Super EASY 12V Camper Van ELECTRICS - How To
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 11 окт 2017
- Super EASY 12V Camper Van ELECTRICS. In this video I take you through my 12v camper van setup that is easy and simple. The 12v electrics in a camper van don't have to be difficult, follow my how to so you can understand how to streamline your setup.
PARTS:
CTEK - www.roadpro.co.uk/product/02d...
Battery - www.alpha-batteries.co.uk/12v-...
Inverter - edecoa pure sine wave inverters
Control Panel - Contact Rayne Automotive
Music: RŮDE - Gemini
Camera Kit Used Throughout My Series:
Panasonic GH4
Panasonic GH5
Panasonic LUMIX G Leica DG Summilux 15mm f/1.7
Olympus M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45 mm 1:1.8
DJI Phantom 4 Pro +
I still don't appreciate what we have in our own country, over the next year I will show the best bits of Britain in my camper while also stretching a bit further a field to give some highlights of the most beautiful parts of Europe. Everyone loves a eurotrip!
I have started a van conversion so that me and my girlfriend can travel around the UK, Europe and maybe even maybe further afield. Living in a van can be so much fun and if you want to have as much fun as us then follow my how to videos and travel vlogs to living the vanlife.
Please like share and subscribe as this will be a series of videos showing the full transformation, use and enjoyment of my campervan conversion!
For more info about what I am up to subscribe to my channel! Get on board with my VanLogs and keep up to date with all my progress.
Website: www.hugh-tube.com
Instagram: hughtubevlog
Facebook: hughtubevlog
Watched this with my dad who started as an electrician at 16, he's over 50 now and says it's all good. That crimping kit gave me nightmares about when i used to work with him as an apprentice :P
Cheers Jack, glad to get an all clear from a experienced sparky. The crimping kit has been giving me nightmares at times haha
😂 😂 Yeah because you wire ground up with brown.
Thankyou. A very good presentation, explaning clearly what you've done, why and how. You clearly you know where to "splash-out"... some might call it "investing" wisely.
Very helpful, super informative. We’re doing our van renovation right now and this is definitely gonna help us add outlets to our baby
My 12v kit from Rayne Automotive just arrived and, as a complete novice to electrics, it's been easy to setup, and a lot fun as learning lots along the way. Some bits were unclear (like what the earth block does and where to put it) but your video has cleared lots up. Just seeing the lights light up for the first time earlier felt so good. Cheers!
just make sure everything is fused where needed and grounded
Very neat and tidy setup. The more I watch these videos the more I want to push forward on my desire. I've always been interested in doing this and it suits my life
Thanks 4 making it simple!! U Rocked!
Great video dude, very informative. Im just researching other simpler methods of charging systems for a friend's build and this has helped me out a lot. Cheers.
I have now installed a CTEK in my Boxer van (same as Ducato) - Works really well. The leisure batteries (2x AGM 110Ah) are kept topped up by the solar panels. The CTEK also diverts solar to the start battery to keep that charged. I connected the (thin) black wire to negative/earth and that changes the charge profile to suit the requirements of AGMs. I've yet to determine whether I have a smart alternator (2015 Peugeot Boxer) and need to do something with the thin red wire which apparently needs to connect to the ignition circuit though the instructions are not very clear on this and how to do it. Excellent unit and has proper Mppt solar charge control as well as multi-stage DC to DC charging - So far very impressed
you need a piggyback fuse holder and choose the right size for a fuse you can use but all sounds great so far!
Helped me out a bunch. Thank you.
Probably the easiest explained video ive seen out there on electricity! Just moved out of my house and am starting my van. Videos like this go a long way!
Thanks Jonah
This is a great simple video. I'm bookmarking it for my ubber stealth van build
Dude! Struggling with my Split charger and Solar setup and thinking "there must be a device that manages both" Google failed me, then came across this video with such a great explaination of the CTEK. Ordered and problem solved. Cheers fella.
Glad I could help Gavin
This helps so much . So simple
these videos are gonna be my go to when i do my van next year. so helpful, thanks so much
No problem, glad to help!
Great video, Hugh!
Informative and thorough
I'll be sure to catch up on the series and keep watching, your newer videos certainly show progression!
Could I ask: When using the CTEK, where in the circuit would you add an additional mains hook up?
Thinking of using the same schematics & components in the not to distant future
Warmest of regards,
Edit from an hour ago:
I've just found the answer to my previous query- CTEK vs a standard alternator- both are viable together for anyone referencing!
Love the video, love your channel! We're working on converting our 2015 Mercedes Vito to a camper van. Since it has a smart alternator, we also chose the CTEK D250SA. But if I'm not mistaken the installation guide for the CTEK says something about attaching wires to a clamp (n°15) in the fusebox of the car. Is there a specific reason you didn't connect the little red and black wires in your video? Cheers!
I installed a D250SE yesterday and if you have en AGM you need to ground the little black wire so the charger knows which charging program it need to run. The red one goes to ignition IF you have a smart alternator in your car.
recently discovered your channel with aspirations of doing a van build in the future. great work man!! still think 'hugh tube' is one of the best channel names. awesome dude
haha cheers Owen
Agreed! So clever!
Thanks for the ideas mate, Very appreciated!
Good video - some great ideas I plan to use! Thanks
Good job. It's simple to someone that knows what they are doing. Looks complicated to me. I kinda understand it because you ran everything cleanly
That's what I wanted to achieve, hopefully it is informative enough for everyone to have a go!
Great video! Always so helpful and easy to understand. Thanks!
Small correction, the lead acid (flooded) tend to last around 10-15 years if you look after them. Or 2500-3000Cycles.
The AGM battery you’re using will only last around 3-4 years. You can’t really equalise them like a flooded cell, only thing you can do is keep them charged up. You’re AGM battery that you’re using is gonna do about 600 cycles, at a 50% DoD.
Apart from that I really enjoyed watching this video thumbs up from me. 👍🏻
Hi Kyle, I am really surprised by this. Even the manufacturers say a lot less cycles for lead acid, do you think this is so they make more sales?
Evening Hugh, trust you're well. As an electrical engineer, i work with batteries and off grid systems often. I have my own system that ironically uses the exact same battery as you're camper is using. I have 6 of them in parallel however. AGM (Advanced glass matting) is a very similar technology as the older Flooded lead acid battery. The difference being, The flooded battery type (the older one) tends to have thicker lead plates so they can be discharged a lot further (50% MAX or you will damage the cell) But the main advantage with a flooded cell is that you can refill the distilled water as you can open the battery. AGM batteries are sealed and cant be opened, thus meaning eventually the battery will simply dry out (and go open circuit) or the battery will sulphate. What is sulphation? This is when sulphur crystals form on the negative battery plate and grow towards the positive plate eventually causing a short circuit thus ending the life of the battery. (That process usually takes about 3-5Years in a AGM cell depending how well you treat it) HOWEVER a flooded cell can be refilled so it cant dry out (unless you forget to refill it) and when the plates sulphate (takes about 3 months) you equalise the battery. This being a controlled over charging to break down the sulphur crystals that have formed you then simply add more distilled water to absorb the sulphation and away you go. A good quality Rolls or Trojan battery will easily last you 20 Years if you follow the maintenance plan. Usually a well maintained flooded lead acid battery will only fail when the lead plates themselves are broken down by the Acid its self. I saw this occur with my grandfathers 18Year old marine battery. Simply put the Flooded cell will last a lot longer than an AGM battery if its maintained however in you're situation it would likely not be practical to use a flooded cell as it requires monthly watering and extensive knowledge on how to manage the battery to get the most life out it. Flooded cells are a lot cheaper than AGM's but AGM's require no maintenance and are unlikely to freeze in cold conditions like a flooded cell. Even with all this knowledge when i chose to build my off grid system for my workshop and house i chose the AGM battery simply because it requires no maintenance to maintain although i was not keen on paying the premium over the flooded cell. An agm as long as its kept at a 110% level of charge (13.1+V) will store for years and work fine in situations when you need the power. Just keep in mind AGM/Lithium are highly promoted over older technology but if you don't mind the extra maintenance and wanna keep things dirt cheap the flooded cell is best with AGM and lithium being much more expensive options. Manufactures are known to mislead people in their interest to selling the new gear over the old technology and the misfortune of the customer. Hopefully hugh, this information has been helpful if you have any questions feel free to ask. :)
Wow Kyle, cheers for the info! I will keep this in mind as I want to make my shed off grid!!!
I like how you say earthing instead of ground(: sounds right easy👍👍
yeah sorry it's a bad habit
Thank you for sharing this video, it easy to understand compare to the few video that I had watched ,but I’m new to all this and I’m try to get my head around and to get more information as much as I can before I finally try to fitting myself.
Amazing detail man.
Subbed
Great work there buddy, keep the videos coming, thanks for sharing.
Hi love your new saw and what an excellent helpful video! Many thanks.
Cheers Russell!
Dude you couldn’t explain this so much better than the last people I’ve been watching hell yeah thumbs up for sure
I know this video is a little old now, but when you were talking about grounding to the chassis and there is debate about it. There is no debate, grounding to the chassis is the correct method. Look at the main car battery, it only has one thick lead coming of the chassis to the neg term. Every other component grounds to the chassis.
Thats interesting and something that has been troubling me as this is the point I am at with my van build, I am still left asking - why though? Why do they ground electrics to the chassis?
@@chatteyj It's so that people dont get electrocuted. If the frame and body of the vehicle were not grounded, they would not have a charge, so any short could positively charge them. Your tires keep the car from grounding out, so when someone outside the car touched the door, hood, body, etc., they would become the ground and be shocked. Safety is the reason for grounding the frame. I know that remains true for running a 12 volt system, but I SERIOUSLY doubt that you should do that for any AC inverted wires.
Nice job!
My only suggestion is that you beef up the battery support and strap it down better. During travel, especially on rough roads, it could bounce and fall.
Most people mount their batteries to the van floor.
The stand should definitely be strong enough but I will look to strap it down!
I'll add another detail. When designing the camper van. Always try your best to set the loads on a low and center position (between axles). A heavy load on the overhang of the axle it's not the best option. ;-)
When I made mine sometime ago (before RUclips LOL ) water tanks and batteries where set like mentioned. You could hit a twisty road with impeccable behavior of the vehicle. Hope it helps. Cheers. ;-)
I would add a battery isolation switch between the battery and invertor?
@@christophermiles7235 Where else would you add a isolator switch? Between the solar array and the battery?
Devonian I would, my charge controller likes to have the battery connected first so if you want to disconnect your battery you might also want to disconnect the solar first? I’m no expert though
You did well picking up that beast of a battery by yourself. I’ve got a 230AH like that and it’s a struggle
Yeah it almost weighs as much as me haha
Thanks for sharing the 12 volt video,Eric from The Buckeye Campers and always remember that home is where you park it !!!!!!!
Great video, thanks for posting it. I plan to come back to it for inspiration with my van build. Keep 'em coming...have a great day.
Cheers Lee! Good luck with the conversion when you get to it!
Very interesting stuff. I would really have appreciated a diagram of the whole system, though - easier to follow.
I am going to redo this video to answer some new questions!
@@HughTube I love your advise. Please send this oldie an update on this job to do. Iv just retired and I want to try and do my van. Thank you. 🤗
You all prolly dont give a damn but does anyone know a method to log back into an Instagram account?
I somehow forgot my password. I appreciate any assistance you can give me.
@Madden Dakari instablaster ;)
@Kannon Bo i really appreciate your reply. I got to the site on google and Im waiting for the hacking stuff now.
Seems to take a while so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
I like how both Negative and Earth is the same in your specific van. Real physics conundrum
Most modern vehicles are a negative earth system. The metal structure, chassis and body, is part of the circuit.
I had an issue once with a different ground and they were 8 ohms different causing signal issues in a loran transmission application and the transmitter its self. I learned my lesson on "earthing"
Thank you, this has helped me out as I found out earlier today that I couldn't use a standard split charger on my vivaro 2016 because the newer vans have smart alternators, then I just saw this and you solved the problem for me with the CTEK :)
Great to hear, yeah the smart alternators are getting popular. I know the CTEK is a little expensive but its a great piece of kit.
We're having the same problem with our 2015 Vito that we're going to convert (smart alternator). But if I'm not mistaken the installation guide for the CTEK says something about attaching wires to a clamp (n°15) in the fusebox of the car. Is there a specific reason you didn't connect these little wires in your video? Cheers!
Thanks for the heads up on the CTEK. I've watched your vids before, but this one earned a sub. :D
I was looking for a solid way to combine solar and B2B in my Ducato that I can be confident in. I see it's sort of expensive, but it combines the functions of a split charge relay and a solar charge controller... without the fear that comes with combining 2 different charge technologies and keeping fingers crossed that one or both of those do their job and stop when the battery is fully charged.
Yeah as you said I like that it is one unit and regulates everything to deliver the best performance. Yes that means expense but I think its worth it.
Peace of mind is often worth paying extra for. I've been reading that it's also expandable for greater (battery) capacity. Seems to be popular with Australian 4X4 dudes too, if there's ever a more reputable endorsement?
The CTEK It's quite convenient (easy).
But I did the same with a couple of automotive relays (less than 3€ /each) and the charger controller that came with the solar panel kit. Meaning dirty cheap and easily repaired/upgraded/changed.
I had available in the van 12V and 230V. 12V from motor/aux. batteries and battery charger. 230V available from mains or inverter.
When engine ON charge the batteries (all), engine OFF separate starter battery from the others. When 230V available from mains disconnect the aux. batteries and activate a battery charger to keep the batteries charged up, at the same time it cut the solar...
The inverter 12V to 230V was manually controlled (on/off button).
Worked perfectly for cheap. ;-)
Thanks crpth1. Electrics are not my strongest point and solar isn't something I even considered before the van. My research so far has been finding out how a solar charge controller copes with the leisure batteries being charged from a source other than the solar it is putting into them. The best responses I've seen on forums are that the charge controller *should* see the batteries voltage increase and stop charging.... which is nice, but as I'll be travelling and living in the van, a *should* isn't too reassuring.
I've read your post a few times and I think I see how the relays switch with the ignition (switched by feeds off the fusebox, I'm guessing). I will investigate further. Thanks again. :)
So does the Ctek eliminate the need for a separate solar charge controller?
thanks for making it simple
Brilliant, love your videos, watched quite a few now several times, they've been so helpful. Question if I may, what size cable do I need to buy to go from starter battery to the CTEK?
Very Interesting thanks!
Good tidy job you done there.well done.
Solar power can double the life of the battery. During the day power mostly comes from the panel and prevents battery cycling.
Did not know this! Thanks
Cable ratings are in free air. When used in trunking or bunched. You derate them. As cables get warm. Cables used in engine compartments need to be oil and fuel resistant. Please look on cable manufacturers data sheet for more info. George
Thanks again George!
Wow.Great video. People can follow that to easily install their own system. I myself make things too complicated. Lol. Thanks
Cheers Tom
Working in motortrade 47 years I hate messy electrics.
A word of advice, put a fuse on your inverter to protect your battery against short circuit under fault conditions.
Also be careful of Ctek, they don't always honor their warranty, that is my experiance.
Hi Ian, I revisited this in one of my latest vids and thanks for letting me know about CTEK. Will keep this in mind
HughTube I would suggest putting a crowbar circuit between your ctek and solar panel with fuses on either side of the crowbar circut.
The solar panel I borrowed and tried to use on my Ctek went faulty and blew my Ctek due to over voltage and the local agents refused to replace it and said I had short circuited the unit.
Love the videos, really helpful! This is probably a daft question to someone who knows but I'd rather be safe then sorry... I have a 2016 vivaro and have picked up the ctek dc - dc charging setup to charge a 120ah leisure battery. The cable that has been sent with the ctek is only 70amp or 10mm is this going to be enough to charge the battery and cope with the amount of amps produced by the alternator?
Also do you use any sort of isolater in your set ups?
Never feel daft about asking questions! Yes that cable is more than adequate! The CTEK input for the alternator should be fused at 30a so 70a cable is great. I had a isolator switch between the battery positive and the whole system
BRILLIANT MATE
You are BRILLIANT! I am going to be living in an ambulance soon and needed the power to make coffee, fan, etc. It already has a separate battery, so I guess I can just buy the inverter and control panel, right?
Providing the separate battery is a leisure battery and is getting charged then you should be ok. make sure to add a fuse between the battery and inverter (I didn't show this in the video) but check out my latest setup
Very nice review and job 👍
Very nice but, more complicated than necessary for all but a few perfectionists.
Really clear and helpful video mate. Could you possibly explain how the 12v system links in with the 240v hook up. I presume it's another switching unit but not 100% sure? Cheers.
Hi John, my system doesn't have a 240V hookup yet as I just don't need it. I get that I can use it to charge my battery while also having a 240v plug but I still don't have a use for either currently
Great video, thanks! One question. I just bought an inverter for my wooden shed and beside positive and negative, it has an earthing/grounding connection. What/where should I connect it to?
If you have bought it for a shed you could get grounding rod and connect to that but I would consult with a qualified electrician
nice one man
earthing point; it's a part of the circuit! it connects starter battery -VE to the leisure battery -VE etc.
Just saves a bunch of cabling more than anything, you COULD connect everything without using the chassis as the circuit but not necessary. Te earthing thing i believe is ore common practice for earthing component casings and such, but it's rarely done. Your inverter probably has a grounding terminal, mine did.
also, seconded on the good heads-up on the CTEK working with solar, will have to look that one up
Does it not mean you could get a shock if you were to touch the vehicle chassis though as it has an electrical current now running through it?
Love your videos, really simple to follow and as a complete novice who is converting a T5 they've helped a lot. l am a little confused on one thing though. Is you're invertor wired into the 240V supply and charging your leisure battery or not? If not, can you do this?
No mine did not have hook up but this can be easily added. You can even get 'hook up kits' for campers
Cracking job buddy.
Will it charge from me driving my van because ive wired it up to the van battery? Thanks
Hello. This is a great video. A lot of installs get so complicated as though its a competition or something. I want to keep it simple so your example is perfect. Thanks.
I have seen other installs and wiring diagrams for the CTEK D250SA which include the swtiched live to the ignition and so I wonder if you could give some more info on why you said this wasnt needed on your install please. It must serve a purpose if the manufacturer has included this and it is shown on their wiring diagrams, no?
Hi David, I must admit this is an older video. When starting the van I still noticed power coming from the starter battery/alternator without those cables hooked up but if you can connect them I would recommend it.
Thanks👍 shouldn’t ,you have a fuse and isolator switch from the battery to the inverter great video 👍
Nice clean work
Nice work, a good ,simple system 😎
Thanks Stephen!
Love the simplicity of the setup, I might do similar ... but few questions (1) it's not really a 12V system with an inverter ? yes ? no ? (2) Do you think that battery will handle a large draw item, like a microwave, through the inverter. ?
It is still a 12v system but the inverter obviously adds a new dimension. 95% of the time when I have been in my van I have only used the 12v system. Occasionally I will switch on the inverter to power up my laptop or drone. But the base power comes from a 12v battery. Microwaves use a huge amount of power and I personally would never have one in a van, remember that a battery does have a certain amount of life cycles and using stuff like a microwave regularly will mean your also swapping your battery regularly.
First rule of off-grid power: Never heat anything with electricity. Not toast, not food, not water.
nice instlation, doing the same tomorrow....for agm batterys conect that black thin cable to the chasis, and depending on your alternator the red cable to the ignition..
Great video. First time I've watched your channel.
The link for the Ctek doesn't seem to work though. See them on ebay for £230. Are they any cheaper on roadpro?
They may be, always good to have a look around
Very neat
You are awesome. Thanks mate.
I'm trying to understand the earthing and wondered have you just watched the control panel and inverter or has the battery been unearthed as well as on your video there were a few cables at your earthing point?
good video, is there anything stopping my buying the ctek and battery and running everything 12v this summer then adding solar and inverter later? also at 4:40 you mention smart alternators, what do you mean? is the ctek suitable to run straight off the battery in the cab in a sprinter? thanks in advance
Yeah you can add inverter and solar later! The ctek connects directly to the van starter battery but some vans built after a certain point have smart alternators which means you will have to connect the smart alternator wires up according to the manual
Hi. I have a couple of questions about the ctek. 1) Does it eliminate the need for a mppt controller? And 2) is it effected by a 240v charger connected to the battery? Thanks.
1) Yes you don't need a solar charger in between the panels and the ctek. 2) I am not sure to be honest
Could you let me know the fuse box what type is it has I have just bought everything for my daughter t5 it's coming this week just need the fuse box you used like the video thanks ken
Its a 12v distribution board
With AGM you can only use Half the AH in order not to kill the battery. With lithium(Lifepo) you can use 90%. Plus it takes less power to charge a Lifepo and they last a very long time. Lithium make sense.
Any advice about cheaper alternatives to the ctek? I want to charge my second battery from 3 sources: a solar panel(I already have a solar charge controller), the car battery when it has enough voltage, and a 240v charger for when i have access to the grid.
You can break everything down into its original pieces. You have the solar charger so look into a dc to dc charger and a 240v to 12v transformer. remember to fuse all the inputs (the fuse size will depend on load and cable length)
Well in!
Wondering if 'smart' (the Edecoa) invertor & (also the CTEK shown here) charger would operate correctly/safely with a non smart alternator?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated
Great video pushing ctek! You didn't do enough though. It's missed by people that alternator won't charge agm to max. The ctek boosts and controls to make this happen. And you get a mppt solar controller! Great system,looks great!
Hey Len, I do love the system, sorry I didn't promote it more
HughTube don't be sorry! Few vanners seem to find ctek . Again great video!!
If you run the deep cycle battery dead, will your van battery also die and leave you stranded? Are the loads pulling from both batteries? Or, does the CTEK prevent this? If so, I definitely want one for my build! Thanks.
Kendrick Jimenez RUclips vids everywhere. Check out ctek.com. yes isolates second battery. Lot of tech in this box
That is awesome, thank you!
Hugh I just purchased this same Ctek for my van. I’m confused as to what to do with the little black and red wires coming out the side. I noticed you didn’t connect them to anything so did you leave them that way? Or know what they’re for?
Depending on your battery type it needs to go to the +ve or -ve terminal. I have the old Ctek but now have a van with a smart alternator
ive just bought CTEK D250sa and Smartpass, its my understanding that the little red cable is piggy backed into the ignition fuse so that the system recognises the slightly higher voltage required by smart alternators or it wont work properly .
Hi Hugh. I was just wondering how your Edecoa inverter has been? Im looking for an inverter right now but have seen mixed reviews about Edecoa. Would appreciate some advice. Cheers.
Mine has worked fine! no issues but I guess it's like a lot of products out there some have mixed reviews
hi.What if i have a split relay on it? should i just put my solar panel controller straight to the battery?
Good stuff! Well done.
Hi I’m interested in how you done the piggy back fuse and what fuse in the box you connected it to
Thanks
Hi Hugh .
I got the same inverter with a remote start.
It's not really working for me at the moment. It has an alarm with green flashlight light, going by the manual it's the cable size or the mos-fet .; some sort of internal stuff.
Did u have any issue with yours . .
I am thinking of upgrading my cables that came with it
Hope that helps
Handy video thanks for that! What are the cable tidies you used? I was going to have full wrap around but those look even better.
Hi there in the video you mention smart alternators does this mean you have is changed your alternator in your van or can you run a standard alternator with this kit.
You can run standard alternators for sure, you just don't connect up the two smaller wires that regulate the smart alternator function
good video where do I get this check for my transit custom
Nice work. Super easy for you. You are good at that stuff. I need to watch this 10 more times
haha dont worry it all takes practice, you will get it in no time!
Can I ask.. I will be installing a second battery smart isolatior kit etc. They recomend inline 30amp fuses, shall I use manual circuit breakers, instead of the fuses? Thanks
Well it is up to you. Circuit breakers are good as if they blow you can check for issues and then flick back on without replacing a fuse but I don't know what the price difference is.
Great videos. A quick question hopefully, how you make up your wire looms with the spiral tape? And any particular reason to use separate wires in pairs taped up vs twin thin walled cable? Cheers
Hi Paul, you could definitely use twin walled cable. The paired cables are coloured so they can be distinguished from each other for each application.
@@HughTube Cheers Hugh. And how did you create the actual spiral loom with the tape? I just cannot find any vids on YT that show how to do it. It just looks so neat.
Hello mate - just came across this video and think it’s absolutely brilliant!!
Just wanted to ask what cable did you run from the car’s battery/starter to the boot? I have played the video several times but can’t make out what type of cable you used.
Thank you
Fantastic video! Can you run a refrigerator off that system? Good luck in your future endeavors!
Yes and I am. I have a 42l 12v compressor fridge, they use very little energy when up and running
Hi Hugh, I'm using this set up in my transit custom conversion, apart from using a Lead Acid instead of AGM. I seem to be getting a charging rate from the CTEK of around 14.9v, does this seem a little too high or okay for this set up? Thanks for all the amazing videos!
hmm that seems high the max charge your battery should be reaching is 14.2V
@@HughTube Thanks a lot, luckily it seemed to sort itself out and working great now!
Hi, I am setting my electrics up right now.. I have 2 lead acid batteries and the ctek but I’ve been told by people that it doesn’t support lead acid batteries and also it doesn’t mention in the manual that it does/doesn’t. How have you fitted the (smart alternator black cable) for this? Also how has it been working for you? Have you had any issues?
Thanks
good work
This is great.. My van is small and I really don't want to sleep near a led acid battery. I just need a stable 12v source during heavy sunlight... I've been using my starter battery (70AH, 120RC 12v) and a 1200 Watt invertor under the hood and I get away with a lot so long as I run the car for 30+ minutes a day .. including running my laptop, a .5 amp 9inch USB fan during the day, 12v fan over night at 1amp setting and even cooking with 800Watt hot plate (so long as car is running while I cook).
I've been thinking about getting a 200 Watt 18v 6amp solar panel, but I don't want to install second battery. My van is a 2018 Ram Promaster City with a 160Amp alternator, I am wondering if I can upgrade my battery to a dual purpose 100AH, 200RC 12 volt battery and charge it from the solar panel through a 20amp charge controller, but I have many questions/concerrns..
For one, a dual purpose battery is a deep cycle with cranking amps, if it fits will my new van will my alternator be okay with this? How about the computer and components?
How complicated is charging an in-use primary starter battery from solar? do I need to isolate things to protect the cars normal charging system and components?
Thanks!
My best advice at this point is to contact a qualified electrician. I haven't played around with running appliances off the starter battery and I wouldn't want to provide a poorly informed answer sorry
What was the cost for all that wiring job you done. I mean parts? Thank you
Cool vid man very easy to understand 👍
Thanks John
What made you got with those batteries? I've done a ton of research for my build and its difficult picking out the best brands for each of the components. A lot of people have recommended the CTEK for example. Would be great to hear how you settled on a decision for each other the components. Thanks, Nate.
Hi Nate, I chose the CTEK for system simplicity. I chose that battery not really for the brand (they seem to be good quality but had never heard of them before) I chose AGM batteries as they are good with vibration and being sat at weird angles.
@@HughTube People are buying Lithium Batteries and there are so many on eBay lower than they are rated yes stick with AGM
Hi do you have to have a consumer unit in a camper/catering van if you are using leisure batteries?
Hi Ricky, I don't personally have one as I don't have a 240v hook up but many vans do and especially catering vans.
Thanks for sharing. I would caution against having an AC outlet on a horizontal orientation - too easy to short. Also, how did you size the wire coming from your alternator? Looks a bit small...
I found the amp amount coming into the CTEK from starter and used cable just above that amp rating and fused it. Never had a problem and never found the cable getting hot
quick question, when the ctek unit is on & car is running, what colour lights appear on the unit? my setup hasn't got solar running. just interested as orange in the book says check wiring.
Sorry just to clarify, you have a CTEK between your starter battery and leisure battery so that the alternator charges the leisure battery. Plus you don't have solar but when you start your car/van there is an orange light? Which light is orange?