Elddis 255 lithium upgrade

[Beekeeper]

I have been on several threads already regarding lithium upgrade. I have upgraded my solar from 2 x 100 to 4 x 100 panels , wired them in series, parallel and fitted a Victron 100\30 mppt regulator. Taking things in stages , I have mounted a Renogy 2000w inverter, a Victron 30A mains charger and a Victron 30A B2B. I now need to wire it all up. The solar input is wired into original solar input with an increase in inline fuse from 15A to 20A. Now onto mains charger which i will wire into battery output wires through victron shunt on negative lead. The factory fitted psu is a BCA unit with daul outputs. Do I disconnect the charger output on this unit , or remove charger fuse as this is not needed and is not lithium compatible. Is it not as simple as that. I would appreciate the views of the forum members. Thanks.

 

[Two on Tour]

If your BCA PDU (power distribution unit) is the same as the one on our Elddis 175 which I imagine that it is, then I removed the PS276 mains charger from the BDU

and replaced it with a Victron IP22 mains charger which fits into the same space as the original PS276 charger occupied in the BCA PDU unit.

Your BCA AE276 charger receives 240v via a kettle type connector so just pulls out of the charger. If you go for the Victron IP22 then that is supplied with a 3 pin plug on a flex.
I simply cut off the 3 pin plug on the Victron IP22 and fitted an iec320 c14 connector to it that the original charger power lead plugs into.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/35353793...d=link&campid=5338547443&toolid=20001&mkevt=1

The 12v negative output of my Victron IP22 goes to the my shunt and the positive goes straight to my positive bus bar that picks up all my charge and dicharge positives, which in turn is cabled to my 280ah lithium battery.

 

[Beekeeper]

Thanks for reply . I read your post earlier with interest. The Encore range have a dual output psu. A BCA PS306-6A-BC unit. This has dual outputs. 20amps and a 6amp three stage charger. I therefore figured if i retain the original unit and add the IP22 to charge battery I will have the full 30 amps for charging. Not sure on what happens about vehicle charging though. It would be good to have a full circuit diagram instead of looking at a confusing bundle of wires.

 

[Two on Tour]

Thanks for reply . I read your post earlier with interest. The Encore range have a dual output psu. A BCA PS306-6A-BC unit. This has dual outputs. 20amps and a 6amp three stage charger. I therefore figured if i retain the original unit and add the IP22 to charge battery I will have the full 30 amps for charging. Not sure on what happens about vehicle charging though. It would be good to have a full circuit diagram instead of looking at a confusing bundle of wires.

Personally, I would forget about retaining your second output from your BCA PS306-6A-BC unit just to charge your cab battery from EHU, and fit a Battery Master as I have done which will top-up your cab battery regardless of whether you are on EHU or not.

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[Beekeeper]

OK. Even more kit. Thanks for your advise.

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[Two on Tour]

OK. Even more kit. Thanks for your advise.

Remember that you can get a Funster discount on a Battery Master.

 

[bigtwin]

Remember that you can get a Funster discount on a Battery Master.

Do they work with a lithium setup?

I seem to recall this being pointed out on another thread but could be wrong. Something to do with the fact that the resting voltage of LFP is higher than SLA. eddievanbitz?

Ian

 

[Two on Tour]

Do they work with a lithium setup?

I seem to recall this being pointed out on another thread but could be wrong. Something to do with the fact that the resting voltage of LFP is higher than SLA. eddievanbitz?

Ian

Not had any problem using a Battery Master on our lithium setup, but I do not charge our lithium to the nth degree.
The Battery Master charges the cab battery to .8 of a volt below the leisure battery voltage as I understand.

 

[Beekeeper]

Have been looking at the previous posts regarding Battery Master etc. Noted the Ablemain 12-2 unit is suitable for lithium. Listed at more than the BM at £90 but is available for £65 from company called Splitcharge in Cumbria with free postage. Will go for that one I think. This forum is a mine of information.

 

[Bessy765]

What year is your Elddis 255? We had a 2012 Aspire 255

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[Beekeeper]

Our Encore 255 is a 2017.

 

[Shortap]

Our Encore 255 is a 2017.

Hi, I've just caught up with your posts and snap! I'm upgrading our majestic 255, 2017, for lithium, it's basically the Encore so I recognise all these little problems. The preformed wiring looms that exit into the PDU locker are a total birds nest and difficult to trace anything. My last obstacle, I hope, is with wiring in the replacement of the Telco VSR split charge with a Victron Orion. I was wondering if you've found the end of the 10mm sq cable that runs from the starter battery within the branch loom containing the control wires from the relay to... somewhere? Have you found this by any chance?
I've been careful to keep as much of the original wiring as possible because of the complexity of the BCA PDU and the links to the control panel. The AE306 unit is now the Ultra Lithium version giving continuity to the battery charging (on EHU) and running the 12V circuits from the battery. Any advice welcome. Cheers.

 

[Beekeeper]

I have so far fitted the extra two solar panels and Victron mppt. Victron 30amp mains charger and Renogy 2000w inverter suitably wired into bus bars . 280Ah lithium just fills battery box really well. Installed new battery leads 25mm2 suitably fused. Original leads fused 30amps but they have spade connectors in joining plug which are only rated at 15amps. Cannot believe the poor quality of electrics in motorhomes. I had a Burstner Elegance delivered with the solar regulator wired with opposite polarity. Also wiring across the chassis with wires so tight they shorted out . So not just Elddis.
The next job is the b2b install which is what you ask about. Also a Victron Orion. Is your AE306 a different unit to mine intended for lithium. I was going to just disconnect the 306 yellow white output and rely on the Orion. Not sure what is going on though as when this is disconnected and I plug in the ehu the voltage increases across the vehicle battery. Wish I could get a decent circuit diagram that makes sense of it all. Where is this Telco VSR unit you mention. I have not looked at this part of the electrics yet. Vehicle battery box rather complicated at first glance with trailer module wiring and a split charge relay plus the motorhome extra wiring. Need to get my head around it all and follow some wires around by sight and multitester. All good fun I suppose. Damn sight easier fitting avionics and autopilots into aircraft as I could understand what was going on as there was an order to everything. Motorhomes are just a mess.

 

[Guigsy]

I've already got a Victron solar charger and shunt. I've got a Victron DC charger ready to fit. So I'm all Team Blue. But I didn't buy their Orion 30A B2B. It's inefficient and kicks off a fair amount of heat. If it's in a confined space, it'll quickly get too hot and drop the charge current to save itself. Instead I got a Votronic 30A waiting to be fitted. It's smaller, more efficient and has a fan (which it rarely needs apparently). So I should get a more consistent charge. They provide wiring diagrams for common Moho electrical systems and if you stay at 30A you can commonly reuse most of it. The only thing I'm losing is it won't appear on the Victron app. But the Orion pretty much only says it's On/Off and that's it, so not a great loss.

 

[Beekeeper]

I must admit the heat issue from Orion unit concerned me. No one on the forums said they did not perform ok. So I have mounted it in a ventilated area on a 30cm square alloy plate I have sprayed satin black dissipate the heat. Voltronic unit looks good though.

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[Two on Tour]

My fan-cooled Sterling 60A B2B has performed faultlessly over the past 5 years in the confined area that its mounted.

 

[Guigsy]

I must admit the heat issue from Orion unit concerned me. No one on the forums said they did not perform ok. So I have mounted it in a ventilated area on a 30cm square alloy plate I have sprayed satin black dissipate the heat. Voltronic unit looks good though.

If you can mount them on a metal plate that isn't in an enclosed space, or get some forced air past them, they perform fine. I've got very little room, so I avoided the issue by getting the Votronic.

 

[autorouter]

The solar input is wired into original solar input with an increase in inline fuse from 15A to 20A.

Is that enough? In theory your 400W could easily give anything up to the full output of the MPPT, which is 30A. That would need a 40A fuse.

You need to look at whether that wiring path is adequate, you might be better going direct to the battery.

 

[Beekeeper]

Solar panels wired series and parallel so supply 24 volt input ,so half the current a 12volt input would be at same wattage. So half of your 40amp suggestion, hence 20amp fuse.

 

[Guigsy]

Solar panels wired series and parallel so supply 24 volt input ,so half the current a 12volt input would be at same wattage. So half of your 40amp suggestion, hence 20amp fuse.

I assume you're talking about a fuse on the panel side of the controller? Because if it's on the battery side, it's still going to end up being about 30A when it's going full-chooch to bulk charge the battery.

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[Beekeeper]

You are right. Fuses everywhere! 40amp on battery side as you say. Now another two fuses on b2b wiring. All over the place. Losing track of where they all are. Suppose I should make a list of where they all are and what they protect.some in loom behind psu with no mention what they are for in the Elddis handbook plus five in trailer module harness.

 

[Marty Gilly and Pup]

Apuljack do a drop in lithium charger specifically for the BCA unit. Takes about a minute to replace. £250.

 

[Two on Tour]

Apuljack do a drop in lithium charger specifically for the BCA unit. Takes about a minute to replace. £250.

The Victron IP22 charger I fitted to replace the BCA charger is £90 cheaper than the Apuljack unit

 

[Marty Gilly and Pup]

The Victron IP22 charger I fitted to replace the BCA charger is £90 cheaper than the Apuljack unit

Doesn’t surprise me but for an electrical idiot like myself it’s foolproof lol

 

[Two on Tour]

Doesn’t surprise me but for an electrical idiot like myself it’s foolproof lol

Even an (you said it not me ) electrical idiot like you could fit the Victron IP22 in a BCA unit, ........... hold on, I may be getting ahead of myself, I was assuming there for a minute that you can fit a 3 pin plug ???

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[Beekeeper]

I had never heard of Apuljack. Just looked at their website and I was impressed . Many thanks for info.

 

[andysam]

The Victron IP22 charger I fitted to replace the BCA charger is £90 cheaper than the Apuljack unit

But retains the ability to supply the PDU as a PSU as well as charging the batteries at the same time. It's the way I'm going. Simples, why everyone is trying to find work arounds baffles me?

 

[Two on Tour]

But retains the ability to supply the PDU as a PSU as well as charging the batteries at the same time. It's the way I'm going. Simples, why everyone is trying to find work arounds baffles me?

The 12v to the BCA PDU is supplied via the battery regardless of whether the 240v mains charger 12v output goes via the PDU or the battery, have a look at the wiring diagram for the BCA PDU as I did.

You can also wire the 12v output of the Victron IP22 via the original PS276 or PS306 12v output connector wiring, but I run a shunt for battery monitoring so require all charging and discharging circuits to go via the shunt, but of course, it's your money your spending.

It doesn't baffle me, simples.

 

[andysam]

The 12v to the BCA PDU is supplied via the battery regardless of whether the 240v mains charger 12v output goes via the PDU or the battery, have a look at the wiring diagram for the BCA PDU as I did.

You can also wire the 12v output of the Victron IP22 via the original PS276 or PS306 12v output connector wiring, but I run a shunt for battery monitoring so require all charging and discharging circuits to go via the shunt, but of course, it's your money your spending.

It doesn't baffle me, simples.

The Victron is either a PSU or a charger, not both together? I confess I have not looked at the diagram but one of the two connectors of the PSU directly connects (or appears to) to the PDU.

 

[Two on Tour]

The Victron is either a PSU or a charger, not both together? I confess I have not looked at the diagram but one of the two connectors of the PSU directly connects (or appears to) to the PDU.

Go on then, explain to me why the Victron needs to be both a PSU and a charger when the original PS276 or PS306 are not both?

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