Mount walls straight to the metal frame?

[Malamute]

Wood absorbs moisture and releases it. It expands, contracts, twist, bows and warps. Velcro is not the right fastener for that application. Just use small trim head, counter sink screws. It is not a big deal to remove and reinstall them if you want to do so.

But of course tongue and groove creates its own issues as the pieces interlock. So you will end up having to start removing the pieces on the wall at one end and keep going until you get to the area where you need to do the modification on the wiring. That would also mean removing any cabinets and shelves to be able to disassemble the tongue and groove walls. Basically you are creating a lot of work for yourself just to modify wiring.

The smarter way to go is to NEVER install wiring behind wall paneling but instead mount it along the wall surface inside of the cabinets. A van is not a house, quit trying to do things the way it is done in a house such as running wires inside of walls. Switch your mind set and take a more practical as well as much easier and labor saving approach.

To keep the wiring tidy and snag free but very easy to install route and modify for my build project I use open slot raceway channel. It has a snap on cover.
In the photo it shows computer cabling but regular wiring also works in it. The slots allow you to break out wires to various plugs or devices wherever you need them to go. You can of course remove some of the slots and T another piece of channel at angles to other sections of the raceway.
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Interesting, I was just wondering if anyone used plastic wiring conduit to protect wires and keep them organized. I think keeping wiring on the inside where they can be accessed if need be, and some relatively clean way to route them to the exact location needed makes sense.

 

[maki2]

Interesting, I was just wondering if anyone used plastic wiring conduit to protect wires and keep them organized. I think keeping wiring on the inside where they can be accessed if need be, and some relatively clean way to route them to the exact location needed makes sense.

You do need to pay attention to how much current wires are carrying before you consider bunching them together into a restricted space such as conduit or even putting them tightly together with tie wraps. That could create excess heat.

Also making a bundled together mix of AC wires and DC wires tied together should not be done.

Wiring a vehicle for nomadic life and wiring a house are similar in some respects but in the overall scheme quite a bit different from each other. Fortunately I had some experience doing wiring while working for Boeing. Also I have done some wiring in houses. That experience was very useful when I totally gutted a little 50!year old fiberglass travel trailer. I needed to install alll new wiring and also build custom cabinets so it was easy for me to plan out my electrical circuits to be run inside of the new cabinets but still make it very easy to change and modify things as needed including if I want to changing out things like the panels in this photo that has switches and outlets for DC and AC circuits.

 

[RonDean]

You do need to pay attention to how much current wires are carrying before you consider bunching them together into a restricted space such as conduit or even putting them tightly together with tie wraps. That could create excess heat.

Also making a bundled together mix of AC wires and DC wires tied together should not be done.

Wiring a vehicle for nomadic life and wiring a house are similar in some respects but in the overall scheme quite a bit different from each other. Fortunately I had some experience doing wiring while working for Boeing. Also I have done some wiring in houses. That experience was very useful when I totally gutted a little 50!year old fiberglass travel trailer. I needed to install alll new wiring and also build custom cabinets so it was easy for me to plan out my electrical circuits to be run inside of the new cabinets but still make it very easy to change and modify things as needed including if I want to changing out things like the panels in this photo that has switches and outlets for DC and AC circuits.
View attachment 34718

I really like the look of your control panel. Since I am currently doing a van build, I think I will copy it somewhat. Hope that's OK.

 

[maki2]

I really like the look of your control panel. Since I am currently doing a van build, I think I will copy it somewhat. Hope that's OK.

Thanks, and it is perfectly OK with me. I myself was inspired by control panels I have seen over the years.

 

[Malamute]

You do need to pay attention to how much current wires are carrying before you consider bunching them together into a restricted space such as conduit or even putting them tightly together with tie wraps. That could create excess heat.

Also making a bundled together mix of AC wires and DC wires tied together should not be done.

Wiring a vehicle for nomadic life and wiring a house are similar in some respects but in the overall scheme quite a bit different from each other. Fortunately I had some experience doing wiring while working for Boeing. Also I have done some wiring in houses. That experience was very useful when I totally gutted a little 50!year old fiberglass travel trailer. I needed to install alll new wiring and also build custom cabinets so it was easy for me to plan out my electrical circuits to be run inside of the new cabinets but still make it very easy to change and modify things as needed including if I want to changing out things like the panels in this photo that has switches and outlets for DC and AC circuits.
View attachment 34718

Thanks for posting that, Im aware of it but others looking for info may not be.

And yes, very nice work! Planning ahead for possible changes when first building can reduce time and headaches later.