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Maybe this will help someone out there. I saw a lot of guys wanting a wiring diagram for the hercules 20 power pack on trailers and caravans etc including myself.
Attached are the diagrams as recieved from the manufacturer themselves.
Note that this is not an inverter system it is only a battery charger and a mains distribution panel
Hope this helps
Pleasure, glad i can help....as there is absolutely no info regarding this system on the web really.
I have no idea
One very important point to remember this is not an inteligent charger. It does not switch off when the battery reaches full state. If you leave it on your trailer / caravan permanently it will fry your battery.
I have had a long discussion with him regarding the ins and outs of this system.
As an electrician I have been taught to always keep the live incoming on the top of a breaker/isolator/el.....
You also need to wire a 25 - 30A fuse to the battery out/input. It looks impressing from the outside but it is a very basic board
Henk
Adventure is out there go find it
Fitment and trailer service. Agent for SnoMaster & Tentco
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Just for interest sake, this is how i wired mine up last night.
I did not use any of the the hercules system 12v out connections as this does not have any way of keeping control of battery drainage.
I only used the 12v out 20amp oulet to go to the battery for charging when connected to mains.
I put in a 20amp solar charge controler wich connects to a 180w panel and has a 60amp fuse. My load i connected through my solar charge controller as this has overload and over consumption protection. So one goes directly from my controler to 3 12v hella plugs to give 12v power and the other i hooked up to a 700w 220v inverter just incase one needs 220v connection but dont have 220 mains connection available.
Thus now i can view my battery drainage and voltage and charging through my solar controller.
Hooked all this up to a 150ah deep cycle gel battery.
I think this should be a good setup for a few days off camping now and then.
Im using just a few LED lights around my trailer, charging phones etc. Maybe a fan or so etc. My fridge ill be running gas rather than 12v.
I have also modified my Hercules quite a bit.
Right next to the mains input plug I fitted an additional 30A fuse that goes/ comes from the battery.
All the existing fuses were used for hella, led, pump and fridge.
The multi plug was discarded and a connector block fitted to the top to facilitate easy fitting and removal
A volt amp gauge was fitted to monitor battery and a switch fitted to turn the display off when not used.
10A MX 10 Intelligent charger replaced the normal charger that came as part of the board
New 15A breaker fitted to charger circuit to switch charger off
I mainly used the enclosure and fuse holders as well as the 220 switchgear, why did I not replace the whole kaboodle...... I hate mounting fuse holders
Henk
Adventure is out there go find it
Fitment and trailer service. Agent for SnoMaster & Tentco
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Any mods, just as long as everything works lol. Adding a pic of my instalation. Finished it last night, evrything running smoothly😁
For this reason I totally bypassed the Hercules for charging the batteries as well as any 12V connections. In short, the Hercules is only used for managing the 220V power distribution when connected to mains. I installed an intelligent battery charger to charge the batteries and take all 12V feeds directly from the batteries using a single line running through a monitor so that I can monitor usage. From there the line is split to the various systems, each line with an in-line fuse of course.
Drive: Nissan Hardbody DC TD 16V 2007
Camp with: Jurgens Xplorer 2010 with a couple of mods
Unfortunately no diagram of my own system but I do have for you the Hercules wiring diagram. I simply tested each line out of the Hercules to see what is purpose was. In the end I only kept the Hercules for the 220V portion. So it now only feeds power to the 220V electrical sockets on the outside and inside it the vanaand the geyser.
The battery charger is connected into the 220V feed before the Hercules. From the battery I run single wires to a distribution point from where all other 12V circuits run. Since the geyser, lights and fridge got its 12V feed from the Hercules (plugs at the top of the Hercules), I simply removed the wiring from the where they plug into the Hercules and relocated them to my distribution point.
BTW 4x4direct has very nice 12V gadgets with built in fuses and led indicators to indicate a blown fuse, that allows for a single in line and multiple out lines.
Attachment 578655
Last edited by Gerhardvr26; 2020/07/07 at 09:32 AM.
Drive: Nissan Hardbody DC TD 16V 2007
Camp with: Jurgens Xplorer 2010 with a couple of mods
Hi,
I have a issue with my Hercules system on the xt160 trailer.
Once I connect the power and battery, all the lights come on and a few seconds later the green lights flash and the alarm go on.
If I disconnect the main power and leave it on 12v only, all the lights disappear and the alarm goes again. I managed to track a loose connection on the 1st black wire on the 12v connection block, according to the diagrams in the threat its the charging system.
I fixed the connection but now when I connect it back the original problem persist.
If I disconnect that wire it goes back to normal, but I assume no charging will take place.
I also checked all the fuses and they are fine.
Please assist what could the issue be?
Thanks
Ruan
Last edited by RuanvdM; 2020/11/13 at 09:21 AM.
2012 Toyota Hilux 300 D4D 4x4
Jeep CJ6
Jurgens XT160 trailer
Hi, just found this thread and need some help and advise please.
So I am also upgrading my current system to a more advance and new solar system for my Xplorer. I took one look at the 30+ wires coming out of the Hurcules and see this is going to take a FULL night or two to trace all the wiring... So I started to search around for a better solution how to connect up the new system.
So adding the following:
- new 200ah Battery and a smart charger. I want this to be the primary charger for the battery from 220v. Not the hercules.
- Solar pannels with controller connecting strait up to the battery.
- 2000w Inverter, that will only be used for remote camping, maybe if I experience power fluctuations like the previous weekend in a camp, then I will use the inverter.
So
idea A: (As its currently is, but instead of the herculus battery charger, use a smart charger)
Remove / Disconnect hercules battery charger(Need some help with this on how to disconnect that hercules charger), use the smart battery charger for 220v and Solar for charging. - Independently.
Everything else stays on Hercules as a distribution board 220V, because I want to have a breaker as safety net for all eskom incoming power.
Connect up the inverter and let it feed power to the outside multiplug only.
Idea B:
Still disconnecting the hercules battery charger... run power as:
1) [battery > Inverter > strait into any available 3x prong plug]. So essentially from the inverter to one of the 3 prong plugs so that "inverter battery power" is supplied to all the other plugs in the explorer. "like some did with their generators via the eskom loadshedding saga".
OR
2) Battery > Inverter > Hercules.
Inverter strait into the hercules where the normal 220v(outside) enters: The 220v from outside will not be connected, have a separate breaker for this to make sure no human error occurs.
Say I run the hercules via the inverter. So Battery > Inverter > Hercules. Will the hercules draw / waist some energy from the battery while it is connected as a distribution board only? In other words will there be an efficiency wastage if all power needs to go through the hercules?
The only thing is I also have an split aircon unit, that I want to keep on the 220v line, but I want it off, when the inverter is running as the standby will eat into the battery capacity. I also don't want to remove the hercules, if possible, because it looks like a big job to rewire everything.
Any help or assistance will be greatly appreciated.
Last edited by antonCPT; 2020/11/27 at 01:09 AM.
Sjis I am not sure why you have 30 wires to the Hercules. On the DC plug you have the thick wires fto the battery for charging and also feeding the 12V loads via the other 4 or 6. Then you have the incoming 220V via another plug and then the 2 load circuits going to the 15A sockets and lights if they are used on 220V and not 12V. This is how the Hercules is normally wired on a caravan.
As the Hercules is just a very strong power supply and a good one it makes sense to have it repaired by a guy in Pta. You could also use a intelligent charger which charges to 100% instead of the 13.6Vprovided by the Hercules. This means some rewiring to reuse the fuses on the Hercules and retain the AC DB within the Hercules. If the Hercules is removed you can add a small DB for the AC earth leakage and MCBs.
<<Confucius said>>
I have Herkules 20 in my Explorer. I wanted to disable the charge system and use intelligence charger instead. So:
- To disable the charger: Remove Herkules 20. Drill pop rivets out. About 8. (One forum member's idea)
- Remove "glass" fuse inside. You will not miss it.
- Close up and new pop rivets
- Fit Herkules back and do it using 4 M6 through the wood
- Use intelligence charger.
I did that with one issue. My brand new 7A Benton permanently fixed was broken after around 2000 km. Cables were not connected at all. Repair place says spike on 220V side. I suspect more heavy vibration/shocks. Under warranty. Repair seems to be a problem. No spares.
Herkules was fixed with 4 wood screws I could not take them out. Sand road solved that. The whole unit became loose after screws failed...
I will get new charger and pack it into cotton wool and use Herkules as DB board for 220 (230) V/12V. On the sand road 220 V trips fall down and sometimes one of the fuse on 12 V stops working. To replace Hercules as DB would cost few thousand.
If somebody knows shock proof intelligent charger please let me know. I need one by the end of the next week.
Edit: I do have pure sine 500 W inverter and solar panels. So if the charger works I can charge also the car battery: solar panels - controller - battery - inverter - charger - car battery. Long way but it will work.
Last edited by Jouko; 2020/11/27 at 09:26 PM.
Jouko
----------
2003 Grand Cherokee 4.7l
2012 Smart
Never drive a normal car 8)
How about this charger.
https://reliablestore.co.za/products...smart_campaign
Pack it on foam and give us feed back if it turns out reliable on a off road van.
<<Confucius said>>
Ok my take on this: You are spending a lot of money on a 200A/H battery as well as a new intelligent charger and you insist on the safety of the 220V switch gear ( wise and responsible) and then you are considering keeping the Hercules.....
The hercules is past its sell by date and other than a weak charger that will overcharge your battery it has nothing to offer, the 220 switch gear is one breaker and an earth leakage with a couple of fuses and an idiot light woop dee do.
12V breakers that works up to 110V DC has become available at fair prices and believe me draw 6.3 A on a 6 A breaker and it pops... much faster than any fuse. These breakers are a hundred and something few rand each. Throw away that Hercules relic and fit a new board with new earth leakage and new breakers for 12 and 220 side. You have one 12v input/output to your battery while all the solar, Dc = DC and 220 charging goes through the board, if you switch off the 12v isolator the battery is disconnected. Drop in a 12v volt and ammeter and you can easy see what is going on in the battery dept. while a lowly idiot light is all you need in the 220 side.
That relic is not even good as a power supply the voltage is not stable enough and the output amps is pathetic. Here is the full drawings as well as the components list of the Hercules / Appolo panels
Hercules 10 & 20 block schematic (1).pdf
Herc 10-20 Mk6 info pack.pdf
This is what I am talking about, much safer
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Henk
Adventure is out there go find it
Fitment and trailer service. Agent for SnoMaster & Tentco
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Hi, Henk.
Ok so you say, new db board. Then I need to ask for what these fuses are?:
- 2x 10amp fuses.
- 5amp, but it contains a 25amp, I think for my split 9000btu aircon, or do you think that will be seperatly connected?
The 12v in the caravan, does it have its own fuse on the hercules? I see there is also 2x 60amp inline fuses coming from the battery.
I allready got the hardware, the 200ah battery is a Lithium lifepo4. Solar charger a MPPT 30amp. ACDC Dynamics continues 2000w pure sinewave inverter, peak 4000w. Yes I am getting a propper 25mm2 cable for it, now. The 2x 10mm2 I don't think its going to cut it. But I will ever only use 1200w max, microwave and ice maker.
Regards
Anton
Last edited by antonCPT; 2020/11/28 at 09:16 AM.
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