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Control panel

In progress Upper-cabinet control box

The control box in the upper cabinet. The rule behind it: the van has to work fully with every smart part dead, so this panel is the physical, always-there layer, and the automation sits on top of it.

EKRANO GX touchscreen · Victron control A/C thermostat HEATER EasyStart CAB GAL OUT PUMP INV STARLNK H2O CAM SCENE USB-C USB-C

Schematic, not to scale. Remote sensors live out in the cabin, not on the panel: the A/C indoor sensor (plus an optional outdoor sensor for outside temp), and the Eberspächer room sensor, part 221000342200.

1The panel, three ways

Three kinds of things live on the face, kept separate on purpose:

Hard switches

Cabin, galley, and outdoor lights, pump, inverter, Starlink, water heater, cameras, plus the scene rotary. Pump and ceiling lights switch power directly; the rest signal ESP relays at the rear.

Soft, on the Ekrano

Solar and charging, inverter mode, monitoring. The screen is already the Victron control head, so these need no extra switch.

Climate heads

The A/C thermostat and the Eberspächer EasyStart. They mount in the box but sense the cabin through remote sensors, so a closed cabinet never fools them into reading hot.

2Decisions so far

Master disconnectKeeping the manual BEP 400A (already wired). No panel kill switch.
SwitchingHybrid: pump + ceiling lights mechanical through the panel; everything else ESP relays at the rear, rockers as signals.
Ceiling rockerChangeover (ON-ON): up = ESP dimmer and scenes, down = direct full-on bypass.
SolarNo front switch. Charging turns off at the Ekrano; the manual PV breakers in back stay the service disconnect.
Climate sensingBoth heads take remote cabin sensors, so they live in the box while the sensing happens in the room. Outside-temp readout comes free off the A/C's outdoor sensor.
Water heaterIsotemp element self-regulates, so its control is a single on/off switch. No thermostat to mount.

3Still open