Wiring Diagram, Seeking Input

[spenceronehalf]

Hi all,

After mulling over the dozens of wiring diagrams and sketches on and off the site, I've come up with the following initial plan to wire my prison bus. As you can see, my plan to so go simple and (relatively) cheap: no solar, no generator, and possibly not even an inverter. I'm pretty comfortable with the idea of having limited power when not plugged in to AC.

So here is my hand-drawn wiring diagram. Suggestions of all kind would be great. I'm particularly interested in comments like "you are going to fry yourself!"

I'm not really sure about where to put this transfer switch ... and as you can see, I don't even know if I'm going to tap the bus's onboard wiring to charge my leisure battery bank. I kind of think that if I start messing with what's not broke it might get broke real quick.

Here's the diagram.

[Njsurf73]

I am interested in this as well. To my newbie eye it looks like a good system that could be expanded. Will be following.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

[roach711]

No need for a transfer switch between the house bank and the converter. Just hook them together directly. When you're on shore power the converter will be charging the house bank as well as providing DC current for your appliances and lights. When unplugged from shore power the converter is just powered down.

A 30 amp shore power receptacle is plenty unless you'll be using 240v appliances or multiple air conditioner units.

[spenceronehalf]

Super helpful. Thanks for taking the time to check it out. I guess two Air Conditioners is an option in the future, so I may still go with the 50 Amp inlet. Ditching the transfer switch would save me a few bucks

[Zombiepatrol]

Definitely following this post! Any links for total newbies for wiring and how to get started? We looked at the "diagrams" you could buy for our 88 GMC and it looked like foreign language. It seems like we could modify it simply as long as we know where everything goes, and study how to do the wiring itself. I also checked out the stickies on the forum and without a visual we are kind of lost on all the terms we have no clue about. We need a crash course!

[spenceronehalf]

Yeah, I still feel like I'm flying blind ... if my install is successful, I'll post some diagrams and pics and whatnot

[JojoBrisk]

Originally Posted by spenceronehalf

Hi all,

After mulling over the dozens of wiring diagrams and sketches on and off the site, I've come up with the following initial plan to wire my prison bus. As you can see, my plan to so go simple and (relatively) cheap: no solar, no generator, and possibly not even an inverter. I'm pretty comfortable with the idea of having limited power when not plugged in to AC.

So here is my hand-drawn wiring diagram. Suggestions of all kind would be great. I'm particularly interested in comments like "you are going to fry yourself!"

I'm not really sure about where to put this transfer switch ... and as you can see, I don't even know if I'm going to tap the bus's onboard wiring to charge my leisure battery bank. I kind of think that if I start messing with what's not broke it might get broke real quick.

Here's the diagram.

Here's what I plan to do to mine...

[spenceronehalf]

That looks pretty sweet. Solor + generator will give you tons of options ... my system is much simpler, for the time being

[JDOnTheGo]

Something to contemplate...

A typical RV 50 amp plug carries two 120V legs of 50 amps each. Many load centers provide circuits for two legs but it forces you to split the load between the legs. In an RV, this is fairly easy as all the "important" stuff goes on the first leg (that is also powered by 20 or 30 amp service) and all the "extra" stuff (2nd AC, washer, dryer, etc.) on the second leg. I put an example of this in my build thread but much more detail on my blog (here).

[spenceronehalf]

That makes good sense. And from my installation of boxes in the past, I've always tried to balance the load on both legs. Definitely something to think about! Thanks much

[BlackJohn]

Originally Posted by spenceronehalf

That makes good sense. And from my installation of boxes in the past, I've always tried to balance the load on both legs. Definitely something to think about! Thanks much

Balancing the load on either leg is the ideal situation because the feeder wires split the load evenly without any heat buildup leading to insulation breakdown etc over time. if one knows the amperage of every item tied into the panel, then just arrange it so the total amperage on each leg is similar or as close as possible to being equal.

To the OP, I have been studying you diagram and it is well thought out. Now if you can build it properly there shouldn't be any issues other than normal maintenance. best of luck,

John

[JDOnTheGo]

Originally Posted by BlackJohn

Balancing the load on either leg is the ideal situation because the feeder wires split the load evenly without any heat buildup leading to insulation breakdown etc over time.

Agreed. However; unless one has (two leg) 50 amp service all the time, you will have a bunch of components that are useless to you when you may want them. For boondocking, I considered two inverters to provide power to both legs, I abandoned that idea. Many of the places I stay have only 20 or 30 amp service. It is not ideal but it works.

[spenceronehalf]

Interesting. I appreciate that insight. I guess going for the lowest common denominator makes sense