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

Battery Roamer 230SB install in van . . .

been busy so haven't had the chance to post . .


We had this 100ah Renogy in there . . . (200A isolator, 125A MIDI fuse and cable under floor to passenger seat base.)

plus the Victron BMV712 shunt


1647764337663.png

once removed we have this . .

1647764424108.png

.

sizing the Roamer up . . .

1647764484921.png


using the same ply wood and foam . .

1647764516810.png


it was sitting too high.

the battery fits super snugg between the front lower lips of the seat base.

the bottom middle was being pushed up by my 20mm copex for the seat base link cables.

i also noticed that the ground stud domed nut under the carpet was also stopping the front of the battery going any lower . . . as was the seat spacer block under the carpet.



1647764542159.png

after a bit of jiggling, i decided to go with the foam pads on the rear back and bottom (to offer some cushioning to vibration). . . and remove the ply wood supports.

but the same straps to hold the battery down. (wrapped round battery and upper seat base, front to back)
+++


next up was the Victron shunt, i had this screwed to the front wood plate before . . . now i didnt have room, but there was a nice space down the side of the battery . .


so i used a 4x4 adaptable box 9 i have these to hand in the van anyway) to house the shunt . . ( i also cut the shunt ends off so it fitted in the box better)

the battery uses M8 bolts, the shunt used M10 bolts.


1647764885321.png

also noting what side went to the battery and what side to the van chassis . .


1647764995933.png

next us was the fuse and isolator switch . . .

i tried the 50mm2 cable at first, but i didnt have luggs big enough to fit . .

so i dropped down to 25mm2. . .


1647765103577.png


i also went for a 200A fuse in the MEGA fuse style . . M8 bolts.


1647765150467.png

cable, fuse, fuse holder, heat shrink, crimper . . . . job done.


1647765176111.png

the long M8 bolts worked well holding down the main feed and the shunt temp/power lug.

i love these style of terminals . . they are great . . . especially with the integrated cover - awesome.
1647765336322.png

the fuse sits be the side . . . and the seat base bolt is used for the 25mm2 chassis ground ( paint scratch off with emery cloth for a good connection)
1647765427074.png


profile wise . . . we have this sticking above the base where the seat runners go . . . about 5-10mm.


1647765476300.png

id already cut the carpet to allow the 20mm copex to sit back and allows the main cable to come up without chafing on the battery case . .


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


1647765580812.png

id used split 20mm copex to protect the "thin wall" 25mm2 cable from any rubbing from vibration for a bit of saftey . .


1647765659605.png


we ended up with this . . .


1647765681346.png

1647765698751.png

a quick check with the seat ontop showed good clearance . . .

1647765739240.png

1647765777765.png


next up testing . . . . .








.
 
Last edited:
Battery Roamer 230SB install in van . . . TESTING & 50A DC-DC Charge



The current battery BMS was showing 54% (allowing headroom for the battery to pull full rate charge from the charger)

1647767327540.png

we have the Renogy DC50S 50A DC-DC charger . . . .

but had it set to 30A as we had seem some heat build up on the fuse block before when running at 50A . .

so to start with we were charging at 30A . . .


1647767414134.png1647767424709.png



we can see the 30A on the victron, the Renogy, the Roamer. - so all measurements corollate.



1647767518888.png1647767528863.png

keeping an eye on the thermals. . . . we see no issues . .


1647767465284.png
1647767631269.png


after re-doing the conection to the MIDI fuse block that showed heat build up last time . . .

it was time to turn up the charger . . . . 50A this time.
setting the Renogy to 50A / Lithium.

1647767715341.png

we get 50A charge out . .


1647767736555.png

50A charge in . . .


1647767755315.png



then let it run for 30mins at max power to see how it went . . .



the fuse block warmed a bit . . . but below 30C so all good . .


1647767841700.png


the charger reached about 35c which was fairly cool for 50A . . .

1647767875050.png1647767897044.png

the battery, MEGA fuse, and isolator stayed cool as a cuecumber . . . . at ambient.

with a slight warming on the main cables as is expected.


1647767954852.png


1647768027844.png


so all good . . .



1647768001853.png
.


now time to fully charge the battery . . .

let the victron shunt sync to 100% itself.

them move all my IGN switched circuits over to the leisure battery ( Dash cam & Wifi adapter + USB charger blocks)

at that point ill meter out the load the van draws when parked . . .




1647768184310.png



currently we are showing . . ( with just wifi and usb powered from LB , but all sleeping )

200mA ( 0.2A ) draw by the Victron shunt.

1647768535608.png

which is below the 500mA ( 0.5A) that the 230sb BMS can detect . . so its showing 0.0A atm.


1647768560823.png




all in all very happy with all the above,


and dont forget . .


this Roamer 230SB 230ah battery is effectively 5x 100Ah AGM batterys when taking into account the 50% dod.




.

more testing to follow . . . .

1647767392569.png


.








.
 
Last edited:
Battery Roamer 230SB install in van . . . Charging Parameters



were using the Renogy DC50s DC-DC charger in the van . . on the same settings as the Renogy 100ah Lithium battery that was just swapped out.

but started noticing the battery BMS flagging a " charge off " notice . . .

the incoming charge was being blocked by the batterys BMS .


1647889280253.png

looking into it . . . . .


and checking the details tab we can see the COV "Cell Over Voltage" feature in action.

1647889427375.png

showing one of the cells was at high voltage . . . the battery BMS was cycling the incoming charge current to keep the cell voltage within limits. ( exactly what its supposed to do)

1647889467376.png



looking at the Renogy DC50S settings we can see the Leisure battery charge voltage is set to 14.40v

1647889571639.png

so i tweeked the setting and dropped the charge voltage down to 14.30v for a re test .


1647889610060.png


this settled things a bit . .


but the following day after the mornings top-up charge, the BMS was still cutting in and blocking the charge . . . . . "COV"


i popped over to Roamer batterys website to check the charge specs again . .


1647889715928.png

where it clearly shows 14.20v as the recomended charge voltage . . .


1647889762967.png


so i change the Renogys settings again . . . this time to 14.20v . . .


1647889825684.png

1647889854832.png


things started to settle down after that . . .

the BMS was showing 100% (235ah) and the battery was still taking <10A,

but the COV started to settle, and clear.

1647889897457.png

on the victron we can see the steady drop in current as the battery nears full capacity . .


1647889992498.png
...

later on the same drive we was down to under 5A charge draw by the battery . .


1647890047602.png



.


1647890071249.png

1647890083671.png




so all the above just goes to show the quality and outstanding features of the Roamer battery BMS.

as the spec-sheet shows - set your charge source to 14.2v


but . . .


if you cant change the setting, and its fixed like on the CTEK, NOCO and REDARC units as an example . . . . then feel happy that the Roamer battery will protect itself and deal with the matter.
NOTE that some DC_DC , MPPT chargers and mains chargers you can adjust the charge voltage . . . ie Victron, Renogy








...








1647890831686.png

1647890991770.png

KEY DETAILS​

  • Nominal capacity of 230Ah at 12.8V
  • Up to 250A continuous charge/discharge
  • 500A peak charge/discharge (10 seconds)
  • Connect up to 4 batteries in series or parallel
  • Compact and lightweight - just 20kg
  • Integrated Roamer BMS Bluetooth App
  • Low temp charge protection



DESCRIPTION

The 230SEATBASE2 is the original low profile LiFePO4 battery designed for installation under a campervan swivel seat. We’ve used the same compact cells and high power BMS as our flagship 460Ah, allowing us to us to fit a massive amount of capacity into a case that is actually smaller than the previous model. It can deliver a continuous charge/discharge rate of 250A, enough to power a two ring induction hob (or any other domestic appliance) via an inverter (max 3200W).

The upgraded BMS will passively balance all internal cells, and also support installation of up to 4 x 230SEATBASE batteries in series or parallel (one under each seat) with auto balancing for parallel connected batteries. It also provides a complete range of protections including low temperature charging.










TECH SPECIFICATION​

  • Nominal Capacity
    230Ah
  • Nominal Voltage
    12.8V
  • Max Charge Voltage
    14.6V
  • Recommended Charge Voltage
    14.2V
  • Recommended Float Voltage
    13.5V
  • Max Cont. Discharge
    250A
  • Peak Discharge (10s)
    500A
  • Dimensions
    330mm L x 280mm W x 180mm H
  • Weight
    21Kg

WARRANTY​

  • 10 year warranty from date of shipment
  • Covers manufacturing faults, cell and BMS failures (terms apply)


++



++
 
Last edited:
Del...very quietly and very slowly your threads are making a little guy's tiny dream edge ever closer. Thank you mate.The detail and the time and effort you put into these threads means even a siimple lad like me is slowly getting his head around ruddy BMVs' BMS's shunts inverters multiple methods of batt charging and fancy LIFEPO4 chemisty stuff that is all above my pay grade.Ha makes me giggle bro:D Jees I only have an old 20006 T5 and am now posting on a fancy T6 forum I got set on lithium so so long ago ,it's bonkers.

Anyway Del 2 questions first up are you still using the 200A isolator.......I'm going to need to source one soon and have me heart set on the roamer seatbase so need to be sure on spec.. I'll be using a victron pheonix 12 ve direct inverter so current draw shouldn't be huge....

Second and this is potentially a biggy...............I have two RIB seat swivles so I have to get that Roamer below the seat base......it's a must Del did you remove the earth stud? Can I find some MM's somewhere on the vertical orientation?

Mate I'll leave it there bar an observation.................................. us image makers deal with something called negative space I never realized just how much negative space came into play in a blummin camper build I seem to spend my life trying to scag a few more MM's:fast rofl:

take care and again monster thanks

stu
 
FYI, I removed the earth stud in the end. Just found I needed to, to enable a swivel base to be fitted.
 
I am on my second under-seat install and in my first build I used a 170Ah Renogy which I am pleased with:
1648485910572.jpeg
It was a tight fit and the battery sat pretty much flush with the top of the seat base and this limited my choice of swivel. I was a little forced to go down the CTA swivel base route which raised the seat quite a bit. I am ok with the extra seat height, but it is so "rocky"! Here is the problem base that I have, from CTA:
1648485612368.jpeg

So this time I thought "I'll buy a Roamer which is designed for the job" as I assumed this would provide much more room to accept a broader choice of swivel, but I now note that I am going to encounter the exact same issue and it looks like I shall need to use CTA swivel base again.

Does anyone have any better experience with swivels which don't need that damn big nut, which won't fit due to the height of the battery?
 
Del...very quietly and very slowly your threads are making a little guy's tiny dream edge ever closer. Thank you mate.The detail and the time and effort you put into these threads means even a siimple lad like me is slowly getting his head around ruddy BMVs' BMS's shunts inverters multiple methods of batt charging and fancy LIFEPO4 chemisty stuff that is all above my pay grade.Ha makes me giggle bro:D Jees I only have an old 20006 T5 and am now posting on a fancy T6 forum I got set on lithium so so long ago ,it's bonkers.

Anyway Del 2 questions first up are you still using the 200A isolator.......I'm going to need to source one soon and have me heart set on the roamer seatbase so need to be sure on spec.. I'll be using a victron pheonix 12 ve direct inverter so current draw shouldn't be huge....

Second and this is potentially a biggy...............I have two RIB seat swivles so I have to get that Roamer below the seat base......it's a must Del did you remove the earth stud? Can I find some MM's somewhere on the vertical orientation?

Mate I'll leave it there bar an observation.................................. us image makers deal with something called negative space I never realized just how much negative space came into play in a blummin camper build I seem to spend my life trying to scag a few more MM's:fast rofl:

take care and again monster thanks

stu
@Soundz - I'm glad your enjoying the ride..... And the threads.

I'm still using a 200A isolator switch ..... But the spec states thats continuous, the surge rate is 500A so I'm happy with that.

No I didn't remove the ground stud... It's still there, it sits about 25mm with the nut ontop. I have nothing connected to it, but may use it in future.

I used the seat base M10 bolt for the main ground.

There is no reason why you couldn't use a grinder to cut off the ground stud...... I did notice on mine that the seat base spacer block was also very close.

And don't forget I have the full carpet fitted, so it's very thick.


For max depth you could cut out the carpet or rubber flooring, that should give you an extra 20mm.



.
 
Last edited:
I'm glad your enjoying the ride..... And the threads.

I'm still using a 200A isolator switch ..... But the spec states thats continuous, the surge rate is 500A so I'm happy with that.

No I didn't remove the ground stud... It's still there, it sits about 25mm with the nut ontop. I have nothing connected to it, but may use it in future.

I used the seat base M10 bolt for the main ground.

There is no reason why you couldn't use a grinder to cut off the ground stud...... I did notice on mine that the seat base spacer block was also very close.

And don't forget I have the full carpet fitted, so it's very thick.


For max depth you could cut out the carpet or rubber flooring, that should give you an extra 20mm.



.
Ground off the earth stud. I also used a seat base bolt as the ground.

I trimmed the seat base spacer blocks slightly.

Also have full cab carpet and this along with the rubber matting I trimmed to get it lower.

I fitted a kiravans swivel base and it’s snug but fits and works fine with the Roamer.
 
230SB Gen2-v2.

(@RoamerBatteries )




"the next version of the Seatbase battery (due in May 2022) has a slightly tweaked design. We had some issues with the handles on last one so these have now moved to the side. We also found the new T6.1 seatbase is slightly narrower so we’ve shifted the BMS to the front. This has allowed us to reduce width to 280mm but length is now 330mm."



.

150555-dbde19749a710985c5bdffc40199be1f.jpg150556-76c5aa67ec7245cfd9e3deb7326e0af4.jpg




Nice....

:mexican wave:

.


.
 
Last edited:
@Linoleum Bonypart which swivle are you using? @Donk ....cheers for the reply.which side drivers or passenger is your battery fitted both? Does anyone by chance know if the T5 seat base is the same dimension as T6 on the vertical side? I ask which side as the drivers in the RIB swivle ( which I really don't want to change) may have extra clearence due to it being made to clear the handbrake when swiveling, well I'm almost certain it does I've had the seats out out so so many times. That said I really want the battery under the passenger side if possible

@Samro ( nice build by the way noted same inverter as what we have in a box if memory serves) that's slightly disconcerting as the Renorgy is 15mm less on the width

@Dellmassive yes loving the ride cheers muchly again someone from the T5 forum linked me to what you were doing, I was always going there but was struggling. I've no full cab matt and have sound deadened and insulated the floor, insulation to edges of seat base so they sit on insulation but not under seats,that will save a few mm. I'm not too worried about grinding off the earth stud as frankly there are so many dotted about my floor.............I strongly suspect I'll make a mock up of the battery (out of wood) now I have the new dimensions from Steve so I can offer everything up.

@Dellmassive seeing that max discharge rate of 500A even if only for 10 seconds was why I asked on the isolator size. I can't see me ever stretching the battery Amps wise only having a 1200 watt inverter plus the 200A mega fuse should protect everything anyway?

I noted your are only using 25mm2 cable ha i've already gone a bit overkill, chose 40mm2 whcih is sort of an unusual size I was recommended 35, for my original plan before I knew about roamer IE a 100AH under each seat so stepped up slightly as I sort of thiink of leccy being like water flowing through pipes and didn't want to constrict anything. Mind my mind set is a bit that way " belt an braces"

Thanks for the help all much appreciated:)

stu


edited to add the @
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Linoleum bonepart which swivle are you using? Donk.....cheers for the reply.which side drivers or passenger is your battery fitted both? Does anyone by chance know if the T5 seat base is the same dimension as T6 on the vertical side? I ask which side as the drivers in the RIB swivle ( which I really don't want to change) may have extra clearence due to it being made to clear the handbrake when swiveling, well I'm almost certain it does I've had the seats out out so so many times. That said I really want the battery under the passenger side if possible

Samro ( nice build by the way noted same inverter as what we have in a box if memory serves) that's slightly disconcerting as the Renorgy is 15mm less on the width

Del yes loving the ride cheers muchly again someone from the T5 forum linked me to what you were doing, I was always going there but was struggling. I've no full cab matt and have sound deadened and insulated the floor, insulation to edges of seat base so they sit on insulation but not under seats,that will save a few mm. I'm not too worried about grinding off the earth stud as frankly there are so many dotted about my floor.............I strongly suspect I'll make a mock up of the battery (out of wood) now I have the new dimensions from Steve so I can offer everything up.

Del seeing that max discharge rate of 500A even if only for 10 seconds was why I asked on the isolator size. I can't see me ever stretching the battery Amps wise only having a 1200 watt inverter plus the 200A mega fuse should protect everything anyway?

I noted your are only using 25mm2 cable ha i've already gone a bit overkill, chose 40mm2 whcih is sort of an unusual size I was recommended 35, for my original plan before I knew about roamer IE a 100AH under each seat so stepped up slightly as I sort of thiink of leccy being like water flowing through pipes and didn't want to constrict anything. Mind my mind set is a bit that way " belt an braces"

Thanks for the help all much appreciated:)

stu
@Soundz add the @ symbol before the names to auto tag them in ie do @Dellmassive
 
@Dellmassive Gotcha Del.......TBF ....I thought the like button would send an alert and having posted on the thread folk would be notified of replies, but not all fora work the same Funny I've just done exactly just that with Steve ( Roamer) trying to pin down exacts of SB battery size


cheers for the heads up;) i'm not great with PC's
 
The van has been layed up for three weeks...

The LB has been running a BM2 battery monitor, an AMT12-2 starter battery trickle charger and a Victron Cerbo GX monitor.

The main draw is 400mA continuous..

It's interesting to see the drift from the Battery BMS data and the Victron shunt.

The battery BMS shows 92%.

But the Victron shunt shows, 46%

This is because the battery BMS has difficulty logging loads under 500mA

..so the true reading is 46%

This is just an example of why people ask me why I have the Victron shunt as well as the battery internal BMS.


This is not a fault or an issue, most BMS are the same, some are better than others.

The Roamer is actually very good in reading low current loads.... Much better than say the Poweroad that has problems reading under 1A (1000mA)...... This can lead to a drifting SOC reading.

The fix though Is easy. . . .

Just charge the battery to 100% this will reset the BMS back to 100% SoC and start the cycle again.

Happy days.

...
Screenshot_20220523-091659_Roamer BMS.jpgScreenshot_20220523-091906.jpg
 
just the update on the above . . . .

( the van being left for 3 weeks with a low sub 500mA load switched on - which caused a SoC drift from the battery BMS and Shunt data)

The BMS drift showed 46% and 92%.

( FYI - this can happen on all large lithium batterys with very low loads)

after a couple of days charging via the Renogy DC50s the Roamer is again fully charged.

++

both BMS and shunt are now showing 100% and we are back to normal operation.

this is only a temporary effect and you can see it took 3weeks to drift, and two days to correct its self.

this wont be an issue over long weekends or or even weeks if the van is driven causing a dc-dc charger to recharge & reset anyway.

you will only notice this on extended stays with a very low consumption - ie van parked up alone in storage, with no charge source.



1653626785491.png1653626800525.png1653626810677.png


+++


I've had a few people asking me what im using for the stand alone shunt ( That i run alongside the lithium batterys):


im using the Victron Smart shunt:

this is Bluetooth so connects to the victron app on your phone.







1653626989310.png





+++


for the battery, check out ROAMER:









1653627165011.png1653627193048.png1653627177502.png1653627205918.png
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: mmi
@Dellmassive .......Dell, pane 73 you show a pic of a fuse block in the "flir" temperature check piccies...........which one is it and where in the SB is it located please..........

Cheers for the above info yup have smart shunt to run alongside the roamer BMS.....been re reading the thread whilst trying to get me head around where to fit everything under two single T5 SB's and musing ....I noticed cell 4 is again at a higher voltage in the latest installment ....as it was when you saw the COV readings due to the renorgy beiing set a gnats high at 14.4.V.which you then changed to roamer's spec of 14.2. and all became well......

Mate is that normal so see a slight difference in the cells and one in particular is often higher. and nowt to worry on...................and what is the significance of the cells being illustrated in red or green in the roamer app?

many thanks

stu
 
Back
Top