Getting Wired . . .

The rules and regulations are quite strict with regard to 240Vac installations and have to be signed off by a qualified electrician. Fortunately I know a few of these so I can organise all this work and one of them will inspect it before signing off. Unfortunately in this type of installation the AC and DC circuits interact through the inverter/charger and it's a bit tricky drawing the lines of responsibility . . .

Never the less I have had the truck booked in for Monday with the main (DC) suppliers for their first pass at the main wiring for some time. Their responsibility is to do everything up to the DC and AC distribution/switch panels and the electrician and I can do everything from here on.

So 8am Monday morning I arrived with the truck at their premises . . .

"What are you doing here ?"

"Err? Ummm?? I thought you were going to start on the wiring!"

"No. That's next week. Isn't it??"

"Ahhrrggg. . . . Isn't next week Xmas??"

and things went downhill from there . . .

actually the technician seems to be nice guy (the sales guys make the arrangements and the stuff ups) until he starts talking about things that aren't to do with electricity . . . then it gets a little spooky.

Never the less after some considerable discussion I go away with a list of things to do and a new appointment for the following Monday ( a bit like groundhog day).

First thing I guess is to get the responsibility transition points (ie the switchboards) in place.

There is a vast difference between planning the first one (for me) of these campers on paper and actually constructing one. On paper there is plenty of room for everything - in reality it's a little different when all the components are whatever you can buy at the time - a sort of mix and mis-match!

240Vac first ....

All components in 240Vac have to be double pole switching - make sure you have a second mortgage available . . .

I need at this time an RCD and 6 circuit breakers.
As I understand it the RCD is a "residual current device) which detects any current leakage between the active and the earth (which happens when you electrocute yourself) and instantly switches off the power.
A circuit breaker is like a switch with a current limiter in it - too much current and it switches itself off. A fuse is a very primitive current limiter but you cant turn it back on you have to replace it as it gets destroyed doing its job.
The RCD is also a circuit breaker and can do both jobs so rather than one RCD and 6 circuit breakers I have used 6 mini-series RCDs - one for each distribution circuit ie hot water system, air conditioner etc. - which saves a small amount of space.
To mount them I need a distribution board so - one board and six RCDs and my wallet is $500 lighter (and I get good trade discount!)





















The front panel is removed from the board and the RCD's installed on the DIN rail mounting supplied in the box. At the top you can see the earth and neutral busses.
















When the cover is finally installed again it will look like this.
















I actually got a 12 position box as I may have overlooked something and may need to add another circuit . . . Hmmm . . . just saying that made me think of two other circuits I need. Thankfully they are under the floor so I don't need to run wires through the walls . . . phhheww!!
I originally intended to locate the panels in the end of one of the seats but now it appears that they will need to be split across both seats 240Vac one side and 12/24Vdc the other.
The 240Vac panel is quite deep and will stick out from the end of the seat quite a lot so I need to recess it somehow.
A box had to be made with a false back and a cutout for the switchboard to protrude through - this allowed all the wires access to the back and the front to be behind the face of the seat.
















The switchboard is installed and all the circuits connected.
All we need now is power to be supplied!
















And, of course, all the edges will be finished with polished Beech timber trim.


12/24Vdc

Under the other seat things are even tighter!
This is the area in which the "heart" of the system is installed - the Quattro.
I refer you to the Victron Energy site for the details.
















In here I have to install both 12Vdc and 24Vdc breakers.
Of course they are quite different from each other so a different type of mounting box has to be made. First a frame to allow for the Beech timber trim to be mounted
















Then a panel which is hinged to allow access to the quattro when necessary, a cutout for the 12Vdc distribution/fuse panel and a mini recessed false back to mount the 24Vdc circuit breakers - similar to the 240Vac arrangement.
















Which looks like this from the other side
















and like this with the devices mounted

















I still have a couple of other electronic controlling/monitoring devices to mount from the front in the spare space so it wont be going to waste.

Now if the electrical guys are really going to be ready tomorrow we might make some progress . . .