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spacejim avatar image
spacejim asked

Please check my installation diagram (solar camper van)

I'm planning my electrical system for a camper van and would appreciate it of someone could check over my plan to make sure I'm not an idiot and that I'm not missing any important parts. The idea is to have a leisure battery charged by both solar and the vehicles alternator.
All parts (except van batt & alternator) will be Victron.

Am I right in that with the BMS CL and a Battery Protect on the loads I don't need any further battery management or safety devices?


Please forgive my terrible graphic design skills (F is fuse):
vanplan.png

wiring diagram
vanplan.png (74.4 KiB)
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spacejim avatar image spacejim commented ·

A very helpful answer appeared briefly then disappeared again.

  1. I apparently need an Orion Tr between the starter batt and the BMS CL. I'd be lying if I said I understood why. Also found this post that says put the Orion between the BMS and the lithium, so I'm pretty confused.
  2. Apparently the lithium has no overcharge protection from the alternator, but I thought the BMS CL was supposed to do that? If not, what should I add, another Battery Protect maybe?
  3. This post says the BMS is powered from the engine battery side, does this mean my engine battery will go flat if left unattented for a long time, or will the BMS also allow solar charging to get through backwards and keep it topped up?
  4. Apparently the inverter will drain the engine battery, what can I do about this? I assumed the BMS would prevent the engine battery discharging from loads on the leisure side
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tozz avatar image tozz spacejim commented ·

1 & 2: Yeah that comment was from me, but I was wrong. That's why I deleted it. The BMS CL does what I thought you needed a Orion for: Protect your alternator and prevent overcharging. From the product page for the BMS CL:

"The dedicated alternator input provides current limiting and one-way traffic from the alternator into the battery, this so any size alternator (and start battery) can be safely connected to the Smart Lithium battery or batteries."

So you can skip the Orion. I thought the BMS CL was just a BMS, but it's more. It also prevents overcharging (use the correct fuse!) and burning your alternator to ashes.

3: Yeah, it will probably eventually go flat. But keep in mind that this will happen anyway in any modern car as there are always things running. Thing of radio receivers for wireless keys, alarm systems and what not. I wouldn't worry about it, the 'phantom drain', according to the manual is 5 mA. That is 0,06 watt. With a 100 Ah 12V starter battery it would last 833 days :-)

4. Again, I was incorrect. The BMS CL prevents this.

After learning about the BMS CL, i think your diagram is fine!

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spacejim avatar image spacejim tozz commented ·

Thanks very much Tozz! I got a bit confused for a while hehe

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1 Answer
huit avatar image
huit answered ·

There is an issue with inverters being powered through the battery protect.

https://community.victronenergy.com/questions/63134/why-can-i-not-use-a-smart-battery-protect-between.html

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