Hookup And Consumer Unit Under The Bonnet

[Jimm]

I’m looking at doing this with a Victron BlueSmart 15A charger under the bonnet and running the 12v charger leads through to the battery under the drivers seat. I’m adding the victron inline fuse at the battery end but what about protection of the cable running through the cab and bonnet? Does the charger have a fuse that would protect against shorts here or should I cut the charger +ve lead under the bonnet and fit an inline fuse? Or am I over-thinking it?! Thanks

 

[Deaky]

The charger can only supply 15a. The charger will have an internal fuse I’d of thought, the worry is current going the other way from the leisure battery which is why you need a fuse close to the LB to protect the cable

 

[Dellmassive]

not sure in the internal fuse as they are IP65 sealed units . . (im trying to find a PCB picture - but cant find any yet)

but the spec sheet states that the IP65 smart range are all:

Protection - Reverse polarity, Output short circuit, Over temperature












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https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/IP65_A4_2022_smart_230V_web.pdf

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Blue Smart IP65 Charger | Victron Energy

The Blue Smart IP65 Charger is the new professional battery charger with built-in bluetooth. Find a Victron Energy dealer near you.

www.victronenergy.com

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[Jimm]

The charger can only supply 15a. The charger will have an internal fuse I’d of thought, the worry is current going the other way from the leisure battery which is why you need a fuse close to the LB to protect the cable

Thanks Deaky yeah totally agree, so I bought the extra ‘fuse to ring terminal’ part with the charger. Just wondered if the short was between the charger and that fuse, (under the cab floor for instance) when you are on EHU, would it cut out. Sounds like it might as it has ‘output short circuit’. Cheers

not sure in the internal fuse as they are IP65 sealed units . . (im trying to find a PCB picture - but cant find any yet)

but the spec sheet states that the IP65 smart range are all:

Protection - Reverse polarity, Output short circuit, Over temperature


View attachment 150567




View attachment 150568




.

https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/IP65_A4_2022_smart_230V_web.pdf

+

Blue Smart IP65 Charger | Victron Energy

The Blue Smart IP65 Charger is the new professional battery charger with built-in bluetooth. Find a Victron Energy dealer near you.

www.victronenergy.com

.

not sure in the internal fuse as they are IP65 sealed units . . (im trying to find a PCB picture - but cant find any yet)

but the spec sheet states that the IP65 smart range are all:

Protection - Reverse polarity, Output short circuit, Over temperature


View attachment 150567




View attachment 150568




.

https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/IP65_A4_2022_smart_230V_web.pdf

+

Blue Smart IP65 Charger | Victron Energy

The Blue Smart IP65 Charger is the new professional battery charger with built-in bluetooth. Find a Victron Energy dealer near you.

www.victronenergy.com

.

Thanks, I’d missed that bit on the spec about output protection. I might get in touch with them just to find out what that actually means/how it’s protected.
Thanks

 

[Bzp]

RCBOs 'compare' the current in the PHASE current against the NEUTRAL current, if they are equal, all is well, if they are not equal, some is 'leaking' (hopefully not through a person!) and the device trips. There's no need for an earth connection. In 30 years of electrical engineering, I've never seen any type of ELCB with an earth connection.

Incoming EHU earth must connect firmly to a clean chassis point, I think it's supposed to be the only connection at that point (i.e. no other van wiring there). Facebook will be full of people raging about the pros and cons of making this connection, but T6Forum will be unanimous in this (I think!). So get over your feelings and connect it! If there's a ground fault in the van, and the tyres are dry, you don't want to be the human current path to earth!

I would assume that the RCBO blue wire is there to allow it to fit in domestic Consumer Units, a standard busbar will connect all of the MCB/RCBO Line 1 (or live in) terminals together, and then the blue wire will reach to the standard neutral block.

Hi do you know which earthing point you used under the bonnet? Thanks

 

[Rifc38]

I am in the process of doing the same style install in my t5.1 I intend to mount the ehu socket and rcbo with rcbo enclosed between the battery and headlight. And relocate the split charger to make space. I have te victron 15a smart charger to for the leisure battery. But after a few hours of head scratching I've decided to mount that unde the scuttle . And use ot to charge the starter battery. Conveniently this then activates the split charger relay and also charges the leisure battery. I will have to source a ip rated single socket or cut the plug off the charger to make this work. As I'm only running one double socket and charger off the ehu I was considering a 13a rod spur instead of rcbo and enclosure to save space. Not sure what you guys think about my cunning plan?

 

[winRoc]

Evening all have a T5 that I'm about to rewire and put a underseat fogstar and renology 2000w inverter etc. After reading a few installs on here looking at doing something similar. After advi e if the below would work and if there are any issues) Thanks

 

[airhoguk]

Evening all have a T5 that I'm about to rewire and put a underseat fogstar and renology 2000w inverter etc. After reading a few installs on here looking at doing something similar. After advi e if the below would work and if there are any issues) Thanks

View attachment 270406

Definitely issue, why is your inverter connected to the 240v supply. Should be connected to battery only. If you wanted to use 240 instead of the battery and inverter then you need a switchover to take the inverter of line

 

[winRoc]

Definitely issue, why is your inverter connected to the 240v supply. Should be connected to battery only. If you wanted to use 240 instead of the battery and inverter then you need a switchover to take the inverter of line

The inverter has an auto switchover feature. However reading it may not be suitable from a safety or regs pov

 

[jimc91]

The inverter has an auto switchover feature. However reading it may not be suitable from a safety or regs pov

Some videos online show installations using the renogy pass through functions whilst threads on here advise against it; be interested to know from those with the units if they use this functionality as I have a friend looking to install one as well

 

[winRoc]

Would wiring in a manual switchover help? Now concerned it's not a suitable choice for safe delivery of AC to fixed sockets

 

[EAN]

All current Renogy Inverters with passthough function are incompatible with RCDs.
They’ll work when passing through the mains, but not when supplying ac from the inverter itself.
They supply 115Vac between L and E and N and E to give the 230Vac. The E is connected to the chassis and battery neg connection from my testing of the 1000W version. N and E cannot and aren’t ever linked.
I have had technical correspondence with Renogy and they have confirmed this to me.
You will have a false sense that you are being protected, when you aren’t.
If you want to do this properly, then choose an inverter that links the N and E correctly, when off grid, but does not do so when on EHU, such as Victron.

 

[jimc91]

All current Renogy Inverters with passthough function are incompatible with RCDs.
They’ll work when passing through the mains, but not when supplying ac from the inverter itself.
They supply 115Vac between L and E and N and E to give the 230Vac. The E is connected to the chassis and battery neg connection from my testing of the 1000W version. N and E cannot and aren’t ever linked.
I have had technical correspondence with Renogy and they have confirmed this to me.
You will have a false sense that you are being protected, when you aren’t.
If you want to do this properly, then choose an inverter that links the N and E correctly, when off grid, but does not do so when on EHU, such as Victron.

That’s great you have been in touch with them and got their views. When I get round to fitting my friends I might be back with more questions. @winRoc sorry for hijacking your question. Maybe start a new thread with you a full diagram of your proposed set up if you need it critiqued. For info I’m thinking of having the ehu feeding a double socket under the passenger seat, the inverter feeding a single socket next to it and have the sockets in the back of the van on a radial circuit terminating with a plug under the seat, my friend can then just move the plug manually between the sockets depending on how she wants the sockets in the back of the van fed, this keeps the two systems separate

 

[winRoc]

Thanks for the responses, but are the Renogy inverters unsafe when operating from drawing DC from the batter and supplying AC itself. If as above i have two seperate sockets. 1 fed from EHU and one fed from the inverter (not connected to EHU).

Would the renogy still be deemed unsafe when supplying its on AC?

Thanks

 

[winRoc]

Thanks for the responses, but are the Renogy inverters unsafe when operating when drawing DC from the battery and supplying AC itself. If as above i have two seperate sockets. 1 fed from EHU and one fed from the inverter (not connected to EHU).

Would the renogy still be deemed unsafe when supplying its own AC?

Thanks

 

[EAN]

@winRoc The Renogy inverters are safe enough as long as you are aware of their limitations.
Treat them as a stand alone unit, using either its own output or a single dedicated socket.
Be aware that plugging in an RCD to its output, such as on an extension lead won’t provide the protection you think it does.
Be aware that there is 115Vac on both the L and N, so both are effectively “live” and that it isn’t an isolated supply so is referenced back to the chassis of the van due to the way the E is connected through.

 

[jimc91]

@EAN Im in the process of installing a renogy inverter, the instructions show to fit an earth wire (green in the diagram below), is this required as all the videos I’ve seen no one seems to refer to this cable - thanks in advance

 

[EAN]

@jimc91 I didn't fit one. The metal parts of the case were already connected to battery neg, so the connection is already present

 

[jimc91]

@jimc91 I didn't fit one. The metal parts of the case were already connected to battery neg, so the connection is already present

Thats kind of what I thought, thanks

 

[getJDt6]

I plan to do exactly this. I found the perfect enclosure and will use 2x RCBOs to save space, the enclosure has on free space.

It's IP65, which I think is plenty unless you are converting a submarine (IP65 is protected from water jets, IP67 is submersible)

Here it is;

View attachment 62987

There's a upright plastic wall on the left of the battery, its' 'foot' bolts to the chassis. I plan to cut the foot off, put an steel upright in, and screw the consumer unit (and the plastic wall) to this. If you find a better way, let me know!

The downside I can see is that two flexes will need to run into the van, but the (big) upside to this is that the unprotected cable runs are much shorter.

Hi there! Appreciate your post was a few years back but I'm about to put a CU under the bonnet on my T6. How did you secure yours in the end? I can see the "foot" that you referred to, but not what to fix to it? Many thanks!