There's always more than one way to skin a cat!
Fitting a battery charger with a Sargent EC155
- Thread starter Sim73
- Start date
@dcpen43 thanks for your posts which I've been following with intetest. This looks like a great solution to get a decent charger to the Leisure Battery. I'm thinking of taking the same route as I'm sure the Sargent charger is not the best option for keeping my LB charged on EHU.
Did you ever manage to sort out the issue with the error when switching over to charge the Starter Battery?
Is there any anything you would do differently or any improvements?
Cheers
Did you ever manage to sort out the issue with the error when switching over to charge the Starter Battery?
Is there any anything you would do differently or any improvements?
Cheers
I would not do what I did. I am pretty certain that the Sargent has over protection circuitry incompatible with the voltages/currents that occur in the AGM bulk charging phase. I got around this for the LB by throttling back the Victron to 7amps when on EHU. I have solar but did not wire that through the Sargent and I removed to 20amp fuse for the Main Battery as I think the Sargent was the root cause of issues I had with that AGM battery when I first got the Van.
I am going to move the Victron to behind the drivers seat as @Stay Frosty did and use the Sargent just to power up the Victron. That way I can use the full charge capabilities of the Victron which I think I will need for Winter camping.
andyhasalandy
Member
Following up on earlier posts, I ended up putting the victron behind the cabinets and the 12v supply (via a changeover switch) to both the leisure and van battery under the drivers seat. Picked up the van battery from the DC-DC charger and the leisure directly. Works well
good solution. I see the EC328 can charge AGM but not a cost effective upgrade
Thanks guys ... current plan is:
1) Remove Durite split charge and replace with Victron DC-DC charger (fitted under drivers seat next to AGM LB
2) Remove Sargent charger PSU (or bypass - taking @dcpen43 advice not to hook into Sargent spade connectors) and use Victron IP 22
3) Power Victron IP22 from Sargent - ideally rewiring the Sargent 'big red switch' to turn on power to Victron
4) Wire Victron IP22 output (+ve) to existing Sargent double (brown/blue cables) out to LB to save having to rewire this short run.
Does this sound feasible/correct ... any further advice would be useful.
I'm pretty sure the Durite split charge and Sargent PSU are killing my AGM battery.
1) Remove Durite split charge and replace with Victron DC-DC charger (fitted under drivers seat next to AGM LB
2) Remove Sargent charger PSU (or bypass - taking @dcpen43 advice not to hook into Sargent spade connectors) and use Victron IP 22
3) Power Victron IP22 from Sargent - ideally rewiring the Sargent 'big red switch' to turn on power to Victron
4) Wire Victron IP22 output (+ve) to existing Sargent double (brown/blue cables) out to LB to save having to rewire this short run.
Does this sound feasible/correct ... any further advice would be useful.
I'm pretty sure the Durite split charge and Sargent PSU are killing my AGM battery.
andyhasalandy
Member
Only comment would be that step 3 and 4 remain dependent on your Sargent unit. To keep it simple you could just wire your victron +12v supply under driver seat.
I'll be honest using the Renogy DCC50S as the battery to battery charger with the additional panels on the roof I've only used my Victron IP22 30/12 once to put the initial charge into the seat battery.
I reckon doing the same thing after junking the Durite will see you in the same boat as the DCC50S will put 50A into the leisure battery if there's no solar input so your battery is full after even just a modest journey.
I reckon doing the same thing after junking the Durite will see you in the same boat as the DCC50S will put 50A into the leisure battery if there's no solar input so your battery is full after even just a modest journey.
@Stay Frosty ?
I fed my Victron IP22 from one of the spare MCBs in the Sargent using some 2.5mm2 3 core blue flex behind the cabinets to a single 13A skt at the position shown in the picture earlier in the thread.
I fed my Victron IP22 from one of the spare MCBs in the Sargent using some 2.5mm2 3 core blue flex behind the cabinets to a single 13A skt at the position shown in the picture earlier in the thread.
Not me
Whoops it was @Stay Frosty
Did the mod to remove the Sargent from the Charging path but kept the Big Red Button as the charging switch. It feels like you are doing something when that light comes on
Just to show you should always carry some spare fuses a tool bag and be ready to start demolishing your van the second you get to the camp site!
Managed to blow the 80A glass tube ALU type fuse protecting the inverter supply... our 1000W kettle shows up as up to 1100W on the shunt display at around 87A so I guess it was bound to happen... just like the Adblu display coming on to warn me there's only another 1400 miles worth left, or the M1 being closed between J15 and J14 southbound, first world problems!
Brighton by the way and somebody has hidden the sea behind a wall of fog.
Managed to blow the 80A glass tube ALU type fuse protecting the inverter supply... our 1000W kettle shows up as up to 1100W on the shunt display at around 87A so I guess it was bound to happen... just like the Adblu display coming on to warn me there's only another 1400 miles worth left, or the M1 being closed between J15 and J14 southbound, first world problems!
Brighton by the way and somebody has hidden the sea behind a wall of fog.
Two 13mm bolts at the back and two 13mm bolts at the front, then try not to hurl the seat so the seat belt wire stays connected then tease out the fuse block to replace the fuse you can already see has blown through the fuse block cover, replace fuse and reverse the whole operation and ten minute job.
Now if say the inverter had packed up instead I'd be whining about it for well over ten minutes but this was on the ragged edge of my fault fighting abilities so I went for it.
Now if say the inverter had packed up instead I'd be whining about it for well over ten minutes but this was on the ragged edge of my fault fighting abilities so I went for it.
several months on with experience of reaching into the wardrobe to flick the ac rocker switch, i finally went your way @Stay Frosty and took a feed from the MCB in the Sargent and moved the red switch to a more accessible position as part of a fridge swap out.@Stay Frosty ?
I fed my Victron IP22 from one of the spare MCBs in the Sargent using some 2.5mm2 3 core blue flex behind the cabinets to a single 13A skt at the position shown in the picture earlier in the thread.
I’m haven’t needed to change the charger yet as haven’t needed to upgrade batteries, I’m guessing it will be soon though as it’s over 3 years old now but anyway, I’ve never switched that switch, always left on and with the standard setup it hasn’t caused an issue (that we’ve found!)
if it ain't broke.....
my issue was that the EC155 was not designed to charge AGM batteries and it may have contributed to a reduced life of my VB.
Having modded it, the unit in my van is now for central fusing and AC distribution but its taking up excessive space in the wardrobe for that purpose.
Maybe a winter project for me is to rip it out
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