New member, new bus. Couple electrical questions

[luvrbus]

Some people try to pull all the 12v from stud 55 or is it 59 on a MCI and they make it work not great but it works for some

[peterbylt]

On our 89 96A3, the Vanner is in the battery bay just above the batteries.

It appears as though your bus either had the Vanner removed or it never had one.

In your picture the circled wire on the right, the wire with the yellow sleeve sticking out of the insulation that is attached to the Jumper between the batteries is most likely the 12 volt feed for the bus, it should run across to the AC breaker/connection box that is on the top front of the first bay on the driver's side, from there it runs to stud 55 in the connection panel under the driver's window, supplying the bus with 12 volts.

On our bus that wire runs to an on/off switch and then to the 12 volt connection on the Vanner that is connected to the batteries.

The circled middle wire with the switch on your bus, appears to be the wire that on our bus goes into the curb side of the front bay and goes to a 24 volt to 110 converter mounted on the top of the bay, this 24 to 110 converter appears to be original to bus from MCI.

I have no idea what the circled wire on the left does, a breaker protected ground wire?

The clearance lights on ours are 24 volt and come on with the same switch that turns the headlights on.
 
The wiring for them ran up along the overhead bins, I accidently ripped it out when I ripped out the overhead bins and had to replace it, possibly the same issue occurred and they were rewired differently on your bus.



Peter

[freds]

What's the starter voltage for the generators? If 12V then have a separate generator battery that doubles as the house 12V feed. You would keep it topped off with the battery isolator -> 24V to 12V DC to DC converter.

If you go with a 24V house bank because of the inverter that it might be time to add some solar!!!

You need to check out the flexibility of the inverter, it maybe so old that it is not a true sine wave inverter or it's standby power usage will be horrible.

Then you have decide lead-acid or Lithium Ion for your house batteries.

Some YouTube channels that you might want to watch are:

Beginning from this Morning   https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-xTux7NNRrOTE_74WbU5cg

DIY Solar Power with Will Prowse https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoj6RxIAQq8kmJme-5dnN0Q

DavidPoz https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXJ7onrDcxo2zy8yAsxqwgg

Bus Grease Monkey for his recent solar adventures  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTeteRfN_uu-odJld157e6Q

[windtrader]

Finally had a chance to review the actual wiring of the Vanner Voltmaster 60-50 battery equalizer. It is wired per the diagram in the manual with one exception; the 12v tap is on the equalizer side rather than the battery side. Electrically the same except the manual shows fuses in the line and tapping on the battery side as stated here.


The way it is wired works the same except does not have the added protection of the fuse in case of power spike from the battery side hitting the equalizer. Not sure if I will modify as it has been serving for 20 years and seems to be working fine. That said, can't hurt so will put on the to do list. Thanks again.

[scooter01922]

What's the starter voltage for the generators? If 12V then have a separate generator battery that doubles as the house 12V feed. You would keep it topped off with the battery isolator -> 24V to 12V DC to DC converter.

If you go with a 24V house bank because of the inverter that it might be time to add some solar!!!

You need to check out the flexibility of the inverter, it maybe so old that it is not a true sine wave inverter or it's standby power usage will be horrible.

Then you have decide lead-acid or Lithium Ion for your house batteries.

Some YouTube channels that you might want to watch are:

Beginning from this Morning   https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-xTux7NNRrOTE_74WbU5cg

DIY Solar Power with Will Prowse https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoj6RxIAQq8kmJme-5dnN0Q

DavidPoz https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXJ7onrDcxo2zy8yAsxqwgg

Bus Grease Monkey for his recent solar adventures  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTeteRfN_uu-odJld157e6Q

Thanks for the info. The starters on the gen sets are 12v. The inverter is supposedly newer and was running computers and whatnot in its previous install so i believe ( haven't personally checked yet) that its plenty clean enough power for the house items i intend to power with it. Lots of other stuff to be dealt with before i go all hog wild on solar. Mechanical work to do, rust repairs etc. Just trying to get a basic handle on things so i can have things powered up reliably to get everything working as it should.

[scooter01922]

On our 89 96A3, the Vanner is in the battery bay just above the batteries.



Peter

Thanks for the great pic. LOVE your conversion by the way, very well documented. I'm quite positive that " breaker protected ground wire" is very much in the wrong spot, not sure just yet where the right spot is but its been removed till i figure that out.

[Jim Blackwood]

Nothing wrong with putting a breaker on the ground side as long as it's large enough to handle the full load.

Jim

[buswarrior]

Nothing wrong with putting a breaker on the ground side as long as it's large enough to handle the full load.

Jim

But MCI didn't do it like that. The cable is attached to wrong place, and has to be confirmed for function before choosing which post to re-attach to.

Happy coaching!
Buswarrior

[Jim Blackwood]

I don't disagree. But still there's nothing inherently wrong with it being there. I'd still want a breaker or disconnect on the positive side but maybe that's just me.

Jim