Surely the BMA protects the battery if it's too cold , too hot and from overcharging. That - 17 degrees quickly changed to 7 degrees when the battery was hooked up so likely just a little anomaly.
Fogstar drift at 50% out of the box - recommended chargers?
- Thread starter PaulC70
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Nope, the app is setup :-/ I have emailed fogstar to see what they say though.
Hi,
as an aside from this, has anyone used Fogstar for a reasonable length of time eg. 12 months or more and have they any views on performance. Is it as easy as they say to put them into an existing gel/agm system. I’m thinking of getting some as gel do not seem to last for long
bw
as an aside from this, has anyone used Fogstar for a reasonable length of time eg. 12 months or more and have they any views on performance. Is it as easy as they say to put them into an existing gel/agm system. I’m thinking of getting some as gel do not seem to last for long
bw
Lenny HB
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I suppose it depends on your motorhome, my 300ah Fogstar was a straight replacement on our 2019 Pilote and apart from altering the control panel to lithium worked fine. I had an engineer fit mine, he tested the rate of charge from hook up and with the engine running, all was perfect.
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Haven’t done load test yet (today hopefully) but if control unit is to be believed 3 year old batteries (exide) arent holding charge. I have two 80 ah so need to get them out for separate test. If failed it may be some component of set up responsible as I have regular hook up over winter but do disconnect regularly. Havent flattened system ever. Ill see after test. Just prospectively looking for alternative
Hi,
didn’t realise control panel needed alteration. Had only considered solar charger, split charger and mains were a potential issue
Additionally first battery 80ah factory fitted was underperforming on dealership drop test at 1 year or so but as it was at dealership for a few months before I picked it up “new” I put that down to poor battery management before pickup. Ill just put it on load in situ again. But from yesterday experience just pressing the bed down button the control unit switched down. Any idea which charging element might damage a battery? solar n maims are on gel setting
Lenny HB
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Well that is a good way of
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- Jun 17, 2015
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Out of interest ( I have a Pilote G740 on order and a 300ah fogstar to go in it as well ) What charge rate are you getting from the hook up and the engine repectively? If its reasonable it may mean I don't have to fit a BtB charger as well as the standard system.
- Jul 5, 2013
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Most new motorhomes come with a B2B as standard nowadays, because of the changes made to the base vehicles charging regime to meet new legal emission limits. How good the fitted B2B is, and whether or not it has a lithium profile option, will be another matter though. Best to check with your dealer or Pilote themselves.
Hope you don't mind me jumping in but I have an email from Frogstar's technical people stating the Lead Acid settings on the Sargent charger are more than adequate to maintain the Drift battery. I cant get my head round why so many members buying these batteries also want to charge them with a lithium charger, especially when the battery is protected by a BMS that will not allow overcharging and the battery will not be damaged by repeated use with only a partial SOC. My mind boggles ????
It varied between 14.2 and 14.8 on both. Our Xperience panel only goes up to 250ah so set it at that, plus adjusted to lithium setting, and all works fine. The only other adjustment was the battery connections, I had to buy a "pole" converter to fit the battery monitor but that was less than a fiver. The Fogstar app works very well.
They only did it once!Well that is a good way of
sounds more advanced than my CBE 380 unless I haven’t found the right menu
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- Jun 17, 2015
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Thanks. That's really useful information. If the base charge is at that level then maybe I won't neeed an additional Battery to battery charger at all. I think I'll follow the sensible advice from your engineer to see how things go on the basis of useage and then if necessary add the Viction B-to-B at a later date.
My engineer is old school and very Scottish, he doesn't like spending money unless it's unavoidable. I was pleasantly surprised at the charge rate, the only thing we couldn't check was solar input as it was a dreich, dull day.
Unfortunately Bailey's battery box is not quite deep enough for most LiFePO4's .
Only one I found that would fit was a KS Energy 120ah and I've got the double battery box version.
- May 16, 2021
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There are a few that have a 190mm height, which is probably what you need? But you do need to search them out and they are not bargain prices.
Poweroad have one and Renogy also. I fitted one of another brand but cannot remember the name (my battery supplier found it for me when they couldn't get hold of the Poweroad one).
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If it's not reading correctly with the app it will be the cheap thermistor they use plugged into the BMS so battery will have to be opened and this part changed, would have thought it would have been checked before dispatching though.
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Why not lie it on it's side ? Lithium doesn't have to be conventionally upright
Doesn't fit. Banner 957 51 (standard Bailey fitment) is 354mm long, 175mm wide & 190mm tall.
OP
OP
As a bit of an update, left it fitted for the trip to Lincolnshire this weekend and after a 100 mile trip only charged by about 2% and not enough to run the heating on the truma on Friday night (-5)
Luckily, I brought the new standard battery I'd bought due to this one being late for our trip to Scotland last month.
Luckily, I brought the new standard battery I'd bought due to this one being late for our trip to Scotland last month.
Lenny HB
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Looks like the BMS may be faulty showing a temperature of -26.4. Perhaps because it is reporting low temp it's not allowing the battery to charge. It's also reporting 50% charge so plenty of power for normal use so again it looks the BMS is not allowing any current to be drawn.
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looks that way.
general rule is no charge below 0C, no discharge below -20C, so as you say, looks like not allowing either.
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- Jul 5, 2013
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The temperature shown as - 26.4 will be wrong, but I suspect that it will cause the BMS to stop any charging happening. Therefore the first thing you need to do is get Fogstar to recalibrate the BMS. Edit - beaten to it by Lenny HB
Then I suspect you will need to spend some more money to get the best out of your new battery in winter. You need to buy a decent mains charger and a B2B, both with LiFePo4 profiles. They will then provide enough charge to allow the heating pad to get the battery warm enough to start taking the charge it needs. As it is I suspect that all of the very small charge that is going in when you are on EHU or driving is spent on trying to keep the battery warm enough in -5C weather and not succeeding.
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OP
OP
Hmmmm so probably a stupid question, is a vanbitz battery master not a B2B?
- Jul 5, 2013
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No it is not. All it does is supply a trickle charge from the leisure battery to the Cab battery, if needed, when the engine is not running. A B2B allows high charges to go from the alternator to the leisure battery, via the cab battery, when the engine is running.
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OK how would I find out if I have one already fitted? Its a 2021 Bailey and would think I do but need to check.
Can i run the engine then put a multimeter accross the leisure battery and see if there's an increase in voltage ie charging?
Can i run the engine then put a multimeter accross the leisure battery and see if there's an increase in voltage ie charging?
Technically yes... but the Battery Master is hab to cab battery. So if you have excess solar or you're on hook-up, the cab battery gets a bit of juice to stop it going flat.
B2B is generally the term used when you're driving and the cab battery (and alternator) is providing charge to the hab battery.
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