Hi,Thanks Mike...yes I have a J35B in my van, That's what I don't yet know...haven't had the opportunity yet to investigate what the 12v switch actually does. I do know that when i switch it off the monitor panel goes off along with every other 12v light and output, as last time I switched it off even the fridge shut off while on gas.
I wired these batteries in so I know there are no phantom connections anywhere. As I noted above I may just put a proper battery isolator switch between the negative terminal and the shunt....that way I know there will be zero leakage when isolated.
The low voltage disconnect according to the specs for the J35B is 10.8v, + - 2 volts...it does read that there is still a small voltage drain after disconnect of 8 milliamps...obviously to keep the BMS alive.
It is embarrassing actually as I am always all over this stuff...my real problem is I haven't spent enough time in this van off grid to know it, if I add it up I think it is a total of 5 days off grid in all...seriously ...that will change as I am not really a caravan park person.
With my previous camper trailer I ran both a large 12v fridge and a separate 12v freezer, lights, water pump, phone charge etc I knew where every amp went never running low in power...all off solar input...weeks off grid with that and knew it inside out. Same battery set up - 2 x 140 amp AGM's. I used to record morning and evening battery levels along with spot check solar input through the day. I carried a generator but never had to crank it up.
The van should be using virtually nothing as when off grid the fridge and water heater are on gas, it is only a few lights at night, water pump and phones using some power. In reality the puny 160w panel on the roof should just about put all that back in! I'll get on top of it this trip away...take some notes.
I do wish I could keep the van at home as it would make sorting these sorts of things a cinch, but not possible as I live in a Townhouse with shared driveways etc so have to pay to keep the van elsewhere. Any maintenance in storage is difficult or impractical too due to it being squeezed in between other vans, boats etc.
I am going to set this tug up and wire the van after this trip away so that I can charge the van batteries while on the run if I wish as well...
I am sure you will get on top of it!
The only difference between your old set up and the new van is that previously, it was probably completely set up by you over a period of time, piece by piece knowing why each new piece as being added, how it was installed, and how it all worked.
Now, it is a little more complicated because it is an entirely new system with a lot of unfamiliar bits and pieces. It is obviously a major impediment not being able to walk outside whenever you want to investigate something and have a bit of a fiddle.
One thing you can do at home is to ensure you have hard copies of the manuals for every electrical device that is in the van and spend some time reading them. If you have any questions, there is unlikely to not be a person or two on this forum who can supply and answer of two to help out.
Is it possible to spend a day and pull the van out from undercover and spend a bit of time becoming familiar with how it all fits together?
We ordered our Penguin and in the months we had to wait until delivery, I was downloading and reading every manual and going out to the dealer and crawling all over ones they had on the yard looking all over it to see how everything worked.
Then when we got it home, I spent endless more hours again becoming more familiar with everything, adding bits and pieces to get it working exactly how I wanted it.
Fortunately, I discovered this forum and in those days I got a lot of assistance in helping me up the steep learning curve.
cheers
Mike