18' Series Extra battery location - 18.58-2

pjulian

New Member
Oct 21, 2018
21
4
3
Sydney
Hi All,

Unfortunately I need to now use a CPAP machine and need to upgrade the battery storage and solar on my van, I was hoping some people might have some suggestions on the best approach for what I am needing to do, such as where to put additional batteries, charging capacity of function of the standard charger, and wiring for additional solar panels.

There is only just enough room for the batter where it is, where do people normally add a second battery ?
Is it worth looking at Lithium ? I have found a 200ah Lithium battery for about $1600, a lot of cash but is it worth it to save a LOT of weight ?

The standard charging/management system, will it handle 2 x 110ah Lead Acid or AGM batteries or should I install a separate DC to DC charger instead ?

When adding extra panels, do most people use the same roof penetration of the standard panels when running the extra cables or make a new one closer to the extra panels ?
What about flexible panels ? are they worth installing to save weight ?

Thanks so much for any suggestions, I just need to get moving with this so that I can start getting out !!

Paul
 

Scrounger

Active Member
Oct 7, 2016
65
106
33
Shoalhaven
In my 18.58.2 both batteries are in black boxs under the seat beside the (stove or kids table n chairs) factory install.
They are just standard ( bridaled ) together with a 160amp pannel on the roof.
I had to concider CPAP for a while, so picking the right machine's VERY important to current draw etc, from memory some devices could use up to 14 amps plus an hour with the heater part ON and others with no heat were down to 6 AMPS or less so do your home work on the device's, tec is moving fast so you may be better to have device A for home and a more compact one for travel B low power no heating, it could be cheaper than lithium and solar? if you need lots of amps.
I would think reserch into them first to KNOW what your drawdown requirements are, before setting up the power side.
Many people on the road free camp with CPAP so its not a problem, just make sure to give yourself +25% more storage than minimum some days you just dont get the charge you expected.
Graham
 
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pjulian

New Member
Oct 21, 2018
21
4
3
Sydney
Hi Graham,

Thanks for your response, you raise a very good point about the machine, I will look into those options for sure, much appreciated.
When I looked at the location where the current battery is it didn't look like there would be enough space in there for another one, but maybe I need to remove the battery box and do some measurements, if it could fit another battery there then that would obviously be ideal !

Thanks again
 

MDS69

Well-Known Member
Jul 6, 2014
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@Scrounger post above has me thinking and will need to investigate my machine but most of our camping is off grid and to date I have not had any issues with running out of battery with my machine with a standard 120W roof mounted panel and 120Ah battery with a inverter somewhere around 150W or 300W.
 

Drover

Well-Known Member
Nov 7, 2013
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I helped my mate with his CPAC set up but he's just about to hit the road to try it all out, @Scrounger is spot on about the machine some can be very hungry, he has 160w on roof and 2 x 120ah AGM's while storage is okay I don't think 160w is enough, I thought 300w would keep thing nice but some caravan bloke assured him , time will tell...........

Lithium is great just depends if you can spend the dollarsand you would have to upgrade your charging system Lithium have special needs.

Let us know what you vans charging system is as not all have the same.................................It may be better to fit a MPPT solar regulator to charge the batteries.............................

To increase the size of your panels they are connected together on the roof so they run in parrellel, no seperate cable runs required they just plug into each other and the batteries need to be connected correctly and fused, the second battery can be located elsewhere but needs larger cable and be of same length...........while in the perfect world best to have both batteries, same brand, same type, same capacity, same age you can get away with one being just a year old but must be same type ie; AGM, GEL and same capacity or your wasting your money.

If you can wade thru all the bumf https://www.expandasdownunder.com/threads/the-solar-panel-thread.1729/
this thread has a heap of info but is very heavy.....

This link will advise on connecting 2 batteries and other pertinent info ...https://caravanchronicles.com/guides/how-to-connect-two-batteries-in-parallel/

also to make sense of which Ohm is that ............ https://caravanchronicles.com/guides/understanding-watts-amps-volts-and-ohms/
 

pjulian

New Member
Oct 21, 2018
21
4
3
Sydney
Thanks guys.
I ended up going with a second 100ah AGM battery in the same location, was a bit tight but got it to fit OK, the original is 100ah as well.
I think I will need to add more panels for sure, I will monitor things for a while and see how it goes before adding more just so I can get a feeling of how it's working in it's current configuration.
 
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Brad77

Member
Feb 9, 2016
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Sydney
Thanks guys.
I ended up going with a second 100ah AGM battery in the same location, was a bit tight but got it to fit OK, the original is 100ah as well.
I think I will need to add more panels for sure, I will monitor things for a while and see how it goes before adding more just so I can get a feeling of how it's working in it's current configuration.
I have just ordered two 130ah GEL batteries to put into my 18.58-2. Hopefully they fit!
 

pjulian

New Member
Oct 21, 2018
21
4
3
Sydney
Yeah they are heavy, the standard battery is mounted east-west, I changed both of mine to go north south and they just fitted !
 
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Falco

Member
Jul 4, 2016
60
20
8
Gold Coast
Yes. I added a second battery to our 18-58.2. And it fit just next to the existing battery. No probs. On your cpap machine just turn your humidifier off and it’s all good. It’s the humidifier that uses about 130 watts. If you need the humidifier on just turn the setting down.
 

pjulian

New Member
Oct 21, 2018
21
4
3
Sydney
Thanks Falco, good advice.
I am looking at a travel version now to use possibly as I am starting to travel more for work as well, so maybe it will be better in the van as well.