Lenny HB
LIFE MEMBER
- Oct 18, 2007
- 55,856
- 162,948
- Funster No
- 658
- MH
- Carthago Compactline
- Exp
- Since 2008 & many years tugging
OK Guys, have new van coming at sometime in the future and I'm fed up with sleepless nights going over the electrics. So just to see what you all think.
Will be fitting either 280 AH or 460 AH of Lithium & at least a 2000 VA inverter as we have ordered the van without an oven (didn't like where & how it would be fitted).
So we will be using a lot more electrical gear than we normally do, probably a small Air fryer, maybe a Romeska & our 800 Watt kettle a lot of the time.
The Van is a Carthago CompactLine so the electrics will be CBE.
For the mains charging I may leave the CBE charger on the Gel setting initially as we rarely use EHU, not ideal but OK for occasional use.
Other option is to fit a Victron IP22 charger and leave the CBE charger to take care of the starter battery.
A Victron Multiplus would be a nice solution but with our low EHU usage it would be an extravagance.
I will initially fit 300 or 350 watts of solar not sure how much more I can get on the roof, the van will have a B2B as standard, trying to find out which one as a 30 amp won't be much good with 460 AH of Battery.
I was original going to fit a Votronic solar regulator as I like the dual output for the starter battery & the AES output for the fridge but a few people have had problems with the Votronic with Lithium.
So I am going to play save and fit either a Victron Smart 100/30 or 100/50 regulator and an Ablemail Battery Maintainer to take care of the starter battery.
The next problem comes is keeping the starter battery topped up when parked up at home. I could plug into the EHU which is next to the van but that goes against the grain, IMO Motorhomes should be self-sufficient.
We all know Lithium's don't like to be stored fully charged or on charge but the starter battery needs to be maintained.
Two options I'm thinking of, I will probably transfer my BMV700 over from my current van or fit a new one or a smart Shunt.
So I'm thinking let the Ablemail do it's job and wire the relay output of the BMV to a larger relay to switch the input to the solar regulator. Then set the relay to switch on connecting the solar when the battery is at 40% SOC and to switch off when the battery is at 80% SOC.
If I don't fit the BMV and go for a Smart Shunt I could use a voltage comparator to do the same job.
The second option is to fit a changeover switch to the output of the solar regulator and switch it over to the starter battery when parked up at home, so the solar just maintains the starter battery.
Next problem is the fridge as the Victron regulator does not have an AES output.
So I'm thinking of using either the BMV relay or a voltage comparator to switch a 12v signal to the S+ on the fridge when the battery is at 100% SOC and to switch off when the battery is down to 50% or 60% SOC. Also I will fit a 24 hour timer inline so the AES connection will only be active from say 7 am to 4 pm (depending on the time of year) with it switching on & off in one hour blocks. That should preserve the battery and save a bit of gas.
Next question is for CompactLine owners, mine will be the I 141, the battery compartment is buried amidships in the double floor and looks a right pain to get at. It will accept a 280 AH Lithium the question is with a bit of modding would I be able to get a much larger battery in (460 AH 522mm x 240mm x 218mm).
Also what seems a bit stupid the batty compartment is in the middle of the van the battery cut off switch is about a metre forward of it but the distribution unit is in the other direction in the garage, plain stupid.
I think Motorhome converters employ designers with the logic section of their brains missing.
So I'm thinking of fitting the battery in the garage but that does lose valuable garage space.
Will be fitting either 280 AH or 460 AH of Lithium & at least a 2000 VA inverter as we have ordered the van without an oven (didn't like where & how it would be fitted).
So we will be using a lot more electrical gear than we normally do, probably a small Air fryer, maybe a Romeska & our 800 Watt kettle a lot of the time.
The Van is a Carthago CompactLine so the electrics will be CBE.
For the mains charging I may leave the CBE charger on the Gel setting initially as we rarely use EHU, not ideal but OK for occasional use.
Other option is to fit a Victron IP22 charger and leave the CBE charger to take care of the starter battery.
A Victron Multiplus would be a nice solution but with our low EHU usage it would be an extravagance.
I will initially fit 300 or 350 watts of solar not sure how much more I can get on the roof, the van will have a B2B as standard, trying to find out which one as a 30 amp won't be much good with 460 AH of Battery.
I was original going to fit a Votronic solar regulator as I like the dual output for the starter battery & the AES output for the fridge but a few people have had problems with the Votronic with Lithium.
So I am going to play save and fit either a Victron Smart 100/30 or 100/50 regulator and an Ablemail Battery Maintainer to take care of the starter battery.
The next problem comes is keeping the starter battery topped up when parked up at home. I could plug into the EHU which is next to the van but that goes against the grain, IMO Motorhomes should be self-sufficient.
We all know Lithium's don't like to be stored fully charged or on charge but the starter battery needs to be maintained.
Two options I'm thinking of, I will probably transfer my BMV700 over from my current van or fit a new one or a smart Shunt.
So I'm thinking let the Ablemail do it's job and wire the relay output of the BMV to a larger relay to switch the input to the solar regulator. Then set the relay to switch on connecting the solar when the battery is at 40% SOC and to switch off when the battery is at 80% SOC.
If I don't fit the BMV and go for a Smart Shunt I could use a voltage comparator to do the same job.
The second option is to fit a changeover switch to the output of the solar regulator and switch it over to the starter battery when parked up at home, so the solar just maintains the starter battery.
Next problem is the fridge as the Victron regulator does not have an AES output.
So I'm thinking of using either the BMV relay or a voltage comparator to switch a 12v signal to the S+ on the fridge when the battery is at 100% SOC and to switch off when the battery is down to 50% or 60% SOC. Also I will fit a 24 hour timer inline so the AES connection will only be active from say 7 am to 4 pm (depending on the time of year) with it switching on & off in one hour blocks. That should preserve the battery and save a bit of gas.
Next question is for CompactLine owners, mine will be the I 141, the battery compartment is buried amidships in the double floor and looks a right pain to get at. It will accept a 280 AH Lithium the question is with a bit of modding would I be able to get a much larger battery in (460 AH 522mm x 240mm x 218mm).
Also what seems a bit stupid the batty compartment is in the middle of the van the battery cut off switch is about a metre forward of it but the distribution unit is in the other direction in the garage, plain stupid.
I think Motorhome converters employ designers with the logic section of their brains missing.
So I'm thinking of fitting the battery in the garage but that does lose valuable garage space.