DC/DC charger - Adria Compact (2 Viewers)

[ontheroadagain]

I will be fitting a Lithium battery in the future and in preparation for that I need to fit a DC/DC charger.
The power supply is via a Nordelettronica NE237, which has a built in charger and split relay.
I understand that it is not possible to easily disable the split relay in this unit.
There are only 3 wires (excluding the 240V) that connect to the NE237.
Live from the starter battery, Earth and live from leisure battery.
Can I connect a DC/DC charger using these existing wires?
It would appear to be a simple case of disconnecting the live and earth connections from the starter battery where they connect to the NE237, and connecting these to the DC/DC charger. Then connect a new live and earth wire from the charger to the NE237.
If I use a 30A charger the existing wiring should be more than adequate.
I would likely use a Victron 30A DC/DC charger. It doesn't require a D+ connection as it automatically detects the voltage from the alternator. (The alternator is a non smart type)
The NE237 charger doesn't have a Lithium setting but it does have a Gel setting which I understand would be adequate.
The solar controller is a Votronic with a Lithium profile.
I know that 30A will not give super fast charging, but my aim is to protect the battery/alternator and also not have to fit new wiring etc.
Does this all sound feasible or am I over simplifying it?

 

[Guigsy]

This is the route I took. Putting a Votronic 30A inline with the input from the cab battery/alternator. I didn't bother with the Victron 30A as it's pretty bulky and not particularly efficient, so it can get hot and start to limit it's current. The information it provides in the app is pretty poor too, pretty much that it's on and that's it. The Votronic has a fan which I do occasionally hear under the passenger seat where I installed it. It's also got really easy to follow diagrams for common installation setups.

If you do want to stay Team Blue, the Victron 50A is considerably better in efficiency and information. But as you've researched, you'd need to run it direct to the battery and work out how to disable the existing charger.

 

[ChrisL]

"The NE237 charger doesn't have a Lithium setting but it does have a Gel setting which I understand would be adequate."


The Gel setting will have a long absorption phase perhaps as much as 8 hours, lithium batteries do not need that length of time, my absorption phase lasted 58 minutes today with a fogstar drift 230ah battery sometimes it's less, yesterday was 22 minutes and the day before 5 minutes.

 

[ontheroadagain]

The Gel setting will have a long absorption phase perhaps as much as 8 hours, lithium batteries do not need that length of time, my absorption phase lasted 58 minutes today with a fogstar drift 230ah battery sometimes it's less, yesterday was 22 minutes and the day before 5 minutes.

I know it is not ideal, but we wouldn’t be connected to ehu that often. Just want to be able to do without ehu early and late in the season for 2 or 3 days at a time. We manage fine this time of year with 2 lead acid batteries and 230w of solar even though we have a compressor fridge.

 

[pacman]

I fitted lithium to my Adria Coral about 18 months ago. After much research I fitted a Sterling 40A DC - DC charger connected direct between the batteries and had the NE237 mains charger updated for lithium by Apuljack Electronics, they also disconnected the split relay charging circuit. Has worked brilliantly since it was fitted with no charging issues and fully charged battery on arrival.

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[ontheroadagain]

and had the NE237 mains charger updated for lithium by Apuljack Electronics, they also disconnected the split relay charging circuit.

Thank you for that. I didn’t know that could be done. Was it expensive and did it take them long to do the alteration?

 

[pacman]

Thank you for that. I didn’t know that could be done. Was it expensive and did it take them long to do the alteration?

If I remember correctly it cost approx £225 with a turn around of about 2 - 3 weeks.