Shepard Perreault

So this setup works, how it works EXACTLY, I'm unsure.

David Baillie wrote:Its not clear to me either. Is there a second battery involved? Usually there would be a starting battery for the vehicle, and isolator so you cannot run down the starting battery when the camper battery runs low. If its a two battery system with and isolator you should just be able to hook your solar gear to the camper battery without too much hassle.

Hi David, yes there is my main car battery under the hood as well as a sinewave and 100ah battery in the cargo area. A guy that took a look at it briefly at O'Reilly's said that there was a "solenoid" that did just that- prevent the starting battery from going dead. I'm not sure if it's the same thing as an isolator.. especially since my sinewave still worked while the secondary battery wasn't all the way hooked up.

-I have the feeling that more pictures of the current setup might make this post more clear, so I'll go and snag some right now.

Here's the diagram. Note- none of the current connections are listed for the alternator, bat, and sinewave. Let me know if you'd like to see them and I can upload it.

Hi my people! First time on this site due to my snail-like solar project keeping me docked at a friend's home! I have multiple questions for my specific circumstances and current gear that I've started setting up for my van conversion. Some of which include-

Should I install a kill switch to my solar charge controller between it and my solar panels (because of the alternator hook up that also charges the battery)?

How can I be sure that my DC appliances (from my DC fuse box) can operate 24/7 (cuz of my fridge) and won't require the sinewave to be on at all times?
I will attach a sketch as well as the video I'm designing this from.

One good thing I should mention- is that I have a 2000w pure sinewave inverter and 100ah wet cell that came preinstalled in my van.

Side note- Even while disconnected (no negative connection to the aux battery from the alternator) the sinewave would still function. I have since been using it with that negative connection on the battery. I'm just a bit confused at how it was able to work before, maybe just using main car battery?

So mainly those questions at the beginning are my concern, and simply put- How can I hook up DC and AC to my solar setup  while keeping the alternator charging capabilities that came preinstalled on my van?


Alternator connections and preexisting connections between my sinewave and battery are not shown in the diagram. (I can post this later if someone finds it necessary).
Thank you so SO much!

-Shepard