Julie’s sporty Mercedes Sprinter!

Julie contacted Tiny Build Electrics after receiving a recommendation from one of their previous clients. Julie had recently purchased a Mercedes Sprinter (pictured below), appropriately named ‘Justa’ after somebody commented that its ‘just a van’, to enjoy her semi-retirement meandering her way around Europe, but as good as the camper looked on the outside, the electrical system wasn’t up to scratch, Julie couldn’t even run the fridge over night.

Charlie surveyed the job and gave all the relevant information to Tom who would carry out all the necessary calculations. Julie had an 10L electric hot water tank with a 850w element within it. Not only an electric water tank, but also a microwave that she wanted to run. Julie had also mentioned that she would like air conditioning in the near future so this was also to be allowed for.

Therefore, the system needed to be sizeable, there was just one issue and that was space. Under the bench seat in the front of the van measuring 1300mm x 600mm was the space in which the system was to be fitted, this meant that frame size of the electrical components was to be taken into consideration when sizing. It would be no good to the customer having a 2000VA inverter with no where to fit it!

Tom at Tiny Build Electrics designs the campervan’s electrical system

Tom calculated the system size and came up with a parts list. Once sent to Julie, Tom worked on the detailed schematic that would be sent to Charlie to assist with the installation.

This was the first time supplying and installing Victron Energy’s new Orion XS 50A DC-DC charger so was a good time to delve deep into the manufactures instructions to ensure the first installation was smooth.

Julie accepted Tom’s quotation which enabled Tom to start shipping parts and components immediately. The timescale was tight, only 3 working days sat between the quote being accepted and Charlie starting the installation but Tom worked tirelessly to ensure everything was on site for the start date.

Mercedes Sprinter Electrical System Installation

Charlie started by removing most of the existing components, 95ah lead acid leisure battery, PWM solar charge controller and the 230v battery charger. The CBE 12V fuse panel was to stay and be integrated into the new system. The main reason for this was that Julie liked the CBE panel/controller and had grown used to using it, therefore it was left.

Following the removal of the electrical components the water heater was to be removed to make way for the 460ah Foster battery as well as the Victron Energy 1600VA Multiplus. The water heater was to be relocated into the garage space in the rear of the campervan.

The diesel heater was also located under the bench seat and could not be moved as it was fixed through the floor via a 4 inch mounting plate. The customer wanted this left in place, which meant that Charlie had to configure the system around the diesel heater, as well as ensuring the heat emitted from the diesel heater wasn’t to effect any of the electrical components.

Once all the components had been delivered from Tiny Build Electrics, Charlie checked everything off against the delivery note and then started unboxing everything to start a dry fit. This is to see where each of the components would be fitted, taking heat dissipation and cable runs into consideration.

Using 50mm x 50mm blue panel trunking, (supplied by Tiny Build electrics), Charlie set the system out and carefully worked out a layout. Care was taken as due to the 1600VA Multiplus, 35mm2 cables were to be used and it quickly gets tight within the trunking, therefore the primary supply and inverter cables were kept to one side of the installation.

The bulk of the components were mounted into their final positions and cabling the system could now commence. Charlie always starts with earthing and bonding as this is one of the most important safety aspects of the system. A 35mm black cable and a 4mm green and yellow cable were ran under the drivers seat of the campervan where they were terminated onto two chassis grounding points ensuring the ‘SAFETY ELECTRICAL CONNECTION: DO NOT REMOVE’ signs are on show.

At this stage the two 230V consumer units are the only components left to be put into place, the space on the left hand side under the birds nest of 12V cables were to be their locations.

Testing and certification of the campervan’s electrical system

Jumping forward to the completion of the system, all the cabling had been terminated, torqued and tidied away using the panel trunking. Charlie then tested the 230V to ensure the safety devices were operating correctly, also providing the customer with a full electrical installation certificate to prove the system had been installed correctly and in adherence to the IET wiring regulations BS7671.

Once tested Charlie used the thermal imaging camera to run over the system to ensure there were no significant hotspots on any of the joints or terminations. To do this Charlie runs the system at maximum for half an hour, this gives a good idea of any issues should there be any.

Julie recently sent this photo of them enjoying the van in Spain. Hot water, air conditioning as well as the rest of the van all running on the Tiny Build Electrics system!