Mercedes Sprinter Electrical Plan - Advice and Feedback

[ThoseDillyDays]

Hi all,

I'm a newbie converting a 2012 Mercedes Sprinter. I am in the process of planning and buying all my electrical components so I've pulled together an electrical schematic. I don't know much about electrics so I am trying to educate myself as I go. Is there anyone on this forum that can look over my plan? Any feedback and advice would be awesome.

 

[tacr2man]

The components are there but the wiring is about 90% wrong . The solar is OK as far as battery .

If you look here you should be able to see where you are in error

Hope that helps btw your series connection of the solar is better IMHO . The above is just for illustration of polarity issues in your diagram , its not the only way to do things . I am sure someone will come along with an edited version of your diagram , but I dont have the facility to do so

 

[ThoseDillyDays]

Thanks, tacr2man, this is really helpful. I am going to edit my diagram and reattach it

 

[ThoseDillyDays]

Based on the diagram tacr2man sent over and a bit more research I have edited my original diagram with additional details. Is there anyone out there that can double-check my rationale here?

 

[TheCaller]

I would remove the inverter connections from the Blue Seas box. The inverter at full chat would overload the box on its own. Take the inverter wiring straight to the isolator switch via a 200A mega fuse. Check the required diameter of those cables & keep them as short as possible. I haven't got the required size chart handy, but they will need to be roughly the thickness of a finger - think starter cable or welding cable. The isolator switch & the cables back to the battery should also be rated at 200A.

Is the inverter rated at 2000A continuous or max? What do you intend to run from it?

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[hilldweller]

You seem to be basing your 240 through the inverter. Yes it will work but you are hammering the batteries more than if you did a simple 240 change over when on hook up.

It all depends on how much hook up you get.

You show 12V water heater - generally speaking gas is so much better for pure heating, there is a massive amount of heat in a can of gas, not so much in a battery. Of course that 12V could just be the controller for a Truma.

Your battery monitor cannot detect the mains charger current.

 

[autorouter]

Battery connections in detail: the positive connections should all go to battery 1, with a simple link between the positives of battery 1 and 2. The shunt should go to the negative of battery 2, with a simple link between the negatives of battery 1 and 2. All the negative connections should then go to the other terminal of the shunt. Wiring like this minimises the differences in voltage drop between the two batteries, so that both batteries charge and discharge equally. Best for long-term reliability.

You need two RCDs, one on the inverter and one on the shore power inlet. AC breakers should be double-pole or 'Single Pole and Neutral (SP&N)', not single pole like in British houses.

You need a fuse on the battery charger positive

 

[ThoseDillyDays]

Hi all thanks for all of your help so far, attached is a picture of my current WIP electrical system. I still need to tidy up the cables, add my second RCD unit for the inverter power, add my bus bar covers and add terminal covers to my batteries.

I just wondered if I could get some more advice...

1. I currently haven't connected anything to the load connections on my solar charge unit. I am just connecting everything to the batteries. if I just connected the load connections to my 12v fuse box would I then be able to see a full load of my 12v system on the solar display unit? Logic tells me no, but I have seen tons of confusing YouTube videos so I thought I should ask.

2. From the picture can anyone tell me what my solar display unit is telling me?

2. Are there any obvious fixes or potential safety issues in the picture that you can see?

I appreciate the pictures arent the clearest so let me know if you need any more information about my setup. Just to fill in the gaps where the pictures don't tell the full story...

1. The earth is behind the box which I have used for the inverter and the 2nd RCD unit that I am planning to fit.

2. The inverter has a 200 amp mega fuse on the positive-going into it.

3. The solar charge unit has a 50 amp breaker fuse going into the positive connection.

4. The first RCD has it's over earth directly below it, this runs the shore power connection to the plug socket on the right. I will use this to run my 60 amp battery charger.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance