Notn2bars Posted May 16, 2022 Share Posted May 16, 2022 Good day to all of you on this forum. We have a 2000 Dynasty and are getting ready to install an ML-ACR in the MH. The unit we ordered has the remote switch for the dash. It looks like only 2 leads need to go from the engine compartment to the dash. Am I correct in making that assumption? The other question is, what gauge wire will we need for the run from the engine compartment to the dash? To be safe, it looks like we will need about 45 ft. If anyone has a diagram or pics of their installation, that would be a great help. I'm including a pic of our rear run bay. Any advice or help is greatly appreciated. God Bless, Ed & Sylvia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vito.a Posted May 16, 2022 Share Posted May 16, 2022 Courtesy of P Whittle: Replace Big Boy with Blue Sea ML-ACRhttps://www.irv2.com/forums/f115/replace-big-boy-with-blue-sea-ml-acr-468617.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notn2bars Posted May 16, 2022 Author Share Posted May 16, 2022 Thanks Vito, took a look at the post. Good info, looking for more, especially photos of an install where the isolator is replaced. I appreciate your quick reply. God bless, Ed & Sylvia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ray Davis Posted May 16, 2022 Share Posted May 16, 2022 Ed, if you looked at the link Vito posted you may have seen that VanWill was mentioned. Van has a 2000 Dynasty that he installed a ML-ACR in. Van is a member here and on IRV2. You can pm him either place or he will chime in soon I'm sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notn2bars Posted May 16, 2022 Author Share Posted May 16, 2022 Thanks Ray, how is Marilyn doing? Are you behaving to her standard God Bless, Ed & Sylvia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ray Davis Posted May 16, 2022 Share Posted May 16, 2022 Ed, I continually struggle to measure up, but as near perfect as I am I'm afraid I still have a long way to go. 😁 Tell Slyvia Marilyn and I said hello. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacwjames Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 Ed, If you've downloaded the wiring schematics for the Bluesea it shows what you need. Your current boost switch has two wires that connect to you large solenoid for the boost function. You only need one extra wire to be able to wire in the Bluesea switch in place of the boost switch. I spend a day looking for a spare wire with no luck. I had previously installed a 3/4" conduit for the FASS system so I took the opportunity to pull a five wire bundle through the conduit from my rear passenger side electrical bay to the front coming out above the generator. I pulled the plastic cover off from in front of my brake system and ran the bundle of 5 wires into the dash that way. Then it was a matter of removing the boost switch and replacing it with the new Bluesea switch. A word of caution, I screwed up putting in the new switch, I mixed up a ground a hot wire, didn't find that until I was trying to fix my dash lights. Took awhile to figure that out but that's a whole other story😝 Here's a picture of the switch, which is red. This was where the original boost switch was. Note the fuel pressure gauge for the FASS system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocketman3 Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 We2Dynasty, I have the same electrical bay. While I don’t have a comment on the ML-ACR, because I don’t need it, I will explain the changes I have made. 1. Kinda eliminate the salesman switch (continuous relays). I eliminated the two silver (bottom right corner) continuous relays. I replaced each one with a Victron Smart BP-65. This reduced the continuous load on my system (we boondock a lot). And I can still turn each off manually or if the voltage drops below the set point - they turn off. 2. Eliminated the big blue isolator. I bridged the alternator and chassis battery studs with a buss bar. 3. Added a Victron DC-DC Charger. In the physical place of the big blue isolator I added a DC-DC charger. I have a 540ah (self-made) lithium battery. And so I cannot have the alternator blindly charging the battery. I added the 30a dc-dc charger in case I need some extra power on a drive day. We have a large 1200 watt solar that provides all we need - if the sun is shining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanwill52 Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 Before and after pix for coach with Solid State Isolator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notn2bars Posted May 17, 2022 Author Share Posted May 17, 2022 Jim, Rocketman and Van, The input from all of you is appreciated and valued. Van the pictures will be invaluable for the install. Jim, kinda what I had in mind for the install, except we will put our rocker switch on the left side console. The fuel pressure gauge will be in abou the same place. What gauge wire did you run to the front for the switch? God bless, Ed & Sylvia Van, it looks like you removed the little green box, the solenoid above it, and the isolator. Are the completely out of the equation or were they placed in another location? Thanks and God Bless, Ed & Sylvia Ray, LOL me too!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacwjames Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 Ed, I used a trailer wiring kit, 5 wires that I believe were 14 awg. This was overkill but since I don't what I might use the other four wires for it worked. My system was different in that I had the Bird/Lambert 415 (the green thing) and isolation solenoid, but the Bluesea replaced all of them. That was one of the benefits of using the Bluesea, it's simplicity and size. I used some of the freed up space and installed a Bluesea fuse holder and 60 amp circuit breaker that I used to run power to my transmission cooler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanwill52 Posted May 17, 2022 Share Posted May 17, 2022 2 hours ago, We2dynasty said: Jim, Rocketman and Van, The input from all of you is appreciated and valued. Van the pictures will be invaluable for the install. Jim, kinda what I had in mind for the install, except we will put our rocker switch on the left side console. The fuel pressure gauge will be in abou the same place. What gauge wire did you run to the front for the switch? God bless, Ed & Sylvia Van, it looks like you removed the little green box, the solenoid above it, and the isolator. Are the completely out of the equation or were they placed in another location? Thanks and God Bless, Ed & Sylvia Ray, LOL me too!!! Yes, it replaces the green Lambert charger, the Big Boy boost solenoid and the Solid State Isolator. You may have to make a 4/0 cable or two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notn2bars Posted May 18, 2022 Author Share Posted May 18, 2022 Van and Jim thank you again for all the valuable information. Didn't work on the MH today. Helped a neighbor with the construction of the roof on his addition, may be helping him for the next couple of days. Waiting on parts again. Will keep y'all posted when I get back to it. God Bless, Ed & Sylvia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Blackmon Posted May 18, 2022 Share Posted May 18, 2022 If you remove the boost solenoid you already have the single wire needed between the dash and the ACR. It only requires 1 wire to lock on, lock off or auto. None of the other functions of the ML ACR are needed in a 20 year old RV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacwjames Posted May 18, 2022 Share Posted May 18, 2022 When I installed mine I only had one existing wire that went all the way to the front, it when to the Auxiliary Start button on the dash. The rest of the wires on my Isolation solenoid all were attached to points in the electrical bay. This was on a 2002 Windsor so other coaches may (probably are) different. I used the ground connection from the original solenoid If you look at the wiring diagram it shows you need two wires from the switch going from front to back assuming you can pull (+) power from the dash. The red remote wire from the switch and the yellow wire. So in my case I only had one wire in the back I could use so I needed one more wire to make the switch work and also provide a status light as to whether it is working or not and/or what position it is in. The other functions you do not have to use if you don't want. Brown and Orange wires are used if you want to isolate the chassis and coach while starting and/or while the generator is running. Agree that most coaches don't need that. Attached is the wiring diagram. Bluesea instructions.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimc99999 Posted May 18, 2022 Share Posted May 18, 2022 2 hours ago, Bob Blackmon said: If you remove the boost solenoid you already have the single wire needed between the dash and the ACR. It only requires 1 wire to lock on, lock off or auto. None of the other functions of the ML ACR are needed in a 20 year old RV. If you want the remote button to also show status with the LED, you need a second wire from the ML-ACR to the remote switch. I'd like to wire up the isolation so if charging is happening on both sides it isolates. A 12V ignition-only source is easy, but I'm curious how to find a 12V source that is only present when the house-side charger is charging (I.e. when I have generator or shore power). I believe my old Xantrex inverter/charger only has AC power input, 12V to/from the batteries, and the console harness. When I had the generator running while driving and the ML-ACR was not connected, the charging load was similar to running without the alternator. So I assume that since the inverter/charger is set for AGM and pushing a higher voltage than the alternator, the alternator stops producing charging current. I didn't run like that long because I'm not 100% sure that charging current coming from the inverter/charger won't damage the alternator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacwjames Posted May 18, 2022 Share Posted May 18, 2022 6 minutes ago, jimc99999 said: If you want the remote button to also show status with the LED, you need a second wire from the ML-ACR to the remote switch. I'd like to wire up the isolation so if charging is happening on both sides it isolates. A 12V ignition-only source is easy, but I'm curious how to find a 12V source that is only present when the house-side charger is charging (I.e. when I have generator or shore power). I believe my old Xantrex inverter/charger only has AC power input, 12V to/from the batteries, and the console harness. When I had the generator running while driving and the ML-ACR was not connected, the charging load was similar to running without the alternator. So I assume that since the inverter/charger is set for AGM and pushing a higher voltage than the alternator, the alternator stops producing charging current. I didn't run like that long because I'm not 100% sure that charging current coming from the inverter/charger won't damage the alternator. You need to find a generator sense wire. In my case I had one on the BIRD, this also provide a sense wire for the Intellitec EMS. If you don't have that you could come off of one of the generator start buttons and/or in my case the wiring was run through the inverter. It was not connected to anything but it was there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimc99999 Posted May 18, 2022 Share Posted May 18, 2022 11 minutes ago, jacwjames said: You need to find a generator sense wire. In my case I had one on the BIRD, this also provide a sense wire for the Intellitec EMS. If you don't have that you could come off of one of the generator start buttons and/or in my case the wiring was run through the inverter. It was not connected to anything but it was there. My 1997 Windsor had an old-style isolator with only house and chassis power and a central ground. It also had an old trickle charger with house and chassis power and ground. If it doesn't hurt the alternator to charge from the inverter/charger, then I don't need to care about isolation, it doesn't really make any difference to the generator if there's a few amps extra load, it will still run the AC. I just don't want to damage the alternator by having another charging source with a higher voltage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimc99999 Posted May 18, 2022 Share Posted May 18, 2022 According to this it seems like it doesn't matter if the charger is charging from power provided by the generator or shore power while the alternator is running. If the batteries can accept power, they will, and as they fill, charging sources output less. https://shop.pkys.com/multiple-charge-sources In my case, I have sealed lead acid starting batteries and AGM house batteries, and I have the inverter/charger set for AGM's higher voltages (14.4 charge, 13.8 float). I have noticed that the alternator does not charge the AGM house batteries to full; after driving some distance, when I start the generator or plug into shore power the batteries can accept 30-40A charge for several minutes and then 10A for quite a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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