These are tough questions to answer
Solar changes:
- Add 3 panels, half day, I used VHB tape + dicor sealant. Wiring was easy with heat shrink and heat gun
- Charge controller is easy swap although the different form factor left a hole at first. Victron is more like a non-panel controller since everything goes thru bluetooth so I reuse the hole left by the zamp controller for the inverter panel
Inverter+battery:
- Removed the old converter and inverter
- The 24J has the bed in the back so I put inverter+battery under it because the A/C input wire goes thru there, it was easy to cut it and wire it in/out of inverter
- Hole thru floor to wire the (-) of battery to chassis with 4/0 wire
- From the previous battery location (under the steps), I wired 2x2ga wire (+) to the back of the rig to get to the (+) of the battery, going thru the same hole. This way the RV gets the DC current from the same location as before and the alternator can charge safely (big enough wire). Also I could reuse the fuse that was there before for the old inverter which I removed
- Patch hole with foam and black sealant
- Run inverter panel's cable from main control panel thru wall to the inverter (pain in the butt)
- During that work, I moved the charge controller from the main control panel area down to under the bed so less voltage drop and works perfectly with Victron's controller
- Built a small wooden box for inverter/battery area
These are the main steps of the mod.
I made my own cables with a hammer crimp so I could just cut the cables and crimp them right away. If not, you'll have to have everything in place then cut the cables and bring them to a shop to have them crimp.
Keep it simple: Don't have too many different wire sizes/bolt sizes because that means more leftover wires and lugs. And more chances of the shop mixing them up (bolt size).
Drilling holes thru the floor is kinda scary at first because you can't undo it, likewise when you cut wires that come with the rig. But you get used to it
I used heat shrink on everything I could. Better than the original install.
Can most anyone do it?
- Sure, I did! Haha
YouTube video?
- No.. not good at it. If you live near Sac, I'll gladly help you out.