Extra 12v trailing socket under front dinette

barryd

barryd

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I am hoping @MERL will see his has he knows my van but it would be useful to have another 12v trailing heavy duty socket in the front dinette. When we (well Merl) upgraded my batteries and solar system we fitted two of these which just flip out from the bottom of the rear lounge seats when needed. They are great. Very useful but there are none in the front. I could do with one coming out of the front dinette.

There are two ways I can see to do this. The easiest way would be to run a length of cable to the socket out of the bottom of the rear battery box, along under the van (outside) and back in under the front dinette where there is a small access hole. The hard way would be through the ducts behind the bathroom which is huge and then the ducts in the front dinette. I think the latter is a none starter for me.

Question are though will there be an issue with voltage drop as its a long way, what size cable will I need and how do I fix it under the van so it survives the elements?

This is one of the ones in the rear.

socket rear.jpg
 
st3v3 said:
No problem with under the van, use flexible conduit to protect the cable. Voltage drop is cured by using thicker cable, but what current are we talking about?
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Thanks.

The most it will power is a laptop which from dead might pull 65w. A bit more if it's using the 300w bestek inverter so I assumed 4mm twin core.
 
If you are going to run cable as you suggest, then I would be inclined to run a pretty decent gauge - maybe 6mm2 or 10mm2 - and that will more than accommodate the load you expect and leave room for more. Save repeating the job if it turns out you have more need then planned right now.
Don't know if you need twin-core? no local chassis point to pick up the -ve? Maybe front seat mounts which is always a solid place.
 
st3v3 said:
I know it sounds wrong, but it is fine to put the thick cable into a block close to the socket and change to thin cable to terminate easier at the socket. Fuse at source at the capacity of the thin cable.
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I can't for the life of me find the sockets I bought last year which connect directly to the battery but they were something like this which are 10 amp. I guess these would be fine. My thoughts were 4mm cable in conduit run and fixed under the van, connector block to one of these under the dinette fridge and a 15 amp inline fuse near the battery end

 
If you have a good earth point near to where you'll use the socket, a seatbelt bolt, etc, then you only need to bring the positive wire from the battery and a short earth to the socket. I'd go for 6mm2 if the length of the van, no need for trunking etc, just cable tie to the side (not the bottom) of the chassis every 300mm.
 
Whenever I do anything similar I do as Steve suggests sort of. Instead of a block I usually fit a small fuse box so I have an easy connection point if I want to do anything later. Lately I have started using marine cable as well, not saying its needed in any way but if my understanding is right it's a bit more protection when exposure to the elements is more likely. Conduit under the van will keep it out the elements though anyway.

Edit: Again not needed but I always run two core and take everything back to the battery + and -
 
All good advice above Barry.
MY thoughts are:-
Crossing that bathroom won't be easy, BUT didn't we actually pull a new cable across to replace that feed to the toilet? If so then that cable could be used as a leader to pull other cables through. If not then best to go underneath the van.
Grovelling around under the van is a pain, for the sake of a a few quid extra put in a 10mm cable that'll never need upgrading.
Using just one positive cable and picking up the negative locally is perfectly feasible BUT you'll be cursing that choice IF you decide to have a shunt fitted further down the line.
The ciggy socket isn't a good idea for an inverter consuming 300W, I'd say good for about 100W only BUT providing you've installed a heavy
cable you can always change to/ add an additional Anderson connector for the inverter.
 
MERL said:
All good advice above Barry.
MY thoughts are:-
Crossing that bathroom won't be easy, BUT didn't we actually pull a new cable across to replace that feed to the toilet? If so then that cable could be used as a leader to pull other cables through. If not then best to go underneath the van.
Grovelling around under the van is a pain, for the sake of a a few quid extra put in a 10mm cable that'll never need upgrading.
Using just one positive cable and picking up the negative locally is perfectly feasible BUT you'll be cursing that choice IF you decide to have a shunt fitted further down the line.
The ciggy socket isn't a good idea for an inverter consuming 300W, I'd say good for about 100W only BUT providing you've installed a heavy
cable you can always change to/ add an additional Anderson connector for the inverter.
Click to expand...

We did Merl but as you will remember it was a right PIA going into the bathroom and I would have to get way beyond that. Going under the van will be a lot easier I think.

The 300w inverter is a Bestek pure sinewave with a cig socket type connector. Its only ever used to charge Michelles laptop, toothbrush, fast 240v phone chargers etc so will never pull more than 65w. Typically more like 10-20w.
 
barryd said:
We did Merl but as you will remember it was a right PIA going into the bathroom and I would have to get way beyond that. Going under the van will be a lot easier I think.

The 300w inverter is a Bestek pure sinewave with a cig socket type connector. Its only ever used to charge Michelles laptop, toothbrush, fast 240v phone chargers etc so will never pull more than 65w. Typically more like 10-20w.
Click to expand...
Yep, fully understand what your needs are right now Barry but things can change.
 
barryd said:
Why would I need one of them? The little Bestek 300w inverter has been absolutely brilliant. Very little overhead and you can plug it in anywhere. Charges my mobile from flat to full in an hour on the fast charger.
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The socket went on mine, and I wanted a mounting type.
 
Pudsey Bear said:
The socket went on mine, and I wanted a mounting type.
Click to expand...

At some point in the future ill probably go full lithium, compressor fridge, maybe diesel heating and when I do ill see about getting a massive inverter that will power up all the 240v sockets. :D

Im not doing that right now as everything works just fine. Merls super duper solar install has worked fantastically on this trip. Weather has been a bit indifferent these last few days but its still charging extremely well. Never dropped below 12.55v in 8 days without moving which I think is about 80% full.
 
Me too, it's cloudy here as usual, I put the new alpicool thin on about 20 mins ago and panel is in front of it, it's just reached its target of -5, waiting for it to switch off.
20260604_141926.jpg
Screenshot_20260604-113543_Junce Home.jpg
 
Pudsey Bear said:
Me too, it's cloudy here as usual, I put the new alpicool thin on about 20 mins ago and panel is in front of it, it's just reached its target of -5, waiting for it to switch off.View attachment 206876View attachment 206878
Click to expand...

What does -5 mean?

I just watch the Victron app. There is a good game to play where you guess the watts going in depending on the weather when its in bulk. One of us is usually within five to ten watts. :D
 
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