Leisure battery, solar and Sargent unit questions

[The_Kraken]

Happy Easter all,

We have a 2004 Autotrail Cheyenne 696g SE
We have discovered that our leisure battery is kaput. It’s an Exide er350 90wh which seems quite small? So, we plan on installing a larger one.

We don’t do a lot of off grid but, it would be good to do the odd festival or sporting event.

So, we are going to install a 100w solar panel.

My understanding is that our Sargent unit (a EC200 with a PSU 2007 is not equipped with a built in solar controller? So, my plan was to buy a victron 75/10 controller and wire the solar cables to that and then from that to the leisure battery to help charge that.

Here are my questions assuming I have the above correct?

I also have a jackery explorer 240 power pack which has its own solar controller built in. My plan is to have a junction just before my victron controller that I can unplug and plug my jackery into when I need to charge that up. Once charged I can plug the solar panel back into the victron. Will this be ok?

2nd question. Is it ok to have my Sargent unit still connected to my leisure and vehicle battery as normal at the same time as also connecting the victron charging from the solar panel?

3rd question. The leisure battery - I can’t afford a lithium battery so, I am going like for like (wet battery) with a larger capacity unit - probably a 130wh. This won’t mess anything up with the Sargent unit will it?

Is this all I need for a reasonably straight forward install? I realise that I could have 2 chuffin great batteries and an all singing and dancing charging system but, we don’t and won’t be doing a lot of off grid camping so, I don’t see the need?

Any suggestions would be fantastic, thank you.

 

[The_Kraken]

Sorry, one more question.

I plan to install the solar panel as close to the near side bench seat as that is where the leisure battery is (inside the side locker underneath the passenger side bench seat in the motorhome). I plan to fit the victron controller right next to the leisure battery. Therefore minimising the cables. Will it be ok to fit the victron controller inside the side locker? Or would it be better inside the motorhome with cables then leading down into the locker. / battery compartment?

 

[Tombola]

My understanding is that our Sargent unit (a EC200 with a PSU 2007 is not equipped with a built in solar controller? So, my plan was to buy a victron 75/10 controller and wire the solar cables to that and then from that to the leisure battery to help charge that.

Here are my questions assuming I have the above correct?

I also have a jackery explorer 240 power pack which has its own solar controller built in. My plan is to have a junction just before my victron controller that I can unplug and plug my jackery into when I need to charge that up. Once charged I can plug the solar panel back into the victron. Will this be ok? Yes

2nd question. Is it ok to have my Sargent unit still connected to my leisure and vehicle battery as normal at the same time as also connecting the victron charging from the solar panel?
Yes
3rd question. The leisure battery - I can’t afford a lithium battery so, I am going like for like (wet battery) with a larger capacity unit - probably a 130wh. This won’t mess anything up with the Sargent unit will it? No but depending on the power output of your exisiting sargent charger will take longer to charge


I plan to install the solar panel as close to the near side bench seat as that is where the leisure battery is (inside the side locker underneath the passenger side bench seat in the motorhome). I plan to fit the victron controller right next to the leisure battery. Therefore minimising the cables. Will it be ok to fit the victron controller inside the side locker? Or would it be better inside the motorhome with cables then leading down into the locker. / battery compartment? yes thats fine, the closer to the battery the better

 

[Cush]

You might want to consider lead - carbon battery as an alternative. Same charging as regular lead acid but tolerates sitting at below full charge with less deterioration. It’s what I’ll be replacing my wet leads with. I would try to get as much solar as possible. I have 2 panels giving about 375 W and use a epever duoracer mppt solar controller. Being able to swap your panel over to your little lithium unit shouldn’t be a problem (as noted above) with the right tech / switches.

 

[DJL220]

I recently fitted a solar panel with the same Sargent unit as you have and also Victron, see my link below: -

Bessacarr 2006 - Solar wiring question

Hi Funsters Quick question regarding connecting my Victron solar controller to the leisure battery. First time Solar install and after reading tons of information on here I am not 100% sure of the following, which one would you suggest: - A) Direct connection to battery from controller? -...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

I used the following wiring diagram and found the spare wires to the hab battery, checked them by removing fuses etc and testing with a volt meter.

I mounted the controller in the wardrobe above the Sargent unit and then ran the cable in trunking to under the unit to pick up the wires. I did think of a direct connection to the battery with a fuse too.

You need an air gap around the controller so as long as it’s dry and has a gap the locker should be ok as you manage everything via the app.

Feel free to PM me if you need anything else?

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[The_Kraken]

My understanding is that our Sargent unit (a EC200 with a PSU 2007 is not equipped with a built in solar controller? So, my plan was to buy a victron 75/10 controller and wire the solar cables to that and then from that to the leisure battery to help charge that.

Here are my questions assuming I have the above correct?

I also have a jackery explorer 240 power pack which has its own solar controller built in. My plan is to have a junction just before my victron controller that I can unplug and plug my jackery into when I need to charge that up. Once charged I can plug the solar panel back into the victron. Will this be ok? Yes

2nd question. Is it ok to have my Sargent unit still connected to my leisure and vehicle battery as normal at the same time as also connecting the victron charging from the solar panel?
Yes
3rd question. The leisure battery - I can’t afford a lithium battery so, I am going like for like (wet battery) with a larger capacity unit - probably a 130wh. This won’t mess anything up with the Sargent unit will it? No but depending on the power output of your exisiting sargent charger will take longer to charge


I plan to install the solar panel as close to the near side bench seat as that is where the leisure battery is (inside the side locker underneath the passenger side bench seat in the motorhome). I plan to fit the victron controller right next to the leisure battery. Therefore minimising the cables. Will it be ok to fit the victron controller inside the side locker? Or would it be better inside the motorhome with cables then leading down into the locker. / battery compartment? yes thats fine, the closer to the battery the better

Thanks Tombola. I saw that you are one of the resident electrical guru’s here so, I’m chuffed you’ve replied - thank you!

 

[The_Kraken]

You might want to consider lead - carbon battery as an alternative. Same charging as regular lead acid but tolerates sitting at below full charge with less deterioration. It’s what I’ll be replacing my wet leads with. I would try to get as much solar as possible. I have 2 panels giving about 375 W and use a epever duoracer mppt solar controller. Being able to swap your panel over to your little lithium unit shouldn’t be a problem (as noted above) with the right tech / switches.

Thanks Cush, I’ll look into carbon batteries.

 

[The_Kraken]

I recently fitted a solar panel with the same Sargent unit as you have and also Victron, see my link below: -

Bessacarr 2006 - Solar wiring question

Hi Funsters Quick question regarding connecting my Victron solar controller to the leisure battery. First time Solar install and after reading tons of information on here I am not 100% sure of the following, which one would you suggest: - A) Direct connection to battery from controller? -...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

I used the following wiring diagram and found the spare wires to the hab battery, checked them by removing fuses etc and testing with a volt meter.

I mounted the controller in the wardrobe above the Sargent unit and then ran the cable in trunking to under the unit to pick up the wires. I did think of a direct connection to the battery with a fuse too.

You need an air gap around the controller so as long as it’s dry and has a gap the locker should be ok as you manage everything via the app.

Feel free to PM me if you need anything else?

Thanks DJL220, that is really helpful.

the problem with our layout is that our Sargent unit is in the cupboard above the off side bench seats and the leisure battery is under the bench seats on the near side. So, I’m leaning towards perhaps having the victory mppb in the locker next to the leisure battery. We can keep an eye on it via the app rather than having to eyeball it in the flesh.

 

[The_Kraken]

I recently fitted a solar panel with the same Sargent unit as you have and also Victron, see my link below: -

Bessacarr 2006 - Solar wiring question

Hi Funsters Quick question regarding connecting my Victron solar controller to the leisure battery. First time Solar install and after reading tons of information on here I am not 100% sure of the following, which one would you suggest: - A) Direct connection to battery from controller? -...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

I used the following wiring diagram and found the spare wires to the hab battery, checked them by removing fuses etc and testing with a volt meter.

I mounted the controller in the wardrobe above the Sargent unit and then ran the cable in trunking to under the unit to pick up the wires. I did think of a direct connection to the battery with a fuse too.

You need an air gap around the controller so as long as it’s dry and has a gap the locker should be ok as you manage everything via the app.

Feel free to PM me if you need anything else?

So, having read your thread (I had not done across the van it’s battery master before) I see that you will have spliced into the battery feeds underneath the EC200? So the fact that the solar controller is a fair distance from your batteries doesn’t seem to affect the operation of the charging system too much?

 

[DJL220]

So, having read your thread (I had not done across the van it’s battery master before) I see that you will have spliced into the battery feeds underneath the EC200? So the fact that the solar controller is a fair distance from your batteries doesn’t seem to affect the operation of the charging system too much?

I don’t think it makes a massive difference as the distances are not that great. It is around 4-5m max from controller to battery.

I did splice in the battery master and solder these to the correct wires under the controller. Need this as previous battery was ruined in storage during the lock downs! The 175w panel has kept both batteries topped up nicely

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[The_Kraken]

Our MH is kept

I don’t think it makes a massive difference as the distances are not that great. It is around 4-5m max from controller to battery.

I did splice in the battery master and solder these to the correct wires under the controller. Need this as previous battery was ruined in storage during the lock downs! The 175w panel has kept both batteries topped up nicely

under a roof so, no sun. However, we can plug her in. Hence I didn’t see the point in going all out with solar panels. No doubt I’ll end up regretting that lol.

Thanks for your help.