Simple Electrical Question re ESC

[gavinwibrow]

Our van came with
a 12 pin flat plug,
a grey Anderson plug for power connection, and
a red Anderson which I've assumed from day 1 was for the ALKO ESC which became available as an option as our build progressed (yes 2015).

The new D4 also has a 12 pin flat plug plus a Grey Anderson plug.

Question for answer please - can my van ESC be incorporated into its 12 pin plug (and if so is this a good idea as I have no concept of current draw etc)

OR am I better/safer having a red Anderson plug added to the car?

Either way, I'll keep the grey Anderson setup for charging etc

[Graeme]

Best that ESC have its own plug so that ESC can be disabled when needed. I've only unplugged mine once when slowly traversing a very rutted track but the van braking was grossly impeding progress. I have mine wired into the grey plug so I loose the van's reversing lights if unplugged but that's inconsequential.

[drivesafe]

Hi Gavin, when my customers have a need to power an ESC setup, I supply an Anderson Star Plug.

The plug is either made with three GREY 50 amp Anderson Plugs or 2x GREY and 1x RED Plug, as per customers needs.

NOTE these are NOT “Splitter Plugs” which simply have one Main Anderson Plug wired up with two 8B&S ( 7.9mm2 ) cables in each terminal, that then go to a single Anderson terminal in each of the other two plugs.

This type of splitter plug does not have the correct current carrying capacity.

My Star Plugs have 16mm2 going to all Anderson Terminal, meaning they can carry the maximum current safely.

Depending on your specific DBS setup, if you decide to use the Star Plug arrangement, here is a simple tip. Replace the RED plug on your vans ESC cables with a GREY Anderson Plug.

This setup then lets you plug the ESC system in while driving, and allows you to plug a solar regulated portable solar panel in while camping and this will allow the portable solar panel to charge both the vehicle batteries and the vans batteries while camping.

168958

[Geedublya]

I ran the esc from the white plug on my D4. Which allowed for decent current and un-plugging if required.