Thoughts on my electrical plan please!

[SkyTri]

Hi all,

I'd REALLY appreciate some feedback on the below - I've spent many, many hours researching this, but having not done it before the learning curve is steep. I'm new here, so I'll start with a photo of the van....



Right, onwards!

Use Cases

The van will predominantly be used as a day van (most weekends all year round). It will do longer family trips of a week or more where we aren't sleeping in the van.

I will use it myself as a 'base' for triathlons and other similar events, sleeping in the van and cooking/eating in it as well as charging devices and occasionally working from it. I know it's a complex subject but some kind of coffee machine is a must! It will be static for no more than 48hrs.

Neither of the above use cases see me using an electrical hookup at any point.

It is important to build in resilience and growth capacity - I will keep this van for a long time and may start camping in it for longer periods.

Wiring Plan



I know that's a mess, so explaining it in words...

Components

Leisure Battery - Roamer Seatbase 230Ah
Positive - 300A fuse, 50mm2 cable to an isolator and then a distribution box
Negative - 50mm2 cable to the Victron SmartShunt 300A and on to a negative busbar

DC-DC Charger - Renogy 40A DC-DC Charger
Connected to the distribution box via a 60A fuse and 16mm2 cable, and on to the negative busbar by 16mm2 cable

MPPT - Victron 100|30
Connected to a 300W solar panel by a 10mm2 cable and 30A fuse, to the distribution box by a 16mm2 cable and 60A fuse, and to the negative busbar by a 16mm2 cable.

Inverter - Renogy 2000W
Connected to the distribution box via a 250A fuse and 50mm2 cable, and to the negative busbar by 50mm2 cable
Connected to two three pin plugs by a 2.5mm cable via a consumer unit.

12V Fuse Block
Connected to the following, all by 1.5mm2 cable:

• Dash cam
• LED roof lights
• Reading lights with USB
• Wireless Charger
• USB sockets

And by 6mm2 cable to the fridge and diesel heater

Some specific questions

1. I am particularly unsure on my cable sizes and fuse ratings - I think have gone overkill on cables in some places to reduce the number of different gauges I need though.
2. Should I have a negative busbar under each seat to reduce cable runs?
3. Should I wire the dashcam to the distribution box or is it easier to hard wire it to the van some other way?
4. Where should I physically put the isolator by the starter batter and under the passenger seat so it is accessible (but not accidentally tripped?)
5. I am installing a slimline kitchen. Would I be better putting elements of this (12V fuse block especially) inside a cupboard where it is more accessible?

Any other thoughts or feedback VERY much appreciated! Thank you in advance

 

[moomin-j]

@SkyTri
If you are thinking of buying a Roamer battery, then you'll get some help with the system design:



@RoamerBatteries are also a trader supporting this Forum.
I've used them myself and can say they are good guys, with very knowledgeable tech support if needed.

Good Luck

 

[roadtripper]

For your DC-DC consider the Victron Orion XS - it's got a higher peak charging current if you are going for such a larger battery and I think it's physically smaller and runs cooler too. Operationally if you are managing the smart shunt and solar through the Victron app you may as well manage the charger too.

I don't think routing the output of the inverter via a consumer unit is going to do anything. The inverter should protect itself against overload and 2kw is below the normal 3kw expected load of any 13A sockets and wiring. There is no point fitting an RCD as the output should be floating so it's (a) regarded as inherently safe and (b) an RCD is unlikely to work. So save yourself the space.

Compressor fridges and diesel heaters tend to be very sensitive to voltage drops. It might be better to have them connected more towards your high current distribution point and leave the low current one doing the other loads.

Remember anything with a USB socket or a wireless charger will draw powered even when nothing is plugged in and charging. The battery is large but best to make sure those devices go through some form of switch so they are physically disconnected when not needed for a period of time as the parasitic load can waste capacity when there 24/7

You can use the chassis as ground at any point so if it helps reduce cable clutter probably a good idea to use the ground stud under the seat for your low current distribution point. For the extremely high current devices like inverter and charger it makes sense to connect those on a bus bar. I wouldn't put a bus bar as such under the other seat - just get a good quality fuse box that has a negative bus in. The marine grade ones are a good choice even if expensive, don't cut corners on the devices that are keeping you safe...

Definitely power your dash cam from the leisure system, especially if you want to use parking mode.

Do consider the layout as I think your are going to have a challenge getting all the items under a seat base. One option to consider is having the big battery under the seat base next to the kitchen, a lot of folks find that mounting the inverter on the end of the kitchen area makes it accessible, helps cool it but is still closed for the heavy duty 12v cables. You may find then there is more room to put the chargers in the other seat base. You're likely to need to cut off the ground stud in the base with the battery and there is generally more factory wiring under the passenger base, so swapping your plans over might result in less work and disturbance to the factory wiring.

 

[Velosaurus]

Just going through same process, to replace my 7 year old T5.1 system but actually in build. Went for Roamer 160AH. The free electrical system design is excellent. Recommend you purchase the battery before any other components as Roamer will walk through a design in detail and recommend components. eg I had to scrap my Amazon Isolators and Busbars and replace with Blue Sea 6006 isolators and BlueSea busbar which annoyingly are physically larger. They will also recommend fuse and wire sizes for you.

On the inverter, I had a long discussion with Roamer who wanted me to opt for a Victron Multplus Compact inverter (I have 240v hook up) or Phoenix compact inverter & IP22 charger. Both are outside my budget so I will go for a stand alone non Victron inverter. I looked at the Renogy 2000, but at 442mm long (plus space for cables) it doesnt really fit in the seatbase, which is a key requirement for me, so curious how you intend to fit it? I have yet to source an inverter and to get the van working so can get away will probably fit that later.