Salvaging Electrical in M1079 Box

[chucky]

I think you're missing the point. You don't want to rely on 120VAC in a mobile rig if you don't have to. Everything should be the voltage of the battery bank, unless not avoidable.

That's why I suggested and planned out a discrete system that doesn't rely on a 120VAC inverter, and have separate discrete components for each point so should one fail there are alternatives until it can be fixed.

Multiple ways to charge, multiple paths for electricity to take, very simple operation parameters that reduces the necessity of add'l equipment and is not only more reliable but more efficient in terms of less power draw.

This stuff isn't that expensive if you plan it right - there's a price/performance line you need to be on the correct side of. Victron is pretty much the gold standard but also costs 4-5x more. When you can buy 3 or 4 units for the cost of a victron it makes more sense to go with a different high quality brand and just buy 2...or 3... And still save a ton.

My experience as an emergency vehicle upfitter showed me decades of planning ahead for failures, so everything is designed to be modular and more important serviceable.

Yea i think im on the same page but the system you describe could never go out and work 24/7 years on end and i base that on 30 plus years living in something that ran 24/7 years on end and the builders had endless money to try all forms of batteries/solar that never could keep up with the use demanded weighed too much took up way too much room and never operated in the black when it was number crunching time and when the gear starts coming apart your never at the builders shop and days away in getting that part mailed to you and hope that was it and the part that 99.9999 % of the population not having a electrical engineering degree in his or her pocket ! Who ever came up with K.I.S.S. keep it simple stupid was the smartest man in the room !

I spent a year with a company that built the big mobil command centers for just about every branch of federal & state law enforcement FBI ATF and those rigs were fragile at best and always electrical issues and they kept someone on a plane all the time to go fix/trouble shoot over engineered equipment in the build so im way jaded on the subject cause when everyone in the build is looking at you when it shats the bed and you cant bring a spare for everything on board you have to make it happen with what the local town your in at the moment happens to have on the shelf so if lowes/home depot dont sell it dont use it !

If i were setting up at overlander/rv shows with all this great new gear on display probably sells equipment and the 99.9999% of those folks that might spend a month a year if that in one of these rigs sure they will be ok until its not how are they going to get back online cause jim and jane sold insurance or flipped burgers .
I just feel we should pass on how to build something the everyday folks can use and figure out in the camp ground and not use the kids college fund to go camping and repair their selves and get back home on their own steam .

 

[TechnoWeenie]

Yea i think im on the same page but the system you describe could never go out and work 24/7 years on end and i base that on 30 plus years living in something that ran 24/7 years on end and the builders had endless money to try all forms of batteries/solar that never could keep up with the use demanded weighed too much took up way too much room and never operated in the black when it was number crunching time and when the gear starts coming apart your never at the builders shop and days away in getting that part mailed to you and hope that was it and the part that 99.9999 % of the population not having a electrical engineering degree in his or her pocket ! Who ever came up with K.I.S.S. keep it simple stupid was the smartest man in the room !

I spent a year with a company that built the big mobil command centers for just about every branch of federal & state law enforcement FBI ATF and those rigs were fragile at best and always electrical issues and they kept someone on a plane all the time to go fix/trouble shoot over engineered equipment in the build so im way jaded on the subject cause when everyone in the build is looking at you when it shats the bed and you cant bring a spare for everything on board you have to make it happen with what the local town your in at the moment happens to have on the shelf so if lowes/home depot dont sell it dont use it !

If i were setting up at overlander/rv shows with all this great new gear on display probably sells equipment and the 99.9999% of those folks that might spend a month a year if that in one of these rigs sure they will be ok until its not how are they going to get back online cause jim and jane sold insurance or flipped burgers .
I just feel we should pass on how to build something the everyday folks can use and figure out in the camp ground and not use the kids college fund to go camping and repair their selves and get back home on their own steam .

That system is about as simple as you can make it. The only real point of failure you had already pointed out - the solenoid. That's a wear item, as mentioned. If it fails in the open position I just use the manual switch. If it fails in the closed position I can disconnect it and... use the manual switch...

 

[chucky]

That system is about as simple as you can make it. The only real point of failure you had already pointed out - the solenoid. That's a wear item, as mentioned. If it fails in the open position I just use the manual switch. If it fails in the closed position I can disconnect it and... use the manual switch...

We had one bus builder that used an automatic switcher with all the the solenoids and relays all in the same box buried under tons of cables in the ceiling of the luggage bay and it always turned into a 3 hr tear out thats if you had already done it before which speeds up the process but once the sol. welded itself you were locked down you couldnt power the bus with gen or shore and these were new builds so to me its like once the dog chews your hand off i refuse to partake twice