FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Hey! Nate from EXPLORIST.life here… If you are on this page, I suspect you’ve likely got a question. GREAT! Hopefully this page can answer some of our more frequent questions. If you don’t see your question listed here, on the blog or on our Youtube channel, please fill out a contact form and we will try our best to answer your questions. Thanks!
How big of a camper electrical system do I need?
Your camper electrical system size is going to revolve around two things.
- How much battery bank capacity do you need?
- How much inverter power do you need? These two questions can be answered by performing a power audit. Here is a tutorial that will guide you through that process: https://youtu.be/a406IxiU-Xg
How do I install a camper electrical system?
We have several full start-to-finish camper electrical system tutorials on this playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01F4QDVJUq0&list=PLmvhcyi4n0TUU8FUc6LE38TBkdSLjdw_5
I have no idea where to start. Help!
Here is a great (and free) ‘DIY Camper Electrical Academy’, if you will, in a sequential playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JonRJVchBaQ&list=PLmvhcyi4n0TUjVGA_O5aI5SQrS1kKLgEF
Where is the best place to buy my camper electrical system?
Although we used to have a bunch of links to various Amazon products and such, we simply found that to be completely unreliable. For that reason, we brought everything in house so we could keep a closer eye on changes in the parts so we could guarantee everything fits together. Here is our store: https://shop.explorist.life
Where can I get my camper electrical system installed?
We have a network of EXPLORIST.life Certified and approved installers here: https://www.explorist.life/camper-electrical-install-services/
I’ve bought ___solar panels, what size of charge controller do I need?
- Here is a calculator that will help decide which charge controller for the solar panels you’ve decided on: https://www.explorist.life/solar-charge-controller-calculator/
- Here is a tutorial that will teach you how the calculator works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxziHKvTRh8&list=PLmvhcyi4n0TV9pi83rFTv3ZuMT_S1xIZt
- Here is a playlist that will teach you everything you need to know about designing and installing a solar array: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmvhcyi4n0TV9pi83rFTv3ZuMT_S1xIZt
Here is a list of pre-configured solar arrays that we have hand selected in our shop: https://shop.explorist.life/product-category/all-products/camper-wiring-kits/solar-charging-wiring-kits/
What do you use to make wiring diagrams?
Microsoft Visio. Note: Most of the icons/graphics you see on our wiring diagrams we have made from scratch over the last few years, so don’t think that just because you purchase Microsoft Visio that you will have access to those. You can make a sufficient wiring diagram in many other graphics softwares; or better yet… don’t design it yourself and just choose one from our tried and true systems at https://www.explorist.life/solarwiringdiagrams
How much does a camper electrical system cost?
It’s worth noting that all of our system designs use high-quality components from Battle Born Batteries, Victron Energy, and quality wiring and fusing; so although you can build cheaper systems, we are of the ‘do it once so you don’t have to do it again’ mindset. That said, systems range from around $5,600 for 200Ah with 400w of solar and a Victron MultiPlus 2k and up. Our most popular kit of 400Ah with 600w of solar and a Victron MultiPlus 3k costs approximately $8,300. This prices are for all of the components, wiring, and fusing, but does not include installation.
