Is this the best Off Grid Campervan Electrical System
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- čas přidán 2. 08. 2023
- After 3 months of travel, adventure and full systems test it was time to iron out some kinks leftover from the disastrous original electrical setup, remove unwanted items and add new items to my campervan electrical system.
My system is unique to me and is going to deliver what I need in a way that gives me versatility and redundancy too, it might not work for everyone but it also works fine for Mandy, who has been testing this setup for 5 months.
Here's a few links to the products shown, if I've missed anything then please ask for it in the comments.
Allpowers S2000 power station - amzn.to/3DHqHCN
Renogy 200AH Lithium battery - amzn.to/3KpS3kG
Renogy 50A DC to DC & Solar charger combo - amzn.to/3Ooyc6u
Renogy 60A Solar charger - amzn.to/3YrY06v
Renogy 2000 Watt inverter - amzn.to/3DH9QQA
Renogy ONE M1 - ebay.us/EEiqgc
12v DC Fuse box - amzn.to/44T5TEi
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Finally someone has the sense to have 2 12v distribution boxes, always stood out to me as logical.
John you are a fountain of knowledge with a lot of that know how based on real liffe experience with the van and your motorhome. Great Vlog again really neat also.
Hi John, as always great video. Tons of technology that you keep showing to us, great content. Keep doing what your doing, it's such a great thing that you share your van build with us. All the very best.
Going to have to view again to fully understand what you’ve done !! Great to hear the reasoning and see the appliances as you describe them.😊
Great video again. I think refinement by experiment is really interesting with simplicity and weight saving being obvious gains, so why not? This upgrade still affords a real world capability and tidies up the cabling and I like that. At some point in the future I may venture down this path to upgrade and I'll be revisiting this episode again. Cheers.👋
Loving these videos John. Good to try different things and learn along the way ✌️😊
John, love seeing you in MAX TECH GEEK mode…. Having the back up is a great idea given your alternative MAX ADVENTURE MODE… Love the channel… 😊
Nice one John ..you have great Ability n Patience 😊
Stay Free and Safe Travels 😀
Nice weight savings that you achieved there. I've done wiring on vehicles and split to multiple distribution blocks for the same reason you did. You will love not having that bundle of wires running overhead like you did. Thanks for the insight on why bigger isn't necessarily better.
I think many who’ve spent considerable time in campervans/RVs tend towards minimalism and functionality. I too have started down this road. After many years with a continually evolving and re-adapted system, I’ve started to simplify and rationalise, focusing more on what I actually need and find most efficient and sufficient. I did the same in having a remote fuse box on the other side of the van where my kitchen and other devices are. Great videos John. Concise, informed and well presented
Absolutely brilliant explanation John. Thank you.
Excellent very informative video, John. I, too, like experimenting (playing?) with different setups. I recently connected my solar to both my Aferiy power station and my Renogy Rover. Both being MPPT chargers, they work great charging from one solar array. I thought I'd have to insert a crossover switch, but it works well without one. To my surprise, the one (Aferiy or leisure battery) that needs most charge takes it all until almost full, then the other starts charging automatically.
Sounds great!
Thanks for this John. Great video as always. The Allpowers looks fantastic and really impressive that it can act as a UPS. I'd never thought of that 👍
Hi, those units are bad, stay clear of these. I've had 2 and both rubbish unfortunately
Thanks for sharing this, it's very useful stuff. All the best.
Really enjoyed watching even if some of it was going over my head 🥴, I still managed to keep up and understand the majority (rewind is a great tool)🤣 really love the Allpower unit that is a brilliant bit of kit thanks for sharing the update and info on your van ⭐
I agree simplified is best and I really like the way you have incorporated, the mains charger with power station '240V pass through' to give you fail-over contingency!!.
Excellent video John and definitely gives me some ideas for my upgrade I’ll be doing at Xmas
Great video John. Very much like the new set up.
You definitely are a Wizard John!!😊
Great video! ❤ Loving the electrical set up vids! As still deciding what I’m going to do 🤔
Hi again J. - Like you, I ditched my 690G for the simple life! Found this really interesting as Renogy kit is available in NZ and will use some of your ideas in my next project.. an Eriba Troll caravan! Great vid! Bill.
Wow that’s some weight saving…and so much tidier..fab job John x
Made perfect sense here! Thanks very informative 😊
Very informative, hoping to put solar on our van over the winter so will probably be trawling your vids for info.
Fabulous new electrical set up John very clever
Looks much neater and lighter ❤
I give you credit john ..you certainly know what you're on about regarding electrical jobs...as for me ..i have a job wiring a 13amp.plug 😅
Good job John lot tidier and more space good on you keep going .❤❤❤
Hari OM
Being the daughter of an electrical fellow, I love geeking on all this stuff... but am glad that with the E-Transit I have 'power on board'... Using the Bluetti 1000 to power the T50 fridge and run the kettle and induction hob, it just needs charging up once every 24 hours (though it takes about 2.5 hours to do so - and uses about 5 miles off the vehicle range) and has proven very effective combo. Like the look of that All Power unit though... YAM xx
I love my renogy gear it’s great value 😊 . Great work John ❤
Looks really neat thx John
Great vlog John 👍
good job John!
Excellent video, a good weight saving also
Very informative and great video. Great skills!
Nice job good for you less is more well done good luck 👍👍👍🏴🇬🇧🇨🇦
I definitely liked it 😀
I just skipped all and put in a Bluetti AC200. 30A 12V dedicated output for DC stuff and 240VAC on the cooktop.
Can take up to 900Watt of PV.
Such a space saver.
looks good, and a great saving on weight. No point in having second big battery when you dont really need it.
Good video 👍🏼
Looks alot neater
In my "in my head, van I haven't built yet" design, I've been wondering for about a year
"Why doesn't someone just use a power station as a core unit and connect a big auxiliary battery to it?"
.
Glad I could rely on you!!! 😁👍
.
"He who dies with the LEAST toys wins"?
(Or just the most sensible toys?)
Going straight back to watch it through again!!
Exactly what I do…. No messing about…
A lot of people do but if it goes wrong you lose everything.if a part from a battery with separate charger separate inverter goes wrong still gives you options & cheaper to replace the faulty part then sell the repaired part once repaired:)
That's at a guess
@@adidasmanuk That was my thought about relying on a single power station as the power supply. If it fails, you've nothing.
I’ve done much the same but used the nema TT-30P 30amp connector
It all looks a lot more simple 😅
You make my mind boggle.
Good food for thought there John.
I've currently (😉😊) got 600w solar feeding 3 x 110 Ah lithium batteries through an Epever 60 amp controller supplying a Renogy 3Kw inverter from which I run a 2 x 800 watt induction hob. Laptop and phones are charged directly from the batteries. I'm prepared to be persuaded I'm over supplied but having struggled with a previous setup (300w solar and 3 x 110 Ah lead acid with a cheap controller) I didn't want to be struggling. There are also 2 x 30 amp B2B chargers waiting to be connected.
Boiling a kettle of water (about as much cooking as I routinely do) on one of the hobs scarcely touches the batteries. A two way compressor fridge is waiting to be installed. Winter will be the crunch time.
For backup I've got an Ecoflow Delta 2 which I haven't had to use yet 'cos the solar etc was only installed in the spring.
I saw a video recently where the author was charging an Ecoflow or similar from his B2B via an inverter while driving as it's quicker than via the 12 volt car accessory socket. It ocurred to me if that worked why not from the solar via the inverter. I did a test and all seemed OK.
I found this interesting but I don’t understand all of it as not electrical minded, would be good if a kit could be made for people like me to insert with easy instructions, just a thought. At least you have more storage space now😊
I'm in the planning stages of a van build and I was thinking of a similar solution with the Aferiy. I want to use a 12 to 24 DC to DC, a 24V compatible MPPT with a house 500W solar panel (much cheaper) and two 12V 110Ah LifePO4 batteries in series. I can then charge the Aferiy at 240W instead of 120W from the batteries. I can also run other devices like fridges, diesel heater and inverters at 24V using less current and thinner cables. Any devices that have to use 12V, I can use the 25A output on the Aferiy.
Good Morning John .
Hope you are doing well. Always look forward to your new video's 😊
Just one thing pal ... it may be the best set up and certainly one that i would love to use but wouldn't know where to start 😢 .. is there any chance you could make a video of that system breaking it all down .. fuses , wiring sizes all connectivity etc ? Go on john ya kno ya can do it for ya fans 😁😃😊👍
Got that Renogy DCC50S and Renogy 1000 watt inverter here too... oh, wait now it's a 2000 watt inverter.
Give me some good ideas when move mine 👍👍
With your skills you could if you wished set up a business fitting electical stuff in vans ..ive never done a van conversion but im still enjoying your post's
Great video and glad I am not the only person with the allpowers unit. Do you only use it as a back up which is what I do basically and have actually never used it to date. Also I have 2 victron b2b like you did in the other van but having seen you use the Renogy unit was thinking of swapping out to them have the terminals available to use for my backup portable solar panel. Sorry third question you mention in one of the comments some plugs and sockets think it was SAE would they work well for the solar connection
That's a substantial weight and space savings.
Hi John, looks good 👍. Do you have a basic wiring diagram for this set up that you could share please?
Does the 230v power (shore power) go directly to the power bank or through protection of RCD / MCB consumer unit first?
Thanks - Kev
John, thank you. Great videos and you have been my goto throughout my own van conversion. I'm currently considering getting rid of my lpg and three 120ah lead acid batteries in exchange for a single 200ah or 300ah lithium, mainly to save space (SWB Sprinter), weight, and because I love the idea of living off the sun. I see you are about to get rid of one of your batteries leaving you with one 200ah. Are you happy this will be enough for your induction hob? This is one of my concerns. Which induction hob do you have? Also, do you run any sort of electric heater or just the diesel heater?
My current system is 320W of solar, 40A Renogy Rover charge controller, 3X 120AH lead acid batteries, 2000W (3000 peak) inverter /charger. I've just returned from a 6 week off grid European tour and this system did not let me down but I think I could do with more battery power for the winter. Would love to hear your thoughts. Many thanks, John
good vid good work thanks l;ee
Hi John, how did you get on with the d+ feed required for the dc to dc charger? Hope you can help but in any event it was great to see Mandy has finished her treatment. Cheers
Hi John great video, I see that you have two small grey boxes that look like they are remote switches which I`m looking for what are they called please?
Did I understand correctly. ie 10a remote control switch - will be connected at one end to the battery 12v and will pass a charge to your Allpowers via the solar input at 10A. As I understand it the Renogy200a can output at 200a. I have a somewhat similar setup except I have a small inverter 600w inverter attached to the battery so that I could in theory charge the power station with 230v - which I think is less than ideal.
The 20a remote relay is taking power from the 200ah renogy battery and that charges the ALLPOWERS
Just watched your electrical upgrade video with interest, I have just bought the Renogy 2kw Pure sine wave inverter. I wonder if you could clear a couple of things up please, the instructions say not suitable for some power tool battery chargers and shaver chargers. How are you supposed to know which can and can't be charged up ? Also it says not to be connected to loads that have neutral connected to ground, I can't think that any everyday appliances would be like that or am I wrong. I tried to email Renogy but haven't had a reply.
Keep up the good work
Can’t believe how much weight and space you saved. Looks great.
Random question, noticed you have a 12V MiRider charger, I noticed my 12v plug (cig lighter plug) on it the + seems to get quite hot after a while when charging (hot enough to burn skin but not melt the plug) - wondered if you have noticed the same at all?
All the best, David 👍
I’ve put SAE sockets around my van and SAE ends on the Mirider charger, my laptop 12v charger and anything else that consumes more than 8 amps up to 12 amps on 12v
@@GadgetJohn thanks John - not a bad idea that - appreciate the response 👍
Could you possibly remind me what the remote control relays are used for - I have one floating around that’s not doing anything
thanks,i am lost in the mud. lol
Very good John, Im about ti install a system just like this into a van. Do you have any kind of wiring diagram for this?
I don’t have one sorry.
Hi John, love your videos by the way. I have just placed an order for the power pack, I don’t want to touch the electrics on the van side,as it’s a new van on the way, so this is my for of electric. What’s the best way to charge it while driving? If it’s the B2B you mention would you need to come off the main starter battery or can I come from the leisure batteries and does it plug into the front solar power charger?. Thanks for your help.
It’ll come with a 12v charge cable you can plug into the vans cig lighter socket.
I’ve got the 20amp renogy mains charger ,is there something specific you didn’t like about it ?
Hi John what wire sizes do you use for your lithium battery and b to b charger ?
John!!! you're just a big kid😂 love it
Hi John the allpower pro 2400w do you think it’s ok t us to run the domestic fridge?
Looks a great system now you've modified it. The only thing I didn't understand is what solar is connected to the power station? I'm assuming your big solar panel is connected to the Renogy Solar Controller.
The ALLPOWERS isn’t connected to solar. Ut you can charge it from 12v, mains or a folding solar panel.
Hi John. I have a 250W solar panel But really fancy getting the Bluetti EB3A. I understand that the panel is too powerful for this Bluetti but will it be okay going through the Ring DC to DC charger that I have. I have this as I charge whilst driving also. Cheers Mate.
Hi John.
I'm trying to gauge interest and reasoning for what side my electrical setup should go?
I have a RHD van with fixed bed at rear and a 'garage' where the electrical and plumbing will go (underslung tanks) and my toilet is RHS and kitchen LHS.
I can't figure out which is best side (RHS or LHS) for each setup?
Do you have any pearls of wisdom for choosing one over the other?
I already have a EHU socket on the LHS but plan to put another on the RHS regardless for convenience.
Ta. Ant...
Hi what’s the new flooring called and have you got a link for it ?
I have the all powers s2000 I want to just use this to connect all my electrics in my van how would I go about doing this I haven't installed the electrics I my van yet
Hi John what size cable did you use to connect the victron mains battery charger to the battery?.love the videos.
I used solar cable I had left over which is 6mm as it’s just 1m run.
Hi, I am wondering If you can help. I have a 30amp renogy dc/dc mppt charger and a renogy 1000w Inverter. Its a new system but when I plugged my laptop into the inverter the solid red light came on on the dc/dc charger which is the alternator light and the slow blinking light on the solar icon goes off. The van engine is switched off and when i turn the key once (engine not running) dashboard lights come on, the alternator light goes off and the slow blinking solar icon comes back on. Any ideas? Thanks.
John
Does the all powers have passthrough charging I.e. can you leave the solar plugged in while using the car socket or USB
Thanks
Mark
Yes that’s how they work, you can have all outputs powered up whilst it’s being charged from any source.
Be very interested to see how you get on with just the single battery. I have the same kit and have the 3kv version of the inverter/ charger. Agree it’s bloody heavy but I wanted the ability to fast charge the batteries. Have gone with the separate 12v fuse box for each side and so glad I did. Let me know how you find the smaller inverter and Victron charger though as it will be interesting to see how long your recharge time is. Great update and thanks for sharing
It’s been working fine for 4 months fully tested in Mandy’s van 👍🏻
@@GadgetJohn that's good to hear given your both online most of the time. Be interested to hear how you get on in the autumn and winter with the reduced solar (though this summeer is just as bad in the uk) as i could benefit with the additional space i could free up dropping my second 200 AH battery and the large inverter / charger. I speced based on being online all day for work and only cooking via electric with minimal electric hookup's
Hi John, great vid, i get the back up idea for the 240 but is there a way of using the Allpowers to run all the 12v stuff too, what i cant see is how the power would get to the 12v fuseboxes?? im prob missing something easy, thanks in advance for your reply
I could run lights off the ALLPOWERS but it has a 12v cig socket and that won’t run a diesel heater.
@@GadgetJohn thanks for reply john👍
Hello,
Good effort on the experiment.
How do you run all the electrical stuff amounting to over 2kw output with just a 2kw inverter? Were you using mains hook up at the time or not? You have got me a little confused.
Cheers 😊
When I was cooking that was via the inverter from my 12v battery.
@@GadgetJohn Thank you for your reply.
I'm impressed you can safely run all that on a reasonably small inverter. Shows you don't have to over spend and go too big on them.
Cheers, safe travels. 👍
John, was wondering if there was any benefit in considering a layer of fire resistant material under your bed frame isolating you for a time from any sudden electrical fire that might occur overnight?
No benefit at all to doing that, you’d need some serious steel plating installed to offer any protection.
Hello John. Could you let me know what is the brand of your shower door? Thanks
It was from Magnum Motorhomes.
Hi John what solar panel do you have? You mention its 600w, is thst one single panel, if so which one. Cheers
It’s a single 600w panel by Canadian solar.
Have you thought about talking to Allpower, or Renergy about setting up a standard "GJ Kit"?
Imagine a box containing a nice terminal board with "this goes here" quick connects (even Wago style?) And hard wired safety cutoffs.
Bolt the box down, plug in the externals.
Could be a 1 hour install "just works" solution.
Am I being dim, how does the mains charger give out 30amp when caravan site hookups/cable are limited to 16amp?
It's 30 amps at 14.4v volts.
Hi John, great video !! You happen to have the EXACT same electrical setup as me (at least as far as chargers, all powers unit and what not goes! lol). However I'm finding my Victron 30 amp charger hits 80% then just goes from bulk into absorption mode far far too fast for my liking - it then takes another 30 hours to fully fill the battery which isn't much use to me.........I have 490AH AGM batteries.
Any suggestions Sir? I am defo going to use my all powers as an 'inline backup' similar to yours as you have done here..........but I don't know what to do about my shore power slow charging issue - did the Renogy ever slow down at all? I have been considering the 3000 watt version but as you say its huge and heavy, although it says it will charge at 75 amps, that's no use to me if it also this 80% then drops to near nothing.
I tried to change the Victron to my own custom battery charge profile but that won't work either (i.e. wait until 14.9v for example before it goes from Bulk to Absorption but I can't seem to change it)
Any ideas?
Many thanks! Great Channel !
I’d check with the battery manufacturer that you’ve got the correct charge voltages setup on the victron & check your cables / fuses / breakers are all ok
Thanks John, they seem to be - what would stop a fuse being ok? It's all wired in well - 40 amp fuse on a 40 amp cable carrying 30 amps max charge. Set to 'high' mode for AGM at 14.7v, can't see what else it maybe? - cables also same length on the pos and neg? @@GadgetJohn
If the fuse gets hot, cable gets hot or any part of the cabling gets hot that could be the cause, try a straight through cable to see if that changes the charge rate. If not then it’s likely to be the charger is being limited by the battery.
John witch battery pack do you us for the fridge?
All 12v electrics run through the renogy 12v battery, that includes the fridge & freezer.
Hi John, in one of Mandy's vlogs she mentions that you have set up a system so she can flick a switch to charge her allpowers. Would it be possible to explain how you did this?
Are you both charging them from solar or when you are driving.
We have a smaller allpowers and no solar panel for it. So currently we charge it by plugging in to cigarette lighter socket when driving. I think there has to be a better way and I am sure you know what that better way is.
Thanks Emma
Yes, that charge system is shown in this video.
@@GadgetJohn OK will watch again. I must have missed it. Thanks
How quick does the all powers recharge on 12v ?
From 0% to 100% it’d take 12 hours to fully charge it.
Did you fuse the lead from battery to ppwerbank john ??im all renogy but only 100ah battery 300w solar and its more than enough for me , i now have a powerbank from a brand which will remain unnamed 😁but would like to use the power im wasting to charge it
Yes the ALLPOWERS 12v charge cable has a 15A fuse.
@@GadgetJohn decided to just use the plug supplied into cigarette socket from leisure battery it worked yesterday with what little sun we had up here in scotland fully charged tho 😁😁
Hi John, after watching first video time round I went and got the same battery and inverter, 2000w. Problem I have, and I’m not getting any sense out of Renogy customer service, is what cables I use to connect the inverter. Two sets of red and black cables were included in the box but I don’t know of this was in error or if I need to use both sets. Again, Renogy have been hopeless at resolving. Please, can you help? The cables supplied are almost 10mm in diameter including the plastic insulation, are these sufficient or do I need to double up the cables? Seems odd they’d supply two sets instead of one set at the correct rating but they just can’t resolve my query. Thanks in advance for any assistance.
I used 35mm cables for the inverter. You can get them from amazon made up to length.
@@GadgetJohn thank you, John.
Hello John,
I only know you and Mandy via your videos but give Mandy a big hug from me and give her our best wishes.
I am in the process of building my van and am trying to get my head around the electrical set up that will work for me. All I have at the moment is an allpowers 2000 (used as medical back up at home) so this video was of great interest to me a big thanks for posting it! Ten months on from posting about your revised set up are you still happy with it? Do you think it is possible for an amateur like me to replicate and install this system? Thanks in advance Trevor
Thank you.
I’m no longer using the ALLPOWERS s2000, I’m now using the Dabbsson dbs2300 and the system has been upgraded a little. I think it’s still a very basic setup that you could install yourself
Hi John, I decided I was going to replicate your set up but being a noobie I did not take two things into consideration. I have 3 renogy 200w solar panels for 600W rather than a single panel and two I don’t know where to pick up a d+ signal. How did you go about it? Genuine d+ signal or voltage sensitive relay to supply + 12V? Any insights would be very welcome indeed!
Good to see Mandy is making progress and a belated happy birthday! Cheers
👍
Crackin
Does your renogy inverter show you reverse polarity ?
That’s not something I’ve tested as I don’t go to campsites.
@@GadgetJohn it's just you talk about renogy inverter have switch over ,I have same setup
Hi John you said that you could buy a allpower for under thousand pounds I’ve look around and there all over £1650… were did you find yours our could you lie to one ? Kind regards phill
Click the link in the video description.
@@GadgetJohn chears John
Ive. Had the s2000 or monster solar genny for best part of 2 yrs, used domestically and the van on the road. When they work and all the function do. They are a great camper addition. They power all the normal appliances and even the van. But as time has gone by. Each unit. Has developed functionality faults, such as drop in level charge to 90% or lower, ac or dc wont switch on and various other issues. Whilst i cant fault the amazon seller who've replaced and replaced and now fully refunded me for the original 3 s2000. I would seriously recommend to all that a lifepo4 be your aim. Longer warranty. Life, etc. Thats my path. But having seen ecoflows customer service towards Big John, i will be looking at anker to trust my money albeit no App. To summerise. Allpowers s2000 are good, but wont last, you maybe reluctant to believe me, your choice! I will be looking forr allpowers to revamp their models and because the after service has been second to none will buy with them again.
Thank you. My mum (78) has a small fiat van conversation and her inverter needs replacing - she has been quoted £1,045. Seems very high would your Renogy recommendation work for her? She has a small electric induction hob and oven and a couple of sockets for Kettle and fridge. No solar but she always camps on site and plugged into mains.
That’s crazy, the 2000 watt inverter is £250 and can be installed within a few minutes.
Thanks for the clarification
Great video but could you just run off the power bank without the extra battery...thats what we all want to know???😂
Unfortunately not as the power bank only has a 10 amp 12v socket.
@@GadgetJohn cheers John.. I'm sure there's one with a 30 amp outlet...could you not step it up through a transformer to a fuse box...lots looking for a stand alone power station set up....might make a good video....Best wishes si👍
You can’t magically make 12v 10 amps into 12v 30 amps, electricity doesn’t work that way.