HOW TO POWER SOCKETS IN YOUR CARAVAN WHILST OFF GRID

HOW TO POWER SOCKETS IN YOUR CARAVAN WHILST OFF GRID. Watch this video and see how you can use all your 240v sockets in your caravan/motorhome whilst off grid. First initial video deleted due to incorrect advice, so here is PART II. Please be patient with the video and listen to what I have to say about SAFETY and using the RIGHT equipment to get the job done correctly and legally. Please seek professional advice when dealing with 240v.
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[@guywilton7471]

"A person who never made a mistake, never tried anything new." Albert Einstien

[@venturingfour]

That really means a lot Guy!! Thank you for such kind and honest words. Now get your butts over here 🤣😂👍🤙

[@guywilton7471]

So......this weekends fun took the form of our river bank mooring being ripped off the concrete base and threatening to float down the Severn..... luckily I grabbed an inflatable canoe and some rope, ventured out on the water - strictly against the Environmental Agency's advice, who said we should just monitor it and call the emergency number should it start to set sail southward. (The garden alone was under 1.5m of water at this point) I then tied the rope onto the mooring, linked it to a nearby tree, paddled back up the garden expecting a hero's welcome........ Let's just say that now I'm in the dog house for being "so stupid, reckless, unthinking and selfish' I feel shame..... But at least the mooring is safe.....

[@venturingfour]

Oh no this is terrible news! I hope all is better now and the rain has eased off? I think wifey has a good point.....but I’ll give ya a high 5 🖐 for not getting hurt and saving your mooring. 👍

[@katiejohns982]

Great info thanks! We’re in the midst of buying a van & are possibly looking at a jayco journey we now know thanks to you what to look out for before spending a lot of money!

[@charlescoventry6193]

Just looking to do the same. The info regarding thr RVD is priceless. Thanks mate.

[@RioGrandeAdventures]

Learnt a lot from this video....just when I thought I had it sorted 😊. This is also a great deal cheaper than buying a dedicated inverter with inbuilt safety features and does the same thing! Thanks 👌

[@venturingfour]

Rio Grande, thanks, appreciate your nice comment! I know exactly how you feel. Good luck with your setup 👍

[@PaulMacPhoto]

Oh mate you've helped me out so much. I'm just in the process of doing exactly what you did wrong to start with... RVD it is... May have saved some lives... Thanks. 🙏👍

[@venturingfour]

Glad to have helped mate 👍

[@Mal_S]

Great informative video, Thanks

[@venturingfour]

Thank you 😊

[@renegadecampervan5017]

The RVD safe demonstration shows them with no RCD attached to the generator. Wouldnt an RCD trip out the same as the other one?

[@scetchport]

A few yrs ago.... Do all 240v charging of pc,phones etc during full sun daylight hours ,solar input should keep batteries full.

[@venturingfour]

Yes if you have a good solar battery setup it shouldn’t be an issue. We just wanted to charge our devices quicker on 240v instead of slow charging with usb slots. 👍

[@nrd6386]

"Basically" the same setup as if you used an Ampfibian divice 10 amp to 15 amp. Protects the 10 amp side against over current draw. The RCD installed in the van by the van manufacturer is there protect all of the vans 240 curcuits regardless whether its powered by a generator or shore power providing its plugged into the 15 amp inlet on the outside of the van, thats why its there.

[@glenndance1290]

Hi, found your video very informative. So is the RVD only protecting the inverter power or does it also look after mains power when connected ? Cheers

[@venturingfour]

Hey Glenn! Yes it does both inverter and mains power 👍

[@hil7160]

My Jayco journey OB setup is similar to yours in some respects. My inverter is the Enerdrive 2000w with the safety and Ac transfer switches. It’s hard wired so that the power point in the cupboard next to the RCD was not inverter tied, this way our 3 way fridge could be left plugged into this socked so would only be powered by 240v when connected to shore power and not run from the inverter. I also have 480w solar and 330ah of Lithium, the main difference is that I purchased the lithium Bmpro charger from jayco & just swapped it over with the original unit. Simple plug & play as all inputs & outputs are the same. From memory around $730. I leave the switch in the water heater on and turn its power off by the 240v socket it plugged into under the bed same with the lithium charger when the inverter is in use. Ideally would have been beneficial if that socket was also not inverter tied but wasn’t worth the effort running the additional wiring. I also moved the water pump right next to the water heater & was able to fit two of the batteries in the pump compartment to maximise space under the bed. With our bigger inverter we are able to run our Air con for around 2 hours which is great on those warm nights 🥵

[@venturingfour]

HIL71 seems like your pretty well set up. I basically let Jayco & Springers Solar manage my entire battery set up. All I knew is that I wanted lithium and enough to power my compressor fridge 24/7. Love our setup, it’s never faulted is once and will last many years to come if maintain correctly. Happy camping 👍

[@brent7344]

Can I pick your brain HIL71. Im interested in the role and bmpro still plays with a setup like this. I'm assuming when plugged into mains power, the bmpro and the victron charger are both powered off the external input socket? And that the bmpro simply manages 240v power sockets and 12v accessories but doesn't charge the batteries in anyway? I'm ordering a new van and wanted the J35D but the extra cost is a big negative which is why I'm looking at external power sources for the lithium batteries.

[@hil7160]

Brent E, In my opinion Venturing Four was up sold the Victron system by his installer as it is a totally unnecessary upgrade for jayco’s current BMPRO installation. The J35D was not released to market until a month or so after I picked up my Journey back in June 2018 so I had to order it through Jayco at a later date for around $700 ish. This was probably better anyway as I was able to secure my choice of likely better quality lithium batteries at a lower price than Jayco would have supplied. At a guess Venturing Fours Victron setup is just using the BMPRO as fused distribution board for the 12v system. All I did was simply exchange the standard BMPRO that came with the Journey for the J35D as all connections are identical and it’s simple plug and play! I fitted the additional batteries, isolator and fuse for the Enerdrive inverter and upgraded the battery cables to handle the extra current ( Tip, I cut up cheap 500Amp jumper cables from 4wd Super Centre) no doubt all of this a lot cheaper than paying an auto sparky to wire and supply the Victron system.

[@trennaward7314]

@@hil7160 hi, been following this thread, are you using a RVD, asking cause i want to put in inverter in jayco rm19 and want to run a/con but if i use this rvd and plug into outside shore power the j35 with charge batteries thinking its plugged into 240 volts, what im trying to find out is , how to turn charger off on j35 while inverter is on,

[@hil7160]

@@trennaward7314 I’m not sure what an “RVD” is.. But I just switched both the BMPRO and hot water off at the power point under the bed when free camping. When plugged into shore power turn them on, just don’t forget to turn them off when you disconnect shore power so as not to drain the battery’s…

[@PHancock11]

Thanks for that, I can see one that is 10A/15A EMR mains and generator; is that the one you got?

[@venturingfour]

Yes that’s correct Peter 👍 they are great to speak to over the phone as well if you need anything answering.

[@eages69]

Hi, l was going to do the same thing, glad l seen this first...where did u get the rvd from and who did you get to install it? Cheers.

[@venturingfour]

Hey Sean! Just type in rvdsafe.com.au and look through their website. It’s a simple install, you’d only need a sparky to sign off if you need to cut the plug off to feed it through any tight spots. 👍

[@ezymarkz]

G’day. Not sure if I missed it. Are you running a 12v (2x 12v batteries in parallel) or 24v (2x 24v batteries in series)?

[@venturingfour]

Hey Mark! It’s 2x12v batteries in parallel 👍

[@Meandthemissus]

Hi, I've been watching a number of these inverter installs under the bed. Inverters, charges and batteries all need good ventilation as they get hot. Do you have any ventilation in your system under the bed?

[@venturingfour]

You’ll find that a lot of people have their batteries either under their beds or under their lounge seating. It is definitely recommended to have some sort of ventilation. I had two vents, one on either side of the bed. Never had any issues with overheating 👍

[@johnrizzotto2449]

Could I use the RVD lead from my car inverter to the caravan? I'm running lithium and solar in my car. Obviously while parked up.

[@venturingfour]

Im not 100% sure but im pretty confident it would be ok. I’d most certainly be ringing rvdsafe up to confirm though 👍

[@kathleenhenley-smith1223]

Hi, I noticed you plugged it into the side of the van, is there any reason why it can’t be hard wired into the socket to save having to plug it in every time?

[@venturingfour]

Very good question. I can’t see why this can’t be done, however this would have to be confirmed and completed by a licensed electrician 👍

[@russellhawkins6271]

hi mate do you know if insurance companies acknowledge these leads? and are you still using it and happy with it

[@venturingfour]

Hey mate! Don’t have the van anymore but pretty confident that the leads are recognised. They have the full stamp approval 👍

[@beachkruizza]

G'day. Great set up you have. Just a quick question, does the lead have 2 male ends? It's a bit hard to see.

[@venturingfour]

Hey Perry! The lead has one male end (10A) to plug into the inverter and one female end (15A) to plug into the external input power of the caravan 👍

[@beachkruizza]

@@venturingfour I saw that after i asked the question 😂. Do you leave it like that when moving. We're on the road full time now for 6 years.

[@venturingfour]

@@beachkruizza I never left the outside plugged in whilst on the move. I simply unplugged it and placed the lead behind the vent for the fridge that we had in our Jayco 👍

[@beachkruizza]

@@venturingfour yeah I thought so. Just wondering what it was that you did that was illegal? Never saw the video regarding it. Cheers 🍻

[@downunderbassman]

What model J35 is that? Did you just unplug it from the power point?

[@venturingfour]

Hey Shane, not sure what model it was but I’m pretty sure it was the basic one. And yes it was unplugged. 👍

[@michealplater9007]

How can they sell generators if they are not safe?

[@venturingfour]

Generators are safe but if used incorrectly can be dangerous. Watch this video and see why I went to an RVD lead. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nX-9qqyCgtx3d5o

[@malcolmpurvis7943]

As far as I know, Enerdrive do a 2000w inverter with an RCD, not an RVD.

[@intelmacs]

Unfortunately mate I think you've been hustled with that RVD. The earth of the caravan and inverter are floating so there's an extremely rare chance of a shock from live to earth and would require a conductor to earth at some other point on the vans network to reference the ground at this point the inverter would turn off.

[@69Atho]

Not correct. The caravans stabilizer leg's are steel,and connected straight to earth when down. This connection would be very conductive on rainy days. Second - - if there is a fault,and the ground is floating,what do you think would happen to some one that was standing on the ground,and went to open the steel door to the floating ground caravan ?. What then becomes the conductor between the caravan and earth ground?. Yes,you guest it - - the poor bloke holding the door.

[@intelmacs]

@@69Atho If there was a fault from an appliance fed from the inverter to ground it would trip on over-current as the ground point is centre tapped causing a dead short.

[@drivesafer6335]

@@intelmacs Hi Matthew, and I think you need to research just how RVDs actually work, before making claims about people being “Hustled” The setup in the caravan in this video is NOT a replacement of the RCD, the RVD adds an additional level of safety that RCDs can not offer. A major error many people make with caravan 240vac use, is to plug more than one Class 1 appliance into the output of an inverter supposedly protected by an RCD. People commonly plug multi outlet power boards into the output of inverters. The regulations specifically state you can only plug one Class 1 appliance into the output of an inverter’s RCD protected output. There is a very good reason for this, and that is with each additional Class 1 appliance plugged into the one output of an inverter, you reduce the ability of the RCD to work at the level of safety it is designed to work at. Two Class 1 appliances will halve to level of protection an RCD can offer. Three Class 1 appliances will reduce to level of protection to around a third and is next to useless. When an RCD/RVD protective device is used, you can legally plug as many Class 1 appliances into the single output of an inverter. In other words, the use of power boards in not only legal but is safe, no matter how many Class 1 appliances you are using and and each Class 1 appliance will have the same maximum level of protection.

[@bradworthington8594]

@@drivesafer6335 mate great explanation…..Exactly what I was looking for and in English I understand 👍

[@Sabumnim666]

Hi I am interested in the statement that unless you have a RVD that you would somehow not be legal. The wiring rules states the need for an RCD I can find no reference to the need for an RVD. So unless I have actually missed the ruling can you let me know where the information is that without the RVD you would be illegal.

[@venturingfour]

All I can do is refer you to their website rvdsafe.com.au 👇 RVD- EMR LEADS are represented by the letters MR are to work with the MEN (MULTIPLE EARTH NEUTRAL) SYSTEM and add an extra line of safety by allowing the RCBO to work when on MAINS POWER and the RVD to FORCE the RCBO to work when on ISOLATED POWER where an RCD/RCBO will not work by itself so the M means Mains and to add to the safety feature the R means it can reject REVERSE E POLARITY. The RVDSAFE® RVD-EMR PATENTED PRODUCT is the only PRODUCT to achieve this level of safety. RVD-EI LEADS are for isolated power represented by the letter I and meets the requirements of the Standard AS/NZS3000- 2018 the legally adopted Standard with Section 7.4 PROTECTION BY ELECTRICAL SEPARATION (ISOLATED POWER) and this covers ISOLATED INVERTERS using the RVD-EI takes away the conflicting ENB (earth neural bond) use that compromises the isolation integrity and allows the Inverter to stay isolated complying with the ELECTRICAL SAFETY ACT by MAINTAINING an ISOLATED INVERTER STATUS The RVDSAFE® RVD-EI PATENTED PRODUCT is the only PRODUCT to achieve this level of safety.

[@Sabumnim666]

@@venturingfour Thanks for the info but this still is not answering my initial question. That is where, in the wiring rules does it state that the RVD is a requirement to be legal. I understand the improvement with the RVD I have had my electrical licence for over 40 years, so I just wanted to know if this is in the wiring rules or one of the amendments that or distributed where I may have miss it.

[@venturingfour]

@@Sabumnim666 I only went off professional opinion myself. I spoke with both auto electricians and electricians who both informed me that using a RCD was unsafe and illegal. I did my research and found the RVD to be compliant and safe, hence why I changed it from the RCD. I’m unable to state any ruling either. Someone with your knowledge and experience knows a lot more than me and I’m sure anyone reading these comments would love to know your professional opinion. 👍

[@Sabumnim666]

@@venturingfour Sorry to hear that they said using an RCD was illegal as that certainly not correct.

[@HatesSpam-cb4ym]

Aren't most caravan batteries a floating system? I thought this means the battery is not grounded to the chassis, thus rendering any power supplied from said batteries to the caravan power supply usually located on the side of the caravan, would mean the RCD is not going to work correctly/effectively because the power supply is ungrounded... Doesn't the caravan RCD need correctly EARTHING to work as described? If the powrr supply has no ground other than being connected tot he battery, then this will not allow the RCD tow work when it normally should. The RVD website explains the reasons why many caravaners who use an unprotected lead from an ungrounded battery to supply powrr to their caravan are risking the RCD not working as intended. Please tell us all how the information on the RVD safe website is incorrect and how an RCD will function correctly when powered by an ungrounded power supply????

[@jenkosgoldadventures]

Number 1 do not talk to a auto Lecky for 240v

[@Kangawallafox]

They shouldn't even pretend to know, its completely illegal for them to even touch it to start with.

[@man.i.literally.failed6772]

i wouldnt call one to do my 12v setup, there all rough as guts

[@TheHumanSoundSystem]

waffle and no useful advice just waffle about his gear

[@JoeDebono]

When you plug the toaster in, it’s not basically volts coming out, it’s watts and amps. A completely dead battery can still show it has 12.5 volts but be completely useless. I appreciate your very informative videos but please use the correct terminology so as not to confuse novices. Also cut it out with the BASICALLY crap, some of the things you talk about are far from basic. Carry on now.

[@egidioborg3421]

Hi, how do you charge your 12v batteries with 240v power, cheers.

[@venturingfour]

Hey Egidio, you’ll need to purchase an AC/DC charger. 👍