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The Nomadic on the roof is why the EcoFlow is 10kWh and the insulation is six layers. We hike, leave HVAC on, and the 2021 Sprinter 170 stays cool with Austin, Brittany, Rambi, Tilli, Torro, and Aladdin aboard.

This is the unit we actually bought, the 48V-to-24V path, the roof install with the DIY gasket, and one sentence for shoppers about the current 48V Nomadic.

Design case

We leave the van and hike with HVAC left on. Rambi, Tilli, Torro, and Aladdin stay in the van. It is the same 170 and the same garage. The shell is already insulated, the Independence Kit is already on the right side of the bay, and Brittany has not done clay.

What we installed

We installed a Nomadic X3 Standard 24V. The exterior is Obsidian Black, chosen to blend with the Flatline Safari SP0108B. The interior faceplate is white powder-coated metal. We bought the DIY install kit, including the premium dual-layer gasket. The order was $4,677: $4,478 already paid, then a $199 balance for Obsidian Black. We did not buy a Plus. The shell is not Arctic White.

Why 24V, not 12V

We looked at 12V Nomadic first. The 12V startup amps were too high for the EcoFlow Independence Kit, so we bought 24V. Nomadic later offered a 48V unit. We did not wait for it. The bank we already had was 48V, and 24V was the unit that fit.

Helix 48V, once

If you are shopping a similar EcoFlow-style 48V build today, Nomadic's current path is X3 Helix 48V, which is 12V and 48V only. Our van is still a Standard 24V, Obsidian Black shell, white faceplate, through a 48V-to-24V regulator.

Wiring

We walked this as one run, following the EcoFlow and Nomadic manuals.

Start at the EcoFlow Independence Kit 48V output, on the right side of the 170 garage, same room as Rixen's Comfort Hot and Aladdin. Next is a 100A breaker, between the kit and everything downstream. That 100A is the protection on this kit's output before the regulator.

The voltage regulator comes after the breaker. It takes 48V in and puts 24V out, which is why the installed unit is 24V and not 12V. Then 24V into the Nomadic X3. I cut this cable from EcoFlow stock cables at the time. EcoFlow confirmed the approach then. An official EcoFlow 48V appliance cable exists now. We did not have it for this install.

Roof order

The conversion map already cut this hole on the empty 170, before wool and before clay. What follows is the unit going on that hole.

The Flatline Safari SP0108B is already on this 170, about 4 inches off the roof, about $4,595. The X3 is low-profile because a tall van AC does not live under that rack. We used the DIY install kit, including the premium dual-layer gasket. That gasket is why we bought the kit and not a bare unit.

Exterior is the Obsidian Black shell, chosen to blend with the Safari. Interior is the white powder-coated metal faceplate, same family as the Arctic Tern and the MaxxAir-style fan. Set the unit, the gasket, and the interior faceplate. Follow the Nomadic DIY kit.

On the same roof, in holes we already cut, there is an Arctic Tern electric over the rear bed, receipt $1,905.88, cutout about 500 by 700 millimeters, white faceplate. There is also a MaxxAir-style fan with a white faceplate.

Gotchas

Put the breaker before the regulator. The path is 48V, then 100A, then the regulator, then 24V. Reverse that and you are not describing this van.

The gasket is the DIY premium dual-layer. Skip it and a roof hole becomes a leak after Brittany's clay.

Rack clearance is why this is an X3, not a tall rooftop. The Safari is already on.

Clay comes last. You do not chase a gasket leak through Roman clay.

Rixen's Comfort Hot is in the same garage. Heat lives there with Aladdin. The hydronic install is its own job.

The systems are in. Brittany's Roman clay, wood, and arches come last. The map for that sequence is on the conversion post.

We leave the Nomadic on and hike. That only works because this 170 got holes, wool, the Independence Kit, then this AC, then clay.