Bluesea 7622 ML-ACR and 2022 Sprinter

depark

2022 2500 4x4 LR
Good Day Everyone,
I am planning out my electrical system for a Canadian 2022 build. Here's the outline. It is a 2022 Sprinter 2500 4x4 144. The van will be modified by a mobility dealer so I can drive from my wheelchair. It will be ordered with the E2I - Additional Battery for Retrofit Consumers, Co-Driver Seat Base. All the mobility equipment will be connected to this battery and nothing else can use it.

I will be adding 2x 6v Li-ion 220ah batteries to power my aux lights, radio's (Ham and Commercial) and anything else I need to add. My question is can the 7622 be used with the electrical charging system? I thought I read somewhere that the smart charging features of the Sprinter caused issues. Can someone please confirm if this will work?

I have this setup on my current van and works great however it's a 2006 Ford E250. I like the 7622 because it can be switch automatically or manually combining batteries.
Any insight would be great.
Thanks in advance.
Darryl
 

marklg

Well-known member
Good Day Everyone,
I am planning out my electrical system for a Canadian 2022 build. Here's the outline. It is a 2022 Sprinter 2500 4x4 144. The van will be modified by a mobility dealer so I can drive from my wheelchair. It will be ordered with the E2I - Additional Battery for Retrofit Consumers, Co-Driver Seat Base. All the mobility equipment will be connected to this battery and nothing else can use it.

I will be adding 2x 6v Li-ion 220ah batteries to power my aux lights, radio's (Ham and Commercial) and anything else I need to add. My question is can the 7622 be used with the electrical charging system? I thought I read somewhere that the smart charging features of the Sprinter caused issues. Can someone please confirm if this will work?

I have this setup on my current van and works great however it's a 2006 Ford E250. I like the 7622 because it can be switch automatically or manually combining batteries.
Any insight would be great.
Thanks in advance.
Darryl
It really is not good to connect Lithium (Aux batteries) and Starter batteries (Lead Acid) with just a relay. They need completely different charging algorithms. A DC to DC converter set up to charge Lithium would be much better and result in a full charge with the Lithium batteries. What are the 6V Lithiums? That is pretty unusual. They usually are 12V with 4 cells, but Lithiums stay up in the 13.0 - 13.6 V range for much longer than lead acid.

Since you have a radios, check out my installation on my website:


Other linked sites have more info on things I did and my electrical system.

Lithium batteries of the LiFePO4 variety are just about perfect for running radios, with the higher voltage over the range of discharge, my KX3 for example can put out full power most of the time. IMD will be lower too.

Regards,

Mark
 

SSTraveler

2014 LTV Unity Murphy Bed
The Blue Sea ML-ACR 7622 is only recommended for batteries using the same chemistry. Since your house batteries are Lithium and Engine starter battery is AGM Lead Acid the 7622 isn't recommended. Mercedes doesn't recommend more than 40a alternator charging to the house/auxiliary batteries and as such a DC-DC charger is recommended to limit the alternator charging to less than 40a. There currently aren't any single DC-DC chargers that also maintain the engine starter battery unless you go with a DC-DC charger that includes an MPPT solar controller. Renogy DCC30S is a 30a DC-DC charger and if you add a solar panel to its MPPT solar controller it charges the Ho7se batteries and trickle charges the engine battery. It is designed for mixed chemistry battery systems. Another good product is the Amp-L-Start Lithium, it is also for mixed battery chemistry systems and it stops charging the engine battery as soon as its voltage goes above 13.8v and doesn't resume charging until the engine battery drops below 12.6v. I like this because you know the engine battery isn't being over charged. If you only have less than 200ah of Lithium batteries then you may not need to install a DC-DC charger, but add the Amp-L-Start Lithium, http://www.lslproducts.net/ALS_Overview_Page.html, and your engine battery will be maintained nicely as well.
 

OrioN

2008 2500 170" EXT
Let me be the first to offer you an informed and experienced response.....

I have been using a Blue Sea ML-ACR 7622 with my 400aH LiFepO4 bank for over 6 years. No issues. In fact, the 'dumb' alternator's output voltage of 13.6-14.1V is better suited or ideal for LiFePO4 than lead acid.

I too use the manual switch to micromanage the charge current. When the Li's are full, I open the circuit. Alternately, you can use a battery monitor that has a High Voltage Cutoff ability to control the relay too.

The only caveat is, the resting voltage of fully charged Li's is above the relay's sensing voltage, and with it having bi-directional charging capabilities it will close the circuit and the chassis battery will get a float charge (not a bad thing). Plus, and as a bonus, if the chassis battery dies, you can jump the motor from the house bank.

Also, the newer MB model now allow for/specify 60 or 70A charging/loads.......................
 
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SSTraveler

2014 LTV Unity Murphy Bed
I've been using my Blue Sea ML-ACR for many years as well but I'm not interested in taking risks when it comes to my Sprinter alternator, 630ah Lithionics Lithium batteries, or Sprinter AGM battery. So when I switched to Lithionics Lithium I added a 30a DC-DC charger and a Trik-L-Start with my Blue Sea ML-ACR. I now keep the Blue Sea off and plan to only use it in emergencies to combine my battery banks in case I need to start my engine from the Lithium house batteries. I'll open the Sterling DC-DC circuit breakers when I use the Blue Sea. I have been exceedingly disappointed with the Sterling 30a DC-DC charger so I'm going to replace it with a Kisae 50a DC-DC Charger. There are several options for simultaneous house and engine battery charging, the key is selecting one that you are most comfortable with.
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marklg

Well-known member
I've been using my Blue Sea ML-ACR for many years as well but I'm not interested in taking risks when it comes to my Sprinter alternator, 630ah Lithionics Lithium batteries, or Sprinter AGM battery. So when I switched to Lithionics Lithium I added a 30a DC-DC charger and a Trik-L-Start with my Blue Sea ML-ACR. I now keep the Blue Sea off and plan to only use it in emergencies to combine my battery banks in case I need to start my engine from the Lithium house batteries. I'll open the Sterling DC-DC circuit breakers when I use the Blue Sea. I have been exceedingly disappointed with the Sterling 30a DC-DC charger so I'm going to replace it with a Kisae 50a DC-DC Charger. There are several options for simultaneous house and engine battery charging, the key is selecting one that you are most comfortable with.
View attachment 195751View attachment 195752
What don't you like about the Sterling? Besides needing more cooling, which I took care of, my 60A has been working fine. Sterling said combining the battery banks for a short time won't hurt their product. I have a switch and turn it off just after the engine starts.

Regards,

Mark
 

SSTraveler

2014 LTV Unity Murphy Bed
I don't like the fact that the Sterling overheats a lot and stops charging. The fan is very loud and with it being in my passenger seat base it adds every more noise to the already hard to hear cab area. When it is working I only see about 22a, very in efficient! Friends who installed the Kisae DMT1250 report that it runs cooler, fans are quieter, and puts out 48a. I like that better for charging my 630ah battery bank.
 

marklg

Well-known member
I don't like the fact that the Sterling overheats a lot and stops charging. The fan is very loud and with it being in my passenger seat base it adds every more noise to the already hard to hear cab area. When it is working I only see about 22a, very in efficient! Friends who installed the Kisae DMT1250 report that it runs cooler, fans are quieter, and puts out 48a. I like that better for charging my 630ah battery bank.
They all need more cooling. If it is inside the passenger seat base, the fans don't get fresh air. Try the Kisae there if you can before buying it. It may have the same problem in that location. My Sterling 60A does indeed put out about 47 A max. The 60 A is the input current. In free air it will overheat and cut back to 30A, but do that all day. The 30A unit is in the same case, so I would expect it to be able to run at 30 A input continuously.

If you don't like the Sterling fan sound (they used high speed small fans, pretty noisy) then you really would not like the 3" bilge blower I added to get adequate cooling.

Regards,

Mark
 

depark

2022 2500 4x4 LR
This is all great information! Just what I was looking for.

@marklg Sorry about the 6v batteries, I realize now that they were AGM's. I just read that LiFePO4 batteries DO NOT like cold temperatures. Seeing as this van will be outside in the great white north and will see -10 to -30 degree temps maybe I should steer clear from LiFePO4's. Has anyone used these in winter?

Cheers
Darryl
 

SSTraveler

2014 LTV Unity Murphy Bed
I have 2 Lithionics GTX12v315A batteries (630ah) that have built-in internal Bluetooth Battery monitoring, temperature sensors, and an automatic heater that maintains the battery above 35°F. Each battery heater uses 1a per hour (1 amp flowing at steady state for one hour or one amp for one hour or 1ah ) for the periods when the battery temperature is below 35°F. Since I have 400w of solar that deliver more than enough power to make up any battery use by the heaters, I have no problems maintaining my batteries in low temperatures. I use my batteries to power a 3000w inverter so I can run my air conditioner. I get nearly 8 hours run time using my batteries to run the air conditioner. If you need to run high amperage appliances like Microwaves, Air Conditioners, water heaters, then Lithium batteries are the only way to go.
 
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marklg

Well-known member
This is all great information! Just what I was looking for.

@marklg Sorry about the 6v batteries, I realize now that they were AGM's. I just read that LiFePO4 batteries DO NOT like cold temperatures. Seeing as this van will be outside in the great white north and will see -10 to -30 degree temps maybe I should steer clear from LiFePO4's. Has anyone used these in winter?

Cheers
Darryl
I have 2 Lithionics GTX12v315A batteries that have built-in internal Bluetooth Battery monitoring, temperature sensors, and an automatic heater that maintain the battery above 35°F and it uses 1a per hour from my solar to do that. So I have no problems maintaining my batteries in low temperatures. I use my batteries to power a 3000w inverter so I can run my air conditioner. I get nearly 8 hours run time using my batteries to run the air conditioner. If you need to run high amperage appliances like Microwaves, Air Conditioners, water heaters then Lithium batteries are the only way to go.
What SSTraveler said. There are many brands of LiFePO4s (most common Lithium for these applications) now with internal monitoring including temperature and internal automatic heaters. I don't know all that are on the market these days, but look for ones with all those features and they should be fine in the cold.

Just a little correction, 1 Amp per hour is not a thing. An Amp hour is a measure of charge. A battery will be rated at so many Amp hours at a reasonable discharge rate. I expect that SSTraveler meant that the heaters use one Amp hour in an hours time, or an average of a one Amp load, so in 24 hours, they would use 24 Amp hours, about 25% of a 100 Amp hour Lithium battery.

Regards,

Mark
 

SSTraveler

2014 LTV Unity Murphy Bed
Just a little correction, 1 Amp per hour is not a thing.
It may not be a "thing" but ..... My statement of 1a per hour is clear and understandable, obviously meaning one amp for one hour. It is perfectly acceptable to quantify something with several words or use a simple conventional unit of measurement or acronym in sentences. According to Wikipedia "an amp hour (ah) is a unit of electric charge, having dimensions of electric current multiplied by time, equal to the charge transferred by a steady current of one ampere flowing for one hour, or 3,600 coulombs." I could have said each battery heater uses 1 amp flowing at steady state for one hour or one amp for one hour or 1a per hour or 1ah in my sentence. I was talking about the power required to supply the battery heater, when needed. So often just using acronyms are misunderstood by many as well. I updated my post to address your "thing."

This is all great information! Just what I was looking for. I just read that LiFePO4 batteries DO NOT like cold temperatures. Seeing as this van will be outside in the great white north and will see -10 to -30 degree temps maybe I should steer clear from LiFePO4's.
Lithionics Lithium batteries can't be charged in temperatures below 35° and the coldest temperature the Lithionics battery heaters have been tested to is around -4°F. For more extreme temperatures Lithionics recommends discharging their Lithium battery to 50% SOC (State of Charge), turning it off, disconnecting it, and storing it in a location where the temperature remains above -4°F for up to 6 months at a time. So the temperature a battery will be exposed to is a very important consideration when choosing a battery. There are also external heater pads that are available for batteries or small heating units for battery compartments, but their use typically requires an external power source, like a shore power connection.
 
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