Why Isn't There A DC Neutral Busbar Included In A Progressive Dynamics 4000 Series Power Center

Question:

I’m wiring up my PD4045KV - switching from an old Parrallelex converter only - which had a fuse panel and a neutral buss bar to hook up DC all my dc appliances - hot to fuses and neutral to the buss bar. I had a single ground from to the box to chassis. On the 4045 kv there is a neutral buss bar and a ground bar on the AC side - but nothing on the dc side. And ABSOLUTELY nothing in the manuals on ANY of the PD units about where to run the DC neutral wires from the appliances. I’ve also checked online - YouTube, etc and there seems to be a ton of questions out there about this issue. Some saying put ac and dc neutral all on the same buss bar, some saying to run a totally separate buss bar outside the box for dc neutrals and hooking it up separately to the battery posts. ?? Never got a conclusive answer - Even from PD! There seems to be a TON of questions about this all over the net - even among electricians and RV professionals. I had read and assumed that this was supposed to be an ALL IN ONE unit and I wouldnt have to have a bunch of separate stuff scattered around my camper like I had before! Any definitive help would be appreciated!

asked by: Curtis W

Expert Reply:

Most DC appliances are typically getting just wired to the chassis or some type of structural metal and not ran over to the panel like yours is. For some appliances we've found that if it isn't ran directly to the chassis they begin to function improperly. Having worked an a lot of campers and motorhomes what I typically find is that the manufacturer mounts a busbar on the floor of the cabinet behind the main panel.

Since the Progressive Dynamics 4000 Series Mini RV Converter w/ Charge Wizard and AC/DC Distribution Panel # PD4045KA doesn't have a busbar for your DC neutral I recommend getting one separately, mounting it to floor behind the # PD4045KA, and running a line from it to the chassis. You can then tie in your neutrals that are already ran over to the area.

I completely understand your frustration with them not just including it with the panel, but they assume that most people are just running everything straight to the frame and not bothering to run wire further than it really needs to be, especially when RV manufacturers are trying to cut costs.

expert reply by: Kevin C