Seat Base Electric + EHU + Solar Install + Charger + DC-DC -- How We Done it --

[Gosport_Jules]

I learnt a lot from this thread so wanted to share my Xmas progress for others to get ideas on their journey.

So I decided on to do my own electrics, and needed to get the basics in before our roof comes off in January.

We elected to have a seat base battery under the passenger seat and route 50mm cables to the drivers seat for the "gubbins" including a 1000w inverter. Leaving (I hope) enough space for the diesel heater ducting (also being installed in January). This is in a T6 2019 highline.

After removal of existing small leisure setup:


Fogstar seat base Battery under passenger seat with Renogy battery monitor / shunt. Battery lifted slightly at the rear to make more room for cables beneath and relive pressure. 50mm pos cable routed through 225amp mega fuse, then 300amp isolator, before travelling down right of battery, and under the tunnel to the drivers seat base, along with 50mm neg cable from the shunt.


Bracket / mounting for the mega fuse and isolator designed and 3d printed by myself to give access to both from front of seat base. Needs a slight tweak or 2 for MK2 but fully functional.


Once over in the drivers seat base, main 50mm pos enters a mega/midi fused dist. board which feeds inverter, and a small 4 way fuse box for the fridge, diesel heater and anything else that ends up close to drivers seat. The 50mm neg hits a large busbar which is also chassis grounded at the seat base bolt. The Renogy 50a dc-dc is mounted on the right of the base and feeds to the battery via a 60amp on the dist board. There are 2x mini isolators on the front for solar and 12v from vehicle battery. (Fused under bonnet)

Again front accessible fuses board and isolator 3d printed, which I am quite pleased with apart from the back of the mini isolators are too exposed for my liking being positive connections.

Hopefully diesel heater ducting will fit where the packing foam is currently, and there is a spare connection on the dist. Board which will be used to install a fusebox in the rear for any camper related pugs, sockets, pumps etc etc.

Hope this gives somebody some ideas and makes them confident enough to give it a go.

Jules.

 

[Dellmassive]

new Roamer Gen4

in the @Dellmassive BUS

Roamer LiFePO4 Gen4 230Ah Seatbase battery -- "How I Done It" --

Roamer LiFePO4 Gen4 230Ah Seatbase battery -- "How I Done It" -- ++++++ Well, weve known about this New battery for a while now. but had to keep it under wraps, but its finally here, :) and its a game charger !! Brand New Improved BMS Hardware, with BT & New APP (new APP out soon) Active 2A...

www.t6forum.com

.

breakdown:

Roamer gen4 230Ah
Victron orion xs - 50A dc-dc charger
Victron GX Cerbo - with 4G WIFI stick for internet
Ablemail AMT12-2 starter trickle charger,
MIDI fuse block with twin 50A Anderson fly leads for connection power stations or MPPTS when camping
mini ATC fuse block for sub 12v circuits

other seatbase - EHU CU

.

 

[Velosaurus]

Hi, I would be very grateful for advice please on which DC-DC charger to get? Long time lurker here and have been reading ALL-THE-THREADS for background. There is brilliant info there and thanks for everyone, especially Dellmassive, taking the time to explain everything.

My AGM leisure battery in my 2013 1968cc Diesel T5 has died, I think. So thinking of replacing it. Current set up is an 8 year old Travelvolts SCR with the addition of a 175w Solar panel on pop top & small Victron MPPT. Van is currently used for weekends/weeks away. Mix of site and "wild" camping. Dometic fridge & 12v only. May add a portable solar panel and 1kw Invertor in future but undecided.

I am thinking of replacing the AGM battery with a Fogstar 105AH LiPro4 battery. I will need a B2B charger and am looking at the Renogy DC-DC/MPPT units as they are well reviewed, but undecided on which one to get. I would like some better reporting on whats going on other than the tiny voltmeter I am using now so bluetooth would be good. Appreciate this will need a lot of new wiring & current plan is for the new battery & charger to fit under passenger seat where the travelvolts kit is. Van has a dumb alternator which I think is 140amps?

The options I'm looking at are:

1. DCC50S 12V 50A DC-DC On-Board Battery Charger with MPPT(New Version) with free Bluetooth dongle £209 This one 244 x 146 x 96cm Have read up on the 50/50 Car battery / Solar split logic

2. Renogy 50A 12V DC to DC In Vehicle Battery Charger W/ MPPT Solar Lithium AGM GEL (New Version) with Bluetooth dongle; £195.49.This one: Think this is the older version of 1 above, being cleared on ebay, as only allows 25v Solar Voltage Max so wont work if I add a portable solar panel in series?

3. RENOGY IP67 50A DC-DC Battery Charger with MPPT. £259 This one 178.2 x 121.5 x 37.5mm. Has built in bluetooth. Will charge at 50 AMPs but reading threads it gets hot at above 30amps?

Really undecided which one would work best. Any others I should look at please? Thanks!

 

[Dellmassive]

Hi, I would be very grateful for advice please on which DC-DC charger to get? Long time lurker here and have been reading ALL-THE-THREADS for background. There is brilliant info there and thanks for everyone, especially Dellmassive, taking the time to explain everything.

My AGM leisure battery in my 2013 1968cc Diesel T5 has died, I think. So thinking of replacing it. Current set up is an 8 year old Travelvolts SCR with the addition of a 175w Solar panel on pop top & small Victron MPPT. Van is currently used for weekends/weeks away. Mix of site and "wild" camping. Dometic fridge & 12v only. May add a portable solar panel and 1kw Invertor in future but undecided.

I am thinking of replacing the AGM battery with a Fogstar 105AH LiPro4 battery. I will need a B2B charger and am looking at the Renogy DC-DC/MPPT units as they are well reviewed, but undecided on which one to get. I would like some better reporting on whats going on other than the tiny voltmeter I am using now so bluetooth would be good. Appreciate this will need a lot of new wiring & current plan is for the new battery & charger to fit under passenger seat where the travelvolts kit is. Van has a dumb alternator which I think is 140amps?

The options I'm looking at are:

1. DCC50S 12V 50A DC-DC On-Board Battery Charger with MPPT(New Version) with free Bluetooth dongle £209 This one 244 x 146 x 96cm Have read up on the 50/50 Car battery / Solar split logic

2. Renogy 50A 12V DC to DC In Vehicle Battery Charger W/ MPPT Solar Lithium AGM GEL (New Version) with Bluetooth dongle; £195.49.This one: Think this is the older version of 1 above, being cleared on ebay, as only allows 25v Solar Voltage Max so wont work if I add a portable solar panel in series?

3. RENOGY IP67 50A DC-DC Battery Charger with MPPT. £259 This one 178.2 x 121.5 x 37.5mm. Has built in bluetooth. Will charge at 50 AMPs but reading threads it gets hot at above 30amps?

Really undecided which one would work best. Any others I should look at please? Thanks!

Well the foxgstat 105 is a great battery so you're sorted there.

As you say you need to remove that split charge relay.

Any of those charges will work well so it's personal preference.

But I would say go for the Victron unit because you already have a victron mppt and that way they will all work together with the victron connect app you will be able to see your solar and your charger all in one app.

The fogstar also has its own app but if you wanted to be fully bells and whistles down the vicron route you could also add in a victron smart shunt.. that will then show you battery data on the vitron app as well.

.

 

[Gosport_Jules]

Hi, I would be very grateful for advice please on which DC-DC charger to get? Long time lurker here and have been reading ALL-THE-THREADS for background. There is brilliant info there and thanks for everyone, especially Dellmassive, taking the time to explain everything.

My AGM leisure battery in my 2013 1968cc Diesel T5 has died, I think. So thinking of replacing it. Current set up is an 8 year old Travelvolts SCR with the addition of a 175w Solar panel on pop top & small Victron MPPT. Van is currently used for weekends/weeks away. Mix of site and "wild" camping. Dometic fridge & 12v only. May add a portable solar panel and 1kw Invertor in future but undecided.

I am thinking of replacing the AGM battery with a Fogstar 105AH LiPro4 battery. I will need a B2B charger and am looking at the Renogy DC-DC/MPPT units as they are well reviewed, but undecided on which one to get. I would like some better reporting on whats going on other than the tiny voltmeter I am using now so bluetooth would be good. Appreciate this will need a lot of new wiring & current plan is for the new battery & charger to fit under passenger seat where the travelvolts kit is. Van has a dumb alternator which I think is 140amps?

The options I'm looking at are:

1. DCC50S 12V 50A DC-DC On-Board Battery Charger with MPPT(New Version) with free Bluetooth dongle £209 This one 244 x 146 x 96cm Have read up on the 50/50 Car battery / Solar split logic

2. Renogy 50A 12V DC to DC In Vehicle Battery Charger W/ MPPT Solar Lithium AGM GEL (New Version) with Bluetooth dongle; £195.49.This one: Think this is the older version of 1 above, being cleared on ebay, as only allows 25v Solar Voltage Max so wont work if I add a portable solar panel in series?

3. RENOGY IP67 50A DC-DC Battery Charger with MPPT. £259 This one 178.2 x 121.5 x 37.5mm. Has built in bluetooth. Will charge at 50 AMPs but reading threads it gets hot at above 30amps?

Really undecided which one would work best. Any others I should look at please? Thanks!

I highly recommend option 3, I have that one installed as above and haven't had any problems so far with heat @ 50 amps.
However the big plus for me is that it back charges the starter battery from solar if the leisure battery is full. It's a real simple and easy way to keep both batteries healthy.
The Bluetooth app is adequate if you just want to see what's happening once in a while and check charging current It's also great for fine tuning the settings, limiting the charge current etc.
Real nice elegant solution in a small package.

 

[Velosaurus]

@Dellmassive thanks will head off down the Blue rabbit hole to research. Any particular DC-DC recommendations? Had previously not looked at Victron due to cost. My MPPT is currently a BlueSolar MPPT 75/15 so no Bluetooth from that although I could get the £35 smart dongle, and I understand max output is 15A which makes it unsuitable for adding a 100-150W folding panel to my existing 175W roof mounted flexi?

@Gosport_Jules Brilliant, thanks, good to know about the 50A heat on the IP67. Where have you installed yours please? Backcharging the starter battery is also a plus with the Renogys as would intend to just use my current Victron12/7 charger for shoreline 12v & Fogstar top up.

Cheers Andy

 

[Gosport_Jules]

@Gosport_Jules Brilliant, thanks, good to know about the 50A heat on the IP67. Where have you installed yours please? Backcharging the starter battery is also a plus with the Renogys as would intend to just use my current Victron12/7 charger for shoreline 12v & Fogstar top up.

Cheers Andy

_SNIP_


Once over in the drivers seat base, main 50mm pos enters a mega/midi fused dist. board which feeds inverter, and a small 4 way fuse box for the fridge, diesel heater and anything else that ends up close to drivers seat. The 50mm neg hits a large busbar which is also chassis grounded at the seat base bolt. The Renogy 50a dc-dc is mounted on the right of the base and feeds to the battery via a 60amp on the dist board. There are 2x mini isolators on the front for solar and 12v from vehicle battery. (Fused under bonnet)
View attachment 269699

As Above, under drivers seat with inverter - as you can see plenty of air around it and bolted to the seatbase through existing holes (2 only). Diesel heater duct is now where the white packing foam is and I haven't had any issues. I have 300watt solar on the roof and I have been getting between 6watt and 90watt over the last few weeks in all this miserable weather. (90watt was the rare low sunshine we had this week).

Hope this helps.

 

[Velosaurus]

As Above, under drivers seat with inverter - as you can see plenty of air around it and bolted to the seatbase through existing holes (2 only). Diesel heater duct is now where the white packing foam is and I haven't had any issues. I have 300watt solar on the roof and I have been getting between 6watt and 90watt over the last few weeks in all this miserable weather. (90watt was the rare low sunshine we had this week).

Hope this helps.

Yes of course thats your post above with the Fogstar seat base Battery. Apologies, I was looking at that a few days ago. Seen so many seat base pictures and wiring diagrams my head is spinning

 

[Gosport_Jules]

I totally know the feeling!

 

[Velosaurus]

I totally know the feeling!

Ha ha, well all of them are an improvement on my current set up. I really like your set up with the easy access to isolator switches and supply fuses. Your thoughts are very similar to mine, with driver base for future inverter and heater pipe, except budget constraints mean I cant stretch to the cost of the bigger battery, but that does leave room for the IP67 under passenger seat. Applying c/3 on my proposed Fogstar Drift 105ah I would only need to run this at 40a max. The back charge to starter battery is a big plus. Considering the victron alternatives as well.

 

[roadtripper]

Nice install @Gosport_Jules but having the two high current cables cable tied tightly to each other before your isolator and fuses is something you might want to think about.



In the unlikely event something does short there is a good chance the insulation may soften enough to cause a direct short there before any fuse goes, especially if it's a tight cable tie. If that happens you are in the lap of the gods, hopefully the BMS can do something otherwise I wouldn't want to be sitting over the battery.

I'd also either move or fuse the smaller sense lead from the positive terminal as it's also cable tied to the negative before any visible fusing?

 

[roadtripper]

It's not just the immediate heat to consider at 50A charging. Charger electronics will last longer when run cooler, and any LiFePo battery will stay healthy longer at lower charge rates.

If the charge rate is easy to alter in the app I'd always look to charge at about 30A as everything runs cooler and happier on the daily drive, you can still bump it up to 50A for the times you are out and using the system heavily and absolutely have to get max charge from your engine hours.

 

[Gosport_Jules]

Good feedback.

The tie between the big ones is not tight at all, you can easily slide the cables around. It's just makes it a bit neater.

The small sense cable is indeed fairly tightly tied to the large negative.

I admit I didn't think about that much. I will get something in-between the two large ones to prevent any chances, and cut the other tie from the sense cable and large negative.and re evaluate. Good catch.

 

[Gosport_Jules]

Ref the charge current. You can also do a halfway house and select 40amp max in the app.

 

[Velosaurus]

It's not just the immediate heat to consider at 50A charging. Charger electronics will last longer when run cooler, and any LiFePo battery will stay healthy longer at lower charge rates.

If the charge rate is easy to alter in the app I'd always look to charge at about 30A as everything runs cooler and happier on the daily drive, you can still bump it up to 50A for the times you are out and using the system heavily and absolutely have to get max charge from your engine hours.

Thanks thats good advice. Have looked at Victron/Renogy 30A chargers and non have the convenience of of the IP67 Small size / Bluetooth / Car battery charging hence why its attractive.

Well the foxgstat 105 is a great battery so you're sorted there.

As you say you need to remove that split charge relay.

Any of those charges will work well so it's personal preference.

But I would say go for the Victron unit because you already have a victron mppt and that way they will all work together with the victron connect app you will be able to see your solar and your charger all in one app.

The fogstar also has its own app but if you wanted to be fully bells and whistles down the vicron route you could also add in a victron smart shunt.. that will then show you battery data on the vitron app as well.

.

Thanks again. My BlueSolar 75/15 if want to add a 100w folding solar panel in addition to my 150 roof panel would work if I run them in series (8A 30v approx?) but would need the bluetooth dongle. Otherwise then I would need to consider the 100/20 Smart solar MPPT for £70

So the Victron DC-DC options would appear to be either TR Smart DC-DC 30A for £170 or XS Smart DC-DC 50a for £270. So £240 or £340 with MPPT. Optional SmartShunt Battery Monitor for £80 if want convenience of everything in same app

XS Smart obviously much smaller and runs much cooler. Still like the Renogy IP67 form factor and back charging. Proven Victron tech & reliability v Renogy cost and convenience.

Compared to 8 years ago this tech is amazing really. Also amazing how prices have come down (Unlike my Webasto Top loading 41 litre fridge which was £550 back then and is over £1k now )

 

[TallPaul_S]

Thanks thats good advice. Have looked at Victron/Renogy 30A chargers and non have the convenience of of the IP67 Small size / Bluetooth / Car battery charging hence why its attractive.

Thanks again. My BlueSolar 75/15 if want to add a 100w folding solar panel in addition to my 150 roof panel would work if I run them in series (8A 30v approx?) but would need the bluetooth dongle. Otherwise then I would need to consider the 100/20 Smart solar MPPT for £70

So the Victron DC-DC options would appear to be either TR Smart DC-DC 30A for £170 or XS Smart DC-DC 50a for £270. So £240 or £340. Optional SmartShunt Battery Monitor for £80 if want convenience of everything in same app

XS Smart obviously much smaller and runs much cooler. Still like the Renogy IP67 form factor and back charging. Proven Victron tech & reliability v Renogy cost and convenience.

Compared to 8 years ago this tech is amazing really.

On the MPPT front, 75v is the crucial figure to remember. That's the max voltage all your panels can have. If you have them in series then the voltages are added together.

The 15a limit is only the limit of what the MPPT can output. You can over panel and have several hundred watts of panels connected to it. You'll only ever see 15a max from them but in anything less than ideal conditions you'll benefit from the larger array and get more solar more of the time, with the array and MPPT hitting the 15a max only on the most sunniest of summer days! That equates to about 200w.

I'm running a 305w panel on a MPPT 100/20 and will only ever see 270w or so.

I don't know if the renogy will back charge without solar attached - however you could re connect your current solar to the renogy then use your MPPT 75/15 as a second controller for your folding panel...

Victron stuff is definitely more customisable and has a lot more features than renogy kit.

 

[Gosport_Jules]

I don't know if the renogy will back charge without solar attached - however you could re connect your current solar to the renogy then use your MPPT 75/15 as a second controller for your folding panel...

I can confirm that the renogy will only back charge when..

1. Solar is producing
2. Leisure battery is full

When solar is weak but present sometimes it will trickle charge with a mix of solar and leisure juice for a minimum amount somewhere around 5 watts or half an amp. I have witnessed it do this on occasion.

 

[TallPaul_S]

I can confirm that the renogy will only back charge when..

1. Solar is producing
2. Leisure battery is full

When solar is weak but present sometimes it will trickle charge with a mix of solar and leisure juice for a minimum amount somewhere around 5 watts or half an amp. I have witnessed it do this on occasion.

Is that an 'and' or an 'or' statement?

 

[Gosport_Jules]

That would be AND.

Full leisure AND solar available

 

[Gosport_Jules]

Essentially it tries not to deplete the leisure at all. Just utilising free unused solar to back charge. Which is great, but not quite as good as having an ablemail trickle charger, as presumably if you were on site for a week and using your leisure battery, preventing it from being full, your starter would still get no help from the system. You could still end up with a flat starter without additional measures.