Hey all,
I'm putting plans together for the electrical system of my newly acquired bus and looking for some confirmation that my thoughts on this system are correct.
As an overview, I have a 2003 Thomas RE activity bus that I plan on using more for long-haul transportation of family and friends versus overnight camping. I don't rule-out overnight camping, weekend music venues, etc. so I do want to have some electrical while parked. Bus has factory 140,000 BTU HVAC that works wonderfully while underway and I'm planning for an LG mini-split system that uses 2-3 roof-mounted cassettes (somewhat new for RV systems).
While traveling, I plan to use a 4,000 watt pure sine inverter/charger that is connected to bus batteries and can be charged with alternator power while underway. This should be enough to power microwave, blender, laptop, refrigerator, etc. while traveling from what I can tell. When parked, I plan to use 50A shore power either through a pedestal or generator power. I don't have any plans for house batteries or solar power right now.
I've read a lot about running shore power directly to the inverter/charger AC input and running the AC output to the breaker box, however my understanding is that with almost all the inverter/chargers, you would only get one leg of power to the breaker box. I don't really want that as I want to have the availability of 240V power if this mini-split system so requires.
So, from spending many days researching and thinking about all of this, here's where I'm at:
- 50A shore power coming in from shore power either via pedestal or generator. Shore power will run to breaker box with 50A main on double-pole breaker to make both legs of the box hot.
- Off this breaker box I will plan to run the mini-split system on 1-2 breakers and then one 30A breaker that will run to the AC input of the inverter charger which according to what I've read, will pass through to the AC output while also charging my bus batteries.
- From the AC output of the inverter charger, I will run power to a single-leg sub-panel that will handle all my other electrical components such as power outlets.
- I will run all my AC plugs to this sub-panel and all my neutrals will be kept separate from the shore power neutrals coming in. It's also my understanding I will not ground the shore power breaker box to the chassis as when plugged in it will ground from the pedestal or generator I'm using, but I should ground the sub-panel breaker box and inverter/charger to the chassis.
I welcome any feedback or comments if this is not as efficient as I could be doing it - it's just what I can wrap my brain around with all the research and reading. I understand everyone's situation is different, mine certainly is as I don't plan this conversion for full-time living but more for traveling.