Integrate Goal Zero 400 Lithium into existing camper house battery

A

akarocket

New member
I am hoping for some help with a dilemma I currently have. I am using a Goal Zero 400 Lithium to power a ARB fridge in my truck when I am pulling my car trailer with my Rock Crawler on it. System works well and plan on adding solar when the truck is parked for an extended time while camping.

I also have a Jayco Popup camper that has a traditional setup in it with a interstate group 24 mounted on the tounge. When camping with it, I mount the ARB on the deck of the camper and have it hard wired using the ARB connection kit to the camper.

I would like to somehow take the Goal Zero lithium and use the 12 Volt out and hook it up in a way to charge the lead acid house battery while the yeti is hooked up to a solar panel. I am thinking a dc to dc charge controller of some type. When I called Goal Zero they said it would not be possible due to the differences in volatages between the yeti lithium and a standard 12 volt deep cycle. I know I wouldn't have any issue with a standard Goal Zero to chain a battery, but the lithium is causing issues.

Any thoughts? I am trying to use the lithium for some extra capacity and not needing to buy a solar controller for the Jayco. Should I just forget the Goal Zero in the camper and buy a solar controller?
 
V

Varano14

Member
You could use the 12v battery to charge the yeti but I think with the lithium version you have you would need to use an inverted to charge it by 120v.

I do this with the non-lithium version and it works fine. But with the inverter you would lose some efficiency.
 
J

john61ct

Adventurer
Just put a Sterling B2B between the source battery and the target.

Source needs to be larger AH capacity and start out relatively Full.

Note you can go in either direction, the Sterling uniquely lets you adjust its voltage output to custom setpoints, not just a canned list.

When / if the **actual** charge source stops, the Sterling may continue for some time depending on source batt voltage.

Very flexible and useful device.

Just not cheap.
 
A

akarocket

New member
Correct, only the lithium can be charged by solar or 120v according to Goal Zero. Although I would think something like the Sterling would work fine.


That Sterling is pricey! I think for that price I could buy a bigger group 27 battery to put in the Jayco, solar controller and panel. Then move the panel over to the Yeti when I don't have the camper with me to use with the ARB. Too bad I can't somehow use the Yeti while camping other than just stand alone and plug something into it.
 
J

jonyjoe101

Adventurer
I use a isdt q6 charger (cost about 50 dollars) to charge between batteries. This charger fits in the palm of your hand and can handle up to charging at 14 amps. I been using it to charge my powertool 18 volt batteries from my 12 volt house battery, it charges everything lithium/nicad/lead acid. The input/output are xt60 connectors, easy to find on ebay (10 sets for 10 dollars). I had for 2 years and been very reliable. You can set it so the source battery wont go below your set voltage, that way it won't completely discharge that battery.


specs
Input Voltage: DC 7-32V
Output Voltage: 0-30V
Charge Current: 0.1-14.0A
Discharge Current: 0.1-3.0A
Max Charge Capacity: 300W
Supported Batt. Type: LiFe/Lilon/LiPo/LiHv (1-6S)
NiMH/Cd(1-16S) Pb(1-12S)


1536208702010.png
 
J

john61ct

Adventurer
Interesting.

That 14A will mean very long charge times for a high-AH lithium as the target, and has it got good overcurrent protection?

Good for target battery size of 100AH for FLA only.

Too small for AGM over 60AH.
 
R

Rando

Explorer
There is no need for a battery to battery charger to charge the goal zero, in fact that likely wouldn't work. There is a charge controller built in to the Goal Zero that wants to see ~19V.

What you will need is a boost DC-DC converter that can provide somewhere around 16 - 22v at 10A. You can go cheap and buy something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Converter-Transformer-Regulator-Controller-Constant/dp/B00E8D7XYG
And adjust the output to say 19V. Or if you want something already packaged, this would also work:
https://shop.pkys.com/Victron-Orion-1224-10-Step-Up-DCDC-Voltage-Converter_p_2553.html

And adjust the output down to 20V.

Connect the input to your camper battery and the output to the AC charger input of the Goal Zero.
 
R

Rando

Explorer
jonyjoe101 said:
I use a isdt q6 charger (cost about 50 dollars) to charge between batteries. This charger fits in the palm of your hand and can handle up to charging at 14 amps. I been using it to charge my powertool 18 volt batteries from my 12 volt house battery, it charges everything lithium/nicad/lead acid. The input/output are xt60 connectors, easy to find on ebay (10 sets for 10 dollars). I had for 2 years and been very reliable. You can set it so the source battery wont go below your set voltage, that way it won't completely discharge that battery.


specs
Input Voltage: DC 7-32V
Output Voltage: 0-30V
Charge Current: 0.1-14.0A
Discharge Current: 0.1-3.0A
Max Charge Capacity: 300W
Supported Batt. Type: LiFe/Lilon/LiPo/LiHv (1-6S)
NiMH/Cd(1-16S) Pb(1-12S)


View attachment 470866
Click to expand...

This has me thinking - ISDT also makes a 35A version of this: http://www.isdt.co/t6.html

It appears to be a fully configurable buck/boost charger, with programmable low voltage detect on the input. So why wouldn't this work as a DC-DC charger at a fraction of the cost of the automotive ones? The only issue that I can foresee is that it may not start charging automatically once the input (alternator) voltage goes over a 13V.
 
A

akarocket

New member
I think everyone is looking the opposite direction of what I'm trying to accomplish. I would like to take a solar panel and hook it into the input of the goal zero lithium and keep it portable to use between truck trailer, camper, etc. Then when hooked to the Jayco popup, Keep the solar panel hooked to the yeti. Use the output of the Yeti to run through to the house battery to power the rest of the camper. That way I wouldn't buy a separate solar controller just for the popup and maybe get a little extra reserve power from two batteries.
 
J

john61ct

Adventurer
The input to the Yeti works just fine off an alternator, so any charge source between 12 and 19V should be fine.
 
R

Rando

Explorer
akarocket said:
I think everyone is looking the opposite direction of what I'm trying to accomplish. I would like to take a solar panel and hook it into the input of the goal zero lithium and keep it portable to use between truck trailer, camper, etc. Then when hooked to the Jayco popup, Keep the solar panel hooked to the yeti. Use the output of the Yeti to run through to the house battery to power the rest of the camper. That way I wouldn't buy a separate solar controller just for the popup and maybe get a little extra reserve power from two batteries.
Click to expand...

This is not going to work very well. The Goal Zero Lithium units aren't actually 12V batteries - they are 10.8V batteries (see the discussion here: https://expeditionportal.com/forum/...-400-lithium-only-puts-out-10-9-volts.191330/ ). It would be unwise to put a 10.8V lithium in parallel with a 12.xx V lead acid battery.
 
R

Rando

Explorer
codename607

codename607

Adventurer
Wow. I'm just now noticing this with the Goal Zero Lithium. I currently have the older model and I use it as my main power supply in my camper. I'm able to keep it topped off from driving my truck. Supper simple.

OP, I would just use the Goal Zero as the primary source of power in the camper and use the camper battery as a back up.
 
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