Aux power system diagram review

joeg_invt

Member
I haven't started a build thread yet, but I've been slowly picking away at my build since July. I have very little DIY experience, but so far everything has been going smoothly, albeit slowly. I'm working with a 2017 144" Crew 4x4.



I'm at the point of building the auxiliary power system. This is holding up a lot of the progress I'm hoping to make before winter really sets in. After many many hours scouring this forum and many blogs, I think I've found a design that makes sense to me and my needs, mostly based off of the Sprinter Van Diaries build. I have absolutely zero experience with anything electrical, so I'm 100% open to input and feedback.





Here is what I'm figuring for my power usage. Not 100% sure on some of the amp numbers, but I tended to round up.






I'd love to put the aux battery in the engine compartment where the OEM one would be, then put the Maxi Fuse, Isolator, and Aux Fuse Box under the drivers seat. The D2 will live under the passenger seat. I'm planning to run a single 12v AGM. What is the largest that could fit in the OEM space? Any leads on a battery tray?



For solar, I'm thinking about the Zamp 100 Watt kit to help with keeping the battery charged up. I was originally thinking about the 160 Watt kit, but I'd love to add an Aluminess roof rack some day and the 160 Watt wouldn't fit flush mount on the rack.



Hill Group in East Hardwick, VT will hopefully be doing the install, thanks to a recommendation from this forum. They seem like great people who get it and can do the install without over complicating it. They are also an Espar dealer and will be doing that install, too.



What am I missing? I'm open to all thoughts, criticism, and feedback.



Thanks!
 
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joeg_invt

Member
Any thoughts on LiPo vs AGM for a very cold climate? I'd love to go with a LiPo battery for faster charging and longer life, but where I live it is very regularly below 0º F overnight, and it's not uncommon for days to not get out of single digits. I asked Battle Born about their batteries in cold weather and this is what they said:

"Our battery has a built in battery management system that will stop accepting a charge if the internal temperature is reaches 25F or below. Our battery will still allow a discharge down till -4F though."

To me, that means is definitely a no go for LiPo. Am I thinking correctly? Or will an idle battery generate heat even when it's just sitting there. If it's hooked up to solar getting a trickle charge, is that enough to keep it warm?

Thanks!
 

joeg_invt

Member
For days of single digit temperatures, I would go with AGMs..


Thanks. I talked to a local installer today and he said 100% no way will a LiPo battery work in winter here. Oh well.

Another question - is it safe to have an AGM battery in the cab? I'm now considering putting it under the passenger seat, right next to wear the D2 will go. Ok to have those two things right next to each other?


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sprint2freedom

2008 NCV3 170ext
Another question - is it safe to have an AGM battery in the cab?
AGM's are sealed, "non-spillable" batteries which means that for regulatory purposes they don't need to be treated as hazardous cargo during shipment. They are safe to have indoors, but keep in mind batteries in general are energy storage devices and any battery can explode or catch fire if mistreated, or in the rare case of an internal defect.

Although AGMs are sealed they do have a valve that can release pressure if hydrogen or oxygen gas builds up during overcharge.

My AGMs are located in the living area, underneath the bed. I took care to secure them to the chassis and installed a terminal fuse right at the positive terminal of each battery to protect against short circuits.

Follow best practices and I think you'll be fine.

I'm now considering putting it under the passenger seat, right next to wear the D2 will go. Ok to have those two things right next to each other?
It seems to be.. others have done so. The outer case of the D2 doesn't get as hot as you might expect. I can comfortably touch it while it's operating without being burned.
 

joeg_invt

Member
AGM's are sealed, "non-spillable" batteries which means that for regulatory purposes they don't need to be treated as hazardous cargo during shipment. They are safe to have indoors, but keep in mind batteries in general are energy storage devices and any battery can explode or catch fire if mistreated, or in the rare case of an internal defect.

Although AGMs are sealed they do have a valve that can release pressure if hydrogen or oxygen gas builds up during overcharge.

My AGMs are located in the living area, underneath the bed. I took care to secure them to the chassis and installed a terminal fuse right at the positive terminal of each battery to protect against short circuits.

Follow best practices and I think you'll be fine.



It seems to be.. others have done so. The outer case of the D2 doesn't get as hot as you might expect. I can comfortably touch it while it's operating without being burned.


Thank you for this info! Super helpful.


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sprint2freedom

2008 NCV3 170ext
Thank you for this info! Super helpful.
You're welcome.

Can you share more about your build? How and where do you intend to use it?

For a van I would recommend against a solar 'kit' as I have yet to see one that was a good value, and many bundles include questionable or low end charge controllers. The charge controller is really the heart of the system, and a cheap controller that doesn't have three-stage charging can kill your expensive AGM battery rather rapidly. The extra efficiency from MPPT makes a lot of sense when the roof area is so small.. unless your electrical needs are very small as well.

I suggest taking your time on solar- don't order anything until your plan has been fully ironed out. There is a lot of good info (and free help) on this forum, and with patience you will get a much better end result.
 

joeg_invt

Member
You're welcome.

Can you share more about your build? How and where do you intend to use it?

For a van I would recommend against a solar 'kit' as I have yet to see one that was a good value, and many bundles include questionable or low end charge controllers. The charge controller is really the heart of the system, and a cheap controller that doesn't have three-stage charging can kill your expensive AGM battery rather rapidly. The extra efficiency from MPPT makes a lot of sense when the roof area is so small.. unless your electrical needs are very small as well.

I suggest taking your time on solar- don't order anything until your plan has been fully ironed out. There is a lot of good info (and free help) on this forum, and with patience you will get a much better end result.
Absolutely! I'm starting with a 2017 144" Crew 4x4 low roof. It is 1 part kid hauler, 1 part work van (video production, so lots of gear that needs to be tied down), and 1 part weekend warrior vacation home. So it needs to be 100% modular.

We live in northern Vermont, so summers are hot and winters are cold. I did a bunch of overnight mountain bike missions this summer and will be doing the same with snowboarding in the winter. A mix of boondocking, campgrounds, and friend's driveways.

I've been documenting my work and plan on doing an entire build thread this winter once work slows down a bit. But here is the plan for the electrical:

Planning everything around a dry camper. The power system will be built off of a single 12v battery that I'm now planning to put in the passenger seat pedestal. It will charge from the alternator and from a 100Ah solar panel. Battery size is TBD.

Parts that I'm considering using for the power system:

Looks like the Zamp controller (ZS-30A)is PMW and not MPPT. How big of a difference does this make? Should I consider getting a different controller? Recommendations?

This system will be used to power:
  • Espar D2, installed in the passenger seat pedestal next to the battery (installer is purchasing)
  • TBD vent fan (to be purchased)
  • ARB fridge/freezer (63 or 82 qt, to be purchased)
  • TBD LED dome lights (to be purchased)
  • USB ports for phones and tablets
  • Cigarette lighter socket to use an inverter to charge my laptop and camera batteries
  • Maybe a 12v coffee maker?

From my calculations, this is a pretty small power draw and I'm hoping to get by with an AGM battery in the 100-200 Ah range.

I'm hoping to have the aux power system installed in the next two weeks. Then the D2 will be installed as soon as that is done.

Insulation is just about done, so once power and heat is in I'll be able to move onto finishing the paneling, wheel well boxes, etc.
 

joeg_invt

Member
2+ years later and I'm ready to upgrade the auxiliary power system. The 105 Ah battery isn't large enough and I think not having a DC-DC charger has done a number on it as it drops to about 12.0v overnight when it's cold outside.

With that, I'm looking for feedback on the new system. It's using the AdWagon battery tray under the hood, charged by the alternator via DC-DC charger (which one should I use?) as well as 215W of solar on the roof through a 30A Zamp Solar Controller that I already have. I haven't figured out where to wire the solar controller to yet.

Where should I connect the solar controller to? Do I need to wire it all the way to the engine bay?

What else am I missing?

Thanks



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Coolmaxt

Member
So did the ACR not cut it as far as recharging the batteries? Thats what RB components and Adwagon use in their battery kits. I am in the process of buying stuff for my aux power system.. now you have me thinking i should scrap the ACR and buy a dc-dc charger
 

joeg_invt

Member
So did the ACR not cut it as far as recharging the batteries? Thats what RB components and Adwagon use in their battery kits. I am in the process of buying stuff for my aux power system.. now you have me thinking i should scrap the ACR and buy a dc-dc charger


I’m not positive but pretty sure the battery was over charged because of the ARC and 2 years in it doesn’t really hold a charge.



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autostaretx

Erratic Member
*Any* component can fail.
There's another recent thread with a BlueSea ACR that has apparently been misbehaving.
(if i recall correctly, BlueSea sent a replacement and will be doing forensics on the dead one)
((that was the first/only "death of a BlueSea ACR" that i can recall showing up in the forum))

There have been quite a number of isolation relay (MB's, plus units like the Stinger) failures.

The job of joining high-current devices is rough on the hardware, so monitoring "how they're doing" is (unfortunately) part of the duties of the owner.

--dick (pragmatic)
 

joeg_invt

Member
*Any* component can fail.
There's another recent thread with a BlueSea ACR that has apparently been misbehaving.
(if i recall correctly, BlueSea sent a replacement and will be doing forensics on the dead one)
((that was the first/only "death of a BlueSea ACR" that i can recall showing up in the forum))

There have been quite a number of isolation relay (MB's, plus units like the Stinger) failures.

The job of joining high-current devices is rough on the hardware, so monitoring "how they're doing" is (unfortunately) part of the duties of the owner.

--dick (pragmatic)


Yes, good point. I don’t think there is anything wrong with my ARC. I say “because of the ARC” because that device does not adjust charge current for bulk, absorption, float. And in my use case I do a lot of driving (aka charging) but most of the time it’s charging a mostly charged battery. This is why I’m making the switch to a dc-dc charger.


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