Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 09-12-2019, 07:59 PM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Posts: 37
Year: 2001
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: All-American flat face
Right or needs fixing?

I am uploading a picture of how I *think* the electrical system for my from scratch electrical system should work. I am a total electrical newbie. I will NOT be installing it myself - someone who knows what they are doing will do that. But I do want to be sure to know what they should be doing. Also want to know how it's all set up should I need electrical help on the road.

My electrical diagram is a bit unusual for a skoolie so here's some info of my electrical needs.

I need electricity every day. I have a CPAP and an electric handcycle that attaches to my wheelchair and has a big lithium battery. If it's cold I also need heat.

I need power to these every single day whether I am on shore power or boondocking.

I hope to be able to boondock for 2 weeks at a time. I am assuming that I will want a generator to power the house battery bank (800+ lithium) (yes I know it's the price of a small car).

I am also assuming that solar will not be able to meet my minimum requirement of absolutely have power every day.

I am very grateful to JD who provided the diagram on his website. I adapted it based on what looks right to me.

Please feel free to tell me what's wrong with it. This type of drawing is what I will be working from with the electrical person on. I want to get it right before I talk to them.

Thank you for reading and commenting.
Attached Thumbnails
Bus electrical draft 1.jpg  

CorbettO is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-13-2019, 08:57 AM   #2
Bus Crazy
 
somewhereinusa's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Andrews,Indiana
Posts: 2,430
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: AARE
Engine: 3116 Cat 250hp
Rated Cap: Just the two of us.
Just a few observations and my opinion. Unless you are going to have a huge generator you won't get two 50A legs. A 3000-3500 watt inverter type with one 30A leg should power what you have listed here.

I'm going to get jumped on for this. Unless you are going to run something like a Tesla lithium I wouldn't do all of that 24-12 volt conversion stuff. Just run it on 12V it takes larger wires to be done properly but, you have a LOT of converting going on there. Every time you convert electricity to something else you loose a bit. Why have 12 and 24 volt lights? RV water pumps aren't generally available in 24V.

If you buy a quality inverter/charger the automatic transfer switch is built in. The latest "hybrid" ones will, if your shore power isn't good enough, draw power from your battery bank to make up the difference. When the load decreases they will then resume battery charging.

Not sure what the "high/low voltage inverter" you have listed are.
somewhereinusa is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-13-2019, 03:56 PM   #3
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Eastern WA
Posts: 6,401
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: All American RE (A3RE)
Engine: Cummins ISC (8.3)
Rated Cap: 72
Quote:
Originally Posted by somewhereinusa View Post
Just a few observations and my opinion. Unless you are going to have a huge generator you won't get two 50A legs. A 3000-3500 watt inverter type with one 30A leg should power what you have listed here.

I'm going to get jumped on for this. Unless you are going to run something like a Tesla lithium I wouldn't do all of that 24-12 volt conversion stuff. Just run it on 12V it takes larger wires to be done properly but, you have a LOT of converting going on there. Every time you convert electricity to something else you loose a bit. Why have 12 and 24 volt lights? RV water pumps aren't generally available in 24V.

If you buy a quality inverter/charger the automatic transfer switch is built in. The latest "hybrid" ones will, if your shore power isn't good enough, draw power from your battery bank to make up the difference. When the load decreases they will then resume battery charging.

Not sure what the "high/low voltage inverter" you have listed are.
With a 24v battery bank the only dc-dc converter that I will need is for my heater. All other DC loads are 24v.

There is a definite advantage to running a 24v or 48v house battery on larger systems.
PNW_Steve is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-13-2019, 08:37 PM   #4
Bus Nut
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Cerrillos, NM
Posts: 393
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Amtran
Chassis: Front Engine
Engine: DT466E
Rated Cap: 72
I didn’t go in great detail but it looks like the generator powers an inverter which ties into generator output power too? That’s bad if that’s the case. You can’t ordinarily mix ac power sources because they’re not in phase and the waveforms won’t line up. I agree that a built in transfer switch on the inverter seems best, and may resolve that issue.
rffffffff is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
electrical, generator, lithium battery

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:02 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.