Hi everyone, I need some help figuring out my van electrical system.
Here is where I got so far:
The idea is to have a very lightweight system to use a Dometic CFX3 fridge, LED lights, roof fan and water pump.
We had an older camper van before and we realized that we don't use much power at all. The fridge will probably be the major offender here.
As you can see I have the car battery hooked up to the house battery through a "voltage sensitive relay isolator" (https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07G6ZWM2K?ref_=pe_1139640_123247270_dpLink).
The 4 AWG cable that comes from the car battery was already installed as the van had a wheelchair lift installed at the back.
I installed a 60A breaker between the two as the cable from the car battery is fairly long and I'm worried that it would overheat. (this might be a silly idea as the alternator output should be around 110 amps and the breaker could just trip instantly)
At the moment it's all disconnected as I was working on the flooring but when everything was connected the solar was happily charging the battery and the lights were nice and bright.
The problem is that that the isolator and the adjacent cables were getting warm just from the solar charger. What would the reason for that? The cables that connect to it are very short 7 awg cables (supplied with the isolator).
I crimped the lugs on one side of the short cables but not soldered them. Might that be the issue?
The solar panel input to the solar controller can go easily up to 19V but I guess that the controller regulates it to feed the battery.
The isolator is grounded to the house battery. Would it be better if grounded to the chassis?
I'm very happy for any kind of input and criticism to my system. After all it's my first attempt.
Thanks
Marco
Here is where I got so far:
The idea is to have a very lightweight system to use a Dometic CFX3 fridge, LED lights, roof fan and water pump.
We had an older camper van before and we realized that we don't use much power at all. The fridge will probably be the major offender here.
As you can see I have the car battery hooked up to the house battery through a "voltage sensitive relay isolator" (https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07G6ZWM2K?ref_=pe_1139640_123247270_dpLink).
The 4 AWG cable that comes from the car battery was already installed as the van had a wheelchair lift installed at the back.
I installed a 60A breaker between the two as the cable from the car battery is fairly long and I'm worried that it would overheat. (this might be a silly idea as the alternator output should be around 110 amps and the breaker could just trip instantly)
At the moment it's all disconnected as I was working on the flooring but when everything was connected the solar was happily charging the battery and the lights were nice and bright.
The problem is that that the isolator and the adjacent cables were getting warm just from the solar charger. What would the reason for that? The cables that connect to it are very short 7 awg cables (supplied with the isolator).
I crimped the lugs on one side of the short cables but not soldered them. Might that be the issue?
The solar panel input to the solar controller can go easily up to 19V but I guess that the controller regulates it to feed the battery.
The isolator is grounded to the house battery. Would it be better if grounded to the chassis?
I'm very happy for any kind of input and criticism to my system. After all it's my first attempt.
Thanks
Marco
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