RV Electrical System Overhaul - adding inverters!

[cookinwitdiesel]

I should also add that I am going to side step the concern about generator cranking amps since I will just keep a small AGM cranking battery up there for the generator and maintain it with a small trickle charger. Thinking a little motorcycle starting battery should more than do the trick.

[cookinwitdiesel]

Attaching instead of inserting picture in an effort to get it posted at higher resolution.

[boyscout]

Attaching instead of inserting picture in an effort to get it posted at higher resolution.

That worked, thanks.

Wow. Will you have any room left in your trailer's GVWR to carry food and clothing? Or money in your wallet to afford those luxuries?

Very nice. The guy I bought my Victron 712 monitor from was also encouraging me to go 24-volt. I'm way behind you in doing this though, so I'll take advantage of your experience... pls keep posting!

[cookinwitdiesel]

That worked, thanks.

Wow. Will you have any room left in your trailer's GVWR to carry food and clothing? Or money in your wallet to afford those luxuries?

Very nice. The guy I bought my Victron 712 monitor from was also encouraging me to go 24-volt. I'm way behind you in doing this though, so I'll take advantage of your experience... pls keep posting!

It will be tight for sure!. Should be right at my limit if I keep my tanks empty. My pin weight is already crazy high (4000# measured) - fortunately this will all get installed in the rear passenger side of my trailer - where the outdoor kitchen used to be. I never use the kitchen and putting this weight back there will help on pin weight and the left-right balance.

I will NOT be doing everything at once - and honestly, may never get to the "end state" that I have drawn up. But if I plan towards that, I wont make bad choices along the way and have to purchase anything twice (like I already did with the BMV-712 I need to sell).

I have the total build chunked up into phases. Phase 0 is already purchased with install happening imminently. That is pretty much just 5 solar panels and an MPPT controller. This will be used initially to just charge the dealer installed FLA batteries (and satisfy the 2019 Solar ITC ). Later in spring/early summer 2020 I want to get phases 1 and 2 done. That will be an inverter on one hot leg and a second set of solar panels and MPPT along with a 2nd battery. This may end up as my stopping point - time will tell. But it will be simple enough to add the 2nd inverter and 3rd battery later on if we think it will make sense for us. This approach also helps a lot with managing the costs. As noted, in total, it is formidable. But when broken up, it is just a few thousand here, a few thousand there. Much more manageable. For perspective, each one of those 25.6v/200Ah Victron Batteries is the functional equivalent of 4x BattleBorns. So you can get a lot of mileage out of having just 1 installed!

[boyscout]

if I plan towards that, I wont make bad choices along the way and have to purchase anything twice (like I already did with the BMV-712 I need to sell).

I too hate buying things twice, and I too bought the Victron BMV-712 monitor. Why are you selling it?

[cookinwitdiesel]

I too hate buying things twice, and I too bought the Victron BMV-712 monitor. Why are you selling it?

I had originally planned to use the 712 as my Shunt and battery monitor. After I had the other Lynx gear and better understood what my end goal was, the BMV was not as ideal for 2 reasons.

First, it just simply did not integrate cleanly between the Lynx Power In and Lynx Distributor and second, it is only a 500A shunt. That was too low for my planned design. Yes, I could have bought one of the larger shunts and used that, but given the direction I was already heading, I figured the Lynx Shunt (1000A) was a smart move. It requires the Color Control GX but I was planning to get one anyways so that was not an issue for me.

The BMV-712 is a top notch unit bar none, it just was not as ideal for my plans.

Here is a picture of a setup similar to where I want to get mine to give you an idea of how clean it can look with the Lynx stuff

[jh.xsnrg]

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Here is a picture of a setup similar to where I want to get mine to give you an idea of how clean it can look with the Lynx stuff

Some months have passed. How is the setup progressing? Did you go with the 24v system then? I am pretty sure I am going with 24v in our new setup. The smaller wire size is much easier to work with, and as you noted, things are lighter and a little more efficient. The only caveat is the 12v DC side then takes the Orion or similar extra equipment.

Jim

[cookinwitdiesel]

Thanks for the reminder! Finalized the inverter install yesterday morning I did go with the 24v system.

It is going great so far. Here are some pictures

[cookinwitdiesel]

Here is the 12v side and needed conversion equipment, and some panels

[gbkims]

Here is a picture of a setup similar to where I want to get mine to give you an idea of how clean it can look with the Lynx stuff

cookinwithdiesel,

I was interested on how your Victron inverter/charger's chassis DC grounding is done.
I've been trying to understand what's said in Victron's Wiring Unlimited section 7.7 System Grounding and ABYC's 31.6.5 DC Grounding Connections for battery chargers and inverters.

I didn't see this spelled out in the Quattro manual, did see one of Victron's example drawings with the case ground going to the negative busbar, but wire gauge isn't shown.
https://www.victronenergy.com/upload...4V-120V-AC.pdf

Thanks