say to but I would’ve had 100 guys telling me I did it wrong. I opened this segment in my first video saying “this is not an instructional video on how to do it, this is the way I have chose to do it”. Your statement is correct on how to wire but the way I chose to do it I feel is a lesser of two evils. Thanks for spending time on the channel I appreciate your comment

[@jerrypruitt7432]

you didnt show anything just talk.

[@karlsoffthegrid1378]

Correct. Like I said in the opening line of the video I was just explaining how the system works. Check out some of my other videos where I show the installation. Sorry for the mixup. Have an awesome week