3 electrical systems

[Blue~Go]

Here are some images to show what I was describing above about quotes. I think they should get larger if you click on them so they are more legible.

1) Hit this button to start the process. You will get one quote block only. Delete any material you don't want, type in your reply, preview to make sure it looks good, and submit. If you want to "interweave" quotes, see the next images.

2) The arrows show the formatting that is automatically added when you hit the quote button. You can add more of this code to interweave quotes with your reply. Because the beginning code is kind of complicated, I "copy" it and then paste it in when I want to make a new quoted section. The ending code is easy so I do that manually.

3) Here is the formatting for a quoted post that is cut down and with interwoven replies.

4) And this is what that looks like when it's actually posted:

[Blue~Go]

To flesh out something I started on before (but got distracted).

1) I think I would try to go through the stepwell (under the black plastic) and then either along the floor/wall interface, or along underneath to the gen area (or maybe underneath the whole way if exhaust heat is not an obstacle). Going up and over the door (and then back down later) adds length, which is the enemy with high amp/low voltage power.

If the C-tek is acting like a solar controller would, then having it closer to the batteries you want to charge is better. That way the "conditioned" charge has less distance to lose the precise voltage you bought it for (and anything you are losing is "pre-conditioning").

2) On the black fiberglass microwave bulge area: You can buy similar "marine carpet" to what is on the ceiling originally (at least what is on my ceiling - maybe your era has the wall material there instead? You can buy that too from places like Perfect Fit). I bought some although it was not a perfect match. Then I found that Chinook had stuck a "wad" of the original stuff in the wires behind the closet carpet (I guess for padding). So I may have enough of that to cover that microwave hump. Also, I could re-purpose some of the matching carpet that in my Concourse is used for liner panels in the upper cabinets (and replace that with something that nearly matches which is good enough). However, in my case that microwave bulge area is inside a cabinet, so a perfect match is not really necessary anyway and something reasonably close would be fine. But those are some ideas.

[Riste]

The reason I was thinking of running the wire over the door and keeping it up at the roof line kinda of tied into the microwave bulge area. I am considering building a box in that area to put most of the electrical controls there.
This location would put all of the electrical stuff in about a 5' radius.

The box would include:
The Ctek units (they have some leds that show important information)
AC control panel (for shore power). Blue Sea Systems #8027.
DC control panel Blue Sea Systems #8023
Readouts:
Ctek Battery System Monitor
Progressive Industries Surge protection/Energy management system
I intend on mounting the main unit (EMS-HW30C) where the shore power comes into the Chinook.

It feels like running the wire through the cab by the step then back and up would be easier and use the same amount of wire.

[Riste]

The one short coming that I am aware of (so far) is the lack of information on the solar charging. The ctek tells me battery status, but not what is coming in from above. Any recommendations on how to monitor the solar panels?

[Blue~Go]

I'll have to look at the Ctek manual again. At least I think I read it before and there were a few things I wasn't super fond of for solar charging. If that holds true then I would just get a dedicated solar controller with either a good display, a good bluetooth/phone readout, or both.

Otherwise you can of course use a shunt-based battery monitor, but that won't tell you as much (I have both a solar controller display and a battery monitor, which is a good combination that gives you plenty of info). You wouldn't be able to see the panel voltage, and to find out how much solar power was coming in you would need to subtract the amperage of any loads you had running. You might be able to get battery temperature, but likely not controller temp (that's more of a nice-to-have though). Also I don't know how you would get history, if you care.

Can you remind me of the product again? I'd like to take another look (a while back a friend e-mailed me about a "combined" Ctek product, which is what I was reading about, but I don't want to misspeak in saying things about it).

So... having all your main panels up in the microwave area. Hmm. I did consider moving my DC panel and batteries over, to the passenger side, and as I remember it the larger loads are over there anyway (fridge in my case, plus just more Chinook stuff), so from that standpoint it's good. Then you will want your shore charger over there too (so big DC wires are short). But I think I'd keep the AC on the driver's side, because hookups are always over there. Not that you can't run AC wires wherever you want, since voltage drop is not a concern.

It's a good idea to have a shore/AC breaker close to the Chinook entry point -- especially if your main panel is a distance away, so perhaps plan for that if you are going to move the AC panel to the other side.

I still can't stop thinking of the extra 11' of big, heavy combiner wire though (to go up and back down). But as long as you don't mind upgrading to a larger size then it's doable. You may need to add different securement points along over the window. The stock Chinook P-clips up there in the wire chase are pretty much at their max already. Some Ancor cushion clamps or the like would be more appropriate for large cable.

I would still like to see the solar controller close to the batteries, but again, that can be solved with big wires (not as large as the combiner wire since you'll never get that many amps).

Back to the Ctek: Would you mind if I took a look at the manual? If not, what's the model number?

[Blue~Go]

BTW, the Blue Sea 8027 AC panel is very similar to what I have. The only difference is mine has two AC main positions (and a lockout so you can only select one - that means no transfer switch needed). I wanted to keep a generator position just in case (and besides that still leaves 4 AC breakers which is all I needed). Of course you can convert the one you have if you ever wanted to (which you probably won't) just by adding a double pole breaker and a lockout slide.

I had a Blue Sea 8023 DC panel like yours that I was going to use, but then I realized I wanted more than 8 circuits (there are 9 originally in my Chinook, plus I wanted to add a few). So I went with a Blue Sea blade fuse block instead (haven't really had any need to flip breakers in the case of DC). They come in 12+ positions (so do the Blue Sea panels but they get very expensive and large). Also for me the mounting options weren't as flexible.

We put a set of Blue Sea panels in my buddy's last two RV's (he had more space + went for the huge DC panel) and they are satisfyingly boaty. Only thing to be aware of is that on the traditional metal panels you need to be sure you can't bump the breakers or they can easily flip off in a spring loaded way (you can get "lock ons" from Blue Sea for specific ones if you need to --- buddy did that for the fridge breaker and then on his new RV relented and put it behind a drop down door to avoid the problem).

[Riste]

I think this link will work. If not it is the 140a off road bundle on the ctek website.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0117/ ... 2301633849

[Blue~Go]

That brings up the D250SA and the 120. I will search the 140a, thanks.

[Riste]

If I can get over my love affair with the ctek what would you recommend as a combiner/controller? What to use as a solar controller?
I was thinking that I could use the Blue Sea DC panel as a switch for a couple of circuits (lights, TV, etc.) Is that a problem long term.
The D250SA and the Smart pass 120 (plus a remote read out) are the 140a off road bundle.

[Blue~Go]

I just figured that out. Went and downloaded the "140A Off Road" manual and, surprise, it's the 250 and the 120 together. Just reading that now so I'll get back to you on that. I do have some thoughts on controllers but let's see what the Ctek does and doesn't do.

The Blue Sea breakers are okay to use as switches (good point to check though as all are not).