Running a cable/wire through the roof.

STARLINK CABLE





I am installing a Starlink dish on the roof of my FWC. I need to run a wire (ethernet) from inside the camper to the roof. Any recommendations on how to do this and where the best place to do it is. Dish is located at the rear drivers side of roof, so ideally I come up to the roof somewhere in that neighborhood.

Another option would be to either use or expand the rear driver side solar panel entrance for the cable. Mount the Starlink dish support onto the rear driver side jack mount after you park and lift the top.

At least, measure or estimate the load on a roof mount when tooling down the road at 80 MPH with accompanying vibration from wind buffeting and road vibration. You may find that the roof is an insufficient support as compared to the jack mounting bracket.

Paul

PaulT said:

Another option would be to either use or expand the rear driver side solar panel entrance for the cable. Mount the Starlink dish support onto the rear driver side jack mount after you park and lift the top.

At least, measure or estimate the load on a roof mount when tooling down the road at 80 MPH with accompanying vibration from wind buffeting and road vibration. You may find that the roof is an insufficient support as compared to the jack mounting bracket.

Paul

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I have it flat mounted on the roof on two tracks. I am using the Gen 3 Starlink - there is no pole and it is pretty low profile. If I can avoid it, I do not like wires run on the outside.

I mimicked the solar gland setup that my solar panel uses. Passenger rear side is where that is mounted. The cable runs behind the push panel so as to minimize the aesthetic impact.

Vic Harder said:

I mimicked the solar gland setup that my solar panel uses. Passenger rear side is where that is mounted. The cable runs behind the push panel so as to minimize the aesthetic impact.

Click to expand...

So, behind the push panel and then straight up through the ceiling? Did you do anything where it goes through the ceiling?

I need to take a look at the area behind the push panel. Not sure about drilling up through that area. Is there enough space for the drill? (I know you have an ATC, so likely a little different.

well, taking a look at this again, I misled you. I have a separate entry for Starlink.

I could tell from the roof screws where the ceiling structural members are, so I avoided that. Then I looked at how I had done my solar panel wiring and basically copied that for the rear pax corner. I have about 7 coax cables coming down that for my Cell/Wifi/GPS antennas. I would have used that except I was in a hurry, away from home with not many tools when I needed to install my Starlink. So I have a hole in the back wall in the driver's side for Starlink. Recently installed a nice cable gland from the same firm in OZ that I got those Ethernet to Starlink adapters from. Slick.

I'm on the road for another day, home tomorrow and can take pictures then.

Sorry for the delay. These are "related" pics. I ended up having to do a repair of the solar panel wiring, as it broke in the usual place behind the lift panels:



The ground wire had only one or two strands left, and I noticed this because it was dark when I lifted the roof and I noticed a flash of light. Whew.... I thought about fuses just now, and I do not have a fuse/breaker between the Solar Panel (300W) and the MPPT. Nor would it have helped here, since the fuse would have to be on the roof or very close to the panels to be of use here.

I replaced the wire with a brand recommended here more than once. Must be good!


Ended up only needing 20' or less, as I patched it in rather than tearing apart more cabinetry.

Now the part that is common to both the solar panel and installing the Starlink cables.... the rooftop solar "gland"



This is after the repair. Note the black butyl tape. It forms a dam so that water can't pool there and slowly leak in. I made another dam underneath:

That dam was in place from the initial install, I think it is 3m4200. Still pliable after 3 years. Note the grommets to protect the wiring from the sharp sheet metal of the roof.

From inside, here is a pic of the small holes in the fabric:


That looks a bit different than anyone elses' ceiling, because I redid my ceiling liner from the inside. The hinge should look familiar, but the 1" strapping is unique and hold the liner in place, with new liner to the bottom right, and gray original liner above and to the left, with 2 small holes in it for the wires. With the new wiring in place it looks like this from inside:


And at the bottom like this:

The yellow and black wires are the factory original ceiling wires for lights and fans. I put 1/2" rigid insulation in that C-Channel gap to provide some insulation. Much better than the water-wicking carpet that was in there.

And nicely tucked under the wood in the C-channel until it gets past the cabover section and dives into the cabinetry:

Tada!! (You can just make out the new and old wires coming up in the bottom left corner. There is a cabinet under there that gave me enough access to splice the wiring there.

I can take pics of the Starlink wiring separately, but it is much the same idea.