Posts for category electrical

This is the first of a series of posts related to the electric system in our GXV expedition vehicle. My aim in this series of articles/posts is to outline the original mission of the electrical system, analyze how well the originally supplied equipment meet that mission, describe what modifications and upgrades I have made and what lessons I have learned, and what problems (if any) are still outstanding.

In the first post in this series I outlined the mission for the electrical system of our GXV expedition vehicle and described the electrical system as originally delivered.

Two effects combine to render the truck alternator ineffective as a charge source for the camper battery pack.

In the previous posts we looked at the capacity or rating of the various chargers and components in the camper‘s electrical system and concluded that possibly the system has too little charging capacity given the size of the battery pack.

I initially installed a single Battery-Battery Charger (B2B) in the camper in November 2012 but that original B2B failed within a week and was returned. I installed the replacement in mid December 2012 and used it for travel through the US South West and the Baja during December 2012 and January 2013. To date the replacement has continued to function without problems.

So given all that I (think I) have learned; how do I currently manage the camper battery pack.

After almost a years experience with the camper electrical systems I would have to say I am not very impressed with the system design.

I have agonized for sometime over what to do so that our GXV camper can make effective use of 230V/50Hz shore power. Specifically this question focused on replacing or supplementing the inadequate Mastervolt 12/35 charger that came as original equipment in the camper.

This is a maybe overdue update or exposition of our long term experience with the electrical system of our GXV truck.