We would really appreciate some help on how to best retro-fit an improve an existing setup, we are considering a move to Lithium (in a slide-on camper we are very weight sensitive), apologies in advance for the amount of information but I thought it would help people get a good understanding of what we think we are trying to do. If anyone knows any good people to talk to in the
Melbourne please PM me (we are located in the inner North West suburbs)
The Pro Power LiFeP04 100ah Battery or similar seems to fit our spec but there is not much information about that I can find and we also need to find some way to get BMS information of how the system is performing (amps in/out etc) which we do not have today.
http://www.ozimall.com.au/Pro-Power-12V-100ah-Lithium-Ion-LiFePo4-Deep-Cycle-Battery-Solar-4WD-Caravan This spec seems too good to be true: Life cycles 1500-5000, Internal cell balancing, Can be charged using most standard lead acid battery chargers (Set for agm/gel cells), can be used in series or parallel meaning we could add more later if needed and has a 1.5 Years Warranty. I am not sure if Pro Power has an Australian presence or not by the look of the website
http://www.pro-power.com.au/Batteries.html
Our 200 amp hours (2 batteries) of AGM has worked pretty
well for us so far. Our electrical devices are at the bottom of the post. We prefer not to use “powered sites” and are typically un-powered, the slide-on is used a several months each year and has NO good spot for permanently mounted
solar panel so I will need a better maintenance charging regime that I have had on the past to keep batteries healthy.
• We need to be able to charge from
Solar (we go bush for up to a couple of weeks at a time, at this point we usually get low on food/drinks/fuel but not power)
• We need to be able to charge from
Ranger alternator to re-charge on route but also this is our diesel generator is case of no sun, to hot etc. In the current config we charge the in vehicle Thumper 75ah battery a lot while we are exploring our destination and then plug back into the Trayon Anderson Plug and let the batteries find there level (I assume this has not shortened the life of the batteries). We leave the
Solar Panel on the camper while we are away. This use case may support 2 smaller lithium batteries or just replacing the current AGM as otherwise we would be wasting all that charging time while driving around doing things like fishing etc or moving the lithium about occasionally as its light enough.
• If we move to lithium, I would keep the 75Amp Hr Thumper as a spare and I assume this could only be connected if any “new” Lithium Battery was unplugged. We would be a lot more reliant on the
solar panel as the slide-on camper is typically left standalone (battery in camper) and we would no longer be charging a second battery other than the cranking battery in the
Ranger.
We are thinking a 100 amp hour lithium with a better
solar panel and faster recharge times (even if cranking the engine) may allow us to stay within the required parameters to optimise the life of the battery. We also need better information and battery management info and potentially be able to set parameters to improve the configuration over time if needed. All we have now is voltage meter on either battery that isn’t really accurate as the fridge is usually drawing when I take readings. We also need to find good
solar charging balance or wait for technology improvement. We don’t really want a fixed
solar as in our case the roof of the camper when closed faces the ground when the camper is open, at this stage our preference when travelling is to rely on the alternator. We need something to be reliable and handle off-road travel and varied climatic conditions. Ideally if we can head towards 7-10 years it would be great. Vendor Warranties and maintenance will be important. I would be hoping at least initially to keep the Thumper 75 ah as a backup and be able to charge it somehow as required. This would address the issue of a single battery failing in the short term until we have full confidence in any new system.
Current Setup. Ford
Ranger Cab Chassis with Trayon 1980 Slide on camper on the back (
http://www.trayon.com/which-trayon/single-cab/ ). Single Circuit as I understand is that has an isolator built in somewhere to isolate the cranking battery and the Trayon circuit that can be joined as required by an external Anderson plug (joined most of the time when the vehicle is near the camper). In
Ranger is a Redarc BCDC1225 (12v 25a) charger under vehicle bonnet. (I didn’t think my model did
solar or had MMPT but by the documentation it looks light it might). Ours was installed December 2014. Thumper 75 Amp hr AGM, this is a portable unit that sits on the floor behind the passenger and connect via an Anderson plug on the rear of the console. This was repacked with 5 x Century PS12120L 2 years ago.
In Trayon Camper is a 120 Amp hr Lion HZB-EV12-120 AGM VRLA (FAILED after 2.25 years which has started us considering Lithium). Voltage gauge. External Anderson plug to connect to
ranger and
solar panel. I use a “Y” cable to connect the 2 batteries and
solar panel together at times. Projector Battery charger (12v, 15 amp, 7 stage) which runs off 240v only (typically used at
home for maintenance purposes)
Portable folding 100w
Solar Panel with regulator about 5 years old (any suggestions as to what to do here are welcome). The was purchased from Low Energy Developments in
Melbourne. The distance from vehicle is important. Cable with
panel is about 5 metres and connects to an Anderson Plug on camper or
Ranger. Occasionally when chasing the sun, I connect another 5 metres of cable with dual Anderson plug.
Our devices: Novacool R3800 Fridge/Freezer. Info from a website: Apparently the R3800 draws only 2.1 amps @ 12 Volts DC - less than 0.5 amps on the 120VAC option. Average power use will vary depending on ambient temperature and how often the door is opened etc. but you can expect the R3800 to use less than 20 amp hours per day at 30C ambient temperature. Volume: 100Liters Total Internal Fridge Volume. 87.5 litres of fridge space plus a 12.5 litre freezer box at the top.
• The rest of our charging requirement is USB chargeable devices like Bluetooth speaker, Bluetooth fish finder, iPad, Smartphones, Telstra Hotspot is also a wi-fi hub that creates a LAN when we need to. AA and AAA rechargeable batteries for head torches, computer mice
• 12v Cig socket recharging for: 2 GME 5 watt handheld UHFs, Sangean Radio (has recharging battery) & Laptop x 2, AAA/AA battery recharger, Ryobi Lithium 18v Batteries for 18v Ryobi Drill we use to set up
camp, Versa light (used rarely for short periods). Tyre compressor and inflatable boat pump (these could easily be run from
Ranger cranking battery as they are used occasionally)
• We don’t buy anything that is not rechargeable in some way as per the above. We don’t have an invertor to get to 240v and at this stage don’t intend to get one. Apart from the fridge a lot of stuff is non-critical, if we get short of power when tend to reduce their usage.