Eurovan Camper mods

Victron IP22 Battery Charger

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Updated 2024-06-03 : Added detail about removing the old Magnatek
Updated 2021-05-14 : First version.

Introduction

In 2020, I installed a Lithium house battery. In Spring 2021, I followed this up with a major renovation of the Eurovan Camper's 12V system.

Fit Notes:

Parts:

• Victron IP22 Charger
  Note:: the charger comes in a variety of versions, 230VAC vs. 120VAC, 12VDC vs 24VDC, 8, 12, 15, 24 or 30 amps DC, and 1 vs. 3 battery connections. I purchased the 120VAC model that does 30 amps and has 3 x 12VDC outputs.
• BlueSea 5026 fuse block
  (optional) I found this a very nice way of cleaning up the installation, as it includes 12 fused + circuits and a negative (ground) busbar with 12 connections.

Tools:

• Nothing special needed: screwdriver, screws, wire strippers, etc.

Removing the old Magnatek converter:

(click each picture for full size)

1. Remove the old Magnetek Charger
   
   David has a great guide here: Converter Upgrade
   
   
2. The old Magnetek
   
   
3. Remove the Furnace
   Sub-Steps:
   • Turn off the van's Propane valve
   • Remove 2 screws on front of furnace cover
   • Unhook Propane line
   • Unhook furnace wiring harness
   • Remove two screws in base of furnace
   • At this point, the furnace will just slide out
   
   
4. Furnace Removal
   
   
5. Furnace Removed
   
   
6. Combine the old Magnetek unfiltered and filtered outputs on a single crossbar:
   The Magnetek is so old, it has two separate 12V outputs, "filtered" and "unfiltered" - Modern chargers just have filtered outputs, so we need to combine these into a single crossbar +12V supply.
   Cut a piece of 3/4" by 4 inches from your Aluminum Bar. Drill holes as needed. If you have any additional items needing power, drill holes for these too. (In this picture, you'll see I have Solar Charger, a stereo head unit, an amplifier, etc...)
   
   Old - crossbar with 2 separate circuits:
   
   • Dirty: The Yellow wire with blue tape is the same wire that connects to the Dirty Output (the blue wire in the Magnetek)
   • Clean: The Black wire wire with Yellow tape connects to the Clean output (the red wire in the Magnetek)
   Please note that wiring color differs by model year, what you are seeing in my 2000 EVC may not match yours
   New - crossbar reduced to 1 circuit for all 12V devices:
   

Install the Victron IP22:

(click each picture for full size)

1. IP22 Charger
   
   
   



2. IP22 Connection detail
   Notes:
   1. Since the van floor is corrugated, I screwed a piece of plywood into the metal floor of the van, and then screwed the charger into the plywood
   2. The charger has 3 circuits, but I'm only using 2 (one for the house battery, one for the starting battery)
   
   
   



3. IP22 Mounting Location
   After you remove the old Magnetek, there's plenty of room under the Suburban furnace.
   In fact, you can see here that I added an additional secondary fuse panel
   
   



4. BlueSea 5026 ST Blade Fuse Block
   
   This is a great product, as it has 12 fused circuits AND another 12 connections for the negative (ground) side.
   I used this to wire in all the additional devices, including:
   1. front stereo
   2. stereo amplifier
   3. powered subwoofer
   4. power input from the new MPPT 100/20 solar charge controller
   5. power input from the IP22 charger
   And, even then, I still have 7 free circuits left for future expansion...
   



5. Using the IP22 with Victron Connect on iPhone
   
   The Victron IP22 can be controlled via iPhone, Android, Mac or Windows laptop via bluetooth.