Eurovan Camper mods

Victron Phoenix 12/800 True Sine Wave Inverter

Back | See also: Installing a 100Ah LiFePO4 house battery

Updated 2020-07-29 : First version.

Introduction

After much research, I finally found what I belive to be the perfect sine wave inverter for my 2000 Eurovan Camper. It's true sine wave, big enough (but not too big), fits nicely under the rear bench seat, and has a nice bluetooth app for configuration and control.

Fit Notes:

• The Victron Phoenix 12/800 Specifications claims the 12/800 model is 105mm (4.1 inches) tall, and would not fit under the rear bench seat.
• However, I was able to measure the device and it's actually 3.8 inches tall, which fits perfectly.
• For connecting inverters to the house battery, you want to use the shortest, thickest wire which will fit the inverter. I used 4 gauge wire, which according to this Wire Ampacity Chart : a 4 gauge wire can carry up to 100 amps for up to 3 meters (10 feet) in length.
• The 4 gauge wire just barely fits the inverter. I don't think anything thicker (e.g. 2 AWG) would fit.

Parts:

• Victron Phoenix Inverter VE.Direct - 12/800 model
• Victron VE.Direct Bluetooth Smart Dongle
• Wire: Use 4 gauge marine or welding wire. Pure copper, multi stranded.
• Fuses. The general goal of a fuse is to protect the wire. As such, you want the fuse as early in the circuit (as close to the battery) as possible. For this purpose, MRBFs (Marine Rated Battery Fuse), are hard to beat, since they mount directly to the battery.: Blue Sea MRBF
  I used 100A fuses for this application.

Tools:

• Nothing special needed, just a screwdriver and screws for mounting, wrench for tightening terminals.

Using the Inverter:

• The inverter supports a remote switch, but I didn't use it.
• Instead, I leave the power in the On position. In this state, the inverter will draw about 0.5 amps (about 6 watts) when there is no load.
• The inverter has an Eco mode, in which it will turn on briefly to look for a load, and then go back to sleep. I did not like this mode, since it caused the Eurovan / Winnnebago GFCI device to make an audible "Click" every few seconds.
• I found a better way: I use the Bluetooth connection to turn the inverter Off using the VictronConnect app. In this state (the hardware switch ON, but the software set to OFF) the inverter will idle using less than 1 watt. This is low enough that I just leave it in this state when the van is garaged

Step-by-Step:

(click each picture for full size)

1. Phoenix 12/800 in box
   
   See notes above about dimensions - the inverter is actually not as tall as listed.
   



2. VE Direct Bluetooth Dongle
   
   
   



3. Mounting the inverter: Height
   
   Note: the inverter is actually about 3.8 inches tall, which does fit under the rear bench seat.
   



4. Mounting the inverter: under bench
   
   
   



5. Mounting the inverter: Top View
   
   Note: also shows my custom battery box.
   See Installing a 100Ah LiFePO4 house battery
   



6. Mounting the inverter: Closeup
   
   This location gives a very short run (about 1 meter) to the house battery. Use 4 gauge welding or marine wire (multistrand, pure copper).
   



7. Mounting the inverter: Wide Angle
   
   Note: also shows my Pioneer amplifier on the left.
   



8. MRBF
   
   This clever fuse mounts directly to the battery terminal. Fuses are available in various sizes. Choose a fuse to match your wire size.
   



9. MRBF Closeup
   
   My old inverter had 2 wires, so these are the 2 terminal MRBF. You can use the 1 terminal version.
   (Note: the red wire has yet to be hooked up in this picture. The Black wire goes to the negative terminal of the battery.)
   



10. VE.Direct Bluetooth
    
    The Victron Phoenix inverter can be controlled via iPhone, Android, Mac or Windows laptop via bluetooth.