Yoda's Victron MultiPlus and Solar Install - just hope I don't mess up.

[Yoda]

OK more progress yesterday.

Changed out the 2/0 for 6 awg to feed the bus bar.

Much easier to work with the 6 awg. Biggest issue I had was finding 6 awg 1/2" ring terminals to fir the switch. Lesson learned here is I could have downsized the switch and saved a few $$.

I then moved on to wiring in the second MPPT. This was abit of a strugke as the 8 awm PV wire I chose is VERY Very stiff and getting the connections to hold took a bit of doing.


I tied in both MPPT controllers to the PV circuit breakers.


I mounted the circuit breaker box to the front bay ceiling for the extra room to route cables.


So far so good - I still need to run the PV wires into this from the panels.

[Yoda]

I then mounted the Cerbo GX. As the power plug would be tough to plug in if mounted, I attached it first then mounted the GX. The rest of the plugs I need are accessible from below


I tied the positive wire to the Lynx power in and tool the negative to the buss bar below the MultiPlus


The yellow wire is the negative feed to the aux fuse block and needs to be tied into the buss bar pictured.

The last thing I did was to move wher I got power for my auxiliary fuse block.

I connected it to the far left so the fuse is accessible.

As always if you see something, please let me know.

Today if time permits I am going to wire in the rest of the Cerbo GX wiring, run the cable to the Touch 50 location, and clean up the mess for further inspection of what I have to date.

DW is coming back from being gone for 2 weeks (gets here Sunday night) - I guess I should clean up the house - Thoughts?

Thanks Folks
Keith

[Country Campers]

Yoda
Definitely clean the house, this may soften the pain you might receive from items you bought while she was away. If you do not post for a while we will know you are in the dog house, I'll save you a seat.

Brian

[openrangeowners]

Looking great - very good job with your electrical item choices! I may need to get some Blue Sea Bus bars some day.

Your wife will appreciate the work when you are boon docking somewhere and enjoying everything as if you were connected to electric all the time. We recently went to Assateague State park for 5 days (no electric) and enjoyed our solar/inverter/battery system. Never worried about running low on battery. The only thing we did not do was run the AC unit (it was in the 60's during the day in low 50's at night, so we ran the heat instead at night).

[Yoda]

Making progress over the last few days. I can see the end in site - but getting tired.

Battery box fitting and install.

To hold the battery box in place I have put in some base aluminum L brackets to help support it and secured some strapping under to tie the box down. The bolts were placed in the box channels, Doing this really stiffed up the front bay floor. Where cables could rub on the L channel I used silicone clue to hold some split loom in pace.


Right and back L channel in place with tie down strapping run under.

Left channel in place. Front of batter box rests against the front bay lip below door.


Loom glued to protect cable runs from chafing. Back center of picture.



Box test fit withe strapping to hold it in place. I still need to attach the top and bottom vent ports. Ill cut them off the old battery boxes and rivet or screw them to the bottom and top of the new box.

Its hard to see but this photo show the clearance (4" give or take) from the back of the battery box to the switches, etc. I have enough room for the battery cable slack and to be able to reach the battery switches between the batteries and Lynx power in bar.

More later on the last bit of wiring before I move inside to wire up the distribution panel and displays.

[Yoda]

Today was not a good day!

I found the stock 10 awg that went to the distribution panel from the exterior power socket would not reach the mutiplus. I was hoping it would but is about 2 feet short. So I thought "no problem" Ill just run my 8 awg SOO cable there and tie in. So I ran the cable, pulled the plug socket off the wall and tried to unhook the existing 10 AWG wiring. I got one to partially loosen, then heard a snap and the wire came out. The other two were even tougher. Some gorilla must have wired it. Then I found out the 8 awg will not fit. O-well I can get some 10 awg SOO cable at HD and go from there. Then I discovered what the snap noise was. The bolt on the internal wire clamp at the back of the socket had snapped - non repairable so I need a new plug. You can imagine what I was saying about now . Called my GD dealer - They have one in stock!!!! Yippie - get there and it is not the same, wont work. Then spent 30 minutes finding the right one on parts look up with the parts lady even though I had the part number from the GD look up. Lady said it was not valid there was a new part number - not fun. After looking at the invoice before paying the new part number matched the one I had written down and given her. I bit my lip and said nothing . $40 plus shipping.

Also given the issue with the 8 awg fitting things I am going to rip it out and use 10 AWG which I should have done from the beginning, but I wanted to up-size. HD had what I needed (at least something went right) - another $80 plus scraping the 8 awg I have learned a costly lesson.

So tomorrow I will be re wiring.

At lease the extension cables (HDMI and USB) I got at Wally World fit the Touch 50 cables, I think I will heat shrink the connections so they don't pull apart.

More later.

Keith
Off to cry in my corner

[ncitro]

Today was not a good day!

I found the stock 10 awg that went to the distribution panel from the exterior power socket would not reach the mutiplus. I was hoping it would but is about 2 feet short. So I thought "no problem" Ill just run my 8 awg SOO cable there and tie in. So I ran the cable, pulled the plug socket off the wall and tried to unhook the existing 10 AWG wiring. I got one to partially loosen, then heard a snap and the wire came out. The other two were even tougher. Some gorilla must have wired it. Then I found out the 8 awg will not fit. O-well I can get some 10 awg SOO cable at HD and go from there. Then I discovered what the snap noise was. The bolt on the internal wire clamp at the back of the socket had snapped - non repairable so I need a new plug. You can imagine what I was saying about now . Called my GD dealer - They have one in stock!!!! Yippie - get there and it is not the same, wont work. Then spent 30 minutes finding the right one on parts look up with the parts lady even though I had the part number from the GD look up. Lady said it was not valid there was a new part number - not fun. After looking at the invoice before paying the new part number matched the one I had written down and given her. I bit my lip and said nothing . $40 plus shipping.

Also given the issue with the 8 awg fitting things I am going to rip it out and use 10 AWG which I should have done from the beginning, but I wanted to up-size. HD had what I needed (at least something went right) - another $80 plus scraping the 8 awg I have learned a costly lesson.

So tomorrow I will be re wiring.

At lease the extension cables (HDMI and USB) I got at Wally World fit the Touch 50 cables, I think I will heat shrink the connections so they don't pull apart.

More later.

Keith
Off to cry in my corner

Sounds like time to switch to the Smart Plug Howard and I are using

[Yoda]

Sounds like time to switch to the Smart Plug Howard and I are using

Is this what your talking about? https://smartplug.com/ Looks interesting, but I would also need the adapter to use my current cord. Why did you change out to it?
Maybe if I break the one I have on order.

Thanks
Keith

[ncitro]

Yeah that’s it. They sell a kit that includes both the new inlet for the RV as well as a cord end. You cut off the factory end and put theirs on the cord. It seats much more positively, and you do not need to twist it to engage the ground. Howard was having problems with that on his factory inlet. He’s got a write up here:

https://gdrvowners.com/forum/operati...n-on-a-315rlts

[Yoda]

Last few day have gone fairly well. It super hot here so taking my time. I have completed all the front bay wiring and cable connections, sans the PV wire to the input breaker box. Need to run them from the roof.

So here is where I am at.

Can folks with eagle eyes please review my wiring connections and see if you spot anything? I would greatly appreciate the input.

I'll post the photos full size for better viewing.

MultiPlus wiring. I installed the strain relief cap on the third connection after taking picture. Blue connection goes to the Cerbo GX, Black and red wire are battery temp sensor. !20V in and out is 10 AWG SOO cable. I have a 30A service.

Cerbo GX wiring. I rotated this unit for better wiring access, Tip to others - when doing your layout, double check room t run cabling. Top right is power connection. Top left is cable from the Multiplus. Next three plugs doww is the VE direct connections to the two MPPT controllers and BNV712 battery monitor. The with connection is the HDMI cable for the Touch 50 and below that is the USB connection for the same. All plugs are fully inserted. I am still thinking about adding a dab of silicone between plug and case to hold the plugs in place? Thoughts?

GD power in bar connections and new grounding bar for GD wiring. After posting this photo I am going to double check the black/white strip and red wire next to to for insulation scraping. Something does not look correct there. I'll add heat shrink if there is an issue.

On edit - in this case the picture saved a thousand sparks. The wires were chaffed. Must have happened when drilling for the battery tray. I now have heat shrink tubing over the chaffed areas with good overlap on to good wire insulation.


Distribution panel 120V connection from Multiplus. In the background where the SOO cable comes in you can see a strain relief fitting.

Existing converter is disconnected and wire terminated. I tucked them into the opening to the left of the stock converter. I am leaving it in place in case the Multiplus fails. Very easy to hook back up if needed.

Thoughts?

Thanks
Keith

[Yoda]

Update
While I still have the panels to go on the roof I got the batterys installed and wired in, Dang are they heavy to lift up and get in the box

I also temporarily wire in the Touch 50 screen and as I still dont have my exterior replacement plug I added a male 15 amp plug for power from the garage.

In a nut shell everything works as advertised

Touch 50 will be a very nice addition to run the system and see what happening. BMV 712 works but I still need to set it up. Need to re-watch the set up video to know what I am doing.

I get pass through power on Charger only and on Inverter on, when plugged into shore power.

Tomorrow to get on the roof - I have a plan for work room and safety.


Now for a good laugh - either at me or with me.

Went to put the slide in and nothing, Checked to be sure the GD disconnect switch was on - yep. Then found the slide controller and pulled it down so I could check power to it - nothing. I am starting to get worried I messed something up big time, I looked at the photos I had taken and everything should work!!!! So opened the front bay and checked power to the GD disconnect switch from the back thinking it could be bad. Pulled the cover and nothing (no power in or out). Now I was in real panic mode as the stock GD power bus bar that the GD disconnect switch is tied to is now buried behind the huge battery box - double dang. At this point I was really muttering to myself. I do that sometimes. I have thoughts of doom

So after a lot of muttering I realise I need to recheck my connections to the stock GD buss bar as that is where everything is tied too, so I start to take the cover off the battery box, and I spot something out of the corner of my eye (did I mention I cant see straight either at this point) - If I really haven't out smarted myself this time. The disconnect switch to the trailer bus bar that I installed was still off. It only took me an hour to find it - DOH

Turned it to on and everything started working. Then I had to put everything back together.

[ncitro]

Yoda We have all been there. I always think the worst, and have caught myself not checking the simple things before tearing everything completely apart while troubleshooting before.

Glad its up and running!

[bertschb]

Yoda I feel your pain with your disconnect switch "problem". I think I can one-up you though!

Yesterday morning I decided to install the ESS Assistant after reading Howard's well documented project. Installing the assistant only took a few minutes and most of that was messing around with clunky software. When loading the assistant to the inverter, the inverter restarts. This is the point where I was crossing my fingers hoping I didn't break my system. When the inverter came back online, the green light on the inverter was on. So far so good! After a few seconds a relay kicked in and the green light went out and the red charger light came on. Oh no!!! Why did my inverter shut off???

I spent three hours trying to figure out why my green inverter light wasn't on. I tried everything I could think of including a factory reset of the inverter. No bueno. I made a few posts in Howard's "ESS thread" looking for help. Howard graciously walked me through some of my settings and during that process we came to a point where it FINALLY dawned on me that the stupid green inverter light wasn't supposed to be on!!! I was on shore power the whole time. For some reason my pea brain thought that green inverter light was like a power indicator and since it wasn't illuminated, my inverter wasn't working.

By this time it was getting really hot in the RV since I had the A/C's off for several hours while troubleshooting my non-existent problem. I was worn out and uninstalled the ESS Assistant and called it a day. I sulked the rest of the day wondering how I make it through this life after doing stupid things like this.

Anyway, I got up this morning and started fresh. Installed the ESS Assistant in five minutes and everything worked fine. Well, except I'm getting a low battery voltage error. Not sure what that's all about but that's minor compared to what happened yesterday.

It's these types of events that make me hesitate to provide input on this forum.

[Yoda]

Yoda I feel your pain with your disconnect switch "problem". I think I can one-up you though!

Yesterday morning I decided to install the ESS Assistant after reading Howard's well documented project. Installing the assistant only took a few minutes and most of that was messing around with clunky software. When loading the assistant to the inverter, the inverter restarts. This is the point where I was crossing my fingers hoping I didn't break my system. When the inverter came back online, the green light on the inverter was on. So far so good! After a few seconds a relay kicked in and the green light went out and the red charger light came on. Oh no!!! Why did my inverter shut off???

I spent three hours trying to figure out why my green inverter light wasn't on. I tried everything I could think of including a factory reset of the inverter. No bueno. I made a few posts in Howard's "ESS thread" looking for help. Howard graciously walked me through some of my settings and during that process we came to a point where it FINALLY dawned on me that the stupid green inverter light wasn't supposed to be on!!! I was on shore power the whole time. For some reason my pea brain thought that green inverter light was like a power indicator and since it wasn't illuminated, my inverter wasn't working.

By this time it was getting really hot in the RV since I had the A/C's off for several hours while troubleshooting my non-existent problem. I was worn out and uninstalled the ESS Assistant and called it a day. I sulked the rest of the day wondering how I make it through this life after doing stupid things like this.

Anyway, I got up this morning and started fresh. Installed the ESS Assistant in five minutes and everything worked fine. Well, except I'm getting a low battery voltage error. Not sure what that's all about but that's minor compared to what happened yesterday.

It's these types of events that make me hesitate to provide input on this forum.

Brian - please don't hesitate to post. To me any information here is of benefit - even if issues come up. That way we all learn. If it had not been for folks like you, Jim, Howard, Neil, Rob, Openrange and many many many others I would not be at this point, Folks please forgive me if I did not specifically mention your name.

I just checked and everything is still purring along - battery is at float. Its amazing how fast it came up to full charge compared to the stock charger. An no smoke escaped and nothing got hot either.

Keith

[hshan]

Yoda I feel your pain with your disconnect switch "problem". I think I can one-up you though!

Yoda ... - double dang. At this point I was really muttering to myself. I do that sometimes. I have thoughts of doom.

Brian... Yesterday morning I decided to install the ESS .....

I spent three hours trying to figure out why my green inverter light wasn't on. ....where it FINALLY dawned on me that the stupid green inverter light wasn't supposed to be on!!! I was on shore power the whole time. For some reason my pea brain thought that green inverter light was like a power indicator and since it wasn't illuminated, my inverter wasn't working....

I sulked the rest of the day wondering how I make it through this life after doing stupid things like this....

It's these types of events that make me hesitate to provide input on this forum.

Been following you all and Howard's recent revelations.. very interesting! Just have to say that you guys make me laugh I followed Brian's install to the T, though with half the solar, having a Onan 5500. You guys are great! Learning so much and loving the system. Thanks!