The next major hurdle was wiring this thing.
It's a little more complicated than a bike.
I've got 3 different power sources, Generator (120) Shore Power (plugged in 120) and Battery power (12V).
The 120V feeds a converter, which converts 120 AC to 12 DC.
The Battery Feeds an Inverter that converts 12 DC to 120AC.
And I wanted the shore and generator to switch automatically so I don't have to go flipping breakers to switch from one to another.
A problem a lot of people face is if the inverter is connected to the same circuits as everything else then when it's running your converter is also running unless you turn it off. This means you are using battery power to charge your batteries. Not a good plan.
So I started with that. I put it on a separate circuit that is connected to a transfer switch. If plugged in to shore power or the generator is on the switch bypasses the inverter and powers directly from the 120, saving the batteries. If the shore power and generator arent in use, the switch switches to the inverter to power the things I want powered by 120 when not plugged in (stereo, TV, and a couple of outlets). Pretty slick.
The generator and the shore power are both connected to an auto switching transfer switch, so power comes from whichever is putting out power (the transfer switch is just a few high power relays).
Diagram below:
To make all this work I had to modify the breaker box to have 3 separate parts, so I cut the connectors and epoxied it back in place, easy.
Here's what it looks like put together without any wiring
Next was wiring and plumbing.
I decided to go with a tankless water heater, because I like long showers, when not hooked up I can take short ones, but when hooked to shore water with the tankless heater I can take as long as I damn well please!
For the wiring I so far have used 500 ft of 14ga primary wire, 50 ft of 4 AWG welding wire, and 100 FT of 6 AWG welding wire.
The primary wire runs all the DC circuits, mostly for the LED Lights and the vent fans.
The 4AWG fruns from the battery bank to the inverter, the generator, and the DC distribution panel/converter.
The 6AWG runs from the battery bank to the solar charger, to the engine battery and eventually to the solar panels, I haven't gotten that far yet though.
This is what that fucking mess looks like:
The spray foam will cover most of it up.
And besides a lot of little stuff that I won't bore you with, that's pretty much where we sit at present.
I hope to cut an opening for a vent fan in the bathroom, and hopefully get some foam sprayed this weekend.