I am a total novice when it comes to electrical but I have spent weeks reading the forum and researching to put together the electrical diagram for my 2020 170 Sprinter campervan. I am now ready to offer it up for input, critique, and criticism. What am I doing wrong? What would you change? I appreciate all comments and feedback. You will notice components in the diagram from many of your threads and builds.
Sprinter Build out details and plan.
Sprinter Build out details and plan.
- 2020 170 4x4.
- Accommodating a family of 4.
- Will be using the Sprinter for long weekend camping and multiple week cross country trips. We will be camping in campgrounds and remote locations.
- I will be using a Pico Simarine monitor for the battery bank, inverter, solar, temperature, and tank levels (propane, fresh water, grey water).
- I am planning to install the Nations auxiliary alternator that is rated for 280A. I plan to have the house system completely separate from the starter battery.
- I plan to have 300W of solar wired in parallel.
- On the diagram I did not show the negative wire for the DC loads with switches to make the diagram cleaner.
- DC load wire lengths are roundtrip.
- Is my battery bank the right size? Do my calculations look correct? My total Ah/Day from my calculations comes out to 259.5. I then multiplied this by a factor of 1.75 due to getting charge from the alternator per Faroutride’s suggestion (here: section 3.1). They also recommend using a depth of discharge factor for lithium batteries of 80%. Using Faroutride’s approach I need a 600Ah battery bank which seems excessive. Please provide any thoughts on this.
- What gauge wire should I use for the run from the 2nd alternator to the battery bank which will be behind the driver side wheel well? Looking at the American Wire Gauge chart it looks like 4/0 AWG is required for 280A but reading through the Auxiliary Nations Alternator thread started by VanGoSki 2/0 is recommended. Is 2/0 okay for 600A?
- What amp fuse circuit breaker should I use for the positive bus bar connection to the 2nd alternator?
- I am still pretty confused about the connections and programming for the auxiliary alternator regulator and BMS. I tried representing the connections on the diagram but I am reading through the Auxiliary Alternator thread on the forum. A consolidated post in that thread showing the connections and programming parameters for the BMS and regulator would be a huge help!
- What amp fuse circuit breaker and what gauge wire should I use for the run from the positive bus bar to the DC circuit breaker panel? Do I calculate the fuse and gauge based on the sum of all the DC loads?
- What gauge wire should be used between the 12|3000 inverter and the positive and negative bus bars? I assume I use the same gauge for the Pico SC301 Shunt that measures the AC loads off the inverter?
- Where should I ground the negative bus bar? The factory ground location near the rear axle seems like the best location.
- Can I combine all of the DC loads that have the same sized fuse into one circuit? I thought it would be good to have a few of the loads separate in case there is a fault so it doesn’t impact other items in the circuit.
- Is the 1Amp fuse between the Pico SC502T shunt and the positive bus bar an inline fuse?