Electrics Upgrade Advice

[stevewhitey87]

Hey guys

I am looking for some reassurance on my planned electrics upgrade.

Quick back story.

I only bought the van recently, it’s in superb condition but I am far from happy with the gas and electrics.

It has 16mm live wire coming off starter battery with an 60Amp fuse, which goes into a DC converter.

First red flag… The DC converter has been installed within one inch of the gas bottle (see attached photo)

(FYI - I am moving the gas into a metal case and sorting that at the same time)

Then… From the DC converter the live and neutral go to the leisure battery where (and here’s red flag number 2…) everything in the van is screwed directly to the battery

My plan is to continue using the the wiring from the starter battery to the current DC converter.
Then disconnect the wiring from the DC converter and start a fresh there.

I plan to put an On/Off switch on the live and extend the neutral into the back of the van and from there install a board with all my wiring on.

I have drawn up a little diagram (see attached)

If anyone could help let me know if it looks okay please that would be great.

The two things I am unsure about is whether to use a Lynx Distributor or not. And what size fuses to install. So any help on this would be great. I have chosen the Lynx solely because then I have a central hub and it’s fused but I have been told it might be to overkill for my setup.

I don’t plan on installing anything more than a 1000W inverter and the only 12 V items will be my fridge, diesel heater, small water pump, lights and USBs.

Thank you so much in advance.

 

[ginkster]

Welcome.

A few comments on your plan:

Use the chassis for the negative rather than trailing cables everywhere.

You don’t need a switch in the positive from the starter battery to the DC-DC. If you are using a Victron DC-DC (as your diagram) you can add a switch to the green aux plug (see the Victron instruction).

The Lynx is huge and total overkill for your setup. Have a look on 12voltplanet for the mega/midi fuse block. This has one mega fuse and 4 midi fuses and is a great, compact fused busbar option.

The isolator for the MPPT should be between the panel and the MPPT so you can isolate the panel. You shouldn’t isolate the MPPT from the battery with the panels still connected (see Victron instructions).

 

[stevewhitey87]

Welcome.

A few comments on your plan:

Use the chassis for the negative rather than trailing cables everywhere.

You don’t need a switch in the positive from the starter battery to the DC-DC. If you are using a Victron DC-DC (as your diagram) you can add a switch to the green aux plug (see the Victron instruction).

The Lynx is huge and total overkill for your setup. Have a look on 12voltplanet for the mega/midi fuse block. This has one mega fuse and 4 midi fuses and is a great, compact fused busbar option.

The isolator for the MPPT should be between the panel and the MPPT so you can isolate the panel. You shouldn’t isolate the MPPT from the battery with the panels still connected (see Victron instructions).

This is super helpful, thank you so much for all your help

I will check out 12volt planet now.