Your rv has two separate electrical systems. Safety warning and disclaimer.
Detailed Look At Our Diy Rv Boondocking Power System
Rv electrical system design. There are serious safety issues involved with wiring your own system. For the most part any full time rig is going to have two different electrical systems. Some sort of boondocking power system is essential if we want to camp more than a couple days. The voltages are high and potentially lethal. Unfortunately most rv buyers purchase a recreational vehicle primarily based on layout and size and electrical design is often an afterthought. Just as a sticks and bricks home is based upon 110120v power system so is your rv.
It includes a battery bank loads and charge sources. The 12 volt system is powered by a battery or in some cases multiple batteries and it powers things such as the start up on your water heater furnace and refrigerator plus most of the lights in your rvs living space your water pump your carbon monoxide detector and a number of other things. Four big 6 volt lead acid batteries with a total capacity of 464 amp hours. Understanding your rv electrical system by brian april 14 2020 as a rule your rv will have two separate electrical systems that draw different voltages as well as two different types of current. To design my airplanes electrical system schematics i used expresssch which is part of the free expresspcb board layout package. Shore power and rv site hookups.
The 12 volt dc system runs the electrical components of the engine and battery of your ride while the 120 volt ac system runs all the typical appliances and power outlets found on most rvs. Its basically the same as your car. I chose to go with a tried and true power source. Design of the electrical system will be very different from one rv to the other. The 12v system and the 120v system. To protect the entire camper van electrical system ive installed fuses for every component battery isolators and a quality rcb for the shore power.
Rvs use both ac alternating current and dc direct current to power the components of your electrical system. This section covers what a camper van or rv electrical system does how it works how to pick and size the components and how to build the system. This means camping off the grid without electrical hookups. As part of this process i created some custom symbols for various aircraft components. The 12v dc system this half of your rv electrical system runs off of a battery or multiple batteries. Click here to download the latest version of my electrical system drawings always a work in progress.
A 12 volt dc electrical system and a 120 volt ac system. As requirements vary greatly each has to decide based on their own individual requirements. Modern off the grid vans normally charge with solar power alternator shore power and can power 12v dc 120v ac loads. The heart of any rv boondocking system is the battery bank. In its simplest form a campervan electrical system isnt really complicated. As with any electrical design the system needs to be protected so any electrical issues dont cause a catastrophic event like a fire.
Gallery of Rv Electrical System Design
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