Questions about trailer solar systems and charging off the tow vehicle, and shore power

[Pastryslayer]

You won't regret installing a Victron BMV 712.

Nifty gadget, but $200 for the monitor alone? ouch.

Ok, last few questions before I pull the trigger on the 55 Amp Iota charger (Seems to be the best balance of features and price)...the manual says not to put it in the same compartment as the batteries...I can space them out, but they share air space (and therefore fume space). Is that really an issue? Also, does anybody know if mounting orientation matters? I'd like to mount it upside down.

If the readout on the inverter is insufficient I can put a monitor in too.

I went with 2 6V 240amp FLA batteries. $40 less than 1 AGM and smaller and lighter.

 

[dreadlocks]

is the compartment vented in any way? like natural convection possible? it sounds like its not an 'engine room' safe charger so they are worried about it making a spark that could ignite fumes.. unless its airtight cabinet it wont concentrate enough hydrogen to be flammable when charging so I wouldn't sweat it

 

[john61ct]

Fumes can damage electronics.

Orientation is determined by cooling design

 

[Pastryslayer]

Not remotely airtight but not specifically vented. When stored I intend to leave at least one door open, so I can glance at the monitor as I walk by, basically daily.

Looks like a fan on the back for cooling.

 

[Pastryslayer]

Again with the horrible photos, sorry...The first is the wide shot of the compartment in question. Probably put the charger upside down under the shelf the bank sits on, next to the inverter.



Next is the solar controller, which DOES work with the main battery disconnect set to off. So...solar all the time. That's good.



Last is the inverter with the voltage display. The inverter is mounted upside down, it's not the photo.



Thanks again for all the input, especially in the face of my ignorance.

PS: This was just a system check, I unhooked everything until I can get the shore power\charger in place.

 

[dwh]

You'll need a different IQ brain, most likely the original IQ4.

(Which says it has an "equalize" stage...but really doesn't. EQ is an occasional timed, controlled overcharge to maintain FLA batteries. Iota's "equalize" is just a timer that trips after 7 days of float and restarts the bulk/absorb/float charge process. On an already full battery, all that does is raise the voltage for a while to stir the chemistry up a bit.

A real EQ is like...push the battery up to 15v and hold it there for two hours to bubble the electrolyte in a big way. Then top off the lost water.)

 

[dwh]

That Morningstar solar charge contoller is A) PWM and B) an older generation than today's ProStar-30.

Nothing wrong with that, it's still a top of the line unit...but depending on how much solar you have, you might consider upgrading to an MPPT charge controller. Victron's "SmartSolar" line has built-in bluetooth that you can talk to with a free phone app. (The "BlueSolar" product line requires an add-on dongle for bluetooth.) That would give you a battery monitor capability from your phone.

 

[Pastryslayer]

I should've just asked outright, is the voltmeter on the inverter enough of a monitor or no?

I can add a tray and mat under the batteries, but their position in the trailer I'm pretty well stuck with. I could add a vent though...at least this way if the bank leaks, it drips down on the water system instead of the other way around. If the batteries have a catastrophic failure it's likely the end of the trailer anyway, except for maybe as a giant rolling footlocker.

ETA: This space used to contain a question so stupid I've removed it lest you all petition the authorities to have me committed. Hopefully nobody read it before I got back.

The good news is, my shore power system is plug and play with the layout of the Iota charger...the male plug (input) from the Iota into the female plug (output) unhooked from the back of the inverter, which goes back to the external AC receptacle. Also occurred to me to try plugging into shore power without the batteries attached at all...sure enough, the AC receptacle works fine, and the inverter is essentially a "pass-through." I feel like I've really grown today...

 

[Pastryslayer]

Nice pictures..
One of our cardinal rules was flooded batteries always on bottom. Any boil over or spill wont drip to onto lower devices.
Further, They always in a tray of some kind along with absorbent mat.

It seems alot of amateurs poo-poo over hydrogen. Ok then, Hope they have fun. Flooded batteries emit acid vapour too.

Maybe why it came with came with AGM's? :/

 

[Pastryslayer]

You'll need a different IQ brain, most likely the original IQ4.

(Which says it has an "equalize" stage...but really doesn't. EQ is an occasional timed, controlled overcharge to maintain FLA batteries. Iota's "equalize" is just a timer that trips after 7 days of float and restarts the bulk/absorb/float charge process. On an already full battery, all that does is raise the voltage for a while to stir the chemistry up a bit.

A real EQ is like...push the battery up to 15v and hold it there for two hours to bubble the electrolyte in a big way. Then top off the lost water.)

Any idea how to identify the original IQ4 from...any other IQ4? Or is the only other one the IQ4X? Looks like some Iotas come with the IQ4 "onboard" (?) and some are sold separately, but maybe that's just whether the seller is doing package deals?

 

[Pastryslayer]

That Morningstar solar charge contoller is A) PWM and B) an older generation than today's ProStar-30.

Nothing wrong with that, it's still a top of the line unit...but depending on how much solar you have, you might consider upgrading to an MPPT charge controller. Victron's "SmartSolar" line has built-in bluetooth that you can talk to with a free phone app. (The "BlueSolar" product line requires an add-on dongle for bluetooth.) That would give you a battery monitor capability from your phone.

Ok, ok, that's two votes for the Victron bluetooth monitor, and I admit the idea is growing on me...plus all the money I saved by not buying AGM batteries isn't going to spend itself.... I'll think on it. I mean, I already have the jeep remote start and unlock on the phone, what's one more app?

Anybody know if the Victron can send an alert to your phone if something's amiss? Or is it just to allow me to constantly obsess about what my bank is doing RIGHT NOW instead of working? My original plan was just to eyeball the trailer every morning as I walk past it to go to work...

 

[dwh]

Iota sells the DLS either with dongle style IQ module (unplugged the DLS is just a constant voltage regulated power supply without a brain) or with permanently installed IQ circuitry built-in. They also have a newer switched-mode rig called DLS-X. I don't know anyone running the newer DLS-X, but there are a whole lot of people happily running the DLS.

There only used to be one IQ, the IQ/4. In the last year though, they've changed that and added a bunch of other IQ modules for specific applications.

https://www.iotaengineering.com/IQ/#!/

The original DLS with separate IQ, plus an IQ4 for FLA, or IQ-AGM for AGM is what I would run myself, and will likely buy one this year.. I like the idea of being able to change out the brain if needed. I have 2 giant 200ah AGMs that I got used as a package deal with my 300w solar panel, but when they wear out I'll probably replace them with 4x6v FLA.


And that was not two votes for the Victron battery monitor. I suggested that you might want to upgrade your solar charge controller, which would get a better solar harvest, but might not be worth the money if you've only got 100w of solar. That would get you a decent amount of information about the battery as well.

The BMV battery monitor is a different unit that just monitors the battery. But it measures everything going into and out of the battery and counts amps so it can tell if 100ah went in and 50ah went out you're at 50%. It gets you a lot more info than what the charge controller itself can provide...maybe more than you need.

The Victron app can talk to either/both.

 

[dwh]

And the Victron app talks to the hardware via bluetooth, which is a short range low power radio. Good for 20'...50' if you're lucky. You might be able to check the battery from the house, but not from work.

 

[john61ct]

Victron has a whole ecosystem of monitoring, including logging to the internet for remote monitoring, open-sourced protocols for integration with other ststems etc.

 

[dreadlocks]

they also talk to other victron devices wirelessly, my solar charger gets battery temp and voltage directly at the battery post from the battery monitor and they are beta testing firmware right now that lets multiple solar chargers talk to eachother and coordinate so they all go into bulk/absorb/float together and dont fight back and forth on that front.