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Offline BobB

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Re: Winnebago AUX/house battery, solar thread.
« Reply #30 on: August 22, 2015, 07:19:14 am »
Dan,

Thanks for prompt response.  Will be interested in your work with the PDI installation.  Please post photos after you do it.

Where did you get box?  Where did you get the battery disconnect switch?  Looks like the kind on some sailboats (French - Beneteau, Jeanneau, Dufour)
BobB
'99 VW EVC

Re: Winnebago AUX/house battery, solar thread.
« Reply #31 on: August 22, 2015, 10:38:13 am »
The parts I ordered/purchased are:
-2 6V golf cart batteries from Costco
-Stinger SGP38 80-AMP Battery Isolator and Relay from Amazon.com
-Battery box: http://www.allbatterysalesandservice.com/browse.cfm/4,573.html
-2 of Camco 47440 Black 5/16" Stud 18" Long 4-Gauge Marine Battery Cable and Lug Assembly Tinned from Amazon
-E Support Car Battery Isolator Disconnect Cut OFF Power Kill Switch (amazon.com)
Dan
'Millie', a '95 EVC

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Offline BobB

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Re: Winnebago AUX/house battery, solar thread.
« Reply #32 on: August 22, 2015, 04:47:39 pm »
Dan,

oops. Just found that info under your name in the "Coach Battery Upgrade and Rewire Questions" Subject. 

Thanks.
BobB
'99 VW EVC

Re: Winnebago AUX/house battery, solar thread.
« Reply #33 on: September 05, 2015, 01:02:23 am »
Here's a write-up of my double 6V golf cart battery install in anyone is interested.  I'll add the relay after I take a pic of it.

http://www.rotblattsculpture.com/eurovanbatteryin.html
Dan
'Millie', a '95 EVC

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Offline jshdcooper

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Re: Winnebago AUX/house battery, solar thread.
« Reply #34 on: September 09, 2015, 11:06:08 am »
Does anyone have any strong opinions on how to mount the Solar Panels?

I'm preparing for a 4 month road trip and want to add solar to my rig to compliment my new 12v fridge. I'm thinking about mounting them on the roof rack using Yakima Canoe brackets so that I can somewhat easily remove the panels to move them into sunlight as needed.

Does anyone have any experience doing something like that?

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Offline lostinME

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Re: Winnebago AUX/house battery, solar thread.
« Reply #35 on: May 09, 2016, 07:22:28 am »
So, Cole- feel free to move this if its worthy of its own thread. I just would like to learn more about House Battery options before I go with a direct replacement of the original Trojan in my 03 EVC.

I read the related threads on upgrades and solar, etc etc. Still slightly confused on options for direct replacement. Basically, I am after 1 thing and that is longer run time of the stock systems while off the grid.

Im not looking to run solar

Im not looking to run TV's and blenders

So, my questions are;

Can I just fit a larger Trojan 12v?
I see many folks doing two 6v Golf Cart batteries... advantages over a single battery? and does the stock charging system need to be changed?
I see a master power switch mod- is this just to prevent any ghost draws on the battery?

Before I drop the money on a new Trojan, Im just looking at options since I hope to not have to do this again for a few years at least!

Cheers from Maine :) Josh
"REBA"
2003 EVC

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Offline eurovank

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Re: Winnebago AUX/house battery, solar thread.
« Reply #36 on: May 12, 2016, 11:59:44 pm »
Sorry about delay, here's writeup on my battery/charger setup: http://www.iral.com/~albertr/EVC/battery/battery.html
Let me know if there're any questions.

-albertr
Albert,

This is amazing stuff. I want to build something very much like this. What were the specific reasons you chose the Magnum instead of the Promariner Dual charger? Anything aside from the higher current? I like the dual (house and starting) battery  charging aspect of the Promariner (aside from the price). If higher current was the main (only?) reason, then what have your charging times been after discharge? Enough of a difference to justify the price difference?

Also, looks like you lost quite a bit of storage space in the rear battery compartment? I use that room to carry chocks, grey water drain, jump start cables, some tools, hammer, cordless drill, etc. Did you find the reduction in storage room noticeable? Were you able to use the now empty magnetek area to stash some stuff?
« Last Edit: May 13, 2016, 12:20:09 am by eurovank »

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Offline albertr

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Re: Winnebago AUX/house battery, solar thread.
« Reply #37 on: May 13, 2016, 11:21:46 am »
I've seen Magnum chargers used in camper conversion projects before. With cost of AGM batteries, saving money by picking less expensive charger was not important to me, so I went with Magnum simply because it's known to work.

I didn't actively use battery compartment for storing stuff before, but you are right, it had some useful storage space which was lost after my conversion.

-albertr

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Offline sdunn

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Re: Winnebago AUX/house battery, solar thread.
« Reply #38 on: June 03, 2016, 12:34:52 pm »
Has anyone successfully converted house battery to LifePO4? I'm in the middle of replacing my failed Magnetek, have the whole back end of the van disassembled, and now I need to commit to the new build.

Options are *roughly* 
2x 250ah 6v Flooded Lead Acid at about $150 each = $300; ruled out for laziness and safety
2x 250ah 6v AGM at a little under $300 each = $600; highly available well-known charging equipment
2x 100ah 6v LifePo4 at a little over $600 each; Plus maybe battery mgmt and a DC-DC LifePO4 charger
(there are those who claim 100ah of LifePO4 is more capacity than 250ah of AGM)

LifePO4 seems like it is clearly the future, but very bleeding edge right now.  The expedition portal forums have people who are just starting to make the switch.  Given the upfront cost, it takes a pretty big leap of faith.

The (supposed) upside is that LifePO4 has much deeper depth of discharge than AGM (down to 20% or less vs. 50%) and LifePO4 gives you full voltage until it is empty. And, WEIGHT is perhaps 1/3 that of AGM!

While I hesitate to drop $600 on the AGMs that I may regret in two years. Wondering if anyone has made this work.

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Offline albertr

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Re: Winnebago AUX/house battery, solar thread.
« Reply #39 on: June 04, 2016, 07:25:39 am »
Lithium batteries certainly look attractive. I went with AGM batteries simply because it was proven and known to work. I use two changers on regular basis (Morningstar and Magnum) and they both play nicely with each other (can have them both changing batteries at the same time). You might want to research chargers for LifePO4, is there any MPPT controller which supports charging LifePO4 batteries?

-albertr

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Offline sdunn

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Re: Winnebago AUX/house battery, solar thread.
« Reply #40 on: June 04, 2016, 06:20:27 pm »
Well I decided to pull the trigger on LifePO4 - will post as the components come in and I install. While I flirted with a coach electrical system redesign, the dollars for what I had in mind started adding up too fast, so I backed off and am treating this strictly as a repair of the failed Magnetek and house battery. Even so, it is pricey. LifePO4 definitely has traction in the yacht world, and is gaining traction in the Class A motorhome world.

My goal is to be able to keep the Vitrifrigo cold, run the lights at night, and charge devices, for at least 3 days without starting the engine or accessing shore power.   Design-wise the battery capacity can scale up later without throwing the first build out, but using Solar to recharge anything bigger than what I'm planning isn't practical.

So here's the plan: get a *usable*  144Ah (when new) out of the following:
4x 180Ah 3.2v  LifePO4 cells wired in series
Progressive Dynamics PD9180AL 80 Amp, 12 volt, Lithium Ion Converter/Charger
Victron BMV700 Battery Monitor
BlueSea 6006200 Battery Switch
Zamp RoofSide Solar Port (hardwired into charge controller)
Zamp portable solar system (size TBD)

This design will require no metal cutting, and the LifePO4 cells are so small they will fit inside the OEM battery box. I'm buying cells (vs. a pack) to save money. There is much discussion as to whether you need a battery management system and balancing tools when you assemble these cells into packs. I'm buying from a supplier that serves the custom electric vehicle market, and they are confident that for what I'm doing I can just wire them up in series and hook up to a charger.  More to come! This is my early-summer project

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Offline albertr

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Re: Winnebago AUX/house battery, solar thread.
« Reply #41 on: June 04, 2016, 09:24:34 pm »
Sounds great! Looking forward to your build and report.

-albertr


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Offline sdunn

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Re: Winnebago AUX/house battery, solar thread.
« Reply #42 on: June 07, 2016, 05:09:43 pm »
For reference - I hadn't seen the Winnebago coach wiring diagram posted on this thread. It is almost 100% correct for my 99. Here it is.

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Offline sdunn

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Re: Winnebago AUX/house battery, solar thread.
« Reply #43 on: June 07, 2016, 05:14:53 pm »
And so far  my least favorite design attribute of the winnebago implementation: what the wiring diagram refers to simply as an 'isolated stud' - this is the common post that ties together the output from the alternator and charger with the positive battery cable and the 12v circuit breaker panel.

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Offline sdunn

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Re: Winnebago AUX/house battery, solar thread.
« Reply #44 on: June 08, 2016, 01:37:47 pm »
The rub is that with the Lithium batteries, I can charge them at a very high DC amperage (as high as 300a DC / roughly 30a AC), so I want a faster charger when I'm on shore power, so the Progressive Dynamics charger I'm installing is 80a DC. But the OEM battery fusing is 40a DC. One cable in & out. So what would be nice is to have a switch between charge and discharge, and fuse accordingly, but that adds cost and operational complexity, tradeoffs, etc.