Electrical Second battery & solar question

DWWood

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Jun 26, 2016
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Hey guys, haven't posted for a while as the van has been going great sitting in the driveway here in metro Melbourne.

Anyway, my battery has finally died in the van so I upgraded to a 200ah lithium in the car and I'll be transferring the 2 x 105ah Full River AGM's out of the car and putting them in the caravan. All I'll be running is LED lights, 12v charging points and the diesel heater occasionally if off grid camping.

Van is a 2014 17.56.1 OB Expanda.

Question: is the stock solar controller sufficient or should I upgrade to something like a Victron? At this stage I don't plan on upgrading the solar on the roof but I do have portable panels I'd like to use in conjunction with the roof panel. Anyone been down this road before?


solar.JPG
 

Drover

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If your not full on off-grid camping and mostly van parks then the TPS will do the job okay, if it did the job on your old battery okay then it will be okay with the these ones, more important having your panels positioned correctly... If you do mostly off grid then upgrading to a good quality MPPT controller like a Victron or Epever you will get the value of spending the $$$, its just a matter of removing the 1230 and replacing it with whatever you buy.

but if mostly parks save your money.
 
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Macca_75

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I personally upgraded to a Victron MPPT. A couple of reasons.

1) The Victron keeps the battery(ies) at the correct float voltage and uses correct charging algorithms. All this means your batteries will last longer.
2) I also have the battery sense on one of my batteries. You create a network between the controller and battery sense and it compensates for any voltage drop between the controller and Battery. More importantly (for me) is I have also replaced the cheap PWM controller on my portable mat with another Victron - drop it into the same network and the 2 controllers now work together instead of against each other.

Keep the TPS handy and put it back when you sell the van - think of the Victron as a investment, not a replacement 8-)
 

DWWood

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Jun 26, 2016
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Thanks guys. I ordered the 100/30 SmartSolar Victron unit.

A quick question, is it easy to run wiring up through the back of the cabinetry to where the existing TPS unit is?
 

Macca_75

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No need. Just swap it out. When you remove the wires from the TPS be careful not to short anything (I screwed a terminal block over each bare end as I removed it). Unscrew the TPS. Mount the Victron. put the wires back in (I forget which order, but I think you connect the battery first, then the panel - double check the instructions for that).

ALSO note that the wires swap (On the TPS the panel is connected to the left pair of terminals, on the Victron the battery is the left pair of terminals).

Easiest DIY mod.
 
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DWWood

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Jun 26, 2016
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No need. Just swap it out. When you remove the wires from the TPS be careful not to short anything (I screwed a terminal block over each bare end as I removed it). Unscrew the TPS. Mount the Victron. put the wires back in (I forget which order, but I think you connect the battery first, then the panel - double check the instructions for that).

ALSO note that the wires swap (On the TPS the panel is connected to the left pair of terminals, on the Victron the battery is the left pair of terminals).

Easiest DIY mod.

Cheers Macca. I want to run an Anderson for the portable solar up to the Victron unit as well as using the roof mounted solar.

Was wondering how difficult it is to get wire it up? I'm guessing I have to follow the wiring from the battery to the TPS unit?
 

Macca_75

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I have an Anderson connected directly to the battery (with a fuse). When travelling it connects to the car the charge the battery. When camped I can connect a blanket or panel (as above I purchase a smaller Victron for the panel as well - both controllers work with the battery sense).

I though about running an Anderson to the controller. Assuming you will have it in parallel. It does mean the Anderson will be "live" with the panel voltage all the time.

In the end I decided to keep it simple.
 
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Drover

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Depends on how they have run the cable usually inside cupboards so you might be lucky, tapping into the feed from the rooftop panel might even be easier.

throwing a blanket over the roof top job to black it out helps if you short a cable..... pull panel connection first, I tape each end and if not tinned I give it a hit with the soldering iron. connect battery then panel.
 

Macca_75

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Oh - if you do look at the battery sense option get the more expensive model (~$75) - the bluetooth range is far better to reach the panel you may move away from the van.
 
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1DayIll

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Hey a rookie mistake. I just bought a new battery after disconnecting the old one. Mistake is I did not note the positive and negative colours. Am I safe to assume white for positive and black for negative.
 

Macca_75

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If you're talking about the battery wires through a multimeter across them. One will give a positive reading and the other way a negative (assuming either the solar is trying to charge the battery or plug the van into mains so it tries to charge the battery).
 

Crusty181

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Am I safe to assume white for positive and black for negative
In the 12v RV world its quite often black pos and white neg, seems counterintuitive particularly when black is present in every single other area of wiring its generally neg ... i have nothing in regards to why. As mentioned above, put a meter over it
 
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Drover

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The black/white idea is European while the red/black is British, so they add equipment which is wired as per the common red/black so you get a wonderful mixture along with the odd purple or orange.
 
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