I’m wanting to fit an inverter and possibly second battery, but space seems to be an issue, mainly because of the water connections. Has anyone come up with anything clever to work around this?
Electrical Space issues
- Thread starter fangios
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I’m wanting to fit an inverter and possibly second battery, but space seems to be an issue, mainly because of the water connections. Has anyone come up with anything clever to work around this?
I don't like power points and certainly not with an invertor in a spot where water connections are, fittings leaking is not uncommon and I have come across leaks which have shorted out things because poor thought in design of water and power sources ......................... I would be boxing in the wet area to isolate it from the 240 and 12v.............. not common but only needs to happen once usually no second chance... of course others have said they have wet and 240 together and nothing has happened BUT .............. been shot at, never hit but that doesn't mean next time will be the same .........
You could refit the mains connection to under the van, a bracket to hold the plug on the side of van like many have done, that would remove it out of the way, (one potential HP leak removed and they are the main culprit) then for the tank fillers and breathers get new pipe so you can position the pipe so they have large curvy bends over the wheel arch, no kinks then go thru the floor, might allow for another battery box, though with a AGM battery if you insulate the terminals properly sit it in a tray with the breather venting to outside and strapped down you won't need the extra room a box will take up .... this can apply to the original as well..... you do not want a wet cell calcium type battery inside the van at all............ only AGM, GEL or Lithium.... fitting the invertor would depend on how much room you have left...... I owuld also fit a vent so the invertor can dissipate some of the heat it makes..
I wouldn't use 90deg fittings on the water lines as they will just restrict filling the tanks you don't want any kinks happening at all ...
Just a roughy pic...
You could refit the mains connection to under the van, a bracket to hold the plug on the side of van like many have done, that would remove it out of the way, (one potential HP leak removed and they are the main culprit) then for the tank fillers and breathers get new pipe so you can position the pipe so they have large curvy bends over the wheel arch, no kinks then go thru the floor, might allow for another battery box, though with a AGM battery if you insulate the terminals properly sit it in a tray with the breather venting to outside and strapped down you won't need the extra room a box will take up .... this can apply to the original as well..... you do not want a wet cell calcium type battery inside the van at all............ only AGM, GEL or Lithium.... fitting the invertor would depend on how much room you have left...... I owuld also fit a vent so the invertor can dissipate some of the heat it makes..
I wouldn't use 90deg fittings on the water lines as they will just restrict filling the tanks you don't want any kinks happening at all ...
Just a roughy pic...
Thanks for your ideas Drover! I totally agree, the combination of water and power is not good. Aside from that issue, with inverters it is preferable to mount them as close to the battery as possible due to the high current draw, so I'm not sure I have any choice, apart from exploring whether there is any room under the fridge where the Setec is, but not too sure how to even get in there. I have a Kings 1500/2000 w inverter, its physically quite large.
I don't know why Jayco just dont make these water fittings under the van in the first place, as you say a potential spot for an internal water leak which could totally flood the van. Maybe as a start I will look at relocating the mains connection
I don't know why Jayco just dont make these water fittings under the van in the first place, as you say a potential spot for an internal water leak which could totally flood the van. Maybe as a start I will look at relocating the mains connection
That pic looks the same as my 14.44-4. I'm getting an inverter installed on Thursday under the opposite dinette seat. Plenty of room there and cable length is still reasonably short.
I'm not bothered by the water pipes. One is just a fill point, one is just a breather. Only the black one is under pressure when mains is connected and easy enough to keep monitored.
I had a long discussion with the supplier of the inverter and for what I plan using the inverter for, a single battery is fine.
I'm not bothered by the water pipes. One is just a fill point, one is just a breather. Only the black one is under pressure when mains is connected and easy enough to keep monitored.
I had a long discussion with the supplier of the inverter and for what I plan using the inverter for, a single battery is fine.
The mains water line is under pressure all the time even when using your pump it will pressurize as far as the NRV, with any of them when you realize there's a leak its already too late not to mention the housing they live can leak at some point.............
You could always sacrifice a bit of draw space or just move the whole shebang elsewhere, in my 14.44 the battery was at the bottom of a wardrobe, no room for another battery and if you wanted to get at it, damn near impossible so I just moved the whole lot to under the dining seat, never had a big invertor back then but it might have squeezed in.
Pity they didn't put the water run over the wheel arch, they have to bring the pipes inboard so they clear the chassis rail I moved my water pump to under the floor which allowed me to cut back on numerous plumbing in a cupboard along with about 13 possible leak joints moved outside, when I changed my mains inlet I just ran it under the chassis rail to side of van where I fitted a bracket for it, a much firmer fitting all round.....
The invertor intstalation instructions should give their ideal cable run length, further you go the larger the cable size, I think mine said 700mm actually for the cable that came with it but not a drama as mine sits next to the batteries the thing is you might be better off putting it outside the battery space, that will enable you to actually get at it to switch on/off easily and quickly, you don't want to leave them on all the time as they will drain your battery, main has a wired remote which allows me to have it in the power station in boot and turn it on from inside van......... mine is just for charging laptop, drill batteries etc ......
You could always sacrifice a bit of draw space or just move the whole shebang elsewhere, in my 14.44 the battery was at the bottom of a wardrobe, no room for another battery and if you wanted to get at it, damn near impossible so I just moved the whole lot to under the dining seat, never had a big invertor back then but it might have squeezed in.
Pity they didn't put the water run over the wheel arch, they have to bring the pipes inboard so they clear the chassis rail I moved my water pump to under the floor which allowed me to cut back on numerous plumbing in a cupboard along with about 13 possible leak joints moved outside, when I changed my mains inlet I just ran it under the chassis rail to side of van where I fitted a bracket for it, a much firmer fitting all round.....
The invertor intstalation instructions should give their ideal cable run length, further you go the larger the cable size, I think mine said 700mm actually for the cable that came with it but not a drama as mine sits next to the batteries the thing is you might be better off putting it outside the battery space, that will enable you to actually get at it to switch on/off easily and quickly, you don't want to leave them on all the time as they will drain your battery, main has a wired remote which allows me to have it in the power station in boot and turn it on from inside van......... mine is just for charging laptop, drill batteries etc ......
Agree with you on that Drover, I put a NRV on the main line just after it goes through the floor and also one on the outlet of the water pump too. We are very rarely connected to mains so not concerned to move the connection point from the water filler door.
It's also worth gluing or using a hose clamp on the breather hoses for the tanks too, as they are just pushed over the barb from factory
It's also worth gluing or using a hose clamp on the breather hoses for the tanks too, as they are just pushed over the barb from factory
It pays to always check, after Big Mal got hail repairs done I thankfully went over every thing, found they had connected batteries back up wrong but I had kept the fuses with me so no smoke and light show, they also didn't reconnect the tank fill hoses inside so I could have pumped at least 50 lts inside before I noticed it coming out the door............ About the only time we plug into mains power is 2 weeks before we head off when I check all the 240v gear so fridge gets fired up, AC, washing machine gets a clean cycle done and sockets are tested, then 3 days before the fridge gets fired up, it may not get on 240v again till just before the next trip, the 12v system gets tested at the same time as I don't want to be caught a day or so before departure ..................
and the most forgotten item that cause lots of problems is wheel nuts, always check them ....
and the most forgotten item that cause lots of problems is wheel nuts, always check them ....
