RangerRocket
Observer
If someone is bored and would like to help me understand some German (European) Electrical System Schematics for our Unicat TC54 please let me know. We are just starting to thaw out from the winter (NW Ohio) and getting the vehicle ready for some upcoming road trips.
We purchased the vehicle last fall and we are still trying to figure out how all of the electrical systems and components work with each other (shore power, generator, solar, and alternator). The schematics provided by Unicat are many and detailed. I'm just not that technical. Unfortunately Unicat doesn't publish a basic "user's manual" to help someone who is unfamiliar with the vehicle understand basic system operations, i.e., the Xantrex charger is associated with..., the Outback Charger/Inverter is associated with..., etc.
We just replaced the house batteries (4x Lifeline 4D 210Ah each) last week, as well as the vehicle starting batteries last fall. The vehicle is a 2008 International MXT that was shipped to Germany and the Unicat body was added in early 2009. We figured we'd be proactive and just replace all of the batteries and start "fresh" so we knew what we had.
In the "technical area" of the Unicat, as it is called, I have a Xantrex XC 3012 battery charger, an Outback FX-series charger/inverter, and a Victron Phoenix 12 Volt/350 VA Pure Sine Inverter. Currently I have no idea what the Victron inverter is connected to and what it is used for given the Outback charger/inverter. The Victron inverter was actually turned off when I disassembled the seating area to get to the technical area. The vehicle also has two 120 Watt Sharp Solar Panels and a Sharp solar charge controller. I have yet to locate where the charge controller is installed on the vehicle, it is not located in the technical area and I'm still looking. Perhaps the Victron Phoenix inverter is somehow associated with the solar setup???
Looking at the schematics I "think" the Xantrex charger is associated with charging the batteries via the generator, and the Outback with charging the batteries via shore power. I could be completely wrong however...
The Xantrex charger keeps giving me an error despite the new house batteries. I am considering replacing the Xantrex with a Charles SP SERIES C-CHARGER (12v/30 Amp model). I've read that the Xantrex algorithms may be suspect working with AGM batteries, and the Charles charger seems to have a favorable following out on some marine chat sites that I've looked at. I want to ensure that our $3000 investment in new house batteries isn't ruined by a bad Xantrex charger and we are more than willing to make a $400 investment in the new Charles charger to eliminate that possibility. The Charles charger seems to be very simple with a mechanical switch to set it for charging AGM batteries as opposed to the Xantrex's rather intensive programming requirements. As the vehicle will sit idle much of the time for the next three years until we retire and start to travel in it full time, we really need to ensure the batteries are well maintained.
If anyone is interested in helping me figure these systems out please let me know via a PM. I could email the schematics to you if you'd like to take a stab helping us better understand how the electrical systems work with and compliment each other. Thanks. RR
We purchased the vehicle last fall and we are still trying to figure out how all of the electrical systems and components work with each other (shore power, generator, solar, and alternator). The schematics provided by Unicat are many and detailed. I'm just not that technical. Unfortunately Unicat doesn't publish a basic "user's manual" to help someone who is unfamiliar with the vehicle understand basic system operations, i.e., the Xantrex charger is associated with..., the Outback Charger/Inverter is associated with..., etc.
We just replaced the house batteries (4x Lifeline 4D 210Ah each) last week, as well as the vehicle starting batteries last fall. The vehicle is a 2008 International MXT that was shipped to Germany and the Unicat body was added in early 2009. We figured we'd be proactive and just replace all of the batteries and start "fresh" so we knew what we had.
In the "technical area" of the Unicat, as it is called, I have a Xantrex XC 3012 battery charger, an Outback FX-series charger/inverter, and a Victron Phoenix 12 Volt/350 VA Pure Sine Inverter. Currently I have no idea what the Victron inverter is connected to and what it is used for given the Outback charger/inverter. The Victron inverter was actually turned off when I disassembled the seating area to get to the technical area. The vehicle also has two 120 Watt Sharp Solar Panels and a Sharp solar charge controller. I have yet to locate where the charge controller is installed on the vehicle, it is not located in the technical area and I'm still looking. Perhaps the Victron Phoenix inverter is somehow associated with the solar setup???
Looking at the schematics I "think" the Xantrex charger is associated with charging the batteries via the generator, and the Outback with charging the batteries via shore power. I could be completely wrong however...
The Xantrex charger keeps giving me an error despite the new house batteries. I am considering replacing the Xantrex with a Charles SP SERIES C-CHARGER (12v/30 Amp model). I've read that the Xantrex algorithms may be suspect working with AGM batteries, and the Charles charger seems to have a favorable following out on some marine chat sites that I've looked at. I want to ensure that our $3000 investment in new house batteries isn't ruined by a bad Xantrex charger and we are more than willing to make a $400 investment in the new Charles charger to eliminate that possibility. The Charles charger seems to be very simple with a mechanical switch to set it for charging AGM batteries as opposed to the Xantrex's rather intensive programming requirements. As the vehicle will sit idle much of the time for the next three years until we retire and start to travel in it full time, we really need to ensure the batteries are well maintained.
If anyone is interested in helping me figure these systems out please let me know via a PM. I could email the schematics to you if you'd like to take a stab helping us better understand how the electrical systems work with and compliment each other. Thanks. RR
Last edited: