17' Series 12 Volt System Upgrade

[Carpediem]

Thought this may be of interest to some people:

New 17.56' OB Expanda

I upgraded the 12 volt power system to work when we are fully bush, it helps that I have a sparky back ground so can do it myself easily.

Van had 1 x 100Ah Gel cell and 1 x 120 Watt solar panel out of the factory.

One consideration we had was that the fridge is a 12/240volt Weaco compressor fridge so when we are away from power, we draw more than we would if we had a 3 way fridge.

Supply Gear added:
1 x Redarc BMS 1215 - Battery Management System -
2 x 120 Ah Batteries (2 x AGM sealed lead acid)
1 x 200 Watt solar panel
1 x 150 Watt solar panel
1 x 12 volt solar input plug on non door side of van - For portable Solar panels when parked under trees
Heavy duty 12 volt supply line with Anderson plug from car



Output gear added:
2 x external 12 volt outlets - 1 at front, 1 and rear on door side of van - for fridges
1 x outlet internal next to lounge seat (For waco whilst travelling
1 x External 12volt outlet on non door side of van
3 x 12 volt fans - hard wired and mounted
1 x LED light fitted to backside (Non door side of van)



Internal 12 volt outlet for fridge




Overview of BMS and battery cabinet


Air circulation fan added to BMS cabinet


Battery 2 & 3 compartment



12 volt layout


12 volt layout



One of the mounted 12 volt fans

 

[Brad]

Very nice @Carpediem. I have had a leak pop up in that area where you mounted the BMS. I am sure I have seen posts of others in the past with same issue.
I was wondering for peace of mind if it would be worth mounting the BMS in a small waterproof tray to protect it a bit should water pool in that area.

 

[Carpediem]

HI Brad,
Yes, I had the same thought about leak as there is potentially mains pressure water close by.

I lifted it off the floor with a couple blocks of wood incase this occurred and also to help with airflow. I thought about putting it in a plastic tray although decided that i wanter the airflow and didn't want to allow any potential water to get trapped in it.

The issue will be with spraying water of course if the mains pipe burst etc.

its not ideal and a mod I'd suggest to Jayco is to isolate that water filling station to a waterproof area some how that would drain outside. At the moment it would drain into the van..

 

[burnsie]

Great mod @Carpediem am thinking of doing the same thing to our new van, I had a couple of questions

Any reason why you choose the BMS1215 over the new Manager 30, obviously price might have been the reason, just thinking with the amount of solar and two batteries that the 30A might have been required

Have you disabled the Setec completely and running it all through the BMS?

Any chance you did some wiring diagrams or can take some pics of the wiring setup

Cheers