Here's my truck camper setup

[Zwy]

Whats free time. Ever since I retired I haven't found any.

I have a few hours every evening that I work on my projects. It takes many months to finish a project. I have many more projects to finish before I check out for good. I figure I'll never check out because I won't have all the projects done I have planned.

 

[Zil]

ANL quality fuse can have interrupt on lower voltages 12V, of 6ooo A. But there are many with much lower interrupt capacity. Buy quality.
In testing at 12V, I did not see ANL arc through but did see some explode with flying stuff.

 

[Zwy]

Added a Giandel 2400W inverter in the back seat of the truck and an auxiliary 250A alternator to bring total alternator capacity to 355A. . Used a 10AWG RV cord run along the frame to the rear bumper and have a 30A RV receptacle mounted to the rear bumper. A short cord to go between the receptacle and the RV plug on the aluminum box and I can charge off the truck using the alternator. I can easily go 1500W but charge at 750W which is 30A on the 24V battery.

 

[Zil]

Have you upgraded the main battery fuse to a Class-T ? Those ANL fuses are not recommended for LiPoFe battery.

 

[Zwy]

Have you upgraded the main battery fuse to a Class-T ? Those ANL fuses are not recommended for LiPoFe battery.

Not yet, remember this is 24V system, not 48V. I haven't had any time to use the camper since last August. Battery is turned off when it sits.

I'll get around to it when I get time to use the camper, was busy this past winter working on my house system, then once it was all installed, I had the flickering light problem and spent 2 months of my free time looking for a cause, sending EG4 6500EX's back, installing replacements only to have to send those back.

I've been basically pulling 80+ hour weeks since early April working in my business, not much free time, camper sits. Today, I'm taking it a little easy, I'm just beat. Need R & R.

 

[Supervstech]

Not yet, remember this is 24V system, not 48V. I haven't had any time to use the camper since last August. Battery is turned off when it sits.

I'll get around to it when I get time to use the camper, was busy this past winter working on my house system, then once it was all installed, I had the flickering light problem and spent 2 months of my free time looking for a cause, sending EG4 6500EX's back, installing replacements only to have to send those back.

I've been basically pulling 80+ hour weeks since early April working in my business, not much free time, camper sits. Today, I'm taking it a little easy, I'm just beat. Need R & R.

It isn’t the voltage that necessitates the need for classT, it is he battery resistance in failure mode.
LFP can discharge MASSIVE amperage in a short circuit. Enough to liquify copper instantly, so you need the fast acting and the arc suppression of the class T. Anl wont react fast enough, and will not extinguish an arc…

 

[Zwy]

Don't get me wrong, the Class T is superior to the ANL fuse for this application. But I disagree with some of the points you mention. This is for short discussion only and not intended to derail the thread.

It isn’t the voltage that necessitates the need for classT, it is he battery resistance in failure mode.

I disagree, voltage will play a part with arc suppression. It's the reason companies like Blue Sea rate an ANL to 32V and a Class T to 160V.

LFP can discharge MASSIVE amperage in a short circuit.

It can due to low battery internal resistance, I don't disagree.

Enough to liquify copper instantly

That is how a fuse works.

, so you need the fast acting and the arc suppression of the class T. Anl wont react fast enough, and will not extinguish an arc…

I've read the threads in the past, well aware the arc suppression is quicker with the Class T.

We can go to Blue Sea and find the following information from this page concerning overload vs short circuit protection. Also noted that the ANL can have a much higher Blow Point % at lower amperages than higher amperages as shown in the chart when circuit heating is present (not short circuit). This needs to be taken into account when determining fuse size for a circuit.

The way in which circuit protection is chosen depends on whether the protection is for a short circuit¹, or for an overload².

Short Circuit Protection

If a wire feeds a predetermined load that will not change, the main concern is short circuit protection. Circuit wire is sized so that it safely carries the normal current loads for the application it serves. If there is a short, the high current in the circuit lasts for a short period of time before the fuse blows, and therefore generally does not damage the wire. Precise sizing of short circuit protection is not critical. A fuse or circuit breaker rated at an amperage value equal to the wire rating, or even up to 150% of the wire rating, is sufficient because the over-current condition lasts only a short time³. SEA, Maxi, ATO ,AGC, and ANL fuses are good choices for short circuit protection.

Overload Protection

However, if a load can increase into a sustained overload condition, approximately 110-150% of the wire rating, the wires and the protective device in the circuit may heat up. This overload condition might occur with motor loads, wiring to receptacles for plug-in appliances, or panel feeders where more than an intended number of loads can be turned on simultaneously. Selecting a fuse or circuit breaker for overload protection is more complex than choosing one for short circuit protection.

---

1. A short circuit is an overload condition in which current flows from the source and returns without circulating through the intended load. Short circuits can be caused by mis-connection or by insulation failure. They can result in extremely high currents, limited only by the source capacity and resistance of the wiring.
2. Operation of equipment in excess of normal, full-load rating, or of a conductor in excess of rated ampacity that, when it persists for a sufficient length of time, would cause damage or dangerous overheating. (source: National Electrical Code Handbook, 2002)
3. ABYC 11.12.1.4. Non-motor Loads - The rating of overcurrent protection devices used to protect a load other than a DC motor shall not exceed 150 percent of the ampacity of its supply conductor. (See Table IV.)

 

[Zwy]

Replaced the ANL fuse this spring when I needed a ANL fuse holder for the 400A fuse on the golf cart build. Had the T fuse and holder laying around for awhile. Roof air will soon be off and mini split is in the process of being installed. 2 more panels will be installed on the tilting frame after roof air removal. System has worked trouble free, we went almost 3 weeks in August/September, even ran the roof air for 4.5 hours at The Wall in SD. Still had 45% battery left.

 

[JRH]

First photo is general view of components. Positive and negative busbars. 200a breaker goes to inverter, ANL fuse to fuse panel and 40a breaker on far left is for the buck converter. As this is a 24v system, I was able to use lighter cable as it was quite tight with tight bends in various places. I would never have been able to make the bends if I went with a 12v system. View attachment 67642

Second photo is the Daly BMS and the 8 cell 24v battery. View attachment 67649

Third photo is the shunt on the negative cable from battery, and ANL fuse on the positive cable. The small white wires are for the heater blanket under the battery which I have not installed the thermostat yet.View attachment 67650

4th photo shows PV cables and battery cables running thru the rear wall and to the Growatt All In One. Running PV cable was accomplished by removing refrigerator and down thru that cavity (refrigerator is above this cabinet) from the refrigerator vent. This cabinet was insulated on sides and back to ensure in cold weather the battery temp was maintained. View attachment 67652

5th photo shows main battery switch, after the ANL fuse and the inverter precharge button. The 50 ohm resistor is mounted inside above the door opening and pulls it's power from the fuse panel shown in first photo.View attachment 67658

6th photo is shunt display and screen for BMS. These were installed when refrigerator was out. The red led switch is for switching on the Growatt inverter remotely. The white switch was a factory installed switch for outside lighting.View attachment 67659

On the opposite wall is the 12v fuse panel shown in photo 7. View attachment 67660 I found a nice access door on Amazon the just fit between the furnace and the wall in the left. The brown switch above the fuse panel is to switch off the factory AC to DC converter. I left the converter in place and use it only for running the power jacks. The 12v fuse panel required a buck converter and cable run from the 40a breaker shown in photo 1. This required running down the back wall, under the floor and thru the floor joists, then up under the false floor for the shower and thru a wall to the original power center. It was quite the effort.

Photo 8 shows the breaker for the fuse panel and corner of the buck converter. I just bent a busbar to from the buck converter 12v output to the breaker input. View attachment 67663

Photo 9 shows the box attached to the rear of the camper. View attachment 67664

This photo was taken while I was installing it. Photo 10 is a closeup of the bottom of the box. View attachment 67666

RV detachable cord port on the left, ventilation fan in the middle. On the right is a switch to turn off the PV array. The Growatt has the annoying beep when the PV array doesn't put out sufficient wattage and will keep cycling on/off the charge controller/All in One which will drain the battery. I used a pvc LB to make the corner for the cables and wires that were shown in photo 4. I actually used the plate for an electrical mast reversed and screwed a pvc fitting into it with pipe dope to make the connection to the LB. The square box was used to cover the hole where an outlet was from the factory that stuck thru the wall in the way of the battery. It was the only way I could find a way to cover the hole and install a 120v outlet right above it. The rear 120v outlet is handy for charging our ebikes.

I will continue the photos in the next part of this thread.

Pretty damn slick lookin setup.. big wire is very difficult to work in a close area ..I went through the same thing… ouch…..
J.

 

[Dave in AZ]

Replaced the ANL fuse this spring when I needed a ANL fuse holder for the 400A fuse on the golf cart build. Had the T fuse and holder laying around for awhile. Roof air will soon be off and mini split is in the process of being installed. 2 more panels will be installed on the tilting frame after roof air removal. System has worked trouble free, we went almost 3 weeks in August/September, even ran the roof air for 4.5 hours at The Wall in SD. Still had 45% battery left.

Nice setup, thanks for the writeup. Can you talk about your panel tilt mechanism? Did you build that, or where did you get it? In thousands of mobile threads, I have yet to read about a mobile panel tilt source. Thanks!

 

[Zwy]

Nice setup, thanks for the writeup. Can you talk about your panel tilt mechanism? Did you build that, or where did you get it? In thousands of mobile threads, I have yet to read about a mobile panel tilt source. Thanks!

Built it. No one made what I needed for my application and I can fabricate what I needed so why not.

There was a company making powered tilt mounts and installing them. Here is a link to their website, not cheap: https://www.solarvector.net/

I'll do a video about the tilting mount sometime after I get the roof air off and the extra panels installed.