LifePO4 and solar build for my Land Rover
- Thread starter jeegro
- Start date
dreadlocks
Well-known member
just trying to help you avoid a spaghetti mess redux.. I have to stop my self from going nuts too.. KISS is usually the best approach, but then I look at my wiring diagram and wonder exactly at what point I threw that philosophy out the window.
Yup, that's pretty much it! Appreciate the info
As for a shore charger, the plan is to not have one. Will I regret that? I live in SoCal and I think the solar should be sufficient. I park outside and deploy the 200w panel by sliding it out of the roof rack. I keep the fridge running 24/7
Not sure if I have enough space for a Progressive Dynamics charger on the panel either, and it's a bulky eyesore. I thought about adding an SB50 Anderson plug on the panel and keep the charger portable, if I got one.
dreadlocks
Well-known member
since you have a high-amp alternator charger its not required, but 200w is not much solar, 15A would take a good while to refill 100AH.. I just got 650W of solar for that same battery, and the sun dont always show.. so you definitely need something other than just solar.. if your'e fine with running engine/driving when solar isint cutting then you can forgo the onboard charger.. FYI PD Chargers are crap, get a Sterling/ProNautic shore charger for lithium if you find you need/want one.
Clearly your solar was not fully adequate or you'd be happy with your current setup.
Clearly your solar was not fully adequate or you'd be happy with your current setup.
luthj
Engineer In Residence
If you have alternator charging, and you drive a few times a week, you should be fine. If you have 200W of solar, you are golden. A port somewhere to connect a 2-3A float charger may be useful if you need to park inside, but no a requirement.
Obviously the chargers should be adjusted, the factory "lithium" profiles will reduce pack life. Though you may never notice, given you will go from 10 years, to 5-7!
Obviously the chargers should be adjusted, the factory "lithium" profiles will reduce pack life. Though you may never notice, given you will go from 10 years, to 5-7!
Yes, haha I can relate.
The extra wiring is pretty minimal, here's a mockup:
battery --> 500a shunt --> bus bar ---> 100a shunt
100a shunt --> BCDC
100a shunt --> SafetyHub 150
Attachments
Cool, I'll skip the shore charger for now. If I add one, I'll make it portable. In my previous setup I had the Xantrex shore relay + a CTEK charger onboard, so that if I plugged in the vehicle, it charges and switches all AC outlets to shore power directly. I found that I never used any of that - I never camp with shore power access, so it was mostly a waste of space and weight.
Yes, BattleBorn 100AH arrived yesterday. I got it mostly for the 10 year warranty and built-in BMS. The victron batteries look cool and would wonderfully tickle my nerdiness, but it's a lot of extra parts and wiring, and cost.
Still deciding on where to put it. It just barely fits into a milk-crate, so I might do that
Yes, BattleBorn 100AH arrived yesterday. I got it mostly for the 10 year warranty and built-in BMS. The victron batteries look cool and would wonderfully tickle my nerdiness, but it's a lot of extra parts and wiring, and cost.
Still deciding on where to put it. It just barely fits into a milk-crate, so I might do that
Here's my idea for making the fridge cage & electrical panel portable.
The 4 APP plug is for the steering column panel: power, ground, constant start battery voltage (for my SoC meter), and ACC2 switched power
The 8 colored plugs are for switch inputs (5 in use at the moment, from the dash), and then power out. I'll use a trailer cable to feed the power out to the hood. I didn't want the relays under the hood, no space near the steering column panel, and wanted all electrical stuff in a central location
Yellow Sb175 = solar. This will branch off to a separate SB50 connector for the roof panel, and another SB50 near the grille for hooking up a future solar blanket.
Red SB175 = alternator
The 4 APP plug is for the steering column panel: power, ground, constant start battery voltage (for my SoC meter), and ACC2 switched power
The 8 colored plugs are for switch inputs (5 in use at the moment, from the dash), and then power out. I'll use a trailer cable to feed the power out to the hood. I didn't want the relays under the hood, no space near the steering column panel, and wanted all electrical stuff in a central location
Yellow Sb175 = solar. This will branch off to a separate SB50 connector for the roof panel, and another SB50 near the grille for hooking up a future solar blanket.
Red SB175 = alternator
Attachments
Starting to take form... there will be a shelf below and above the upper electrical panel pictured. Making it out of marine HDPE board. Then I will carpet it, so I can velcro chargers to it and have them sit in front of the charging ports. Another small wall to the left, perpendicular to the electrical panel, will have carpet and a mesh pouch to put batteries, cords, and stuff
The panel doesn't quite fit the frame unfortunately, so it will stick out to the right a bit. Not a big deal
The panel doesn't quite fit the frame unfortunately, so it will stick out to the right a bit. Not a big deal
Attachments
Got most of the fabrication done. Some things to polish up then it's on to the primary electrical panel
Right.. so the blue sea panel is a little wider than the cage. To make it look less awkward, I'm thinking of adding a hanging pouch to the right side for storing misc cables
Right.. so the blue sea panel is a little wider than the cage. To make it look less awkward, I'm thinking of adding a hanging pouch to the right side for storing misc cables
Main panel, on hinges, secured with threaded knobs
The plan is to put the main visual components like the BCDC, Magnum SBC, LVD, battery switch, and all fuse panels on the front. Wiring will all go through the panel to the rear side, and finished with carpet like the upper shelf
The plan is to put the main visual components like the BCDC, Magnum SBC, LVD, battery switch, and all fuse panels on the front. Wiring will all go through the panel to the rear side, and finished with carpet like the upper shelf
Some progress on the panel
I gave up trying to make the backside look as clean.
Inverter is too big, and will instead be mounted to the side of the fridge cage
The victron LVD gives me an option for disconnecting loads using a simple switch, so I put in a Blue sea switch next to the main fuse panel. Useful? I doubt it, but I couldn't resist. Did the same for the Magnum
Main feed from battery to panel: 2/0 AWG, ~3-4 feet
Primary feeds within the panel: 4AWG
Midi fuses on the SafetyHub: 6 AWG (stereo amplifier, air compressors, inverter, and relay fuse panel feed)
Power feeds on the 8-circuit fuse panel (for the relays): 14 awg
I gave up trying to make the backside look as clean.
Inverter is too big, and will instead be mounted to the side of the fridge cage
The victron LVD gives me an option for disconnecting loads using a simple switch, so I put in a Blue sea switch next to the main fuse panel. Useful? I doubt it, but I couldn't resist. Did the same for the Magnum
Main feed from battery to panel: 2/0 AWG, ~3-4 feet
Primary feeds within the panel: 4AWG
Midi fuses on the SafetyHub: 6 AWG (stereo amplifier, air compressors, inverter, and relay fuse panel feed)
Power feeds on the 8-circuit fuse panel (for the relays): 14 awg
For monitoring the charge current of the BCDC with a shunt, do I put the shunt on the BCDC earth wire, or the solar+alternator earth wire?
My thinking is the earth for the solar and alternator would measure raw inefficient currents, whereas the BCDC earth wire will represent the actual current going into the battery (after losses), so I should use the BCDC earth.
But on the flipside... where to earth the alternator and solar? If my thinking above is correct, and I earth them on the main SoC Shunt, then the current would be counted twice?
Diagram
My thinking is the earth for the solar and alternator would measure raw inefficient currents, whereas the BCDC earth wire will represent the actual current going into the battery (after losses), so I should use the BCDC earth.
But on the flipside... where to earth the alternator and solar? If my thinking above is correct, and I earth them on the main SoC Shunt, then the current would be counted twice?
Diagram
dwh
Tail-End Charlie
BCDC
Raw inefficient currents? No such thing.
If the alt and solar are running though the BCDC, then monitoring the BCDC will show what goes in the battery. If you want to monitor the alt and solar, you need another shunt on the input of the BCDC.