And more finishing touches at the electrics

In principle all the wiring had been completed, but two things needed to be done: the internal lighting of the switch for the external 12V supply needed to be connected, and the ampmeter for the internal consumers needed to be properly wired so that it also would show current when the power supply was used instead of the solar/leisure battery circuits.

The switch does connect the POWER-ON line with the GROUND from the power supply. I decided to use the -12V as the other connector for the switch illumination, so that the direction of the current is the same as originally intended in this switch (there is ACC, power, and ground connection at the switch, and since ACC and power are already on ground level, the remaining connection should not be +12V; this is important if the illuminator is an LED, where the direction of the current matters).

The ampmeter just needed some rewiring of the common ground return cable, which I had connected to the common terminal block instead of going through the ampmeter resistor first. I changed this, and now the meter also shows the current when the consumers in the car are connected to the 12V power supply instead of the leisure battery.

The cabling looks chaotic, but is all well-thought-through :) :

Once the cabling is hidden and the big wiring board is moved and affixed into its position, it looks more tidy. Even the coffee machine is back in place:

Upgrade of the 12V electrics

When preparing the vertical auxiliary panel, I used the opportunity to re-wire the electric box which I had assembled. It had been too small to be closed, so I now used all that empty space in between the panels for laying out the wiring more generously, with better access. I also had bought a new volt/amp meter for the battery which would indicate if current goes into the battery (charging) or goes out. The previously used ampmeter only did show current that did come out of the battery. The new meter is installed in the grey box in the centre. I will still have to decide what to do with the now obsolete previous V/A meter.

I also got another solar controller, rated at 30A, which has a multifunction display and shows more information about the status of the voltages / currents. And I added two green LEDs which indicate the status of the split charge relay: one LED indicates it there is voltage from the front vehicle battery arriving at the split charge relay, and the other LED indicates if the split charge relay is connecting both batteries (when the engine is on and the alternator recharges both batteries).