Camper Van 12V/48V Electrical System Design Advice?

[FoxMeister88]

Building my new camper van and trying to figure out the electrical design choices and if it makes sense. I already own most of the equipment with the exception of a switch and some wiring. I'm using equipment I already had from a previous build, hence the12V/48V zones. Any advice or recommendations? Thanks in advance!

 

[12VoltInstalls]

You might be using the 48V AIO because you have it.
Just a thought: you have a 12V inverter. You also have the All In One that of course has an inverter. Do you plan on actually using the 25A 120VAC?
Because you could easily lose a lot of weight and burn 12V at 3000W effectively. Though ideally 2000- 2500W is about the practical limit on 12VDC-120VAC, 3000W is doable on 12V. Less complexity, less cost, same good coffee…

Just seems in a mobile situation that less weight, less complexity, would be preferred.

 

[FoxMeister88]

Oh yeah I should've mentioned that. The MPP solar will power a 14K BTU AC from the 48V 100AH EG4 Battery. The inverter on the 12V 100AH battery side is a 1000 watt inverter just used to charge the 48V side when I'm on the road. Honestly I only added the 12V side so I could charge from the alternator but the 12V side would not be able to power the AC (Because of inverter and older 12V battery capacity) so this seemed like a good compromise. Also, this is a weekend rig when it comes to camping with the exception of the week vacation here and there so I'll be able to charge the system from the alternator while commuting during the week - about 1.5 hours of daily driving on HWY.

I do agree with you though, If I got the chance to do it all over again 12V is definitely the way to go. Seems like I found a way to make it as complex and inefficient as possible lol.

 

[borednerds]

Which EG4 battery do you have? If server rack, have you taken the top off? The cells are relatively easy to reconfigure to 12v. Admittedly not as easy as other brands, but still not impossible. This could be a solution to simplify your design.

I was in a similar place a few months ago. The EG4 AIO needs >120v in from solar to charge and parasitic draw was atrocious, like 1500w/day. I wound up selling my EG4 battery and AIO for 1300. I only regret selling the battery. For the price, I should have kept it and reconfigured the cells for 12v.

So, for ~$100 you can get a nice 200a bms and make that EG4 a 12v 400ah battery. (Maybe I got lucky selling my AIO, but maybe you would too.) This seems like it could greatly simplify your system!

 

[Firstascent]

Previously I did a 12v setup in my fifth wheel but am now planning out a van build. I really wanted to try something different and do a 48v setup this time… partially just because

I had most of it planned out but ultimately decided to do a 24v setup solely because I plan to only have maybe two 200w panels, and since those are smaller it would be difficult to charge a 48v bank at lower voltages.

So just something to keep in mind depending on what your solar array will be like.