New Power System Opinions

[jkarow08]

Hi everyone,

I'm planning a 3-4 month long trip with my family this summer in our GMC Savana Explorer AWD, first heading from here in WI up to Denali in AK and then national park hopping from there to Key West in FL. I'm currently rigging it out for the adventure and am about to tackle my 12v power system and was hoping you guys would let me know if I'm on the right track.

I'm trying to keep it simple and be able to integrate seamlessly with the existing Explorer entertainment system and power outlets so I'm going to use a large single battery setup. With a little modification I can fit a group 31 battery in the stock location, specifically planning on using an Interstate 31 agm marine dual purpose (925cca, 100ah). I'm going to replenish that while at camp with a 200w Newpowa solar panel run through a Victron 75/15 Smartsolar MPPT controller. Finally, I'm adding a Noco Genius2D on board charger/maintainer with a shore power plug on the fender for when we are at camp sites with 110v power.

My primary power needs will be a 53qt freezer, my GMG Trek pellet smoker, occasional TV use, phone and other portable device charging, and small LED flood lights for lighting around the van occasionally at night. The fuzzy math says we'll have 2 camping days for every driving day and may group some drive days together for a longer camping stay in some places. We'll also probably try to stay at camp sites with 110v power and showers half the time or so since we will be traveling with a toddler.

Does this sound adequate? Am I missing anything? I'll have a jump pack in case I run the battery down too low but I plan on having an alarm and can always start the van and let the alternator (145amp) charge the battery if the low battery alarm goes off.

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[Hegear]

What kind of fridge is it? A lot of them have a low voltage cutoff to save your battery. With that said why not just get a small solar gen? They are small and cheap and take all the worry out of it. I have used a Blueetti ac50s they are going for around 300 right now. This will power your fridge for 2 days or so with no hook ups. They have a built is solar charger along with cables for dc and ac. They also have pass through charging so you can leave your fridge plugged in and charge at the same time.
Just an opinion but it has worked well for me.

 

[plh]

After using an AGM Odyssey group 31 battery for running accessories for a few years, I decided to swap to Li-ion (roll your own rechargeable power pack) and wouldn't look back. A Jackery type devise (there are many brands and roll your own solutions) stores and releases energy so much better than an AGM (lead acid). A group 31 is 1200 watts of storage (give or take) that lives long by only regularly using 1/2 of it.

 

[jkarow08]

I haven't purchased the fridge yet but it will likely be one of the alpicool/vevor/domende 53qt. They all do have low voltage cutoff which will serve as an additional line of protection. I did consider a solar gen setup but I'd prefer to have my power integrated into my existing systems. With a solar gen I'd have to move it around or run long cables to all of my different appliances/devices instead of being able to use the 12v plugs scattered around the interior, it wouldn't be charged by the alternator while driving, I'd have to run an extension cord from it to the onboard charger any time I wanted to power the entertainment setup or lights, and it is one more thing to take up interior space.

Thankfully the Victron and g31 agm battery are pretty reasonably priced so my integrated setup won't cost any more than a solar gen. I considered a dual battery setup with a battery isolator but I just didn't think it was necessary for my needs.

Thanks for the suggestion though!

 

[plh]

I haven't purchased the fridge yet but it will likely be one of the alpicool/vevor/domende 53qt. They all do have low voltage cutoff which will serve as an additional line of protection. I did consider a solar gen setup but I'd prefer to have my power integrated into my existing systems. With a solar gen I'd have to move it around or run long cables to all of my different appliances/devices instead of being able to use the 12v plugs scattered around the interior, it wouldn't be charged by the alternator while driving, I'd have to run an extension cord from it to the onboard charger any time I wanted to power the entertainment setup or lights, and it is one more thing to take up interior space.

Thankfully the Victron and g31 agm battery are pretty reasonably priced so my integrated setup won't cost any more than a solar gen. I considered a dual battery setup with a battery isolator but I just didn't think it was necessary for my needs.

Thanks for the suggestion though!

Oh, main battery replacement with a Group 31. Good thing you will be bringing a jump pack.

 

[jkarow08]

I considered the 130ah dakota lithium but the $1k price difference definitely factored into my thoughts of going agm. Any suggestions on cheaper lithium options with similar cca/ah?

 

[plh]

I considered the 130ah dakota lithium but the $1k price difference definitely factored into my thoughts of going agm. Any suggestions on cheaper lithium options with similar cca/ah?

No, for a regular old starting battery I'm sticking to AGM for now. Reasonable pricing and generally long (6 ish) year life.

Make sure you try your fridge at home before leaving on your trip. One of my older vehicles with a lighter socket put my Edgestar 45 into low bat really fast because the vehicle stock wiring voltage drop was too high. Would only run a couple hours in the back on a hot day. I also have a small Alpicool (Vevor) 23, great fridge.

 

[jkarow08]

You don't think a 100ah single setup with a 200w panel will be enough for a couple of days of camping with relatively low power consumption? I've also been considering the odyssey odx-agm31m which has 1150 ccas which should buy me some more usable capacity before I drop below enough cranking power but I figured I was already in the safe zone. This is exactly why I asked first though!

 

[jkarow08]

Not sure why I can't get messages to quote but that's a good point on the wiring. I'll run a bigger wire between the fuse panel and the fridge socket if it doesn't look adequate. Thanks!

 

[plh]

You don't think a 100ah single setup with a 200w panel will be enough for a couple of days of camping with relatively low power consumption? I've also been considering the odyssey odx-agm31m which has 1150 ccas which should buy me some more usable capacity before I drop below enough cranking power but I figured I was already in the safe zone. This is exactly why I asked first though!

Remember you need good sun for solar output. Figure 6 hours a day best case. You can add 8 to10 amps back into the battery per hour in great sun. Key West, not Alaska. Refrigerator will use 20 to 30 amps daily. An Odyssey holds 105 but only 1/2 really so 50 amps useable.

 

[jkarow08]

Remember you need good sun for solar output. Figure 6 hours a day best case. You can add 8 to10 amps back into the battery per hour in great sun. Key West, not Alaska. Refrigerator will use 20 to 30 amps daily. An Odyssey holds 105 but only 1/2 really so 50 amps useable.

Finally, the quotes worked. That was about my math, worst case scenario it would be enough for 1.5-2 days, maybe up to a week with great sun. My smoker doesn't use much power either and we'll definitely be monitoring the power situation in high usage/low sun instances. I figured there will likely be a time or two where I run low and have to start the van and charge with the alternator, but hoped it would be a rare occurrence. If we have a long stop planned and it is cloudy, we will definitely opt for a camp site with power out of caution.

 

[Willsfree]

As you are traveling all the way to Alaska...I would dedicate your starter battery to starting your engine. Set up a completely separate system for your fridge and accessories. Lots of good threads here for either single/double battery or solar generator. I have a Jackery 1000 that will keep my 45 quart Apicool going for 4/5 days. Not going to recommend the Jackery as it uses cheap connectors, but something similar with Anderson plugs would be sufficient or build your own. To me there is a great risk of draining down your starter battery far away from home with an all in one solution.

 

[plh]

Not going to recommend the Jackery as it uses cheap connectors, but something similar with Anderson plugs would be sufficient or build your own.

I thought the Jackery 1000 did use an anderson for Solar input? Or maybe just the new one?

I built my own for much less cost, but it did cost me time to engineer and build it.

 

[Willsfree]

I thought the Jackery 1000 did use an anderson for Solar input? Or maybe just the new one?

I built my own for much less cost, but it did cost me time to engineer and build it.

Anderson for solar input, but cheapo cig lighter output, limited to 10amps. All 12v cig plugs pop out of smooth female barrel; terrible design for output. I'd like an Anderson connector for output and run wire to a bus bar for Maxair fan/fridge/accessories etc. 10 amp output limit is ridiculous too. I'll be building my own system soon, need higher capacity for charging ebikes now. I'll keep the Jackery for portability around the camp for lights and charging.

 

[jkarow08]

As you are traveling all the way to Alaska...I would dedicate your starter battery to starting your engine. Set up a completely separate system for your fridge and accessories. Lots of good threads here for either single/double battery or solar generator. I have a Jackery 1000 that will keep my 45 quart Apicool going for 4/5 days. Not going to recommend the Jackery as it uses cheap connectors, but something similar with Anderson plugs would be sufficient or build your own. To me there is a great risk of draining down your starter battery far away from home with an all in one solution.

I considered going with a dual battery setup with the starting and accessory batteries separated with an isolator but I still hate the idea of having to rewire all of the factory accessories and outlets on the Explorer.

Does anyone have a link or an explanation of how I could run a dual battery system that still allows me to run my accessories through the factory wiring yet keeps the batteries independent except charging? A Dakota lithium 130ah single may be my best option after all...