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Section 1: Power Systems

System Overview

The van is a 12 V system. Two Odyssey AGM Group 34 batteries, one START and one AUX, sit in a Genesis Offroad dual battery tray with a Redarc BCDC Alpha 50 DC-DC charger between them. The AUX battery feeds the rear switch panels through a 200 A SGP32 relay. The rear circuits can run with the key off.

Nissan NV 3500 as built - batteries, SGP32 relay, and both rear switch panels

As-built view. Diagram source: Van Electrical.drawio (page "As Built"); the image is regenerated from the draw.io file on each export.

Distribution

Accessory loads are split across Garmin PowerSwitch boxes, each a 6-circuit digital switch box rated 30 A max per output, 100 A max per box, at 12-16 V. There are no branch breakers: the PowerSwitch output is the protection, so branch conductors are sized to the output rating rather than to the expected load.

Panel State Location Feeds
Rear Powerswitch (A) Installed Rear 1-3 Alpine PKG-RES3HDMI headrest screens, 4 USB power outlets, 5 rearview mirror, 6 Starlink Advanced Power Supply + 12 V USB-C outlet (UXG Lite)
Rear Powerswitch (B) Installed Rear 1 radar detector; 2-6 spare
Engine Bay Powerswitch Planned Engine bay KC 50" light bar, reverse, bumper (x2), rock, and fog lights

Both rear panels are fed from AUX through the SGP32 relay and can run key-off. The Front Powerswitch on the Devices drawing does not exist. The circuit-by-circuit detail is in Switch Panels.

Sub-sections

  • 1.1 - Starlink Power - Starlink Advanced Power Supply fed directly from 12 V DC, replacing the 1000 W inverter
  • 1.2 - Batteries & Charging - Genesis dual battery tray, BCDC Alpha 50, SGP32 relay rear feed, planned AUX isolator
  • 1.3 - Switch Panels - Circuit assignments for Rear Powerswitch (A) and (B), and the planned Engine Bay panel

Outstanding Items

Section-specific items live on each sub-page. Items that span the whole system:

  • Document wire gauges and run lengths for each panel feed
  • Confirm AUX battery capacity against measured house load (see #4 discussion - a single 100 Ah bank was judged undersized with a fridge on it)
  • Document the grounding scheme - the drawings show no ground returns