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stoyan-peychinov avatar image
stoyan-peychinov asked

Another campervan setup help

Hello everyone,

First I have to say that this a great community with a lot of useful topics! I found a lot of asnwers by searching on forum, but still can't consider what components I need to use for basic setup.

I have to mount a single 12.8/90v Victron Energy LiFePo4 battery (BAT512900400 1152Wh) with BMS interface cables. The documentation of the battery states that the battery have cell balancing integrated and I'm confused if I should use a BMS with a single battery setup or I can go without.

I have recently bought a DC2DC charger of another brand with alternator charger and solar MPPT controller integrated. It have a low temperature protection, voltage sensing relay for connecting to alternator, can charger engine battery if the service battery is already charged from solar and other useful features.

The things that are not clear is the following:

1. Should I use one Battery protect for discharge line from battery to the campervan (I will not have an inverter) to cut of battery when certain voltage is reached or battery will cut of by itself?

2. Is the battery cut its charge or I have to install battery protect on the incoming/charging line.

3. Should I use a BMS with a single battery setup?

battery chargingBMSBattery ProtectOrion DC-DC Converters not smart
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2 Answers
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wkirby answered ·

Q3 is more important, so I'll answer it first.
Yes, you need the BMS. Although it is a single battery, it is made up of four individual cells which all need to be managed. The BMS also offers interfaceing options to the other components.
I think the miniBMS would be suitable for you to use.

https://www.victronenergy.com/accessories/minibms


Q1. This is a good idea especially if you have loads that cannot be remotely turned on or off with remote signals like a regular lighting circut.
You can set this up to disconnect at certain Voltages, but more importantly, you'll need to be connected to the BMS so that the BMS can signal the Battery Protect to disconnect under temperature or individual cell fault conditions. Use the Load output signal on the BMS for this

Q2. This depends upon your charger. If it has a signal input which can be used to disable it then you'll not need another Battry Protect in the charge circuit.
If there is no way to stop the charger from charging when the BMS has a fault condition or the temperature is too low for charging, then you'll need a Battery Protect in the charge circuit. You'll need this one to also be signalled from the BMS using the Charger output signal.

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stoyan-peychinov avatar image stoyan-peychinov commented ·

Thanks for your answer. I'm wating for BMS and battery protect for discharging line. Still have to consider about battery protect for charging circuit.

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stoyan-peychinov answered ·

Here is the final setup that I made. Renogy DCC50S charger have battery voltage sensor, which I think have to cut the charger at certain level, but waiting them to answer if it is for the service or car battery.

If you have any thoughts about this setup, It is appreciated to share them :)



camperel-final.png (2.2 MiB)
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