Lithium replacement of AGM battery in 2018 Būrstner Lyseo TD690G on Fiat Ducato 1,9 130 base

DIY
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Good evening folks,

Our single 100ah battery has bitten the dust, we have been considering a Roamer 230ah LPO4 battery for some time(because it has internal BMS & BT). Our needs are normally met on a campsite HOWEVER I enjoy long distance eTriking (80% disabled below chest) that can often involve parking up in French/Spanish villages, I go out/back 50km each way then move 100km every other day; normally completing 1600km +. I need the camping car for my catheters etc. I try to avoid the hostels etc on my routes due to my immuno-deficiency. I would like to stick to Victron hardware apart from the battery mentioned, I would be grateful for pointers please.

My 66 year old brain considers the following:

  1. Currently 100w Solar Panel but will change for larger panel (200w should be sufficient) at some point soon. Which MPPT will suit our current & future needs please?

  2. Alternator is a dumb 150A Fiat Ducato unit. So do we need a Victron B2B / DC 2 DC unit please?

  3. Understand that we need a couple of physical isolations … the Victron one looks good (circa €40 each)

  4. I am concerned about Lithium battery safety so understand that a T-Fuse or lesser (read cheaper :+1:) will suffice. Grateful for pointers in this direction please.

  5. Any other advice please on units required to keep the system safe, not looking to make it too impressive (I have Ubiquiti Unifi to stop me being bored :joy:), don’t need a Lithium charger (have 3 decent makes in the garage >10A)

    On the setup we currently enjoy, the Battery & PWM sits below the single seat to the left of the habitation door as you enter. It is not very large (we had 2 x 100ah batteries fitted until I reconsidered the weight!) and shares that square base with a heater trunk. Anything suggested needs to fit inside there please.

Grateful for inputs please,

Kindest regards,

Vernon

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  1. For 200W of panel with a 12V battery you can use the Victron SmartSolar 75/15. This has Bluetooth for settings and monitoring using the VictronConnect app.
  2. You will need an Orion XS DC to DC charger between the starter battery and the lithium battery. This will charge at up to 50A, so it will not overwhelm the alternator. Again this has Bluetooth and works through the VictronConnect app.
  3. i use BlueSea isolation switches but I am marine based, never tried the Victron switch.
  4. batteries with an absolute inbuilt BMS do not have as high a fault current. Have a look at BlueSea MRBF (marine rated battery fuse), these fit onto battery terminal bolts so take up less room, the have a 10,000A fault current which should suffice and are ignition protected for use in.petrol engined boats / vehicles. They are also cheaper than MRBF, make sure to keep a spare on board.
  5. you have said you will have a battery with a Bluetooth BMS, I my view that is necessary so you kno w what the battery is doing. I do not know how good the Roamer BMS is at tracking the battery SOC, dome drop in batteries are poor, you might like to consider a Victron SmartShunt if you find any doubts in this. Make sure your battery location does not get too hot.
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pwfarnell,

Blimey all my Christmas’s at once. Thank you so much for your considered reply. I especially like the fuses, works for me under the KISS principle (after 36 years in the military).
I’ll run through your suggestions tomorrow and price it up (SWMBO has unlocked the piggybank).

Top banana :+1:

Vernon

1 Like
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I should have pointed out for the MRBF fuses you do need to buy the appropriate isolated mount. You have probably worked this out, but just making sure.

https://www.bluesea.com/products/5191/MRBF_Terminal_Fuse_Block_-_30_to_300A

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Thank you. I appreciate your time sir. Vern