Roamer LiFePO4 Gen2 230Ah Seatbase battery -- "How I Done It" --

[Stay Frosty]

@Soundz I've got a double pole switch on the incoming pair from the solar panels which I leave turned off when not using our camper during winter.
I have a main isolator on the Roamer too which I leave turned off when not using the van or during really cold weather.
Have to admit I'm sure the battery disconnected itself about three weeks back when we were leaving for Scotland early on a Sunday morning and assumed it was feeling the cold although. I'm sure the outside temp was above 5 C but then the van is parked in the shade on the north facing side of the house so better safe than sorry and turned the battery isolator back off for the journey and back on later in the day with normal service returned.
If using the van during winter there will have to be a rethink and some sort of pre use heating regime.

 

[Soundz]

Hey Stu, we’d need to check the parameters on the battery… it’s possible it’s set slightly differently on yours. Can you please email us at support@roamer.com and we can check for you?

Of course Steve will get back to you in the morn thanks as always for the great back up.great products and great customer care is rare today. Every thing seems right Steve batt hasn't missed a beat it's just this low temp thing is bugging me !!

@Soundz I've got a double pole switch on the incoming pair from the solar panels which I leave turned off when not using our camper during winter.
I have a main isolator on the Roamer too which I leave turned off when not using the van or during really cold weather.
Have to admit I'm sure the battery disconnected itself about three weeks back when we were leaving for Scotland early on a Sunday morning and assumed it was feeling the cold although. I'm sure the outside temp was above 5 C but then the van is parked in the shade on the north facing side of the house so better safe than sorry and turned the battery isolator back off for the journey and back on later in the day with normal service returned.
If using the van during winter there will have to be a rethink and some sort of pre use heating regime.

Buddy I also have a DP isolator and main isolator on batt mind we are year round campers and I'm constantly using the free power from the solar to charge all manner of batteries from camera batts powertool batts via the inverter to phones ipad type contraptions.

Frosty I am not a sparky but I'd recommend everyone with solar to add in a DP isolator it just makes life so simple if one has to do anything. Yes or course I can switch it off when cold and stop the PV charging the Roamer. tis just another benefit of having that isolator in place .....but I'm more interested in knowing why what I saw yesterday is happening . Dellmassive .is it Lee? has shown us roamer's BMS in action in this thread providing a low temp cut off and then reinstatement of charge at 5C . I could potentially disable victrons MPPT using a temp sensor and my BMV 712, and the VE smart network but am already using the B1 B2 terminals on the smart shunt and TBH is would be a PITA to impliment

Lets see where Steve takes this once we have had a chat .I know the low temp cut off works,tis the exact point, temp wise , that charging comes of that is worrying me

@Dellmassive

got any screen shots of the APP?

Cold Temp Charge blocking is 0degc and the clear is CTCC +5degc.

with mine. . . if been very cold over night. . .

the battery inside the van is always a good few degrees higher than the outside.

and even when its 0 or below inside the van, as soon as the engine is running/driving, within 5mins the heaters kicj in and start warming the inside.

so im normally charging again within 30min or so.

....

View attachment 221125View attachment 221126View attachment 221127


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The BMS settings show charge blocking below 0degc,

and release at +5degc


View attachment 221128


..

Is your name Lee mate?
I'm a bit primitive I can barely work a smart phone I use my lady's phone to watch all our blue tooth gizmos in the bus both Roamer and victron.so forgive me I can't provide a screen shot................I also can't access the parameter settings via the code Roamer provide so can't confirm my CTCC and CTC values are the same as yours ringed in yellow above

I can access the details page and the protection status page I can confirm I had UTC1 on earlier today ,but just a few mins ago that was gone.

Yesterday on the first page first thing in the morn temp reading 0C the LH box below the round clock type gauge " charging on" was greyed out as expected. But it came back on while the app was still reading 0C not 5C ..mind Steve might know something I don't from his reply

bless ya for the speedy reply .....................I'll come back as Ii learn more because it might help someone else

 

[Soundz]

Guys sorry unable to enter forum yesterday, no idea why

Steve from Roamer steered me through a few things yesterday.as always can't thank him enough for the time and patience. Steve might word this better than me @RoamerBatteries ,but basically my battt is configured as @Dellmassive 's above re parameters....we think the app is seeing no real charge come in bar a smidge from the solar early in the day.....but I was discharging not a huge amount......so basically I saw both charging on and discharging on at 0 degrees C because the app isn't seeing a charge because it's tiny.

With time and the right conditions IE low temps I will add my Orion 12 12 30 into the equation, I wired mine slightly different to the norm using the h and l connection points and a dash switch so I can simply flick a switch on see what the app displays and back off. Steve's conclusions were if charge on does not grey out then , then plausibly I might have a problem?

Steve I hope I've explained that right....as a layman, that looks hard, I don't think there is anything wrong with my battery, but we will see what time brings.I need cold and time which I don't have right now to replicate the conditions I saw a few days back

An add on I'm running a T5 2006 200 000 K....................maybe my heating IE VW's heating on a 2006 bus is not the same as your later T6's.and that explains why my battery gets cold.or stays cold for longer than Dellmassive's? When I get time i'm hoping to add a bit more insulation under the Roamer battery.............

afterall I make images of wildlife we like negative space us togs, my whole van build relied on that concept of neg space so it seems workable.search "awkward" I'm a simple guy I just make bits 'o' wood smaller

THANK YOU STEVE !! hope my words make sense to the masses if not rejig for me please

stu

 

[Soundz]

Can I add one more little thing............... times are hard here.so my roamer is still being used constantly to charge phones my camera batteries.I work sites.my power tool batteries head torch batteries..meh times hard or not I'd still do this hate being robbed by some energy baron

One of the things that came out of talking to Steve is maybe my battery is kept on the higher side ,charge wise, than ideal......... being honest in my case not overly concerned........ the 250W of solar just wacks amps in and I use them, but maybe it's worth posting this just for awareness . Many folks run smaller Li FE PO4 batteries in a T with a larger panel in the summer Stay Frosty's DP isolator makes more sense than ever !!

 

[Dellmassive]

Brand new Roamer 5% discount code:

(follow link and discount applied at checkout)


Roamer - Premium LiFePO4 Leisure Batteries for off grid (T6F 5% off)



.

 

[moomin-j]

@Dellmassive

Did you know that Roamer now have a 230 amp Seatbase 4 available @ £900.00?

Roamer 230SEATBASE4 - 12V 230Ah Seatbase LiFePO4 Lithium Battery

The Roamer 230SEATBASE4 is a low profile 12V 230Ah LiFePO4 battery for install under a campervan seat. Includes 300A continuous discharge, active balancing, Bluetooth and plug and play integration with Victron. Free delivery, Roamercare, 10 year warranty and 5 star support from the UKs leading...

roamer.com

With the T6F discount code, this reduces down to an even cheaper £855.00
A lot better that the £1,200 odd cost for the Gen 3

 

[Dellmassive]

Yep.

I've got one and testing it now.

We're just waiting for the he new app to be released.

Watch this space.......

 

[Nalgene]

at this point the isolator switch was fitted and screwed to a ply panel . .

@Dellmassive how did you secure the ply in place Dell? I’ve strapped my 160 Roamer in place and have room to put my kill switch and Blue Smart charger on a piece of ply in front but just can’t figure out how to go about securing it in place

 

[Dellmassive]

@Dellmassive how did you secure the ply in place Dell? I’ve strapped my 160 Roamer in place and have room to put my kill switch and Blue Smart charger on a piece of ply in front but just can’t figure out how to go about securing it in place

in that pic, the wood panel was just wedged in place.

but if you needed to fix it permanently i would have used some small L-Brackets.

 

[Stay Frosty]

I folded an aluminium sheet around the front of my drivers seat base to give a bit more room under there and to carry the leisure battery isolator.

The ally sheet was a door kick plate from Screwfix, covered in self adhesive black vinyl from B&Q and fastened to the seat base with short Roundhead self tappers, inverter is a more manly 2kw now.