My wife and I are thinking about getting a camper van or something like it. We want something we can put in our garage and that we can drive around as a backup to the H3. One idea I have is to buy a used conversion van with the extended top, and convert it to a camper van. You can buy all of the plumbing and HVAC add-ons fairly cheap. Fabricating the interior and doing the wiring and plumbing wouldn't be too difficult for me to do.

The question I have is does anybody know how the dual battery charging system works in a RV or camper van, and can this be installed as an add-on? Would I have to get a stronger alternator?

If anybody knows anything about this I would appreciate any suggestions. Wiring is easy,but I wouldn't know how the system actually works to tap into the engine without shorting it out. Thanks!

 

why would you need the dual battery? to run additional A/C or other stuff for the camper part? Personally I would mount a generator and run taht to power everything in the camper section. Why have to eat gas by running the van's engine to power the acc in the camper when you can just run a generator.

if you want a dual battery set-up it is very easy to do, a bigger alternator would be a plus. I can send you a wiring diagram if you like, I have done tons of em when I was building sound systems.

 

Well alot of the RV's we looked at had dual batteries. They used the Generator for when you have the AC and Heat on, and used the aux. battery for lighting and accessories. I like the generator better anyway. If it's that easy to do then cool. I'm assuming you just wire up some diodes and things. I'll let you know if I need some info. I personally want a trailor but the wife doesn't. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet. I guess I'll just wait til I get the house closed, but I'll still keep my eyes open.

 

I'd use a battery isolater. It's a 3 wire hookup. It allows both batteries to charge together but allows the campers battery to discharge while the van battery remains fully charged.

 

Do you have a link to one just so I can use it as a reference? Thanks!

 

Hey Mike,
Sure do follow this link http://www.bcae1.com/battiso.htm It explains it pretty well.

The one I am thinking about is the Diode Isolator