The converter/charger looks OK, remember it is just a HOUSING for circuit breakers you provide for your AC. Be sure it takes common breakers, I didn't see a spec for them. The WFCO power center we have uses the common Square D breakers. Remember the converter/charger is only used when you are running the generator or plugged in, it does not include a DC/AC inverter for the few AC items you might want to use when boondocking. But you are already planning to use both.
Recharging your house batteries with a portable generator and the converter/charger will be more efficient than idling the bus. Of course, you want to be able to recharge your house bank when you travel.
You may want to consider two AC panels: One for the shore/generator only loads, and one for the emergency/inverter loads. If you get an inverter with a built-in transfer switch, it will start whenever the external AC fails. If not, you will need a manual transfer, or arrangement where you move a distribution plug from an inverter outlet to a line outlet. It is not a good idea to plan on running your inverter loads off of the battery at the same time as the converter is charging them. This puts un-needed additional stress on both units.
The existing interior lights will be power hogs when boondocking. They are meant for road trips. Each incandescent bulb draws several amps, and to have them up on the ceiling so the light is dim where you are trying to read or work is a waste. But you already plan to have some 'task' lighting.
If you plan to boondock much, try a few LED devices for night lighting to let you walk around without tripping, and combine them with the close-in DC task lighting you are planning for work areas. For example, you might also want to re-locate 2 or 3 of the ceiling lights to become under-cabinet lights over the kitchen counters. A wall lamp or hanging lamp over the dinette will provide better lighting than a bulb in the ceiling.
Jake VonSlatt shows how to make converters to use household fixtures with 12-volt bulbs on his bus site:
http://www.vonslatt.com/bus-light.shtml
This will give you lots of choices with buying, salvaging, or re-manufacturing fixtures.
As far as switches, good ones should all have ratings on them. Make sure they have
DC ratings and not just AC ratings. Using DC stresses switches more than AC does, and the currents are ten times higher for the same power. Current is what generates heat wherever there is residual resistance. Heat is what generates failures.
Select switches with gold contacts over any other material if you have a choice. Get switches rated higher than you need. Use a 20-amp switch for a couple of 4-amp or 6-amp lights, and use a 60-amp disconnect if you have a 20-amp load. Don't use cheap plastic switches from Radio Shack. Pick up a switch and turn it on and off a few times. If it feels junky, it probably is. You should feel a positive 'click' when it changes position.
One other thing someone might investigate is using the "silent" wall switches they (used to?) make. They cost a lot more than the 89-cent bulk light switches contractors buy, and may have gone the way of the dinosaur. These switches had liquid mercury in a sealed glass tube, and when you tipped the switch, the mercury would flow down to the opposite end of the tube, and connect two probes molded into the glass. Since these are sealed, there will be no atmospheric poisoning of the conductor materials, and the mercury will not be get pitted from the arcs when the contacts open and close. Take the cover off of a round Honeywell wall thermostat and tip the glass tube back and forth to get the idea. Regular residential wall switches are larger than mobile switches, but if you are putting wall boxes in the framing it doesn't matter.
Edit: I missed the added models and posts while I was writing, and ignored the "additional posts" warning.
No, these are NOT inverters, they are "converters" that produce 12-volts DC from 120 volts AC. You still need a separate inverter to make AC from the batteries. The 735-watt rating is the AC power draw required to provide the 45 amps of DC. These units will charge more than a single battery, but the advertised times will be off. The times are probably figured on one deep-cycle "trolling motor' battery typical on commercial camping trailers.
The battery chargers generally use battery voltage sensing to determining when whether to use Boost, Normal, or Storage mode (also known as "float" charge). I measured the computer-controlled modes on my converter and they were right on. Depending on the firmware, you may have to disconnect the AC briefly to restart a new fast-charge cycle if you draw down the bank while in the "storage" mode.
Please note these voltages are chosen for wet cells. The sealed batteries we use for communications want 13.6 volts maximum, and any of these converters will "cook" them. The thing that bothers me about the Mighty-Mini is the desulfation every 21 hours. From all I've read and people I've talked to, "equalization" is only required every 30 days. If you park the bus with the AC connected in "storage" mode, the repeated "desulfation" may cause water loss, requiring periodic water level checks for battery health. A constant 12.2 volts would only require water checks about once or twice per year while in storage.
Linear Mode
