DIY Camper Van Electrical Install START TO FINISH with EXPLORIST.Life Wiring Kits | Van Build Series

thank you to explores.life for sponsoring today's video welcome to my channel my name is Lauren and I am self-converting my Ram ProMaster to live travel and work in full-time on the road in today's video I show you how I installed my entire electrical system from start to finish with the explorist.life all-in-one wiring kit this video will include planning tips prepping the box to house all my electrical components highlighting tools you'll need for the install wiring the battleborn battery Bank the victron lynx distributor the chassis ground the victron multi-plus inverter charger the 120 volt AC distribution panel Shore power the 12 volt DC fuse panel the victron smart solar mppt charge controller Rich solar solar panels the solar isolator the victron DC to DC alternator charger and then I'll round it out with some wire management tips also check out my last video where I walk you through step by step on how to plan and install your pre-wires which also includes information about wires and wire gauges that will help you to better grasp the information in this video and be sure to hit the Subscribe button down below so you don't miss my next video which I will be explaining how my electrical system will function followed by other videos like wiring my Puck lights Outlets appliances and more as usual check the timeline of this video for time codes that will allow you to jump around to different sections and check the description box for a link to explore.life's website with that let's get started when it comes to electrical systems they can be done very simple or complex cheap or really expensive built-in or portable so be sure to consider your specific wants and needs before making any electrical decisions personally I will be living out of my van full time so I wanted a system that was large enough to power various appliances lights and outlets for the normal conveniences you would find in a home after months of researching what to buy I finally purchased my main components from battleborn but soon after I received my order I realized I wasn't even halfway done with researching and decision making because now I needed to connect all the components together which meant many more countless hours of research to follow and buying more material so when I came across the explore stock life wiring kits I was beyond grateful this box contains all the components of the Explorer's life all in one wiring kit which includes everything I need to wear my entire electrical system I mean it has the victron links distributor 12 volt and 120 volt distribution panel the master switch all of the wires wire lugs heat shrink ferrules fuses mounting hardware and so so much more the great thing about the wires is they are properly sized to my specific setup ensuring a safe and effective install explore statlife also includes a sheet of paper in the box that lists the gauge and length of wire provided for each part of the wiring process the smaller items like wire lugs ferrules heat shrink fuses mounting hardware and so forth all come in these tiny bags that are individually labeled so you know exactly what pieces go to what section of the electrical system having these components is separated and labeled accordingly and having the wire reference sheet makes this kit very straightforward not to mention when you order their wiring kits online they offer a range of wire sizes and variations that you can choose from depending on your specific application and you can buy individual wiring kits for each section of the electrical install like the battery Bank wiring kit or the victron link Distributor wiring kit or the 12 volt DC distribution panel wiring kit if you don't need all the components you would get in the all-in-one wiring kit additionally because explorers.life sources these products themselves they have excellent quality control and ensure that every component they are sending you are compatible with one another which they themselves know because they've installed their own kits into multiple Vans this kit takes the guesswork out of the entire install saves you countless hours of researching the topic yourself running to the store to buy each individual little piece and ordering online where you risk quality and compatibility of the random items that you will purchase explorers.life has already done the legwork for you they have analyzed every detail to ensure a safe and effective install they have read and understand the manuals of all the components which I don't know about you but I rarely read manuals and definitely not as thoroughly as they have they have provided extremely detailed wiring diagrams for you to follow they have provided countless step-by-step articles and countless step-by-step YouTube videos sharing everything with you from what tools to use to how to choose the correct wire size how to wire solar panels teaching you about folds and amps and more so why try and reinvent the wheel when they have already done the work for you it's a great investment and the best thing about it is they are very competitively priced and offer free shipping on most orders so why would you waste all that time researching and ordering each individual part for around the same cost as just ordering the kit from explorers.life as you can tell I truly love explorers.life and I thank them for their countless resources and product offerings that they offer to people like you and I who are doing our own DIY camper van electrical install thank you Nate Steph and team truly you guys are the best so be sure to check the description box below for a link to explores.life's website YouTube channel and a few of my favorite resources they have created for you and I now it's time to get on with the install I am so excited to show you guys let's do this before jumping in and wiring all the components together it is important that you take the time to think through the electrical layout and plan accordingly I would recommend getting all the electrical components and your physical possession so you can move items around to determine the most efficient orientation also it is crucial that you consider how everything will be wired together sure your battery Bank can fit here in the distribution panel there and the inverter here but is it the most logical location in relation to how the components will connect together you don't want wires running everywhere in a dozen different directions entangled amongst one another which can cause a safety hazard make it challenging to service the system and can add confusion during the install after taking the time to plan my layout I use tape to map it out in the Box until I became familiarized with the system I also took a video of the tape as referenced during the install if needed and I'd recommend you do the same now that I know how my electrical system will be arranged it is time to prep the box for permanent install to start I drilled holes for various wires to feed into the box like the chassis ground wire BMV 712 battery monitor data cable solar wires Shore power wires and all my 12 volt and 120 volt wires running throughout my van to do so I used a one inch and two inch hole saw with my drill as well as a 5 16 inch drill bit to make these various holes in their proper locations from there I sanded the Box applied Edge banding to the ugly plywood ends that would be visible in the van painted the inside and outside of the box and added a rubber tape with Gorilla Glue to the holes I drilled in the Box to protect my wires stay tuned for a future video where I will share in more detail the process of sanding Edge banding and painting all of my Cabinetry next I installed the box back in the van fed all the wires into their designated holes and screwed it down permanently to my subfloor at this point I made a board to hold my distribution panels in the Box I measured cut drills pocket holes sanded Edge banded and painted the board before installing it with pocket holes and L brackets lastly I installed an aluminum track to secure my battery Bank in place to do so I bought one inch by one inch aluminum angle that will go on all four sides of my battery Bank to cut the aluminum I used a miter saw and a wood blade since the aluminum is a soft metal I placed a board on the angled aluminum to help hold it in place while I cut slowly with the saw remember to wear eye protection as many metal shavings will fly into your face to screw the aluminum track to the box I drilled countersink holes along the side of the aluminum the counter bit drill will allow the screws to sit flush to the aluminum which means the batteries will also sit flush to the aluminum at one end of the battery bank I screwed two lashing straps under the aluminum with 10 by three quarter inch wood screws these lashing straps will be used to hold the batteries in place and secure it then I screwed down the other three aluminum sides and installed all four batteries in my battery Bank make sure all the positive terminals of the battery bank which are red and have a plus sign are on the same side of the battery Bank and all the negative terminals which are black and have a negative sign are on the other side of the battery bank for easier cleaner and a safer install at the other end of the battery bank I screwed in two hooks to run the other end of the lashing strap through once that was completed I tighten the lashing straps around the battery Bank followed by a good wiggle test to make sure the batteries weren't going anywhere to finish I ran the vacuum through the box to clean up any wood and aluminum shavings created during this process now the box is ready to house my electrical system I'm going to touch on the tools you'll need to measure cut strip crimp and heat shrink wires as well as some handheld devices to use for your safety and to troubleshoot the system throughout the video the process remains consistent when making wire connections you will measure cut strip crimp and heat shrink wires to measure wires of course you can use a measuring tape or ruler but personally I loved using this combination Square which you can set to a desired length so you can just lay the wire against the tool and mark the wire insulation with the pencil this is especially helpful because many times you will need to make the same measurement back to back so this makes the process a lot quicker once the wire is measured it needs to be cut to cut wire that is 14 gauge to 22 gauge I'm using these four inch spring-loaded Flush Cutters for wires up to six gauge I am using these eight inch diagonal cutters for wire up to 2 ought I'm using the Klein 63030 coaxial Cutters which also cut through 10 3 wire and for the largest wires like for ought I'm using 12 inch cable Cutters which also cuts through the six gauge three conductor wire that runs from the multi-plus to the breaker box the longer handles give more leverage to cut through the thicker wire now for out wire can also be cut with the client 63030 coaxial Cutters but personally I found the 12 inch cable Cutters to be easier if I had to choose just one of these wire cutters to purchase for this install it would be the client 63030 coaxial Cutters hands down after measuring and cutting your wires you will need to strip back the wire insulation to expose the bare copper wire which allows you to insert that into a terminal or to crimp on one of the many different types of wire connectors to strip wire I am using these self-adjusting wire strippers which are fast and easy to use for 22 gauge wire up to 10 gauge wire and it can also strip flat multi-wire conductors up to 10 3 wire with two cuts it also strips multiple wires out once adding to its efficiency for wires 6 gauge to 12 gauge I am using these Klein wire strippers but because I have the self-adjusting wire strippers I only use these for the six gauge wires place the wire in one of the four slots provided which are each labeled for the wire gauge you are stripping squeeze the handles to cut through the wire insulation and then pull the insulation off for big wire you can use the Klein 63030 coaxial Cutters by spinning the tool around the wire applying just enough pressure to cut through the insulation or you can use this cable knife for four gauge to 4 ought wire to adjust the blade depth twist the circle on the bottom of the tool then push the head of the tool up so you can feed the wire into it let go of the head so that it can squeeze down on the wire and then twist the tool around the entire wire this is nice to have if you are stripping multiple wires that are the same gauge back to back because once you adjust it to cut through the thickness of the insulation you can keep it set to that depth to strip the other wires but in all honesty I only use these to strip the six three wire running from the multi-plus to my 120 volt distribution panel and I'm sure the client 63030 coaxial Cutters could have stripped it as well so it is not necessary and it's just another option I wanted to try out and share with you now it is very important that you strip wire carefully to avoid cutting the stranded wire itself you only want to score the installation enough for you to rip the installation off by hand for stripping Tools in this specific install you can get away with just the client 63030 coaxial Cutters and the self-adjusting wire strippers now the wire is measured cut and stripped it may need a wire connector crimped on the bare wire conductors include but are not limited to wire lugs mc4 connectors spring terminals Spade connectors Fork connectors ferals butt splice connectors and so forth as you can see here some connectors can be purchased insulated or non-insulated I'd recommend insulated connections when possible which are the connectors with the plastic covering that helps to keep connections secure and prevent damage also look for heat shrink activated connectors to seal off the connection for moisture as you can see here insulated connectors are color coded a red connector is for 18 to 22 gauge a blue connector is for 14 to 16 gauge wire and a yellow connector is for 10 to 12 gauge wire make sure you are using the correct size connector on the correct wire gauge for ring terminals Spade connectors and butt splice connectors 22 to 10 gauge I have these ratcheting wire crimpers with a flat jaw so the insulated connector doesn't get damaged the crimper has three sets of teeth that are color coded match up the color of the connector to the same colored set of teeth on the ratcheting crimper and squeeze the handles to crimp down on that metal section of the connector the crimper handles need to be squeezed fully in order for the tool to release itself four eight gauge wire to 4 ought wire you need to cramp on wire lugs to do so I'm using this big crimper right here to start place a tool on a solid work surface lift the handle insert the wire lug with the top of the lug facing the thumb adjuster and the bottom of the lug facing the punch then push down on the handle this will drive the punch into the bottom of the lug and curve the top of the lug making a strong connection that can withstand a very heavy Force to accommodate different size wire lugs use a thumb screw to slide the mechanism to the correct gauge as indicated on the side of the tool now when it comes to ferals you can buy crimpers that crimp ferrules into square hexagonal or trapezoid shapes this is helpful because for certain connections like the mppt charge controller the receiving terminals are squared shaped which would best accommodate a ferrule that is crimped into a squared shape now let's take a step back a wire ferrule is a thin metal tube that slides onto your stranded wire it can also be insulated like these ferrules right here the purpose of ferals is to clean up the wire ends which allows for a safer and cleaner install because it prevents straight wires going into the wrong terminal and causing a short in the system simply place all the stranded wire ends into the ferrule place the metal tube into the ferrule crimper and squeeze the handles note that the ferrule gauge must be the same gauge as the wire and the stripped wire end should run the full length of the ferrule this feral crimper is good for wires 8 gauge to 12 gauge and it came with a pack of ferrules that I was able to use for my 120 volt AC wires when wiring the distribution panel the last thing I will say about ferrules is actually a direct quote from Nate at explorers.life he says that a ferrule is a tool and not a necessity so if it is hindering more than it is helping it does not need to be used you will see during the install there are times when I use ferals in times when I did not many times I did not use the ferrules provided because there were six gauge ferrules and unfortunately this feral crimper tool does not accommodate six gauge ferrules other times ferals were not used because it added too much bulk or it didn't fit into terminals so I opted for Bare wire instead the last crimper I'll mention is specific for mc4 connections made on your solar panel wires it has a tooth design that folds the metal connector into itself making a tight crimp when crimping any connection make sure the wire is fully in the lug and doesn't fall out during the crimp and make sure all the stranded wire is in the connector to prevent a safety issue to easily add the wire into a connector simply twist the stranded wire ends together and slide it into the connector also for a wire run with a wire lug on both sides make sure the wire lugs are facing the same direction for an easier installation for crimping connections throughout this install you will need all the crimpers that I mentioned to finish the connection use a heat gun to melt the heat activated adhesive on the heat shrink so it conforms to the barrel of the wire lug or ferrule and the wire itself once you see glue coming out of both sides you know it is applied correctly this seals off the connection from moisture and can help strengthen the bond with the Explorer's life wiring kits they provide heat shrink that does fit over the wire lugs so you can add the heat shrink itself to the wire after a wire lug has been crimped onto it but if this was not the case you would want to put the heat shrink on The Wire before crimping on a wire lug after you have measured cut stripped crimped and heat shrinked your wire wipe down all the wire lugs with rubbing alcohol and a cloth to clean up any dirt and grime buildup to provide a better electrical connection now I will touch on two devices that are essential for your safety to troubleshoot the system and to test for reverse polarity these two devices are a multimeter and an ac voltage detector the multimeter serves several functions but for this install I will be using it to test voltage throughout my install the multimeter comes with two test leads a black one that always goes into the negative or com labeled Port of the multimeter and a red one that is positive and goes into the input or the port labeled for whatever you are testing for on the multimeter the V with a straight line above it is for DC voltage which can be used to test the voltage of a battery or solar panel and the V with a squiggly line above it is for ac voltage which can test the voltage of a standard household Outlet to turn it on turn the dial to what you are testing for in this case I will turn it to V for voltage once turned on don't let the two test leads come in contact with one another and do not touch the metal prongs of the test leads when measuring voltage because you will get shocked at that voltage and personally I have no desire to learn what 120 volts would feel like not only does this device tell you the voltage but it also tells you what is positive and negative see here I am placing the red test lead to the red terminal on my battery and the black test lead to the black terminal of the battery and it tells me a voltage note that even though my batteries are 12 volts numerically the battery and other items can vary slightly and a 13 to 14 Volt reading is pretty common now if I switch the test leads to go on the opposite colors black to red and red to Black you will still get a voltage reading but it will have a negative sign at the start which indicates reverse polarity now the ac voltage detector is pretty straightforward if it comes in contact or even near 120 volt current it beeps to let you know not to touch that connection the last tool I would recommend for this install is a label maker a label maker is important for labeling the breakers and fuses and the distribution panels so you know what the wire run is for also you'll want other tools and material handy which includes but is not limited to a half inch a 9 16 inch and a 5 16 inch wrench and sockets a torque wrench small and large flat head and Phillips head screwdrivers a drill an impact driver hole saws needle nose pliers a one inch step bit 3M VHB double-sided tape Rust-Oleum stop rust clean metal primer and protective enamel foam brush and so forth hopefully you found this section to be helpful I will be linking all of those tools Down Below in the description box for you to go and purchase and yes I know the cost of tools can add up very quickly but these are really critical so you can make good solid long-lasting connections that aren't going to cause a safety issue that you won't have to troubleshoot your entire system to find that one bad connection and honestly it's just gonna make this whole process go by a lot smoother if you have the right tools so do it right the first time so you don't have to worry about it down the road now that you know what tools are needed for this install I want to quickly cover five fyis to help you throughout the install then we will begin wiring the system number one the wire gauge is almost always printed on The Wire insulation along with other information like the temperature rating and type of wire so when you are referencing the paper in the Explorer's life all in one wiring kit you can be sure you are choosing the right wire to work with number two the wire lug sizes are imprinted on The Wire lugs the first number will be the wire gauge it is meant for and a second number will be the diameter of the hole on the lug for a bolt to fit into it so this 4 up by 5 16 inch wire lug means it goes on four odd wire and will fit on a 5 16 inch Bolt number three when you fasten any connection with a wire lug the wire lug must be making direct contact to the electrical component for example never ever put a washer between a wire lug and another electrical component like a battery terminal or the lynx distributor bus bars because the washer will interfere with the flow of electricity and end up melting things in your system also note that the lock washers will always be placed below the head of a bolt or before a nut with a washer on the other side to protect the wire lug or other electrical terminal additionally all the connections in this install has a recommended torque spec listed by the manufacturer that should be followed for every connection torque specifications ensure a safe and effective install if a connection is too tight or too loose it can cause unwanted and unsafe heat which could melt components or start a fire also when you add the mega fuses to the lynx distributor remove all the hardware on the middle stud except the last piece which is a nut the mega fuse will rest on top of that nut number four if you purchase victron Bluetooth components download The victron Connect app which will allow you to Monitor and control components of your electrical system via Bluetooth when you are in range also I would highly recommend reading through the victron wiring unlimited book which I have linked below because it has a lot of great information lastly number five I would highly recommend ordering the main components directly from battleborn because they will program your entire system before sending it to you so you can ensure everything is set to the correct parameters and you don't need to figure it out on your own and a couple bonus fyis because why not make sure whenever you are installing your electrical system there is good ventilation to prevent the units from overheating to achieve this drill holes in the enclosure install a vent or install a 12 volt fan inside the enclosure that you can turn on and lastly when you feed wires into a terminal make sure there is no wire insulation in a terminal which will affect the electrical connection and can potentially melt the connection due to added heat and do not have bare uninsulated wire outside of the terminal which can cause a safety concern like electrocution and a short circuit now that you have those fyis to reference it's time to wire the battery Bank my battery bank will consist of four 100 amp 12 volt lithium deep cycle batteries that I purchased from battleborn to wire the batteries together I am using the explorest life battery Bank wiring kit which includes everything you need to wire up to six batteries with four op wire it includes five feet of red four out wire 5 feet of black four out wire twenty four up by 5 16 inch wire lugs 10 pieces of black one inch heat shrink and 10 pieces of red one inch heat shrink to start measure and cut seven inch long pieces of wire from each five foot section of red and black pour out wire this is a good length of wire to connect one 100 amp battleborn battery to another 100 amp battleborn battery when they are positioned side by side since I have four batteries I only need three black and three red seven inch four out wires explorest.life intentionally provides extra wire in this kit in case you are using different batteries or a different wiring configuration next strip back 7 8 of an inch of insulation on both ends of the seven inch wires then crimp the four off by 5 16 inch wire lugs onto the ends of each wire once the lugs are cramped securely on the wire ends add the adhesive heat shrink to both ends with a heat gun now the wires are cut stripped crimped and heat string together it's time to clean off the wire lugs and battery terminals with rubbing alcohol and a cloth to remove any dirt or Grime buildup to provide a better electrical connection finally bolt everything together with the hardware included with each battleborn battery which includes stainless steel bolts washers and nylon nuts which help to reduce the chances of the connection becoming loose you will notice that the hardware includes two longer bolts and two shorter bolts personally I use the two shorter bolts focus on wearing one side of the battery being first before wiring the other side the red wire goes on the red positive battery terminals and the black wires go on the black negative battery terminals the install goes Bolt washer battery terminal wire log washer and nylon nut after hand tightening the bolts and nuts go back through and tighten all the connections if you have a torque wrench bring the connections up to battleborn's recommended torque spec of 11 foot pounds every battery manufacturer has their own torque specifications so if you are using a different brand be sure to check the manual for Direction for battery terminals that get two wire lugs both lugs should go on the same side of the battery terminal so the current can easily go from one wire to the other instead of having all the power jumped through the terminal also be sure the wire lugs are flat to one another and the terminals any gaps will create unwanted and unsafe Heat there are four correct ways to connect battleborn batteries according to the victron wiring unlimited book but this configuration tends to be the easiest and cleanest now that the battery bank is wired it's time to connect that to the victron lynx distributor here are the components needed for this part of the install the victron lynx distributor victron BMV 712 battery monitor and the Explorer's life links Distributor wiring kit which includes five feet of red 4 ought wire five feet of black four out wire four four ah and 5 16 inch wire lugs two four odd and 3 8 inch wire lugs four one inch red heat shrink two one inch black heat shrink 1 18 to 22 gauge butt splice connector a pair of lynx adapters a blue c Master battery disconnect switch a 400 amp ANL fuse a blue c a l fuse holder shunt and switch spacers and assorted screws to mount the Link's distributor shunt Master disconnect switch and ANL fuse holder in place to start grab the shunt from the victron BMV 712 battery monitor box and the shunt mounting hardware from the Explorers life links Distributor wiring kit temporarily Mount the shunt in place to take a measurement with the negative black 4 out wire that will run from the shunt to the furthest negative battery terminal since wires exiting the battery Bank should be on opposite ends of the battery Bank make a mark on The Wire so you know where to cut then cut strip crimp and heat shrink a 4 off by 5 16 inch wire lug onto the end of The Wire that will attach to the battery Bank and A4 off by 3 8 inch wire log onto the end that will attach to the shunt next is the positive wire that goes from the battery Bank to the lynx distributor before the positive wire gives to the lynx distributor it has to go through the main system fuse as well as the main battery disconnect switch so I started measuring cutting stripping crimping and heat shrinking lugs onto the four odd wire the battery end and ANL fuse connections get a 4 off by 5 16 inch wire lug and the end connecting to the battery disconnect switch it's a 4 off by 3 8 inch wire lug it is important that both of these wire runs have an identical linear distance from one side to the other taking into account the fuse shunt and master switch so that the battery Bank drains and charges evenly next clean all the wire lugs with alcohol and a cloth then it's time to begin mounting and connecting all the components when mounting the shunt the orientation of the unit does indeed matter there is a battery side and a load and charger side of the shunt as indicated on the side of the unit Mount the load and charger side in the direction of where the lynx distributor will be mounted for connection later remember to apply the shunt spacers between the shunt and wall once the shunt is mounted connect the negative wire with a 3 8 inch wire lug to the battery side of the shunt and the Order of bolt lock washer washer wire lug then shunt then connect the other end of the negative wire to the furthest negative battery Bank terminal by loosening the current connection and adding the wire lug flat against the other lug for a solid and safe electrical connection thus it will go bolt washer battery terminal battery negative wire log shunt negative wire lug washer lock washer and nut clean up the connection by adding zip ties to the negative wire run from the shunt to the negative wires connecting the battery Bank then add a lynx adapter to the load and charger side of the shunt in the following order bolt lock washer washer Lynx adapter then shunt for the positive wire connection remove the back cover on the master disconnect switch and loosen the two nuts with a 9 16 inch wrench for the side of the switch that will connect to the lynx distributor add the lynx adapter on the other side add the positive wire with the 3 8 inch wire lug that will run to the ANL fuse holder you can ignore the input and output writing on the back of the master switch as it does not matter what side you use for either connection then tighten the nuts back on and add the back cover to the switch next loosen a nut on the fuse holder with a half inch wrench and add the 5 16 inch wire lug onto one of the outside studs then tighten the nut back on from there use the ANL fuse holder mounting hardware from the Explorer's life Lynx Distributor wiring kit to secure the unit to the wall to mount the disconnect switch use the long screws and spacers from the Explorer's life links Distributor wiring kit remember to put the spacers between the switch and wall the spacers for both the switch and shunt help to push the unit off the wall enough to sit flush with the lynx distributor bus bars for a seamless connection to the lynx adapters on the opposite end of the fuse holder add the other positive wires 5 16 inch wire lug then run the opposite end of the wire to the nearest positive battery terminal there will likely be excess wire because as I mentioned earlier the linear distance of the positive and negative connection needed to be identical so just coil up the excess wire to keep it semi-organized and out of the way then I prepared the lynx distributor for mounting by removing the black and red end caps over the bus bars and unscrewing the lid to expose the four mounting points to fasten the unit to the wall with the lynx distributor mounting hardware from the Explorer's life Lynx Distributor wiring kit once mounted connect the lynx adapters to the lynx distributor the shunt links adapter goes to the negative bus bar of the lynx distributor and the master switch links adapter goes to the positive bus bar of the lynx distributor the order will go bolt washer links adapter links distributor washer lock washer and nut tighten the connection with a half inch wrench and socket now it's time to grab the power wire from the BMV 712 box to wire it to the lynx distributor and shunt this wire will power the computer board on the shunt for the BMV 712 battery monitor that also sends power to the display gauge use a 5 16 inch wrench or socket to loosen the lynx distributor Hardware on the furthest top right stud then connect the ring terminal end of the wire to that stud connecting it here will allow the power to the BMV 712 to be disconnected when the main system switch is turned off if you want the BMV 712 to stay on all the time you'll want to connect this wire somewhere on the battery side of the switch personally I like the option of being able to turn off the entire system with no loads running and that is why I am wiring it this way re-fasten the washer lock washer and nut to the stud over the ring terminal with the 5 16 inch wrench or socket as you can see this power cord is way too long for this application and that is why explorers.life has included the butt splice connector and their Lynx Distributor wiring kit so the wire can be cut down to a more appropriate length put the power cord after the fuse which is this black object then strip the wire end and crimp on the butt splice connector repeat those steps on the other half of the wire that was cut and finish by heat shrinking the bust splice connector from there I ran the power cord through the lynx distributor and plugged the ferrule end into the B1 terminal of the shunt which is the terminal closest to the battery side of the shunt next grab the white data cable and the BMV 712 box connect one end to the shunt and the other end to the back of the battery monitor display which is also found in the BMV 712 box to mount the monitor use a 2 and 1 8 inch hole saw to drill a hole in the wall or Cabinetry that you plan on mounting it to Slide the monitor into the hole and screw the back ring back on the monitor to secure it in place a face plate is also provided with the unit if you'd like to use that as well lastly Bolt the 400 amp main fuse onto the two inside studs of the fuse holder then you can turn on the master battery switch which will send power to the BMV 712 battery monitor display oh my gosh we have power oh my gosh that's so cool oh my goodness at this point open The victron Connect app update the smart BMV firmware and change the parameters to match your system to finish I fastened the lynx distributor cover back into place and added the fuse holder cover on after bending one of the side flaps off for my wire to fit underneath it now that the battery bank is wired to the lynx distributor it is time to connect the chassis ground from the body of the van to the lynx distributor for this section of the install I am using the explores life chassis ground wiring kit which includes five feet of black pour out wire two four up by 5 16 inch wire lugs two one inch black heat shrink a 5 16 inch 18th thread by one inch hex bolt a 5 16 inch 18 thread hex nut and a 5 16 inch flat washer lock washer and serrated washer the chassis ground must be connected to the metal body of the van you can achieve this by drilling a hole into a body's Fork rib with a 5 16 inch drill bit or by using holes already provided in the van I am using this hole built into the rib of my promaster's wheel well therefore I made this part of the connection prior to primarily installing the electrical box to begin cut strip crimp and heat shrink the four off by 5 16 inch wire lugs onto both ends of the chassis ground wire and wipe down the wire lugs with rubbing alcohol in the cloth to install the wire lug to the body of the van it goes Bolt washer wire lug serrated washer van body washer lock washer and nut then tighten the connection with a half inch wrench and socket it is important that this connection is touching the bare metal of the fan that is why explorist.life provides a serrated washer which helps to cut through the van paint otherwise you'd have to scrape the paint off of the van in that specific location before making the connection from there I fed the chassis ground wire into its designated hole on the electrical box and bent it up to connect it to the front of the lynx adapter where it connects to the negative bus bar of the lynx distributor the order goes Bolt washer wire lug Lynx adapter Lynx distributor washer lock washer and nut then tighten the connection with a half inch wrench and socket the purpose of this connection is to provide a return loop back to the battery Bank to complete the circuit and blow the main fuse if there is a direct short with a chassis thus protecting the electrical system therefore according to abyc standards the chassis ground wire can be no smaller than one size smaller than the biggest wire in the entire system since the other connections are using four uh wire this means the Trashy ground could be no smaller than three odds but as explorist.life shares they provide for Aunt for the sake of consolidating wires and lugs now that the chassis ground is wired to the lynx distributor it is time to wire the victron multi-plus inverter charger to the lynx distributor for this part of the install I have my victron Multiplex inverter charger that I purchased from battleborn the victron ve bus smart dongle and RJ45 UTP data cable from explorers.life and the explores life multi-plus wiring kit which includes 4 ought red wire for op black wire six four off by 5 16 inch wire lugs two one inch red heat shrink four one inch black key shrink a 400 amp Mega fuse and the inverter charger mounting screws Begin by mounting the multi-plus backer plate to the wall with the five wood screws from the Explorer's life multi-plus wiring kit then hang the multi-plus by lining up the lip on the back of the unit to the flared tabs on the backer plate push the unit down to make sure it is completely on the plate then use the two pan head screws from the Explorer's life multi-plus wiring kit to screw in the bottom of the multi-plus on the left and right side personally I knew this would make a tight fit for me to add wires throughout the install if I mounted it now so I secured the multi-plus to the wall permanently after connecting all the wires to the unit at this point make sure the master battery disconnect switch is off then remove the links distributor cover and the multi-plus front panel to review the computer board also pull off these black separator flaps on the lynx distributor to just get them out of the way they simply snap in and out of place then measure cut strip crimp and heat shrink the four out wires that will go from the lynx distributor to the multi-plus this includes a positive wire a negative wire and an equipment ground wire all of which have four op by 5 16 inch wire lugs clean the wire lugs with a cloth and rubbing alcohol connect the equipment ground wire to the stud on the bottom of the multi-plus inverter charger with the order going multi-plus serrated washer wire lug washer lock washer and nut and tighten the connection with a 9 16 inch wrench or socket then connect the positive and negative wires to the positive and negative battery studs on the victron multi-plus inverter charger remove the hardware from the studs feed the wire up the bottom opening of the multi-plus and add the wire lug and Hardware back on the stud in order of multi-plus lug washer lock washer nut and tighten the connection with a 9 16 inch wrench or socket the other end of the equipment ground wire will go on the center stud of the negative bus bar and the lynx distributor after removing the stud Hardware you will notice a ring terminal on the stud that is part of the lynx distributor remove the ring terminal before adding the equipment ground wire lug and direct contact with the negative bus bar so the order will go Lynx distributor negative bus bar equipment ground wire lug ring terminal washer lock washer and nut and tighten the connection with a 9 16 inch wrench or socket the other end of the negative wire will go on the left most stud of the lynx distributor's negative bus bar remove the stud Hardware add the wire lug directly to the negative buzzbar and re-fasten the washer lock washer and snap and tighten the connection with a 9 16 inch wrench or socket remove the hardware on the two studs directly above the negative wire add the 400 amp Mega fuse to those two studs after cleaning it with rubbing alcohol then add the other end of the positive wire on top of the fuse on the lower stud that the fuse is resting on and re-fasten the washer lock washer and snap with a 9 16 inch wrench or socket now it's time to wire the ve bus smart dongle to the multi-plus so I can turn the unit on and off from my phone and set proper Shore power input current limits when I'm in Bluetooth range using a tiny and I mean tiny flathead screwdriver secure the red wire ferrule to the battery positive terminal and the black wire ferrule to the battery negative terminal of the ve bus smart dongle then connect the positive wire lug to a positive terminal of the victron multi-plus and the negative wire log to a negative terminal of the multi-plus and if you haven't caught on yet it goes multi-plus wire lug washer lock washer nut and Titan with a 9 16 inch wrench or socket plug one side of the RJ45 UTP cable into the ve bus smart dongle wipe down the bottom of the multi-plus with a cloth and alcohol pull off the double-sided safe cover on the bottom of the Fe bus smart dongle and stick it to the bottom side of the victron multi-plus feed the other end of the RJ45 UTP cable up into the multi-plus and plug it into one of the two ve bus ports on the far left side at this point go ahead and turn on the master battery disconnect switch to deliver 12 volt DC power to the multi-plus then turn the multi-plus switch up to on you should hear the multi-plus kick on and see a green light now open your victron Connect app click on the ve bus smart device which is the multiplex inverter charger update the firmware if necessary and then you will see you are connected and that the inverter is converting 12 volts DC to 120 volts ac you can use the app to turn the multi-plus off and on as well as set the shore power input current limits which tells the multi-plus what amperage of shore power that you're connected to so that the multi-plus doesn't pull more than that preset amount so you won't accidentally trip the shore power breaker the multi-plus will pull any overages from the battery Bank this is called power assist now because I purchased everything from battleborn they already programmed my entire system for me but if you need to program your multi-plus you'll need to use a victron MK3 USB dongle that you'll connect to a laptop or an Android phone and the end of the RJ45 UTP cable that was plugged into the ve bus smart dongle to set up your system on The victron Connect app you will see a multi-plus option appear on the app that you'll then click and use the password zzz if and only if you are a trained victron professional not the victron multi-plus inverter charger is wired to the lynx distributor it is time to wire the multi-plus to the 120 volt AC distribution panel here are the components used in this section of the install the 120 volt AC distribution panel from explorist.life and the Explorers life 120 volt AC distribution panel wiring kit which includes six gauge Triplex wire six six gauge enslaved ferrules one one inch black heat shrink a 50 amp Square D home main breaker a wire gland and screws to mount the panel before getting started make sure the master battery disconnects switch and multi-plus is turned off you can test the multi-plus with the multimeter or 120 volt detector to make extra sure it is safe to work on to start strip back four inches of the six three wire sheath and remove the added strings in the coil leaving just the black green and white wire then add one inch black heat shrink to the wire to clean up the edge and add some protection next remove the center wire gland from the multi-plus to add it to the six three wire at the bottom of the wire gland to the six three wire first then the middle section of the gland screw the two pieces together leaving no gaps you will feel resistance because the teeth of the middle section of the wire gland are being pinched inward to make a tight connection around the wire you may need to grab some vice grips to tie in it completely then measure Mark and strip back about 5 8 of an inch on all three wires and cramp on a six gauge enslated ferrule onto each wire end it is crucial that these three wires are the same exact length for installation in the multi-plus terminals having the wires at different lengths will make it challenging and potentially impossible to add all three wires properly feed the 6-3 wire and wire gland back into the multi-plus and add the top piece of the wire gland back over the wires and screw it onto the middle part of the wire gland to help hold everything in place for the time being using needle nose pliers guide the three wires into place the black wire into the line terminal white wire to the neutral terminal and a green wire to the Ground Terminal once the wires are in the terminals tighten the terminal screw with a Phillips head tool finish tightening up the wire gland by hand the best you can then I carefully use a flathead screwdriver to continue tightening the connection now it is time to prep the 120 volt AC distribution panel flip the unit over and use a box cutter to cut away the large hole fasten the wire gland from Explorer's life 120 volt AC distribution panel wiring kit into the hole start by hand tightening the connection and finish with a vice grip to make sure it is installed all the way from there stretch the six three wire from the multi-plus to the 120 volt AC distribution panel area cut it to length strip back the sheath remove the extra string and the wire coil and add a one inch black heat shrink to the wire Edge to clean up the cup this heat shrink was left over from the battery Bank kit but isn't necessary if you don't have any leftovers like I did then feed the 6'3 wire into the cable entry gland of the distribution panel and feed your 120 volt AC Branch circuits that you ran during pre-wearing into the distribution box all the branch circuit wires are labeled accordingly so I know which wire run is for which Circuit of outlets at this point I took a picture of the wires in the distribution box so I'd have that to reference when it came time to label each breaker at this point I stripped back the insulation for each Triplex wire you'll notice this breaker box has two sides for this application we will only be using one side as the other side is reserved for campers with 50 amp Shore power service with two hot legs incoming or for powering circuits from the multi-plus AC out to which is for circuits only powered when Shore power is connected then I inserted the 50 amp Square D home main breaker on the back bottom of Breakers there is a notch that will sit on the middle lip of the distribution panel and a slot on the back top of the breaker to slide onto the positive bus bar post of the distribution panel simply line up the bottom of the breaker first then tilt the breaker up to secure the top half to the positive bus bar post grab the securing bracket that is taped inside the distribution panel and screw it into place with a screw from the Explorer's life 120 volt AC distribution panel wiring kit to the top of the breaker box part of the bracket will lay on top of the main breaker to help hold it in place then I begin stripping and crimping ferrules onto all the triplex wire ends for my Outlets again the ferrule crimping tool I purchased came with a pack of ferrules so I use those to clean up the wire ends and to prevent a short in the system ferals aren't a requirement so if you don't have any just twist the ends of your wires and make sure all the stranded wire goes in only one terminal to prevent a short in the system I focused on the green wires first which go into the ground bus far and the back of the distribution box and then the white wires that go into the neutral bus bar at the front of the distribution box focusing on one color at a time helps to stay organized then I stripped and crimped the black wires to feed into the bottom of their respective Breakers since only one side of the distribution box can be used for this application I purchased tandem Breakers which allows me to have up to eight total circuits since tandem Breakers are designed to allow two 120 volt circuits on the same breaker eight 120 volt circuits should be plenty for any van build these 20 amp Square D home tandem Breakers can be purchased separately from explorist.life the black wire ferrules will go into the respective breaker terminals on the bottom simply apply the ferrule and the terminal and fasten the screw lastly strip and crimp the six gauge insulated ferrules from the Explorer's life 120 volt AC distribution panel wiring kit onto the ends of the six three wires since I didn't have the right crimping tool for six gauge ferrules I decided to skip the ferrule and use the bare metal wire for my connection but if you have the right tool I definitely recommend using the ferrules provided again the green wire goes on the ground bus bar in the back the white wire goes to the neutral bus bar in the front and the black wire goes into the 50 amp main breaker now the distribution box and distribution panel lid can be screwed down with the hardware provided and the explores life 120 volts ac distribution panel wiring kit to start add screws around the perimeter of the distribution box and except for the four corners for the distribution Panel LED to sit flush to the distribution box remove some of the back covers on the lid where you have Breakers to do so I use the Klein 63030 coaxial cutters simply line the tool up on the crease and squeeze the black piece should pop right off now the lid will sit flush on the distribution panel box and the holes on the four corners of the lid will line up with the four holes in the corner of the distribution box apply the screws in each corner to open the lid push down on the little window and it will pop open giving visibility to the main breaker and each circuit breaker grab the label maker and create detailed labels for each breaker indicating what that breaker is powering now it is time to test a 120 volt AC circuit to do so I wired an outlet plugged in a phone charger to the outlet turned on the master battery disconnect switch turned on the multi-plus turned on the 120 volt 50 amp main breaker and the 20 amp 120 volt breaker for that specific wire run and we have power now that the 120 volts ac distribution panel is wired to the multiplus it is time to wire for Shore power for this section of the install I am using the explorerslife 30 amp Shore power wiring kit which includes 10 gauge Triplex wire three 10 gauge ferrules a 30 amp Shore power Inlet and a mounting hardware of four number eight by one inch stainless steel machine screws number eight stainless washers and number eight stainless Nylock nuts I also purchased the 30 amp Shore power cord and 15 amp to 30 amp adapter from explorist.life so first up for your Shore power is determining the location I know that I want to put it on the driver's side wall in the very back next to my electrical box so that the wires can easily feed into my electrical system that this will be housing so you got to make sure that you're considering both of what's on the inside of your van and the outside of your van meaning there's trim on the bat on the outside of your van do you want to drill through that there's flaps right here on the inside of your van you don't want to drill through or hit so you got to really make sure that you're choosing a good location so I've decided to put my Shore power right here and what I've been noticing is that this lift right here on the van that's above this black vent this is where the trim on the outside of your van stops and then you can feel a little bit indent as you go up more you can also see that indent on the outside of your van as well so I'm aiming to get it between that so it's on a nice flat and smooth surface as you've seen me do in previous videos I always use painters tape when cutting into the metal just so I can protect my band from these scratches from any paint peeling off and things like that so go ahead and tape up that area that you're going to be drilling your hole for your short power in foreign and like I mentioned earlier about the trim piece and The Edge on the inside of your band this is what I was talking to was this black section so where that lip is is this line right there so again I'm putting it above that but below this indent on the wall so right here I am using a 1 8 drill bit to drill from the inside of my van to start with a pilot hole exactly where I want the shore power reason I'm doing it on the inside is so I know that it's not going to be hitting or being obstructed by anything already on the inside of my van and I'm going to be holding a vacuum hose up while I do that hole just to catch any small metal shavings that are going to be created from this pre-drill so that it's not loose in my van causing rust now I'm going to tape a cardboard box to the outside of the van just to catch those male shavings when I go to drill with the whole and I'm also taping a box on the inside of the van again to catch those metal shavings metal shavings and this in your van are not good they will cause rust so you want to make sure that you don't leave any behind and they are so small that they fly around and they move around and then it's hard to clean them all up all the time so that is why I always tape boxes to wherever I'm cutting into the van just so I can try and catch those and eliminate them from going freely in the van so now I'm using a 2 and 7 8 inch hole saw don't forget to wear your glasses safety glasses and then drill away place the drill bit of the hole saw into the pre-drilled hole the drill bit in the middle helps to keep the hole soft When jumping around for a successful cut keep the hole saw straight and level with little to no movement and now I'm just using some double-sided tape to hold this up on the van right here so that I can drill the pilot holes for the screws that go into this and to make sure it's nice and level you can measure on the van so up to your trim piece there and right there and that'll also help you to get nice and squared and leveled open it and then you're going to pre-drill in those four corners with um an eighth inch drill bit and now you can take that off and then I'm going to use a metal file to clean up these sharp edges and now it's time for your Rust-Oleum stop rust clean metal primer and your Rust-Oleum stop rust protective enamel that I find easiest to apply with a foam brush keeping the paint here in the Box on the inside just to catch any drips that might happen so do the primer first wait for it to dry for 15 minutes and then do the protective now I'm going to remove the tape and the cardboard box on the inside vacuum up anything that might have fallen inside the van and then we're going to start wiring the short power another place I see people install their Shore power Inlet is here on the black trim piece on the van bumper this is where I wanted to install it originally but I kind of forgot about it and just installed it on the side of my van which isn't a big deal but if I would have done it on the trim in the back it Blends into the van more instead of standing out like it does on mine to begin wiring the shore power Inlet remove the retaining clip on the back cover it is secured with two Phillips head screws then feed the 10-3 wire through the back cover of the inlet next strip back two and a half inches of the triplex wire outer sheath and three quarter inch off the end of the three individual wires because ferrules won't fit into the shore power Inlet terminals twist the ends of the bare stranded wires to feed it into the respective terminals the terminals on the inlet are far enough apart that the chances of stray wires going from one side to the other causing a short is slim to none before adding the wires unscrew the three retaining screws on the side of the shore power Inlet to make sure the terminal is open to receive the wire now you can insert the three wires into the color-coded shore power Inlet the black wire goes into the black terminal white wire to the white terminal and a green wire to the green terminal to hold the wires in place re-tighten the three wire retaining screws on the side of the shore power Inlet if you have an impact driver the recommended torque spec for these screws is 20 inch pounds make sure there is no wire insulation in the terminals which would create a poor electrical connection from there Slide the back of the shore power Inlet up the wire the side with the retaining clip area will face down then re-fasten the retaining clip back into place now it's time to fasten the shore power Inlet to the van carefully feed the 10-3 wire into the hole you drilled from the outside of the van then add the four one inch stainless steel machine screws into the four corners of the shore power Inlet on the inside of the van add the washers and nylon nuts to all four screws and tighten the four connections an 11 32 inch socket worked for me as you can tell I did this part of the shore power install prior to permanently installing my electrical box so before moving the box into place I fed the triplex wire into its designated hole on the box now all that is left is to connect the other end of the 10 3 Triplex wire to the multi-plus so strip back about three inches of the outer sheath and then strip about half an inch of insulation on the three individual wires crimp the 10 gauge ferrules provided in the Explorer's life 30 amp Shore power wiring kit onto each wire end remove the left cable entry gland on the bottom of the multi-plus feed the bottom section and middle section of the cable entry gland over the 10-3 wires and tighten the two pieces together feed the three wires and cable entry gland back into the left Port of the multi-plus bottom remember to add the top disk of the cable entry gland over the wires and screw it onto the bottom half of the cable entry gland start by hand tightening the connection then carefully use a flathead screwdriver to tighten it further lastly feed the three wires into the respective terminals black wire to the line terminal white wire to the neutral terminal and green wire to the Ground Terminal tighten the terminal screws with a Phillips head tool to secure the wires in the terminals now the shore power Inlet is ready to be used turn on the master battery disconnect switch plug the 30 amp Shore power cord into your Van's Shore power Inlet and tighten the head of the cord around the inlet which secures the cord in place then plug the 30 amp Shore power cord into a 30 amp Shore power inlet at a campground if you are plugging into a standard 15 amp household Outlet use the 15 amp to 30 amp adapter to do so open The victron Connect app and turn on the multi-plus inverter charger now you should see the multi-plus start charging the shore power will charge your batteries and power the 120 volt loads running in the van any leftover power will go on to charge the batteries now that we can power our 120 volt loads directly from Shore power and charge our 12 volt DC battery Bank from 120 volt Shore power it's time to wire the 12 volt DC distribution panel here are the components for this part of the install the 12 volt DC distribution panel from explorers.life and the Explorer's life 12 volt distribution panel wiring kit which includes six gauge red wire six gauge black wire two six Gauge by 5 16 inch wire lugs two six gauge insulated ferrules one half inch red heat shrink one half inch black heat shrink a 100 AMP Mega fuse and the 12 volt distribution panel mounting hardware to start measure cut strip crimp and heat shrink the wires that go from building's distributor to the 12 volt distribution panel both the positive and negative wires get a six Gauge by 5 16 inch wire lug on one side and a six gauge ferrule on the other side between both wire locks with rubbing alcohol and a cloth to facilitate a better electrical connection make sure the master battery disconnect switch is off then remove the lynx distributor Hardware from a remaining negative bus bar stud connect the negative wire lug to the negative bus bar of the victron lynx distributor and replace the washer lock washer and nut and tighten the connection with a 9 16 inch wrencher socket remove the lynx distributor Hardware on the two studs above the negative wire add the 100 AMP Mega fuse to those two studs after wiping it down with a cloth and rubbing alcohol then add the positive wire lug on the lower stud that the fuse is resting on refasten the hardware on both studs going washer lock washer and nut then tie in with a 9 16 inch wrench or socket now stretch those two wires to the 12 volt distribution panel area for later and begin wiring the 12 volt branch circuit wires that you have run through your van as part of your pre-wiring strip back about eight inches of each wire's outer sheath and then strip a quarter inch of insulation from each individual wire the negative wires go on the negative bus bar and the positive wires go on the positive bus bar each positive wire gets its own terminal but the negative wires can share a negative terminal if needed I am not using ferrules on these wires because it adds too much bulk remember what Nate says ferals are a tool and not a requirement so if they're hindering more than they are helping they don't need to be used instead twist the wire ends and make sure each stranded wire is going in the proper terminal and fasten each Wire by screwing the terminal screw again make sure there is no insulation in the terminal which will affect the electrical connection now if you need help determining what type and gauge wire you need for a 12 volt Branch circuits check out my last video where I walk you through that process step by step also keep in mind that the thickest wire you can use in this distribution panel is 10 gauge wire then connect the negative and positive wires from the victron lynx distributor to their respective spots on a 12 volt distribution panel negative wire to the negative bus bar and the positive wire to the positive terminal at the bottom again I didn't use the six gauge ferrules because I don't have the proper tool but if you do definitely add the ferrules for those two connections then the 12 volts DC distribution panel can be screwed into place with the hardware and the explores life 12 volt DC distribution panel wiring kit now add the ATC blade fuses to the front of the 12 volt distribution panel and their respective terminals you will notice numbers along the side of each fuse holder which references the numbers on the back of the 12 volt distribution panel bus bars this will help you make sure that each fuse is going in the right place to determine what size blade fuse to use in the 12 volt DC distribution panel userexplorest.life fuse calculator that I have linked below you will need to know the amps of each 12 volt item you are powering off of your electrical system also note that this 12 volt DC distribution panel requires only ATC fuses I have linked the fuses I used below lastly grab the label maker and make detailed labels for each circuit to go on the lid of the 12 volt distribution panel the numbers on the lid refer to the fuse and bus bar numbers for reference Slide the 12 volt distribution panel lid onto the 12 volt distribution panel box to test the 12 volt wiring turn on the master battery disconnect switch and test a 12 volt circuit oh my gosh oh my gosh this is so cool now that we have wired the 12 volt distribution panel it's time to wire this system for solar charging this step will consist of three separate sections in this section we will be wearing the victron smart solar mppt charge controller to the victron lynx distributor here are the components for this part of the install the victron smart solar mppt 150 Solar charge controller that I purchased from battleborn and the Explorer's life victron smart solar and PPT 130 wiring kit which includes six gauge black wire six gauge red wire two six gauge ferrules three six Gauge by 5 16 inch wire lugs a 6 gauge by quarter inch wire lug two half inch red heat shrink four half inch black heat shrink a 60 amp Mega fuse and the victron smart solar mppt mounting hardware now for the remainder of the video you will see me wearing this 150 mppt charge controller but I have since purchased a larger mppt charge controller rated 150 45 because my solar panel wattage was too high for the 150. now I could have reward my solar panels and parallel and the 150 mppt charge controller would have worked but I didn't want to do that so I just upgraded to a bigger charge controller it is the same exact install process so back to the video to start measure cut strip crimp and heat shrink a six Gauge by 5 16 inch wire lug and a six Gauge by a quarter inch wire lug onto the ends of the black equipment ground wire that will connect the mppt charge controller to the multi-plus remember to clean the wire Logs with rubbing alcohol and a cloth connect the quarter inch wire lug on the equipment ground wire to the stud on the side of the mppt charge controller with a Phillips head tool in order of bolt lock washer washer wire lug serrated washer and charge controller next use the four 14 by three quarter inch pan head screws from the Explorer's life and PPT charge controller wiring kit to mount the charge controller in place now the other end of the equipment ground wire needs to be connected somewhere with a clear path back to the negative bus bar of the lynx distributor since all the spots on the lynx distributor are taken connect the equipment ground wire from the mppt charge controller to the bottom stud of the multi-plus you may recall we already wired an equipment ground wire to this stud when we were connecting the multi-plus to the lynx distributor so this stud will share the two wire lugs simply remove the nut lock washer and washer put the six Gauge by quarter inch wire lug from the mppt charge controller equipment ground wire on top of the equipment ground wire lug already on the stud and reapply and re-fasten the washer lock washer and nut with a 9 16 inch wrench or socket to finish wearing the mppt charge controller measure cut strip cramp and heat shrink the red and black power wires that will connect the charge controller to the lynx distributor both wires will have a six Gauge by 5 16 inch wire lug on one end and a six gauge ferrule on the other end wipe down the wire lugs with alcohol and a cloth to Aid in a strong electrical connection then remove the lynx distributor Hardware on the next set of three studs in the links distributor add the negative wire log to the negative bus bar of the lynx distributor and a refasten the washer lock washer and not with a 9 16 inch wrench or socket next add the 60 amp Mega fuse to the two studs above the negative wire after cleaning it with rubbing alcohol and a cloth add the positive wire look on the bottom stud that the fuse is resting on and re-fasten the washer lock washer and not with a 9 16 inch wrencher socket on both studs connect the other end of the positive and negative wires to the positive and negative battery terminals on the bottom of the mppt charge controller use a flathead screwdriver to secure the wire ferrules in the terminal now the victron mppt charge controller can be programmed turn on the master battery disconnect switch open The victron Connect app and click on the charge controller here you can change the settings to the recommended parameters for the battleborn batteries again since I bought this component from battleborn they have already wired the unit for me now that we have wired the victron smart solar mppt charge controller to the victron lynx distributor it is time to mount and wire the solar panels I have three 200 watt 24 volt monocrystalline rigid solar panels by Rich solar that I purchased from battleborn I also purchased three boxes of the rich solar Z mounting brackets from battleborn to secure the solar panels to my Flatline vanco roof rack each box comes with four Z brackets four bolts four nuts and four self-tapping screws the self-tapping screws are for if you plan on drilling the Z brackets directly to the roof of your van therefore I won't be needing them I also purchased a hardware kit from Flatline vanco to secure the solar brackets to the 80 20 crossfires that make up their roof rack the kit includes t-nuts lock nuts and bolts now normally you would take these brackets and attach them right to your solar panels and then attach it to a roof rack or screwing them into the roof of your van however I have three solar panels that are quite large and limited space on my roof so I had to get a little creative with it and I'm taking a different approach where instead I'm attaching these brackets to my crossbars first and then going to attach my solar panels so I get the most space out of the roof of my van to start I added the Flatline vanco Hardware to each Rich solar Z bracket all brackets get two sets of a bolt lock washer and t-nut the bolt and lock washer go on the top of the bracket and the t-nut goes on the bottom side of the bracket don't make the connection too tight so there is still room for the t-nut to slide through the 80 20 crossbar Channel to slide the bracket onto the crossbar line up the two t-nuts to the 80 20 Channel and Slide the bracket into place now like I said my roof setup is very unique and different and I have to accommodate a lot of stuff so I'm not going to go too into detail with how I'm doing this approach pretty much I needed to save as much space as possible so my solar panel you would think if it was going between these two crossbars that I would just use this Channel and that channel but I actually decided to use the opposite side channel to get that extra space and then for the see that back it's over there so it's kind of like back and forth I know it's not going to make sense but this channel then that channel for the that solar panel that channel for that solar panel and then that channel for that solar panel so I kind of broke it up that way just so I could save that space and really optimize my roof on the back of these solar panels you see you have attaching points on both ends and then the sides as well so to get these brackets secured in the proper location for this hole to go into the hole on the solar panel what I did was I took one bracket and I lined it up against this and got the holes where I wanted it to be flipped it over tighten this down did the same for a middle piece that has four brackets instead of two because this has two position end piece so do the same thing with this and then after I had those two I was able to just line up the ends to one another and then run the other two rails right next to it flush on both ends move the brackets to the appropriate location and then tighten it down with an allen wrench instead of having to line it up against the solar panel every single time um I don't know if you can see this but this is kind of like my visual of what I was doing um on since I'm connecting to the side of my solar panels there's one two three four holes on both sides so I'm gonna stagger it so I did that's how I was staggering it this is the left side of the solar panel that's the right side just so I could have that as a visual um just to put equal help and support along the solar panel so that's what I did now it's time for me to take this these crossbars flip it over on top of the solar panel line it up with the holes throw the bolts into it and then tie the nut onto it at the bolts and nuts from the rich solar Z bracket mounting box to the Z bracket on the crossbar and underside of the solar panel so once I got the crossbars lined up and the nuts and bolts Loosely installed onto each of the brackets I went around and used the scrap piece of wood to run it along the edge of the solar panel right there so that I would get the same overhang for my crossbar on both sides for all of the crossbar so everything was nice and equal and then I also took this and put it on solar panel to solar panel make sure that they were still nice and line and flush and everything squared nothing's crooked so that would be a lot easier to install on the roof after I got those positioned where I wanted it to I grabbed two wrenches and use one to hold down the bolts and use the other one to tighten the nut and now all that's left to do is to connect my wires now on the back of each of your solar panels you're going to have a positive and negative wire so to connect all three of my solar panels together I'm going to be connecting the wires in series which means I'm going to be connecting a positive wire to a negative wire a positive wire to a negative wire whereas the other option would be running them in parallel which means connecting positive to positive and negative to negative but take my word on this you want to run your solar panels in series I will be doing a future video we'll explain a little bit more why that is but I would not recommend running them in parallel you can it's totally up to you but I would recommend series now each application is going to be different for everyone so if you have space to connect them once they're on the van and install go ahead and do that route I know personally I'm going to have to connect these before I bring these up to my van just because I won't have enough clearance underneath to get there and connect everything um so yes connect them in series not parallel so both of the wires are labeled one is positive and one is negative the ends of these wires have an mc4 connector so this is the female connector and this is the male connector so the male goes into the female when you're connecting them and then you would just push them together and that's how you would make that connection so my wires for my solar panels are going to go through a cable entry gland through the roof of my van down towards my battery Bank area my electrical setup so I want my back most panel to be the last one in this connection so I'm going to start up here where the front panels are going to be and then we can go ahead and continue making those connections positive to negative positive to negative all the way until the last one so I took the positive wire from this one connected it to my negative wire of the middle solar panel took the positive of the middle solar panel and connected it to the negative of the N solar panel so now this end piece is going to get connected to an X wire extension with another mc4 connector that way that extra wire is going to run down into my van into my electrical and then this negative wire on this far one that hasn't been used yet will also be connected to another wire that's going to run down to into my van into my electrical system so that is how you wire them in series again I would recommend wiring in series instead of parallel but now it is ready to get this lifted onto the roof of my van with some help because this is very heavy and flimsy so um we're gonna get to that right now thankfully my two brothers helped me lift the panels up and re-fasten all the crossbars in place now you may be thinking why didn't she just add one solar panel at a time to the roof and let me remind you that the 80 20 crossbar channels cannot be accessed when they are secured between the roof rack side rails also like I said my setup is very unique so this gave me better access to connect everything as needed one thing I did change was I re-ran the solar panel wires under the crossbars instead of between the crossbar and solar panel to avoid the wires getting pinched down the road if the brackets happen to wear or fail also I added zip ties to hold those wires off the roof of the van and to secure it around the 80 20 crossbar so there wouldn't be any noise when driving and so the connections don't risk Coming Undone or breaking or what have you now the solar panels are on the roof and wired in series it is time to connect the solar panels to the solar isolator and the solar isolator to the mppt charge controller for this part of the install I use the Explorer's life solar array wiring kit which includes the solar isolator disconnect 10 gauge red wire 10 gauge black wire a 3 8 inch red heat shrink a 3 8 inch black heat shrink two 10 gauge ferrules four wire glands a roof entry gland a solar grommet a PV connector and solar isolator mounting hardware to start determine where you plan on mounting the cable entry gland to the roof of your van take into consideration any obstacles on the outside and inside of the van I noticed the cable entry gland is a little too wide for the ribs on the Pro Master roof so it won't fit in the Valley of the ribs therefore I decided to place it on top of the rib there is some slight overhang on both sides but I'm not too worried about it as I sealed it off later in the install I have also seen individuals who drill holes into this section in the rear of the van then they add entry glands and feed the wires through to the inside of the van personally I didn't do this because I felt like that was a long run for my wires to go from the solar panels into the van and would just make it more complicated but maybe that option would be better for you so just thought I would share so I've decided to put my cable entry gland right here underneath my solar panels that way it's hidden the van has a nice clean looking finish on the roof once I determine the location of the cable entry gland I went back inside the van to pre-drill a hole where the cable entry gland will be placed I pulled back my insulation put on my safety glasses and began pre-drilling a hole in the ceiling with a 1 16 inch drill bit I held a vacuum in the area I was drilling to immediately catch any metal shavings created to prevent them from going freely in my van and causing rust [Music] foreign before going back to the roof of the van I taped a box to the inside of the ceiling to catch any metal shavings that will be created when I drill a larger hole on the roof of the van and then I also need a box on the very top of the van when I drill as well just to capture again those little small metal shavings so to do that I took the box at the cable entry gland came in and I put it in this larger box and traced it out with a marker so now I'm going to cut it out with a box cutter and then tape this to the roof of the van then once back on the roof of the van clean the roof where you will be mounting the cable entry gland place the rubber grommet over the pre-drill hole and Trace the object with a dry erase marker so you have a reference when drilling with a step bit the dry erase marker isn't permanent and will easily wipe away off of the van metal tape the other cardboard box that you made for the roof of the fan around the traced Circle then make the pre-drill hole slightly larger so it can receive the step bit I use a 5 16 inch bit to do so next use a one inch step bit to expand the hole out to the traced line clean up the sharp edges with a metal file and vacuum up the metal shavings captured in the cardboard box to protect the newly exposed metal from rust add Rust-Oleum stop rust clean metal primer with a foam brush then wait 15 minutes for that to dry before applying the Rust-Oleum stop rust protective enamel with a foam brush I left the boxes on the roof and the inside of the ceiling in place to catch any drips from this step once the paint has dried the opening is ready for the rubber grommet using scissors poke a hole in the center of the rubber grommet so the solar wires can be fed Through The Grommet and into the van add the rubber grommet to the hole the metal of the van will rest in the center splice of the rubber grommet this grommet protects the solar wires from getting cut on the sharp edges of the Vans metal go back inside the van feed the black and red solar wires from the Explorer's life solar array wiring kit through the rubber grommet then climb back up to the roof and add 3M double-sided VHB tape to the perimeter of the cable roof entry gland bottom trim off any excess and remove the back of the double-sided tape next add the solar wires into the roof entry gland and push the roof entry gland into place on the roof of your van make sure the two grommets on the cable entry gland are facing the back of your van so no water or wind is forced in the van when you are driving now tape off about three quarters of an inch around the outside of the roof entry gland and use some sycaflex sealant around the edges of the roof entry gland on the flange of the roof entry gland and out to the tape to secure the gland to the roof and seal it off from any outside elements it will encounter like water you will see here I am applying the Stick of flex with my fingers and no I do not recommend this whatsoever unfortunately the tip of my sticker Flex was all dried up from the last time I used it so instead of buying another tube which is really expensive I made what I had work the student can be very messy so if you get it on your hands be aware anything you touch will turn black an all-purpose cleaner can remove it if done so before it dries now be generous with this sealant to avoid any leaks in the van it won't be visible anyways so stick a flex away after applying the sealant peel up the tape immediately after now that I have the wires for my solar isolator inside the van coming up through the cable entry I need to now put mc4 connectors on the ends of these to connect to the mc4 connectors on my solar panels so mc4 connectors are these right here a majority of solar panels that you get they will come on your solar panel so there's going to be a male and a female end this one is the male and then this one is the female which is pretty self-explanatory the male goes inside of the female and then also when you're installing these you're going to have these connectors that are going to be going inside of them so there's also a male and a female connector the male connector is slightly smaller in diameter and the female connector is slightly larger again so the male can go into the female now the confusing part is that the male metal clip connector goes inside the female mc4 connector and then the female connector goes inside the male mc4 connector so the reason that I'm using mc4 connectors not only is it because it's already on my solar panels but they're also waterproof UV resistant and they are quick and easy to connect and disconnect and they can carry a Max load of 20 amps and 600 volts and another thing to note is if you're using mc4 connectors they only take a 10 gauge wire generally speaking the male mc4 connector is positive and the female mc4 connector is negative you can always double check this by placing the multimeter into the mc4 terminals reminder if the multimeter display number has a negative sign in front of it then that is indicating reverse polarity so switch the multimeter prongs and the mc4 connectors to get a number without the negative sign and that will tell you which connector is positive and which is negative so let's get to connecting them to start strip back the installation on the positive and negative solar array wires coming from the inside of the van so now I need to determine what mc4 connector goes on which ends so this is a wire coming from my solar panel it is the positive wire so I need to connect my positive wire to positive so since this mc4 connector on my solar panel is male that means I will be connecting my female mc4 connector to this wire which means I will be using the male metal connector on the inside so I went ahead and I just placed the male connector for the positive wire and they're just nice and Loosely so then once I feed this wire into there I can just go ahead and squeeze the handles and crimp it down again making sure that no straight wires are left out these in that you're putting the sides with the flaps facing up um right there on the top part right there you see those little ribs so the flaps were facing that way so that when you squeeze it they crimp down nicely like this and you want to make sure that's really good and snug on there by pulling on it pulling on The Wire pulling on the connector pulling with all of your might and if it doesn't come off you're good to go so now that the male metal inside connector is on my positive wire I'm going to take my female mc4 I'm going to unscrew this bottom piece slide it on The Wire have this blue piece in there for a seal you're going to put it in here and when you push it you should hear it click when it's on there all the way so let's go ahead there so that clicked hopefully you guys heard that but you can see inside that you should be able to see that connector once that is on you're going to take this and tighten it once you get to a certain point about right there you're going to feel that it gets hard to turn that's because as you're turning right now what it's doing is here I'll show you on the male connector is that it's folding these teeth Inward and pinching it inward to pinch that blue piece and to pinch the wire in place so you can get tools that will help you to turn them you can also do it by hand or with a ratch a wrench or anything but you want to make sure that there is no Gap right here so as you can see the mail on my solar panel is going to go into the female um from The Wire going down to my stroller isolator just like that you're going to hear it click right there there's two um points right there it clicks in so if you want to release it you just pinch those in and pull it apart but otherwise you can test it make sure it's not going to come apart and then you are all good to go so now it's time to make the same connection on my negative wire to connect to the negative solar wire as well so I'm going to add the female middle connector onto the end of this negative wire then I'm going to crimp it and crimping down on those two flaps a squeeze really tight make sure you've got that full squeeze and then there you go pull tug make sure it's not going to come off so now you're going to take your mail and mc4 connector taking the bottom part of the cap that screws on and putting that on first and then putting on the mc4 connector and pushing it all the way down until you hear it click or at least feel it click here we go oh perfect I hope you guys heard that one and then you're gonna screw this shot again the easiest screw in the beginning but once you hit a certain point you really got to start cranking it so now I just need to get my negative wire all the way on the last solar pin all the way up in the front feed this to it and then our solar panels are connected and good to go now the wires can be connected to the solar isolator before doing so make sure the master battery disconnect switch is turned off grab the solar isolator and unscrew the lid to access the inside of the unit then remove the bottom two plugs with a flat head screwdriver insert the wire glands from the explores life solar array wiring kit into those two openings and tighten the components together you may recall the Explorer's life solar array wiring kit includes four entry glands this is because the solar isolator can handle two separate solar arrays at the same time so those two extra wire glands can be used on the other two ports at the top of the solar isolator but if you're using just one solar array like I am you'll just have an extra two wire glands left over next Mount the solar isolator in place with the mounting hardware provided in the explores life solar array wiring kit then measure cut and strip the positive and negative wires coming into the van from the solar panels to feed into an entry gland of the solar isolator I have my positive and negative wear coming into my electrical box from the solar panels fit it up through this cable entry gland and then put it into those terminals right there tighten the screws so that they're holding in place didn't use ferals wasn't necessary for this and then on the top side I took the solar wire cords that I cut so the ends of that and again I stripped the wire and inserted them into those terminals as well so positive is in this terminal and positive is in that terminal terminal on the bottom so it's on the same exact line and then again the same thing with the negative negative to negative now I'm just going to bend these wires and run them along the side of the solar isolator out this other out this cable entry gland to my mppt charge controller and then I'm going to just screw the lid back on and that should be good to go the solar isolator has four terminals on the bottom and the top so use the same terminals on the bottom and and top of the solar isolator when connecting a positive to a positive and negative to negative then strip crimp and heat shrink the 10 gauge ferrules onto the other end of the wire that will feed into the charge controller terminals the positive wire goes to the PV positive terminal and the negative wire goes to the PV negative terminal tying each terminal screw with a flat head screwdriver now that the solar isolator is wired to the solar panels and mppt charge controller go ahead and turn on the master battery disconnect switch and then a solar array isolator park the van and the sun open The victron Connect app click on the charge controller option and you will see that the system is indeed charging if you don't see a charge here it could mean something is wired wrong or more than likely it means that the batteries are fully charged so the solar panels won't charge the batteries until they drain a little or it is super cloudy out or you're parked in a lot of shade or it's night time and no sun is out to power the solar panels now that we have wired for solar charging it's time to wire for alternator charging for this part of the install I am using the victron Orion 12 12 30 DC to DC charger that I purchased from battleborn and the explores life Orion DC to DC charger wiring kit which includes six gauge red wire six gauge black wire 4 6 gauge by 5 16 inch wire lugs four six gauge ferrules four half inch red heat shrink four half inch black heat shrink a 60 amp Mega fuse and mounting hardware first make sure the solar or disconnect switch and battery disconnect switch is turned off then screw the Orion in place with the four screws provided in the Explorer's life Orion DC to DC charger wiring kit next tape the green remote Bridge from the Orion box to the Orion for safe keeping to install later now measure cut strip crimp and heat shrink the positive and negative Warriors running from the Orion to the lynx distributor each wire gets a six Gauge by 5 16 inch wire lug and a six gauge ferrule then wipe down the wire lugs with rubbing alcohol and a cloth for a better electrical connection remove the lynx distributor Hardware on the remaining studs add the negative wire to the negative bus bar in the links distributor and refasten the washer block washer and not over the wire lug with a 9 16 inch wrencher socket add the 60 amp Mega fuse to the positive bus bar stud and middle stud below that at the positive wire lug to the lower stud that the fuse is resting on and reapply the washer lock washer and nut onto both studs with a 9 16 inch wrencher socket now you can connect those wires from the lynx distributor to the Orion negative y referral to the negative output terminal and positive wire ferrule to the positive output terminal of the Orion tightening these connections with a flat head screwdriver next strip crimp and heat shrink a six gauge ferrule onto one end of the positive and negative wires that will run from the Orion to the Vans battery the positive wire referral goes into the positive input terminal and the negative wire ferrule goes into the negative input terminal of the Orion tighten these connections with a flat head screwdriver so now you're going to connect the two wires from the Orion all the way up to the Vans battery situation which is located here on a Ram ProMaster if you're working on another make and model like a Ford Transit or Mercedes Sprinter this step is going to be a little bit different but if you are in a Ram ProMaster you can follow along here so in order to run the wires all the way up through into this battery situation right there I am running it through the toe kick side by Cabinetry and then I also need to remove a lot of this plastic interior to also run it underneath all of this flooring so to do that I removed this section right here there's one two three screws that will remove it because this is overlapping on top of this which we need to remove I also need to remove this section right here so there's one two um screws right here on it and then I think believe three of them in back there that you also want to do and then you also need to undo this section on your driver's seat so one two three screws and then at that point you can go ahead and remove this whole step area so to do that there's three screws right here you're going to take a flathead screwdriver and pop up these tabs one two three and four which you'll be able to access once this is removed and there's also a screw underneath each of those that you undo and then this whole floor area is going to be exposed and you can run your wires through there and feed it into this battery situation which you just simply undo this section by undoing some of the tabs that go around the perimeter of this cover so right here on the step area of my Ram ProMaster there's these clips that were installed for wires like these right here and stuff so I just open those clips and through my positive and negative wire in there as well and then I ran it up underneath this floor on top of these wires I went ahead and put Conduit on protection into my wires it's time to get these to connect to this whole battery situation again which is where your feet will be in the driver's seat area so this right here is covering your positive area of the battery so to undo it you just need to take these two tabs right there and pull it back towards you and then you can remove the cover like that you'll see all these fuses and stuff so before we do anything and connect these wires to this situation it is very very important that you undo this negative battery situation right here so to do that you're going to take this the thingy I don't know what to call it you're gonna take that and fold it open you're going to undo that nut remove this black wire make sure you get it out of the way so there's no chance that's actually going to fall into here when you're working on the situation you want to do this so that you don't set off any alarms or lights or airbags or deposit anything wrong with the van itself so I'm using a 10 millimeter wrench to remove this nut right here okay take this off and set it aside somewhere it's not going to actually fall back in and hit something in here because that would be bad so now we need to remove this entire compartment that's over the positive side of your van's battery so to do so you're going to release this nut right here with a 10 millimeter wrench which is going to release it off of this positive battery terminal then you also need to remove these two screws on the doohickey with a Phillips head tool and then at that point this entire section is going to lift up then we can feed the bolts up through those two holes provided add our fuse wire lugs and then secure everything back down so now you're going to feed two bolts up into those two openings so that you can create your own stud to attach the fuse and wire lug too now you will notice that these openings for your bolts are square head shaped you have to get square head shaped so that when you put this back into place and you go to tighten down the bolt over your fuse and whatnot it the head of the screw won't be able to spin so you can actually tighten the connection if you did a circle then that bolt is just going to keep spinning and it's not going to be able to tighten down whatsoever if that makes sense so here's the bolt that I'm referring to and that I will be using I have linked them down below because I could not find these for the life of me at Lowe's Home Depot or any hardware stores so they are linked below so you can get them through Amazon but it's really critical that you get them 5 16 inch 18 thread an inch long and a half inch by a half inch square head no longer than an inch long otherwise that red cover is not going to fit back over top of this so feed those two bolts up into here and then you can put this back into place and then continue from there you want to use a nylon nut and there again the nylon nut is a 5 16 by 18 thread so the reason I'm putting the nuts on top of these two bolts not that they're going to stay there it's just so that the bolts don't fall out while I'm trying to get this whole thing repositioned back on the battery so once I do so I'll be able to take these off but I'm going to go ahead now and go ahead and put this back into place so you want this ring right here to go around this battery terminal and then this doohickey these red prongs are going to line up with those two holes right there as well and then you can go ahead and tie in this nut again with the 10 millimeter wrench and then Phillips head tool those two screws back into place now that that is back in place it's time to cut this red wire to length so this red wire is going to be connecting to this stud or this bolt right here put it back in a place like this you will notice that there's a little window right there which is perfect so your wire can feed right into there sometimes I see people trying to run the wires up through here and whatnot and bend it around but I don't want it to get pin strength thing so I don't know maybe since my van is a different year that that's an option there so I'm going to feed it in through that little section right there now measure cut strip crimp and heat shrink a six Gauge by 5 16 inch wire lug then wipe down the wire lugs with rubbing alcohol and a cloth for a better electrical connection so now I'm going to take my half inch socket and undo the nylon nut on both of those bolts that we put in so that I can add the fuse and wire lug to it accordingly so I'm putting two washers on this leftmost stud because they'll help lift it to be even to that height then I'm adding a 60 amp Mega fuse onto these two bolts just like so now I'm going to add this wire log onto this post right here flat washer washerides and then a lock washer then a 5 16 inch lock nut that I'm going to tighten down with a half inch wrench and socket now you can put the cover back on so the two Tabs are facing the middle of the fan foreign now it's time to cut strip crimp and heat shrink on a six Gauge by 5 16 inch square lug onto the negative wire which is going to connect to one of the studs over here on the negative side of the battery and it might spark here when you add it so just be aware of that so I'm adding an M6 nylon nut over this stud and I'm using an M10 socket so now I'm going to add some of this hard shelled split Loom right here along the edges at this negative wire is rubbing up against the sharp metal edges of the van so I'm going to open it up feed the wire into it and then put some electrical tape around it to hold it in place and now I can re-add my negative van wire you might see Sparks when you touch it but there it goes and then retighten the lock nut that was originally on this stud again with a 10 millimeter socket and then you can go ahead and take this and close it shut to tighten what that does is it's tightening this whole component around this negative battery terminal we can go ahead and put the cover back over the floor and the last thing to do is take this green piece that was provided with the Orion and you're going to install it underneath and now I can turn on the master battery disconnect switch which would then allow you to connect to the victron Orion and The victron Connect app but I didn't realize mine does not actually have the Bluetooth capability but if yours does click on the victron Orion update the firmware if necessary and change the parameters to match your system and turn the Vance engine on after about two to three minutes of the van running you will see that the Orion is indeed charging but if you want to see the charging rate go to the BMV option in The victron Connect app and you should see somewhere around 30 amps of positive charge so if you haven't caught on yet this Orion allows you to charge your battery Bank when you are driving it only pulls 30 amps from your Van's alternator so that it doesn't kill your Advanced alternator at a quicker Pace over time not the entire electrical system is wired and working properly let's quickly cover a few wire management tips for a safe and clean install number one make sure all your electrical components are screwed down and secured in place having components loose can affect the connections over time be a safety concern and make it challenging to service the system number two use zip ties to coil up extra wire and to connect multiple wires together to clean up the entire system number three use rubber wire clamps to secure wires to the walls or floors so wires can't move around freely number four use split Loom with electrical tape and rubber grommets to protect wires when running through the sharp metal edges of the van I have linked all these items Below in the description box for you to purchase [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] with that I hope this video gave you the confidence and knowledge you need to install your own electrical system with the explorest.life all-in-one wiring kit tune into my next video where I will provide an explanation on how this system will function until then thank you for watching and I'll see you next time bye for now [Music] thank you

Channel: Lauren Lawliss

Views: 398,971

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Id: 3Gr3rr4cPQQ

Length: 127min 43sec (7663 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 31 2023