Dreadlocks outfitting of InTech Discover

[dreadlocks]

My tow vehicle has its own battery management system in it, have to plug in my shop computer and put a new battery serial number in when I install a new one so it resets the age profile.. not interested at all in charging it off tow vehicle.

Finally back to the good stuff, went dispersed camping up in Pingree Park this weekend Friday-Monday, had couple 70 degree days, 28 degree nights, and a day full of rain/mud and a morning of snow.. this is Colorado in the spring.. My Birthday, Easter and Earth Day camp out.. Averaged 17mpg both ways, didnt go over 65mph. Came home with about 10lbs of LP left, Sunday the heater was ran all day long.










Everything went great, heaters were critical.. needa dry out the canvas now that we are home, packed it up this morning in some snow.. Everyone had a grand ole time.. glad to be back to Dispersed Camping.. we had a moose walk through camp on easter morning!!

Got a muffler for heater, could not even hear furnace running over the babbling creek.


some night shots:


Had a few bugs I needa work out, fuel tank gauge never budged but I read it might take a few fillings to start working right.. Running microwave off inverter caused a voltage drop deep enough the Lithium sprung back to full voltage and it went from 30% SOC to 100%.. hadda recharge it fully to recalibrate it, that sucked.. changed some of the settings so now it needs to hold charged voltage longer before it reset.. if it happens again I'll disable auto calibration and just do it my self from time to time.

Decided I need a better house charger, this Progressive Dynamics 45A unit cant do 45A thats its surge current support, not constant output.. and longer it runs the less it can output it seems and it dont like running off the generator all that much.. not sure what its deal is but it'd be at 50% SOC and outputting 9A of charge current, if I turned stuff off the charge amps would go up so its the power supply thats capping out.. turned off the genset for an hour, turned it back on and then got 16A of charge current at basically same SOC... now that I'm at home its putting out like 28A.. I could hear the charger screaming one time after charging a long time.

I'm thinking a Sterling/Pro Nautic 50A charger set up to do 14.4v

 

[ITTOG]

I have a cargo trailer I want to build out like yours. But my first goal is to make it so the box will come off the trailer so I can use the trailer as a flat bed and not have to have two trailers. I have three design drafted but have to address wiring connectors for all the lights and power. Fun stuff.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[dreadlocks]

thats kinda how I did my lil 4x7 trailer, top comes off and I use it as my "truck" bed... was really very convenient, but converting it is a hassle.. after a decade of taking it apart and putting it back together again its not as waterproof as it once was.

I'm giving it to my dad since there is no registration in Kansas and I use it so little anymore, just for cargo hauling and obviously not camping anymore.. at this rate I'll just rent a u haul when I need to haul a car or take a load to the dump.. it'll be cheaper than taxes+insurance on a trailer that had 1 trip (for a friend) in 2 years.

He's going to put it to good overlanding use, here's a photo I grabbed this weekend of his battle van.. the latest in a long line of camper vans he's had throughout my life.

Its all bed with lots of under storage where 2 rows of folding seats used to be.. got a great deal on it because rear gutted for a handicaped driver.. think he's put at least 150k miles on it so far, yes those are ko2's on a caravan.. was my idea

 

[Alloy]

My tow vehicle has its own battery management system in it, have to plug in my shop computer and put a new battery serial number in when I install a new one so it resets the age profile.. not interested at all in charging it off tow vehicle.

Finally back to the good stuff, went dispersed camping up in Pingree Park this weekend Friday-Monday, had couple 70 degree days, 28 degree nights, and a day full of rain/mud and a morning of snow.. this is Colorado in the spring.. My Birthday, Easter and Earth Day camp out.. Averaged 17mpg both ways, didnt go over 65mph. Came home with about 10lbs of LP left, Sunday the heater was ran all day long.

View attachment 511916

View attachment 511928

View attachment 511917View attachment 511918


View attachment 511919View attachment 511920

Everything went great, heaters were critical.. needa dry out the canvas now that we are home, packed it up this morning in some snow.. Everyone had a grand ole time.. glad to be back to Dispersed Camping.. we had a moose walk through camp on easter morning!!

Got a muffler for heater, could not even hear furnace running over the babbling creek.
View attachment 511927

some night shots:
View attachment 511925View attachment 511926

Had a few bugs I needa work out, fuel tank gauge never budged but I read it might take a few fillings to start working right.. Running microwave off inverter caused a voltage drop deep enough the Lithium sprung back to full voltage and it went from 30% SOC to 100%.. hadda recharge it fully to recalibrate it, that sucked.. changed some of the settings so now it needs to hold charged voltage longer before it reset.. if it happens again I'll disable auto calibration and just do it my self from time to time.

Decided I need a better house charger, this Progressive Dynamics 45A unit cant do 45A thats its surge current support, not constant output.. and longer it runs the less it can output it seems and it dont like running off the generator all that much.. not sure what its deal is but it'd be at 50% SOC and outputting 9A of charge current, if I turned stuff off the charge amps would go up so its the power supply thats capping out.. turned off the genset for an hour, turned it back on and then got 16A of charge current at basically same SOC... now that I'm at home its putting out like 28A.. I could hear the charger screaming one time after charging a long time.

I'm thinking a Sterling/Pro Nautic 50A charger set up to do 14.4v

Wire size could be part of the charging issue. I worked on trailer that had a 50amp converter with 25' of 8ga. to the batteries After replacing the 8ga with 2ga. the 40amp fuses (in a 50amp converter?) in the panel would blow a fuse if the batteries were +/- 60% SOC.

ProNautic are 1000 X better than PD. Custom programs as well as battery charge (delay start) and power supply (instant on).

I use to run two PN50s on a (maximum load) 3000w generator. One of the PN50s is in the 5th with a remote and battery temp now.

For a 2000W generator I'd suggest a PN60 or maybe Victon makes something.

 

[dreadlocks]

thats what I thought last summer when I put 6awg wiring on the converter, its mebe 2ft total of wiring so it should be good.. though I do recall grabbing the fuse block (60A) for the charger and it was rather warm after recharging.. I think the power demands of the Lithium has been wrecking this converter, I used to see ~30A output last year from it, did a test run and went from 5% to 100% in ~4.5h now I'm lucky to see over 20A at home off main power.. I swear I saw >20A charging off GenSet last summer but this weekend I could not get more than 15A, mostly 8-12A out of it and it took all friggin day.. the longer it ran the less amps it output, and its not until basically the battery is 95% charged that I can start turning on/off small loads and not see the charge current change instantly.. indicating that finally the converter is putting out more power than the battery will take.

50A is the max recommended charging for the BB 100AH, I can get a PN40A for ~$345 or a PN50A for ~$425, trying to figure out if that last 10A is worth the +$80.. I'm thinking its not, this page BB used a 40A charger and got it full in 2.5h

Victron dont make anything big enough for north american power input unfortunately.

 

[Alloy]

thats what I thought last summer when I put 6awg wiring on the converter, its mebe 2ft total of wiring so it should be good.. though I do recall grabbing the fuse block (60A) for the charger and it was rather warm after recharging.. I think the power demands of the Lithium has been wrecking this converter, I used to see ~30A output last year from it, did a test run and went from 5% to 100% in ~4.5h now I'm lucky to see over 20A at home off main power.. I swear I saw >20A charging off GenSet last summer but this weekend I could not get more than 15A, mostly 8-12A out of it and it took all friggin day.. the longer it ran the less amps it output, and its not until basically the battery is 95% charged that I can start turning on/off small loads and not see the charge current change instantly.. indicating that finally the converter is putting out more power than the battery will take.

50A is the max recommended charging for the BB 100AH, I can get a PN40A for ~$345 or a PN50A for ~$425, trying to figure out if that last 10A is worth the +$80.. I'm thinking its not, this page BB used a 40A charger and got it full in 2.5h

Victron dont make anything big enough for north american power input unfortunately.

With a charge rate of 50 (0.5C) it might mean the inverter could be exceeding the rated output = more batteries & a bigger charger.

The Victron inverter/chargers are bigger.

 

[Alloy]

Forgot to say I've had the PN chargers running for hour and hours at max output with no issues.

 

[dreadlocks]

inverter comes close but does not exceed the rated output, at least not with my loads.. the way its wired right now the LVD drops all other loads when inverter is at full power and keeps it under the 100A continuous output rating.. its rated to 200A for short bursts... supposedly the internal BMS will kick in if I overload the outputs, but I've yet to see this happen.

Id like a second battery eventually, so wherever I stick the PN charger I'll make sure there is room to put a 2nd one next to it.. but that might not be til this one needs replaced, hopefully in 8+ years when I can buy two for the current price of one.

Those big victron inverters/chargers are a bit too much for my setup, I dunno what I'd do with 2x the inverter wattage and I'd need 2x the battery.

 

[dreadlocks]

Here's a simple diagram of the electrical system on my discover, or at least the ideal situation I'm currently working towards and most of the way done.. figured I should start keeping track of this for my own sake.

Fuses, Negative Bus, and other lil things are omitted.. I may start adding that stuff later, shrug.



*subject to change at any time

 

[bshinn]

Nice,

What program did you use to draw that schematic?

 

[dreadlocks]

Flowchart Maker & Online Diagram Software

www.draw.io

 

[bshinn]

Thanks,

I was using Sketchup until Trimble got greedy, been looking for another drawing tool. Looks like I have my work cut out for me on the learning curve.

 

[Alloy]

this page BB used a 40A charger and got it full in 2.5h

I was showing someone this comparison today.

Our conversation got around to what the results would look like if good (220Ah) qulaity 6V were used and how much one needs to spend on 6V to match the performace of a $950 BB.

 

[dreadlocks]

One thing I'm finding with lithium not often talked about is how capacity anxiety seems to be negated with quick charging.

for example, with cell phones for the last two decades I valued runtime over feature set.. with work paying me to respond to calls/sms/emails at any time all other features were moot.. I disabled everything and valued most a device that worked for days on end because forgetting to plug it in one night would spell professional disaster.. I remember being on the train when wife was days away from giving birth with first kid, got bored clicked on some stupid video then when phone shut down on me I felt like an idiot.. Or the time I flew to another state for a job interview, spent so much time talking to wife on phone afterwords it died on me and left me scrambling to call a taxi back to airport.. low battery anxiety has prevented me from ever using a smart phone as much more than a phone.. screw the apps and battery draining crap.

Now I have a phone w/USB-C fast charging and its a paradigm shift, if I wake up and battery has 20% charge.. I can plug it in my car and on my 20m drive to work I end up at 40% instead of 22% and can easily survive until next opportunity to plug it in for a few mins... burning through a bunch of battery watching cats on the internet is no big deal anymore, because the ability to go from 5% to 100% in 2h is so much better than 8-10h of yesteryear.

I'm seeing same gains w/Lithium in the camper trailer, I have two GC batteries in my 75 Westy with a lil 100W solar setup.. problem was it was not a vehicle I wanted to drive for 8h+ a day, it is slow, loud, uncomfortable, and a death trap by modern standards.. so I took it on big long adventures hoping a few hours closer at a time and resting.. which meant I could never get batteries back up w/driving and solar, its alternator was pathetic.. I had a 100ah AGM in my previous little adventure trailer, I would drive it across the country in a hard sprint, then spend a few weeks going a few hours every few days enjoying the location, then scream back home before vacation ran out.. I would have a full charge when I got there, and when I got home, but quickly into the trip I would be idling the engine for a few hours every day or looking for AC outlets to plug into just to try to keep the low voltage disconnects away.

With Lithium I can fire up generator when I want, as I want.. kick it on for half an hour and get ~15% of capacity back while your making the kids lunch is pretty awesome.. no pressure or need to get it back to 100%, battery is happy at partial charges for long times unlike lead.. just have enough juice to get through the day then worry about it tomorrow.

This last weekend I used 60ah in one day with heater, radio, microwave, coffee and a few other things testing for high consumption use.. I dont mind running generator if I have too for a few hours daily, just not all day daily.. with 8h of runtime on a generator I'd want enough capacity to go 4 days, same generator runtime overall.. with 60ah a day diet, and a 50% discharge thats a lead bank of 480AH equivalence.. you can get out of 30lbs what it takes lead >300lbs (an average of 2h a day of generator/engine use, fuel, and mebe driving)

With solar I'm going to try to prove that this quick charge curve is also a boon for boondocking, I found it obnoxious when I got a few hours of good sunlight and lead only wanted to sip on a fraction of the amps, and then when battery was discharged enough that it could take those amps the conditions were no longer favorable.. getting enough reliable direct sunlight to fully recharge a lead battery at a random location every few days is rather challenging proposition, on paper it looks easy but IRL its much more trouble.. all internet search results on solar design are assuming that your doing a fixed install with favorable light conditions, because why would you not? With lithium I can shoot for only a few hours of direct sunlight with a big enough solar setup, and slurp up the amps they output until its basically full again.. I dont NEED 8-12h of direct sunlight anymore and hell I cant wait.

I'm buying the solar panels tonight

 

[Alloy]

The Panasonic HIT panels are great. I set up 2 - 330W today. At 49 degrees North the panels where producing 270-280w each between 11:00 and 12:30.

We are in the trees 70% of the time. At these locations the portable panels produce more than the roof top panels.

The portable panels are connected to the controller with 50' cords. Cords are made with marine (tinned) 8ga wire inside of expandable sleeve with Anderson connectors.


If need be the cords can be connected and the wire is sized for 100' but so far 50' has been long enough.