SHORE POWER

[geoffff]

Does this look like a good plan?

Camper Van Standard Electrical System — Moser Makes

An economical system with plenty of power

www.mosermakes.com

FYI, Moser Makes' full schematic image was posted on the Transit USA forum

It looks like he was careful to put all the appropriate fuses and breakers in. He is going for slightly more capacity than I have.

 

[radchad-SMB]

I bet the previous owner ripped out the old system when changing from a lead acid house battery to a lithium one. Most of the original Sportsmobile equipment won't work with a lithium house battery.

There are various shore power chargers out there now that support lithium batteries.

Me, I went fancy and installed a Victron MultiPlus Compact, which does shore power charging, and also can run in reverse when I'm on the road -- using the same internal transformer as a 3000 W inverter.

I think you are right. I might just end up redoing the whole system... seems like a critical part of the equation for enjoying time on the road.

 

[radchad-SMB]

Okeydokey Pokey. There is an easy button for shore power here.

First question - are you using the solar panel input on the Renogy DC-DC charger?
If no - connect a 24V, 10A "outdoor lighting transformer" to the solar input on the Renogy.
Set the Renogy max amps at 10A - you need the remote screen for the DC-DC which is a separate part. Set it back to 50A when charging off solar or the alternator.
Plug in the outdoor lighting transformer - boom shore power that will also float your starting battery after your house battery is charged.

If you ARE using the solar input on the Renogy DC-DC (you have solar panels?), do the exact same thing, but use a relay to cut the solar panel feed when using the outdoor lighting transformer. This relay can be powered by the outdoor lighting transformer.

The theory of operation behind this is you want to charge both batteries - house and starter. You want to be able to plug in, but you don't have huge A/C draw when plugged in - no hot plate, no A/C, no microwave (assuming). You just need to keep your house battery topped up when plugged in. Use the house battery to absorb the high current surges and use the low current transformer to keep it topped up.

The reason to use the 24VDC outdoor lighting transformer on a 12V system is twofold - firstly the Renogy DC-DC won't charge from the solar input unless it sees over ?17? volts (going off memory) and since 24V 10A is the same as 12V 20A (but wire gauge is half since voltage is doubled (ok not really drop the pitchforks but thats the gist of it)) its a lot easier to wire it in. Same amount of wattage, easier wiring, cheaper transformer.

The reason to use the solar input on the Renogy vs any other input or connection point is that is the only point in your system where you can apply power and charge house and starter batteries from a single charger.

Yes, Using solar and that is connected to the renogy stuff. These are things that will need power.

1. Dometic fridge
2. LED puck lights in ceiling
3. small water pump for water
4. Starlink
5. Charging laptops, etc

 

[Scalf77]

You can always go small and work your way up. First I would restore the AC, sounds like you would need some amount of 10-3 awg wire , A breaker box, GFIC outlet and some 14-3 wire for the receptacles. This could all be used as you move forward.

I would then get small shore power charger. The Victron one I referenced above would work great, and is a great portable charger if needed in the future.

I would then get a Victron Battery Monitor or Smartshunt. This would allow you to monitor your existing usage and get a better understanding of power needs. You should probably get a bus bar also.

After that you can better decide how to go, do you want to go with a Inverter/charger? If so what size.

Will you need more battery? this will be easier to decide if you get real data while camping.

Inverter/chargers are in many ways both based on your expected usage and need to somewhat match the size of your battery bank, both for inverting and charging.

Also start scoping out the area you plan to deploy and star checking physical dimensions of equipment, as it will have an impact on your choices moving forward.

 

[Big_ern_101]

Yes, Using solar and that is connected to the renogy stuff. These are things that will need power.

1. Dometic fridge
2. LED puck lights in ceiling
3. small water pump for water
4. Starlink
5. Charging laptops, etc

None of those are high draw items and they all can run on lower voltage than 120.
I suggest that the method I propose (relay isolate solar, use that input on Renogy DC DC to charge batteries and provide shore power) would work swimmingly.

 

[radchad-SMB]

You can always go small and work your way up. First I would restore the AC, sounds like you would need some amount of 10-3 awg wire , A breaker box, GFIC outlet and some 14-3 wire for the receptacles. This could all be used as you move forward.

I would then get small shore power charger. The Victron one I referenced above would work great, and is a great portable charger if needed in the future.

I would then get a Victron Battery Monitor or Smartshunt. This would allow you to monitor your existing usage and get a better understanding of power needs. You should probably get a bus bar also.

After that you can better decide how to go, do you want to go with a Inverter/charger? If so what size.

Will you need more battery? this will be easier to decide if you get real data while camping.

Inverter/chargers are in many ways both based on your expected usage and need to somewhat match the size of your battery bank, both for inverting and charging.

Also start scoping out the area you plan to deploy and star checking physical dimensions of equipment, as it will have an impact on your choices moving forward.

I really like the plan, I want to overbuild the system a little bit because I am not sure exactly where this van will end up ( literally and figuratively speaking). With that being said, I have increased my budget and will look to implement this my myself ((((scary)))).... haha