When we initially got our RV, it came with a mostly dead battery that could barely support a light on for 20 minutes. Our first-time camping experience through Harvest host with no hookups was a bit cold, and we knew that if we were to continue working on the road, we would need at least 2 days’ worth of computer runtime before having to use a generator. We opted not to install solar panels at the beginning to get a sense of if we need them or if we can skip them for now. We might be adding them a little down the road.
The requirements
We decided to set some reasonable expectations, mostly going on the basis that we want to spend 2 days off-grid while still working. We are not expecting to run our AC or fridge on electricity while out and about, but we did have the following requirements:
- Be able to run a 27 inch iMac for 2 days
- Be connected to mobile internet
- Run the water pump as needed
- Run furnace fan as needed
- Have lights going
Part List
- Victron Multiplus 3000VA 12Volt Inverter/Charger
- 2x 300AH 12V Ampertime batteries connected in parallel
- Victron BMV-712 battery monitor
- 400Amp fuse
- Battery disconnect
- A lot of cables, screws, lugs, and others
The plan
We are quite confident that most people are much more prepared and organized. A lot of research on Youtube helped us to figure out what we need to do. We only had a limited experience with electrical installations, so it was a bit of a learning curve. We started with the wiring diagram (hand-drawn in a swift way).
With the plan in hand, we went and started building. The first step was to hang the inverter on the RV wall. This should have been a straightforward task, but we soon realized how crowded space is. During this process, we discovered a hurdle – one of our batteries arrived dead. Luckily, the supplier was very responsive and shipped a replacement battery right away!
Wiring was the next step – this consisted of a few tasks – running cable to the inverter, running the cable back to the breaker box, and disabling the converter – we don’t really need the converter battery bank is large enough. The multiplus can handle the charging of the battery bank.
Running the cable was a little tricky but we managed to route it inside the RV around our door. As a result, we do not have a dark frame around the door but a white frame with the wire inside.
Adding a fuse, battery shunt and reattaching the battery was straight forward. Just make sure you screw everything into the RV to make it secure and make sure that everything is covered to prevent any damage.
Next steps
With the battery bank installed, there is still so much to do. We still use the converter to convert AC into DC. The next step is to eliminate the converter and plug the DC directly into the battery bank. Before that, we need to find out where exactly the power from the truck comes into, as we do not want to charge the battery bank from the alternator. There is a lot more fun to be had!
