I Wired My Van! Thanks, Bob!

[Sunny1]

I had planned to pay someone to wire my van, but was going to have to wait until I could afford it.

I am one of those people whose brain freezes when I even think of electricity.  But I was curious about how hard it would be to learn.  So I started surfing for DIY tutorials.  All they did was frustrate me and convinced me that no way could I do it.

But then I ran across Bob Wells' article on How to Strip and Crimp a Wire.  I understood it!  Then I read the next article about How to Install a RoadPro cigarette lighter.  It was a little harder, but I did understand it.

Next I read his article about How to Wire a Fuse Block -- and my brain froze.  I couldn't even begin to understand it. But I went back to the article a couple of days later and light dawned.  Oh!  The positive wires are attached to the end of the block where the fuses are, and the negative wires are attached to the end without fuses!

So I wired my van!  It was really tricky wiring the lights so I could turn them on and off individually, but I did an image search and finally found some illustrations I could understand.  (Diagrams are Chinese to me.).  Then I had to search images to learn how to wire a rocker switch for my submersible pump.  That one really boggled me when I learned the red and black wires were not negative and positive, but both ran inline with the positive wires.

But I finally got it all done.  Best yet, it all worked!

Then I got brave and added a converter so it would converter AC to DC to run my 12 volt stuff plus charge my battery when I was plugged in.  I cut a hole in the floor to run a heavy duty extension cord through and finished the hole with a lavatory drain that I cut the bottom out of. Then I added a surge protector with outlets, so I have AC too!

And I would never have dreamed of tackling any of it if Bob's super simple instructions hadn't demystified DC wiring for me.  so thank you Bob!!!

 

[highdesertranger]

congrats. gives you a good feeling, doesn't it. now if ever want to add on or if you ever have a problem more then likely you can fix it yourself. highdesertranger

 

[Sunny1]

Yes!  Such a feeling of accomplishment!  I also have a portable 120 watt solar panel.  Now I need another battery so I could feel more comfortable boondocking. 

 

[becida]

So I wired my van!  
And I would never have dreamed of tackling any of it if Bob's super simple instructions hadn't demystified DC wiring for me.  so thank you Bob!!!

Way to go!  Doing it yourself is in many ways the best way to do it, you get no only the confidence but the ability to repair it later and add on as you think it's needed!

 

[grahampa]

I did all of the electrical work in my van as well including hooking up the solar panels creating mc4 connections hooking up all of the lights the fan inverter and the RV converter to charge off of AC power. I was looking at it just today and felt very proud that I could accomplish something like that without any prior experience or very little. It definitely involved a lot of research. A big high five from one amateur to another.

 

[Sunny1]

I did all of the electrical work in my van as well including hooking up the solar panels creating mc4 connections hooking up all of the lights the fan inverter and the RV converter to charge off of AC power. I was looking at it just today and felt very proud that I could accomplish something like that without any prior experience or very little. It definitely involved a lot of research. A big high five from one amateur to another.

Congratulations!!!  I feel the same way.  Thanks for letting me know!