Hello, I am configuring the electrical installation of my camper and I would like someone to help me see if I am missing any device so that everything works well.
What I plan to put is:
- orion 12-30 DC/DC converter (to control habitation battery charge from the alternator)
- controller: smart solar MPPT 100/30
- inverter/charger: multiplus 12/1200/50
What else do you recommend that I should mount?
Thank you very much for the help.
You didn't mention a house (habitation) battery. Lithium is highly recommended and a 100 AH battery will complement the 1200 VA inverter. Lead-acid or AGM is an alternative but keep in mind you can only discharge them to 50%. So a typical "deep cycle" lead acid battery is only good for around 40-50 AH.
You also didn't mention what your solar array will consist of. You should make sure the voltage output of your array is within spec of the controller at MINIMUM ambient temperature.
Are you sure the 1200 VA model will be sufficient for your AC power needs? You'll get 1000 watts continuous at 25 degrees C which isn't enough for even a small
I'd add a battery monitor. Either the BMV-712 with it's own display or a SmartShunt which has no display. Both of these will show up in the VictronConnect app on your smart phone/tablet over bluetooth. The Smart Solar will also show up there. You can add a Bluetooth to the Multi with the VE.bus Smart dongle.
You might also consider the MK3 USB adapter to make programming the Multi easier. You can do the configuration with VictronConnect on a laptop but not on an Apple smart phone/tablet due to USB limitations of these devices.
A Cerbo GX and Touch 50/70 would add an integrated status display and control if VictronConnect isn't enough for you.
Getting the Orion to work reliably will require a low resistance path from your starter battery. I just did this for my travel trailer and needed to increase the wire side for the "charge" connection of the 7-pin plug from 12 gauge to 8 gauge and find a better ground connection at the 7-pin plug. You didn't say if this was a trailer or an all in one camper so your wiring will most likely vary.
Good luck with your project
Hello Kevin,
First of all, thank you very much for your answer.
I'll explain a little better what I want to do.
I am converting an Iveco Daily and now I am busy with the electrical installation.
I have already bought the batteries (2 Gel batteries of 200ah each), and two solar panels of 330w each.
I did not understand what you were saying about the minimum temperature specification of the controller.
What you tell me about whether I will have enough with the 1200 VA, I think so, I will not have any large consumption device. (what will consume me the most will be the fridge, the charge of the bike battery, the charge of the electric scooter, but none of these require a large consumption), what do you think?
I will look at the battery monitor, what is the best utility that this device can give me?
You also tell me that to configure the Multi, is it necessary to do it through a PC? Cannot be configured through the application via bluetooth?
I will assess the installation of the cerbo and the screen.
I also didn't quite understand your last recommendation that you gave me.
I understand that you recommend putting a cable with a suitable section from the starter battery to the habitacle batteries, right? what do you mean by pins?
Thank you very much for the inconvenience, I really appreciate your answer.
best regards
@klann I deleted the duplicate post.
Dailys, nice vans, terrible wiring.
Minimum temp spec of controller - it's actually the panel voltage rising as temperature drops. So check VOC of the panels at your coldest temperatures does not exceed max input voltage of the controller.
Battery size - In many ways guesswork. Leave space to increase if needed. If you're not going to be driving for hours every day, a single Orion won't do much. Two in parallel helps. Especially in winter.
Fridges can take a lot of power, compressor fridges are much better than absorption.
Battery monitor will tell you consumption, state of charge and help you to avoid over discharge by sending alarms.
GX will do most of the configuration of the multi. If you get a multi with the GX in it, the Cerbo is not needed unless you also need the touch screen. GX will do the multi configuration over Bluetooth.
Pins - only if you're using a caravan behind the Daily. So not needed in your case. If your Daily is a VI, you might need help getting the Orion working. Come back to us on that in a new post, but there's a lot here already in other posts.
