24 volt?

cafyrman

My electrical upgrades got delayed, so now I'm revamping my plan for my 2018 400.

The goal is essentially to be able to run the CoolCat to some extent off-grid.  I'm looking at replacing my two 6 volt batteries with a 460 AH battery, probably an Epoch with heating and Bluetooth.  And most likely a Victron MultiPlus ii 3000VA.

But... I was thinking about whether it makes more sense to switch to 24 volts for the battery and charger/inverter.  I could use much smaller wiring, and have more efficiency from the solar.

I know the Dometic refrigerator is advertised as 12/24 volt.  Does it just work on both?

What about everything else?  It doesn't really make sense if I also have to buy a 24>12volt converter.  But a lot of stuff natively works on either voltage?  What about the stuff in the T@B?  Particularly, the Alde.  Lighting, fan, entertainment, brakes?

Just a thought.  What are yours?

Grumpy_G

Nothing in the trailer will work on 24V, with possibly the fridge being the exception. The only high current connection where the wiring gauge could be made smaller is between the battery and the inverter. 
There is nothing to gain on the solar side either, a 24V MPPT charger needs higher input voltage than typical RV panels provide so there's additional expense there as well. 
Lastly you need to make provisions for the trailer not back feeding into the tow vehicle to not fry the electronics. 

cafyrman

Thanks for validating that it's a pretty hair brained idea!  LOL

The solar side wouldn't be that big an issue.  I wouldn't be looking at typical RV panels -- or would put them in series.