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Old 10-19-2008, 07:25 AM   #1
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Electrical Wiring and parts

i am doing a DIY conversion of my Ford E-150. First things first the electrical wiring.

I am planning on an AGM battery in the back as well as shore power so i would need a battery, battery separator, either inverter/charger or converter/charger, shore power connection and lots of other bits and pieces.

Would be interested in any helpful hints and/or links but especially interested in where to get the shore power connection and some pointers to other parts people are happy with as well

Thanks

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Old 10-19-2008, 10:00 AM   #2
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I really like the BlueSea Separator I have better than the SMB model. One advantage is not having to run an on-start-hot wire to your separator, the other of course is manual control... my PowerSure was always on with start and it masked battery problems for quite some time.

If you want to get fancy they were coming out with a Powerless Unit.

I would think a lot of the rest of the parts would be found at your friendly local RV store.
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Old 11-05-2008, 04:40 AM   #3
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Thanks for the reply.

specifically i am looking for a few things

Battery Separator
AGM 4D battery
Converter/Charger or Inverter/Charger
shorepower connector
norcold refrigerator connection

as far as the shorepower connector goes i am not sure what is the right thing to get (is there only one standard?)

as far as converter/charger vs inverter/charger i am probably going to go converter/charger for now as i dont really have the need for a massive inverter and for what i need i allready have a smaller inverter i can use

again any help is appreciated

Mike
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Old 11-05-2008, 10:38 AM   #4
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What you need is the SMB wiring diagram.

Maybe if you call them, they can email you a copy of it.

Mike
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Old 01-03-2010, 10:05 PM   #5
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Re: Electrical Wiring and parts

This is the best thread I've found so far giving me insight on how to wire a camper van. I did a few google searches and looked around this forum. I was surprised that I didn't find much.

Can anyone point me to a tutorial, how-to, or general information on how to wiring?
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Old 01-03-2010, 11:02 PM   #6
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Re: Electrical Wiring and parts

Managing 12 Volts is a great book if you're starting out.

McMaster-Carr is a good resource for the wire. http://www.google.com/products for pricing everything else.

There are a few of us on the forum who have skipped the AC system entirely, and are quite happy with that. I use a Xantrex TrueCharge 2 charger - does the same as a converter in that it provides 12V to the rig, but cares for the batteries when left plugged in.

Cheers,
Mike.

Edited to add: the 12v side of life is an amazing web resource.
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Old 01-04-2010, 09:21 AM   #7
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Re: Electrical Wiring and parts

West Marine not only has all the parts you need, (including the battery), but their catalog has some really great tutorials and tips and suggestions for how to do stuff. It's boat stuff, but for the most part, boat stuff and RV stuff are alike. Also, the boat industry is light years ahead of the RV industry, innovation-wise. The technology of isolaters, separators, and combiners, being one example.
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Old 01-04-2010, 09:31 AM   #8
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Re: Electrical Wiring and parts

BTW, Blue Sea Systems has relatively new technology called an Automatic Charging Relay, (that I tried to get SMB to incorporate into the build of my '08, but I guess it wasn't tried and true enough for them at that time. Worth looking into.
Bill
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If you can get ahold of a West Marine catalog, they have a little blurb on "Creating a reliable battery system" that might be very informative for you with regards to your project.
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Old 01-04-2010, 10:54 PM   #9
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Re: Electrical Wiring and parts

Excellent, thanks for the leads. =)
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Old 01-04-2010, 11:24 PM   #10
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Re: Electrical Wiring and parts

All good info, and I ordered the book, but I am curious if there are any places I could just bring in an econoline and have stuff like this done while I wait.

Battery boxes, inverter, the requisite circuitry, etc.

Someplace in CA or AZ that I could hit on my way back to the East Coast later this week?

Is this completely unrealistic?

If so, any places in NY or NJ that someone could recommend?

Thanks.
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