on the driver's seat pedestal. left (outer facing) surface. at the rear.
a black plastic fixture with two posts.

https://www.fordtransitusaforum.com/threads/ccp-nuts.72278/

 

Side of the driver's seat pedestal, as @Ramblin' Man says. Might have a cover over them. Might or might-not have the upper / larger stud - most likely, will have it based on your descriptions. Will be no nuts on the studs - just bare studs under the cover.

The three bunches of wire are - most likely - upfitter switches, high-spec connectors, and tow-hitch wiring.

 

In addition to the above, I would download the BEMM for your year Transit. It has a lot of good info. Also FarOutRight has some good info on making use of those upfitter switches.

http://fordpro.com/en-us/upfit/publications/

 

Dito the BEEM, my 2018 Cargo has three 60A circuits and dual batteries. Book says I can combine two of the 60's for a higher draw usage if necessary.

 

Hey guys, thank you. I located the the studs. I never thought of removing the cover. Told my wife I should just ask the ford community for help. I’ll check the reference guides mention too to learn more about my van.

 

One big hint will be the size of the terminals. If you have one noticeably larger than the other / rest, then it will be a higher amperage circuit. I have no idea why Ford got so 'creative' with different numbers and size / amperage, but we get to live with it. And in my 2018, all three 60A studs had flange nuts on them. The flange nuts are wonderful, can't 'lose' them in a deep well socket.

 

is this a positive and negative stud in the photo above? 60 amp? Only on when van is running? I am making a few assumption.

 

You have a 2024. From 2020 on, you either have one stud or two. If you have one, it's 60A fused, full-time power. If you two, the second (larger and upper) stud is 175A fused and powers on/off with the engine (plus a few minutes).

So... now you have them. Now what? What are you hoping / intending to plug into them? Lights? Or you want to use the factory switches for lights? Sill a lot of questions to be asked and answered... 😁

 

NOOOOOOO.

If you only have two or three studs, they are all positive. If one is noticeably larger, then it will be a higher amperage circuit. This is where the BEEM for your vehicle, preferably via the VIN, is critical. My three on my 2018 cargo are hot at all times. Others say one will only be hot when the key is on and / or the engine is running. Again, check your BEEM.

I purchased the pdf on my van that included the electrical. That tells me what is fused at what amperage, and if any are switched outputs via a relay.

 

Big help thanks

 

And the two bolts at the ends of the plastic housing, not the terminals, ARE NOT GROUNDS.

 

Eventually I am hoping to have a battery bank. I have not size it yet, but a 300ah to 400ah will be plenty of stored energy for a fri, 8 puck lights, two maxxair 7000 fans and maybe 4 jacks to charge devices.
i was hoping to use the factory switches initially, but still can’t find where to plug it in. A question for another day. i have installed a 30 amp, 120v receptacle for hookups. Plan on installing a few 120 volt devices in van. Nothing to crazy. This is our first van build. I’m a recently retired sparky, but have a very limited background or exposure to DC applications. Everyone’s help is appreciated. This forum is a tremendous resource.

 

The factory switch thingies that are likely in your center-console require hooking loads to one of those three wiring harnesses you have. If you want to use them for things that are not powered by the van, you can certainly run relays off the outfitter switches for loads drawing from your (future) house batteries.

For ease of planning and math and such, prolly best to switch from 12VDC thinking with amps and amp-hours to watts and watt-hours. This helps make the planning easier when you'll be driving 5VDC, 12VDC, and 120VAC loads. You might even find that 24VDC or even 48VDC loads make sense for some things - and may make better sense for the house battery / storage as well.

So you're currently thinking ~5kWh of storage. Plenty for most usage - though mostly dependent on how you plan to replenish spent energy. If you plan to plug in to shore power every night, for example, then you could certainly get by with a lot less.

There is one element that sets the minimum, in most cases: the maximum acceptable draw (expressed in amps) from a given battery is typically 1.0C or less - with 0.5C typically being "better" for the longevity of the batteries - for charge and discharge. 1.0C for 400Ah is 400A. So, perfect world, you'd max load and charging at ~2.5kW rate. Plenty for a large draw - like an induction cooktop and/or microwave and/or hair-dryer or whatever. But if you drop down to 200Ah of batteries (@12VDC), the max 120VAC appliance (1800W max, typically, as you probably know) is already pushing the system a bit. Still viable (less than 1.0C) but not as healthy, long-term (as 0.5C would be).

From here on, it's all just personal preferences.

I prefer everything, "just works," the way things do at home: press a button and a light turns on/off; making eggs at the same time as toast - it should just work. To achieve this means leaning on the higher-end of the electronics - an inverter that CAN do 4kW or something like that. Generally, once you accommodate the largest loads, all the little stuff you mention (lights, fans, 12VDC outlets, 120VAC outlets, etc) are already accommodated.

Then you're back to the charging: 50A off CCP1 and 150A off CCP2 are the safest / easiest sources of 12VDC power. But you need equipment to use that for charging house batteries. This is where the option of running 24VDC or 48VDC house batteries comes in: you MUST use separate equipment to charge them anyway (even if they're 12VDC house batteries), so better to look to higher DC voltage for the efficiency it offers.

 

I haven’t considered going 24v. I am not knowledgeable in all things DC. Better efficiency and capacity are certainly appealing. I would need a detailed one-line diagram.

 

Super short version: just changing a large-ish inverter to 24V from 12V increases efficiency and lowers cooling demand - making it worth considering. And having the largest wires drop from 4/0 or 2/0 to 2/0 or 1/0 is nice. And having a 200A primary breaker / shut-off is nice - 400A units are huge and/or not easy to find room.

The down-side is doing a drop-down for 12VDC loads; but if things are built appropriately, that's the smallest and least-used loads. Fridge/freezer, for example, are usually 24VDC ready.

The reality is that we all typically use 5VDC (USB), 12VDC (many things), and 120VAC for various loads; and there are many things that are 24VDC ready (thanks to boats, RVs and trucks) and run better - often, higher performance for the same device.

 

Not sure if it’s a complete answer to your question, but FarOutRide has great information (as usual) about the auxiliary switches and wiring harnesses that come with the van. Ford Transit Auxiliary Upfitter Switches | Wiring Guide - FarOutRide

 

Thanks Irish

 

I will ditto upping from 12V to 24V. I did 12V on my van to 'keep it simple'. But soon discovered that a number of things were better or available with larger capacities on 24V. My compressor cooler / freezer works better on 24V. I can get higher BTU ratings on my AC with 24V, same for the inverters. The smaller 12V loads can easily run through a 24V to 12V step down.

You can go the 48V route, but other than the AC and inverter, virtually everything else will be 24V or 12V. That, or you have to run more through the inverter. My next build, a toy hauler to work trailer conversion, will be 24V for sure. I can get some nice 24V mini split AC units instead of taking up roof space for the standard unit.

 

Visited Nomadik Customs in Portland Oregon today for some stuff. They shared the same thoughts as Gregoryx on installing 24vdc. I’m sold. trying to look at everything in Watts. Installing a complete and safe electrical system beyond my experience, but doing one with eyes on my install is definitely doable.