1000W inverter upgrade not shown on control panel

Arnoud64 · Tuesday at 5:56 PM

Recently we had a 1000W Xenteq inverter from our previous camper installed under the passenger seat by a well known VW Califormia specialist in the Netherlands. To my surprise I discovered that the power usage of the inverter is not measured and therefore shown on the control panel.
I suspect that the inverter is directly connected to the battery under the driver seat, and for that reason is not measured by the VW shunt. Will it help to move the minus cable of the shunt to the mass point under that seat?
And where can I find that mass connection point?

WelshGas · Tuesday at 6:17 PM

Arnoud64 said:
Recently we had a 1000W Xenteq inverter from our previous camper installed under the passenger seat by a well known VW Califormia specialist in the Netherlands. To my surprise I discovered that the power usage of the inverter is not measured and therefore shown on the control panel.
I suspect that the inverter is directly connected to the battery under the driver seat, and for that reason is not measured by the VW shunt. Will it help to move the minus cable of the shunt to the mass point under that seat?
And where can I find that mass connection point?

View attachment 137705

View attachment 137706

Read the pdf file in Post 2.

Post in thread 'Finding a ground for fitting dash cam on a T6'
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/finding-a-ground-for-fitting-dash-cam-on-a-t6.22083/post-252491

Arnoud64 · Tuesday at 8:10 PM

WelshGas said:
Read the pdf file in Post 2.

Post in thread 'Finding a ground for fitting dash cam on a T6'
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/finding-a-ground-for-fitting-dash-cam-on-a-t6.22083/post-252491

I've seen that pdf, but I don't see thet earth bolt in this picture. Or is it hidden under the carpet?

WelshGas · Tuesday at 8:38 PM

Arnoud64 said:
I've seen that pdf, but I don't see thet earth bolt in this picture. Or is it hidden under the carpet?

View attachment 137715

I think you may have to unbolt the seat from the runners and lean it onto the dash to see it.
I believe it is on the side and may well be covered by carpet.

WelshGas · Tuesday at 8:44 PM

Arnoud64 said:
I've seen that pdf, but I don't see thet earth bolt in this picture. Or is it hidden under the carpet?

View attachment 137715

See the photo in Post 7

Arnoud64 · Tuesday at 8:53 PM

WelshGas said:
Read the pdf file in Post 2.

Post in thread 'Finding a ground for fitting dash cam on a T6'
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/finding-a-ground-for-fitting-dash-cam-on-a-t6.22083/post-252491

Small but significant correction:
Will it help to move the minus cable of the inverter to the mass point under that seat?

WelshGas · Tuesday at 9:10 PM

Arnoud64 said:
Small but significant correction:
Will it help to move the minus cable of the inverter to the mass point under that seat?

Honest answer, I don’t know, but most other equipment, fridge, parking heater, roof hydraulic motor all have their own -tve wired to the chassis , not to the battery -tve pole.

This matters on the T6.1 which monitors each leisure battery separately. The T5/5.1 monitors the Leisure batteries via the Earth Shunt.

camper albert · Wednesday at 9:37 AM

Hi,
Since a 1000W inverter can draw about 100 A of current from your battery it might overload the shunt, standard fuses or measurement range of the control panel.

So I guess they did it on purpose : connect it directly to the battery poles with a dedicated fuse.

Deskman · 2025-06-27T11:45:03+0100

Since it is a large inverter, the wires must be as short as possible. So the earth is probably connected to one of the ground connectors below the carpet.

I have a similar setup for a few weeks, but I didn't look at the panel - I will check on it this afternoon. I'm curious too...

Arnoud64 · 2025-06-27T15:19:50+0100

Deskman said:
Since it is a large inverter, the wires must be as short as possible. So the earth is probably connected to one of the ground connectors below the carpet.

I have a similar setup for a few weeks, but I didn't look at the panel - I will check on it this afternoon. I'm curious too...

After the weekend my wife is back from Austria with the camper. Before she left I saw two cables disapearing under the carpet in the direction of the front seat battery, and no read out of the inverter power usage on the control panel.
After several useless phone calls to Volkswagen Campercentrum I was promised to get detailed information how they actually installed it next wednessday.

1000W inverter upgrade not shown on control panel

Arnoud64

WelshGas

Retired after 42 yrs and enjoying Life.

Arnoud64

WelshGas

Retired after 42 yrs and enjoying Life.

WelshGas

Retired after 42 yrs and enjoying Life.

Arnoud64

WelshGas

Retired after 42 yrs and enjoying Life.

camper albert

Deskman

Arnoud64

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