Ecoflow Alternator Charger 800W

[roadtripper]

Bluetti charger 1 offer
It’s not as powerful as the EF but it’s more compatible as it will work with both there delta and river series and other manufacturers. It’s cheaper and smaller too.

Things that make me worry Bluetti might not be on the ball with this in the advertising on this page BLUETTI Charger 1 | 560W Alternator Charger

1. Picture of a consumer unit MCB used as a 12v breaker - a free floating DIN rail mounted breaker in a high current cable with no other protection is a bit... squirmy



2. Very clear picture of how NOT to wire to any modern vehicle and instead give it endless starter charging issues by wiring the wrong side of the battery shunt - with a side order of unsupported cables that hold up the terminal protection caps

 

[jaydisc]

Thanks @jaydisc for your explanations and examples of the results of grounding to the chassis. Very useful.

I'm pretty much starting with a blank canvas. I've got a LHD 2024 VW T6.1 Caravelle (aka Shuttle in the UK) without a leisure battery setup or any portable power. It has a 2,2+1,3 seat arrangement but i've removed the rear 3 seat bench to accommodate the brilliant Van-King bed and steel slider system:

View attachment 267553

My needs are to keep the whole setup modular as at times I need to remove the bed system to fit the rear bench back and use it to ferry relatives around when they visit...or lose all the rear seats and fill it to the brim with my work equipment. The Van-King bed system can be taken out with one tool in minutes.

I'm now about to get a leisure battery system fitted which, to be honest, is to mainly power the diesel heater that is also going to be fitted. I'm after a very straight forward discreet and tidy battery setup as I don't have great power needs; 5v and 12v outputs as a priority but no real need for AC power. The idea is to fit a 100AH AGM battery under the driver's seat (I have a LHD) with a DC to DC charger and output to a very neat snap-fitting Powerboxx unit under the front passenger seat:

View attachment 267554View attachment 267555

The Powerboxx gives me some 5v and 12v outputs as well as a leisure battery voltage readout. The 220v AC outputs only work when you hook up to shore power but that's not an issue for me. Additionally, when connected to shore the Powerboxx acts as a leisure battery charger if required. I may decide to replicate the Powerboxx setup with something more custom and bespoke but in essence that's what i'm after. I have no need to distribute power to any other point in the van from this source.

What I will add to all this is an EcoFlow Delta 2 and the EF 800W Alternator charger. For one, I need it for when I have my van in work mode to charge batteries and operate power tools both in and out of the van. But also secondly, to power a Dometic CFX3 25 fridge when i'm in leisure mode. I'm not sure the 100AH leisure battery is going to give me the capacity to run the fridge too long during the warmer months here in Spain so that's where the Delta 2 would step in. It will also allow me to reverse charge the leisure battery if required.

The game changer for me is the EcoFlow Alternator Charger. The fast charging potential makes me think that I could nearly forget about lugging solar panels around.

Anyway, this still remains a work in progress but seeing how you've successfully plumbed your EF alternator into your leisure setup has really inspired me!

Wow. That looks and sounds incredible. FWIW, my Delta 2 will power a Dometic 46L 12V fridge for about 3 days 100% to 0% (set to 4°C, with the weather around 28°C during the day), assuming minimal other power use. But yes, much to my surprise and absolute pleasure, the EF Delta + Alt. Charger worked exactly as described and expected. I hope and expect the same for you.

 

[JmStockholm]

This is how I installed it as a test, to the rear house battery in a Cali Ocean T6.1 2023. Everything seems to work fine, charges with 800W at 13.5 V (after update of EF and EAC) and reverse charges as well. Does it look ok to you how know these things? I guess it will only charge the rear AGM battery? I wonder if Calis battery management system will get confused?
Yes, and the small electronic thing on the -pole (connected with a cable to the +pole)l had the marking in the last picture, just as information.

 

[The Flying Scotsman]

I’m going to start my big power upgrade soon so have been working out where to put all the bits before planing the cable routes.
I’m going to fit my EcoFlow 800w charger and would like to know if attaching the power wire to my lithium leisure battery will be ok instead of taking it to the starter battery?
Below is pic of wiring instructions
Thanks
@Dellmassive
@TallPaul_S
@ginkster
@roadtripper

 

[psybear]

I’m going to start my big power upgrade soon so have been working out where to put all the bits before planing the cable routes.
I’m going to fit my EcoFlow 800w charger and would like to know if attaching the power wire to my lithium leisure battery will be ok instead of taking it to the starter battery?
Below is pic of wiring instructions
Thanks
@Dellmassive
@TallPaul_S
@ginkster
@roadtripper

View attachment 278305

Oh I will be reading replies with interest.

I've bought the alternator charger but won't be fitting it myself. Have it booked into a place next week. Spoke with one of the guys working there about it and he said it would be grand connected to the direct live feed going to the LB. But his boss disagreed, saying it would be better going to main battery. Neither has experience of fitting one before.

As a matter of interest, where are you planning to locate the charger?

 

[TallPaul_S]

Should be fine - but will depend on how the charging is triggered? Connected to the SB I'd imagine it acts like a standard DC-DC charger and either senses the increased voltage and/or uses an engine run signal.

If you've got solar on the LiFePO4 LB the ecoflow could end up getting triggered on when you've got no real charge coming in, and could run your LB dry quite quickly! As it'll be pulling 60-70a from the LB.

So you'll need to make sure there's a way to only have it activate when the engine is running, if that's how you want it.

 

[The Flying Scotsman]

Should be fine - but will depend on how the charging is triggered? Connected to the SB I'd imagine it acts like a standard DC-DC charger and either senses the increased voltage and/or uses an engine run signal.

If you've got solar on the LiFePO4 LB the ecoflow could end up getting triggered on when you've got no real charge coming in, and could run your LB dry quite quickly! As it'll be pulling 60-70a from the LB.

So you'll need to make sure there's a way to only have it activate when the engine is running, of that's how you want it.

Thanks Paul
Mmmm sounds like hassle
I have to run a new 16mm cable from my SB to the new LB anyway so think I will run this along side and connect it to the SB.
I’m going to run the reverse camera cable and install wires for my amp/sub at the same time.
Once I get in about installing the big lithium battery, DC-DC, MPPT and huge solar panel I will post up a thread

 

[The Flying Scotsman]

Oh I will be reading replies with interest.

I've bought the alternator charger but won't be fitting it myself. Have it booked into a place next week. Spoke with one of the guys working there about it and he said it would be grand connected to the direct live feed going to the LB. But his boss disagreed, saying it would be better going to main battery. Neither has experience of fitting one before.

As a matter of interest, where are you planning to locate the charger?

Somewhere under the sink.
It seems very straightforward to wire up

 

[Dellmassive]

Will be fine...

I've had mine temporarily connected to the LB with crock clamps.

Just remember to fuse the cenection.

You can use the EF app to current limit the ALT Charger.... So start low and gradually work you way up. Start at 10A and slowly work up to the 50A.... It will self limit when it detects volt drop on the power feed.

Ground the neg direct to chassis. Short as possible.

Cut the POS down to size, again short. And fuse to bus bar or LB POS.

Apart from that make sure you have a decent dc-dc to replenish the LB when it needs charging.

 

[The Flying Scotsman]

Will be fine...

I've had mine temporarily connected to the LB with crock clamps.

Just remember to fuse the cenection.

You can use the EF app to current limit the ALT Charger.... So start low and gradually work you way up. Start at 10A and slowly work up to the 50A.... It will self limit when it detects volt drop on the power feed.

Ground the neg direct to chassis. Short as possible.

Cut the POS down to size, again short. And fuse to bus bar or LB POS.

Apart from that make sure you have a decent dc-dc to replenish the LB when it needs charging.

That’s great thanks Lee.
There’s a fuse on the positive.
It will be miles easier to do but there’s about 6m of cable supplied with it and it already has the proper terminals on either end.
I could probably strip it down to cut it and fit new ring terminals on one end ?
Do you think that’s worth doing?
I’m installing a good 50a DC-DC charger.
This is what I’m installing along with a 250a Roamer lithium battery, 360w solar panel and MPPT.
Team blue power

 

[Dellmassive]

Yes deffo cut the cable down and re terminate with fresh ring terminals.

All that unnecessary cable will just cause voltage drop lower your efficiency.

Cut cable shorter connect the black director chassis a short was practically possible.

Then cut down the positive , recrimp a new end on, fit the midi fuse and then go straight to your bus bar or battery connection.

 

[Dellmassive]

With all that team blue victron kit you must be thinking about getting a Cerbo GX?

 

[Dellmassive]

Good too see the AMT12-2 charger in there too.

 

[The Flying Scotsman]

With all that team blue victron kit you must be thinking about getting a Cerbo GX?

That’s that fancy controller Paul was at me to get.
I thought I’d get enough information from the shunt?
How much is the cebro GX?
And what does it do?

 

[TallPaul_S]

That’s that fancy controller Paul was at me to get.
I thought I’d get enough information from the shunt?
How much is the cebro GX?
And what does it do?

Not guilty!

But... The shunt will give you voltages and the correct battery state of charge.

The Cerbo GX opens up the wonderful world of VRM, and a central data collection point, and Bluetooth sensors, and relays, and internet monitoring & control, and pretty displays, and....

If you're going for a gen4 Roamer you also don't need a shunt and can just connect the battery directly to the Cerbo GX. The Cerbo is about £180.

 

[The Flying Scotsman]

Not guilty!

But... The shunt will give you voltages and the correct battery state of charge.

The Cerbo GX opens up the wonderful world of VRM, and a central data collection point, and Bluetooth sensors, and relays, and internet monitoring & control, and pretty displays, and....

If you're going for a gen4 Roamer you also don't need a shunt and can just connect the battery directly to the Cerbo GX. The Cerbo is about £180.

Sounds awfy fancy
I do like fancy lighty up panels
It is a SMART4 roamer I’ve got.
Mmmm might sell the brand new shunt and buy that now.
You guys have cost me a fortune

 

[TallPaul_S]

Sounds awfy fancy
I do like fancy lighty up panels
It is a SMART4 roamer I’ve got.
Mmmm might sell the brand new shunt and buy that now.
You guys have cost me a fortune

Yeah @Dellmassive has got a smart4 Roamer, no shunt needed, you just connect the Cerbo GX via the can cable and it'll send all the data to the Cerbo. You can get the Cerbo-S GX which has a few less ports but I think has all you'd need - but you'll need to check it has all the correct ports.

 

[jaydisc]

I’m going to start my big power upgrade soon so have been working out where to put all the bits before planing the cable routes.
I’m going to fit my EcoFlow 800w charger and would like to know if attaching the power wire to my lithium leisure battery will be ok instead of taking it to the starter battery?

Absolutely. This is a supported configuration. I have a similar setup, although my leisure battery (VW California) is an AGM battery.

Presumably, your Leisure is charged by your alternator already? If so, when the car/alternator is running, the voltage seen by the Alternator Charger should rise, typically over 14V depending on your alternator, load, etc.

Setting the voltage threshold for triggering the Alternator Charger is critical. With my AGM, I set it to 13V. When the AGM leisure is NOT charging, its voltage ranges between 12 (~0%) and 13 (~100%), so the Alternator Charger does nothing when it's in that state. When the car/alternator is running, the voltage across my AGM leisure rises between 13.5 and 14.5, and the Alternator Charger kicks in automatically and does its thing.

Are you potentially interested in Reverse Charging as well? I'm fairly confident that when in Reverse Charging mode, the Alternator Charger will send 13.8V to the battery it's connected to. I'm not sure if you can fully charge a Lithium battery with that voltage (I heard that you can, but it just takes longer?). I don't believe there's any way around that.

My van doesn't have an electrical hookup, but if I plug the Delta's AC input in, and have Reverse Charging turned on, I effectively NOW have an electrical hookup! The Delta charges itself as well as the Leisure battery it's connected to. I just have to remember to switch the Alternator Charger back to Charge mode when I unplug the Delta.

In my experience Maintenance Mode is exactly the same as Reverse Charge, but with the wattage capped to 100W.

Should be fine - but will depend on how the charging is triggered? Connected to the SB I'd imagine it acts like a standard DC-DC charger and either senses the increased voltage and/or uses an engine run signal.

If you've got solar on the LiFePO4 LB the ecoflow could end up getting triggered on when you've got no real charge coming in, and could run your LB dry quite quickly! As it'll be pulling 60-70a from the LB.

So yo

Yes, it's all triggered based on the voltage threshold set for the Alternator Charger.

Having solar flowing into the leisure battery is going to have the same effect as the car's alternator running… voltage will be higher, and the Alternator Charger will take advantage of any excess voltage (over the set threshold) to charge your Delta when the solar is pumping as well. Personally, I think this is a great feature! Because the Alternator Charger is further down the line to the Leisure, the Leisure should still get priority of the solar's charge.

Will be fine...

I've had mine temporarily connected to the LB with crock clamps.

Just remember to fuse the cenection.

You can use the EF app to current limit the ALT Charger.... So start low and gradually work you way up. Start at 10A and slowly work up to the 50A.... It will self limit when it detects volt drop on the power feed.

Ground the neg direct to chassis. Short as possible.

Cut the POS down to size, again short. And fuse to bus bar or LB POS.

Apart from that make sure you have a decent dc-dc to replenish the LB when it needs charging.

I don't think starting low is a good idea. If you have the voltage threshold on the Alternator Charger set below 13V, it will CONTINUE to suck power from the Leisure battery EVEN when the alternator/solar is not running/charging. In my experience, the only time you want to set it below 13V, is if your ACTUAL INTENTION is to deplete the connected battery and suck its power into your Delta. I've had the need to do this on a few camping trips (the Delta ran out before the Leisure), but if you accidentally leave the Alternator Charger set below 13V, you will eventually back to a dead/depleted Leisure battery.

(Update: sorry, I may have misunderstood). Do you mean start with a lower Maximum Wattage in the Alternator Charger, or a lower Voltage? (I assumed you meant voltage). If you meant Wattage, then I agree that it's best not to leave it set to the maximum 800W if you don't need it. I have mine set at 500W by default (the recommended maximum to avoid battery degradation of the Delta), and only crank it up to 800W if I'm close to my destination and don't have the charge I need. But when that situation is over, back to 500W.

 

[Dellmassive]

That’s that fancy controller Paul was at me to get.
I thought I’d get enough information from the shunt?
How much is the cebro GX?
And what does it do?

Exactly what Paul says ...

 

[Dellmassive]

Absolutely. This is a supported configuration. I have a similar setup, although my leisure battery (VW California) is an AGM battery.

Presumably, your Leisure is charged by your alternator already? If so, when the car/alternator is running, the voltage seen by the Alternator Charger should rise, typically over 14V depending on your alternator, load, etc.

Setting the voltage threshold for triggering the Alternator Charger is critical. With my AGM, I set it to 13V. When the AGM leisure is NOT charging, its voltage ranges between 12 (~0%) and 13 (~100%), so the Alternator Charger does nothing when it's in that state. When the car/alternator is running, the voltage across my AGM leisure rises between 13.5 and 14.5, and the Alternator Charger kicks in automatically and does its thing.

Are you potentially interested in Reverse Charging as well? I'm fairly confident that when in Reverse Charging mode, the Alternator Charger will send 13.8V to the battery it's connected to. I'm not sure if you can fully charge a Lithium battery with that voltage (I heard that you can, but it just takes longer?). I don't believe there's any way around that.

My van doesn't have an electrical hookup, but if I plug the Delta's AC input in, and have Reverse Charging turned on, I effectively NOW have an electrical hookup! The Delta charges itself as well as the Leisure battery it's connected to. I just have to remember to switch the Alternator Charger back to Charge mode when I unplug the Delta.

In my experience Maintenance Mode is exactly the same as Reverse Charge, but with the wattage capped to 100W.



Yes, it's all triggered based on the voltage threshold set for the Alternator Charger.

Having solar flowing into the leisure battery is going to have the same effect as the car's alternator running… voltage will be higher, and the Alternator Charger will take advantage of any excess voltage (over the set threshold) to charge your Delta when the solar is pumping as well. Personally, I think this is a great feature! Because the Alternator Charger is further down the line to the Leisure, the Leisure should still get priority of the solar's charge.



I don't think starting low is a good idea. If you have the voltage threshold on the Alternator Charger set below 13V, it will CONTINUE to suck power from the Leisure battery EVEN when the alternator/solar is not running/charging. In my experience, the only time you want to set it below 13V, is if your ACTUAL INTENTION is to deplete the connected battery and suck its power into your Delta. I've had the need to do this on a few camping trips (the Delta ran out before the Leisure), but if you accidentally leave the Alternator Charger set below 13V, you will eventually back to a dead/depleted Leisure battery.

(Update: sorry, I may have misunderstood). Do you mean start with a lower Maximum Wattage in the Alternator Charger, or a lower Voltage? (I assumed you meant voltage). If you meant Wattage, then I agree that it's best not to leave it set to the maximum 800W if you don't need it. I have mine set at 500W by default (the recommended maximum to avoid battery degradation of the Delta), and only crank it up to 800W if I'm close to my destination and don't have the charge I need. But when that situation is over, back to 500W.

Yes, start with lower wattage.....

Then start increasing the load on the LB.

Keeping an eye on the cable, fuse, connections temps.