campervan

Hi all,

I have a van with 3 x 100W fixed solar panels in series charging a 150ah lithium battery via the Victron 100/20 SmartSolar MPPT charger. I am considering adding the ability to charge whilst driving, so looking at adding the Orion-TR Smart 12/12-30A DC-DC charger.

I am a bit confused on the logistics of these two units working together however, with the solar fixed to the roof and potentally giving full output when driving in good sun. Is it fine to wire these two in parallel and let them run simultaneously when driving?

Anything I might be missing here?

Thanks,

Sean

Hi everyone,

I'm setting up a solar system for my cabover camper, and I have a few questions about setting up the solar system in the camper, primarily regarding the wiring and fusing of the system. I have the following components:

- 190W Rich Solar panel

- Victron MPPT 100/15 charge controller

- IP22 charger for charging when on shore power

- Victron Orion TR 12/12-30 DC-to-DC converter for charging from the truck alternator

- 12V, 100Ah Battleborn LiFePO4 battery

- Victron Phoenix 12/375 DC-AC Inverter

- Victron Bluetooth smart battery sense (not shown in the schematics)

The devices that will be powered from this system are:

- From the inverter: only oxygen generator (rated at 100W)

- From 12V DC :

• Lights
• Water pump
• Fan/pilot for the gas heater
• Pilot for the gas fridge (maybe the fridge itself, not sure what is the consumption)
• All alarms (gas, fire, CO)

- AC will only be powered when on shore power.

I'm planning to install positive and negative busbars in the battery compartment and connect the positive from the battery to the busbar using 60A MEGA fuse and AWG6 wire. The solar panel input to MPPT will be fused with 20A inline circuit breaker, and all wires are AWG10. The inverter will be fused with a 40A circuit breaker on AWG8 wire. A few questions that I have for the esteemed members of the community are:

1. Should the inputs from IP22 and Orion TR to the battery also be fused? Both put out 30A charging current, if they do, I assume 40A fuse would work?
2. Is 60A MEGA fuse for the battery positive terminal too small? Looking at the inverter, it is rated for 375W which divided by 12V is 31.25A, but the manual says that it can support peak 700W, which is almost 60A, so both the inverter and battery fuse may be undersized in the schematics.
3. I planned to connect OrionTR and IP22 at a location close to where the 7-pin cable comes into the camper. Can MPPT output be connected to the same place, or should it go on the busbar close to the battery? My logic is that I will either charge the battery from the shore power, or from the truck, but never from both at the same time. Solar on the other hand will charge continuously during the day, so I would have two charging sources, which also brings up a question if AWG6 cable should be thicker and if they need to be fused should the fuse take into account maximum output of IP22/Orion and MPPT (45amps)?
4. Anything else that I'm missing/have overlooked?

I would really appreciate all your suggestions/corrections to help me connect all of the components!

-Darko

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Hello everyone,

I've spent a good while trying to learn what will be required for my setup and would really appreciate someone answering a few questions and taking a look over my proposed setup.

I will be using the 100ah Lifepo4 smart battery, this will be charged using the Orion-TR Smart DC-DC Charger via the Alternator. The Battery will power both DC and AC loads through the Sargent EC155 and the Victrons Phoenix Inverter; where im stuck is working out whats actually required in such a small system?

I have a decent understanding of 12v campervan electrics, however it seems it isn't quite so simple when using Lithium Lifepo3 batteries - I've attached a basic diagram of what the system will include on the Victron side (please ignore the direction of arrows).

The build will include basic 12v appliances such as a 12v fridge, water pump, LED lighting and a small inverter - most small appliances will be ran via the Sargent EC155. Heres where i'm struggling:

1- The van will include a 240v hookup which will run through the Sargent ec155 powering plug sockets and charging the leisure battery - Will this charger be sufficient for Lifepo4 batteries?

2- Do I need a Smart Battery Shunt if I'm using Victrons Smart Lifepo4 batteries?

3- What size fuse will I require for a 100ah Lifepo4 battery?

4- Am I right that the Mini BMS controls (on/off to protect over/under voltage) the charging side of the system and does the same on the load side via the Battery protect? I'm a little puzzled as to how this should be wired up to operate the inverter via the remote function; I've seen people using relays etc.

5- Can I run both the Waeco fridge and all other 12v appliances through one battery protect?

Thanks in advance,

Phil

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As I am currently building a system with the Cerbo GX in mind, I plan to integrate the HS2000 heater by wiring this in to the Cerbo's relay switch. I thought it would be a nice idea to control this prior to my arrival at the van and heat it up 10 minutes or so before. This got me thinking if there was a way of integrating the heaters thermostat controls in to the Cerbo? Not sure how this would work, I am hoping someone would have a suggestion. I like the idea of reducing as many displays and control panels as possible, freeing up as much wall space in my campervan as possible.

Dear Victron community,

I’m going to use a Pylontech UP2500 (24V) in a campervan = offgrid system. Please find attached the first version of my electrical diagram.

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I've read carefully the document written by Victron staff on how to parameter GX system in DVCC mode (https://www.victronenergy.com/live/battery_compatibility:pylontech_phantom)

I used a full Victron system in the past, the Vebus BMS was able to stop charge/discharge process automatically, and I would like to do the same thing in my setup thanks to the Cerbo GX.

Unfortunately, products such as Orion Charger/converter or battery protect don’t have any VE BUS or CAN communication port to allow direct charge/discharge communication. But both has the capability of being switched remotely. My idea is to use the two relays in alarm mode of the Cerbo to trigger the switch of the Orion and Battery protect in case of error sent by the Pylontech BMS.

For instance, in case of the Orion Tr Smart charger, wire the H pin (Figure c.3 manual).

Do you have any suggestion for this particular setup ? My French Victron distributor told me it was technically feasible but any advice is welcomed.

Vincent

Hi, for my campervan, I am installing a Victron Atlas Combi (charger/inverter 12-> 230v) and a Victron BlueSolar MPPT.

I have some questions on this:
- Should the AGM battery be connected directly to the Atlas Combi or via the 'load' of the MPPT?
- Should 12V accessories be connected on the 'load' of the MPPT or directly on the Atlas Combi?
- Is there somewhere a schema of a similar setup (PV, MPPT, charger/inverter, utility battery, start battery, 12V system, 230V system)

Hi, Just wondering if it is possible or advisable to use the lithium version of the cyrix-ct with a SLA house battery.

Im considering this because adding a lithium house battery soon. I understand I would need to control the BMS wire of the relay to enable the relay to close.

Looks like the enable / disable voltage would work with lead acid being 13.4-13.2v

Thanks, Mike

Hi All,

I would appreciate any advise as I am trying to get my head around my Camper set up.

I have just bought a full system from a supplier, however I suspect that they did not fully understand the functionality of the Cerbo GX that they recommended me and as a result they have also sold me some items I don't need, and probably left me short other items.

So my set up looks like this -

2 x 165Amp Hour Batteries

Solar to MPPT Controller

Multi Plus 12/2000/80 - with the Digital Multi Control remote panel

Battery Monitoring BMV 712

Cerbo GX with GX Touch 50 screen

Based on my research, if I just connect the Multi Plus to the Cerbo GX, can I do without the DMC remote control panel? Can I switch the Multi Plus to 'Charge Only' mode from the Cerbo GX 50?

Also, I want to put some water tank level senders into the Fresh & Waste water tanks - what type of sender units do I need? Can they be connected directly to the Cerbo or do I need another unit?

Any help is much appreciated.

I'm converting a Van to an office/camper.

I just finished planning my energy system (Or at least think so) and maybe someone here wants to have a look and comment on whether it makes sense? Or maybe give suggestions to improve it?

Energy requirements are between 500-1000Wh per day, depending on usage. And it's mostly used to power a fridge, a diesel heater, lights and some computer equipment. When the sun is shining or the batteries are well charged for other reasons I'm also thinking to do some light cooking which i think might add another 200-500Wh.

The target is to be able to cover about 4 days before needing to charge again, even with bad weather and no driving involved.

Elektrik_3.pdf

Hi guys,

We are transforming an old (1997) American School bus to a Campervan / RV / Mobilehome.

We decided to use a 12V system (so no 24V or 48V) because of all kind of equipment we already have.

We have installed 18 flat and bendable solar panels (100W - 18V from a Chinese vendor) on the roof, they are all connected to a Victron Smart MPPT 250/100. the potential total capacity would be 1800W exceeding the 100A (12x 100W = 1200W), but keep in mind that these are Chinese (Ali Express), our tests show roughly 50% - 60% of their specified '100W' performance on a sunny day.

We also bought the following items:

Victron Smart Lithium 12.8V / 200Ah battery
Victron BMS VE.Bus
Victron Smart Phoenix Inverter 12V/3000W
Victron Smart Battery Protect 12V/220A
Victron Smart Phoenix Charger 12V/50A (1+1)

The idea is be to fully off-the-grid capable, even on days with less sun (therefore the solar panel overkill, and because we simply have a very big roof).

I do have quite some experience with electric systems in general (both AC and DC) but I'm not 100% sure about the VE.bus wiring. So it would be very helpfull if someone could help me with some wiring schema / diagram.

Regards,

Kasper Schoonman

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Hi friendly and knowledgeable folks,

I’m new to solar and when I first connected the system - 285w panel to 100/20 controller to 210Ah sealed lead acid battery the controller was happy pumping 74w plus to the battery.

Now that battery is full and been on float for a few days, even on sunny days I’m only getting 2w to 4W readings (see pic)

Is that normal cos battery is full and I’m not using any consumables in my camper yet?

Let me know what the gurus think. I appreciate your comments.

Cheers

Ed

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My RV has tank level sensors. 4 pins installed on tank. Each has a resistor connected to it. (except for common)

the bottom 2 pins are at same level. The current system uses 12vdc and it will read 8 vdc when they are both wet. The next pin up is 2/3 level and drop to 6vdc, and 4th pin drops to 4vdc.

So if I remove power and just use the resistances. I should be able to get some reading either NA standard or EU?

the bottom 2 pins have a 0 ohm value when jumped. @ 1/3 level

the next has a 68 ohm valve when jumped to common.

top sensor pin is 188ohm when jumped to common.

I believe this should give 256 ohm when full. and 0 when 1/3 or just slightly off 0 ohm.

I've seen many ppl ask about camper style tank sensors and I think this is what most are referring to. There is no way I can get to my tanks to install float style sensors. And if its any more than building a resistor pack to change the values. I would just stay with the original KIB Tank Monitor system.

It sure would be nice to have it all in the same display.

(Currently have venus/multiplus/bmv-712/mppt 100/50- venus is temporary until cerbo arrives in Canada in August from what I'm told)

Hi just installed a single 285W solar panel on my camper and on first reading I saw that it’s producing 36V....

is this OK for the 100/20 controller? I’m storing onto a AGM 210Ah leisure battery. Is this controller OK for this panel?

I’ve looked at the app setting and I only have 12/24V options with currently 12V on.

Is this OK?

Thanks

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I have purchased a victron system for my van conversion. I have a 50 amp buck/boost and the run from vehicle battery is 4.5m. I have at the moment a 200amph victron lifepo but intend to add another 200amph. What size cable should I use from vehicle battery to buck boost. I will upload my schematics

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We are 1 month old DIY Wizards seeking wisdom from the masters, I hope this diagram is appropriate to post here, if not I’ll remove. Im very excited to study such a new and expansive field of life. Mega fuses will be in the Lynx and some of these breakers may be removed. I’m currently studying BMS and current candidates are REC, Batrium, Smart123, and Orion.

Dear all,

here my idea for the electrification of the Van. First of all, do you see some error in the design? If yes, please correct me if I did something wrong. I have still some doubt:

• A 24V 300Wp PV will manage to charge a Victron GEL 12/220Ah battery completely considering a normal spring/summer/autumn/winter day?
• Are the cables area correct considering the cables lengths?
• Do I need to put in the schema other fuses along the cables?
• Where do you suggest to use a manual circuit breaker?
• Is the interconnection of the MultiPlus correct? It is ok a 125A fuse?
• Which kind of AC Circuit Breaker do I need to consider for such MultiPlus?

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I have 4 x 100 amp AGM batteries set to charge via a relay and our monitor is the BMV 712 smart. My house battery keeps draining and doesn't seem to charge at all. Is there something I need to program for the relay to charge the battery. What am I missing?

Hello,

I am in the middle of making an elektrical schematic for on of my camperbuilds. In this build I would like to use an lithium battery.

I am using an Liontron 130Amp battery with build in BMS

Victron Smartsolar 100/20

Victron Multiplus 800VA

Victron BVM 712 Smart

Victron Battery Protect 3 x

Votronic B2B charger

300 watt Solar panel

To protect the LifePo4 battery I am using 3 x an Battery Protect in this scheme.

My question is: is this overkill and if not are they in the correct position?

The Votronic B2B charger wich I am using is not working via an battery protect, because it has a build in safety system and it will cut of charging when the temperature or charging levels are getting to high.

Because I am not using an Victron battery :( I can't use an Victron BMS or Mini BMS or VE-BMS etc.

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Now I found another build online, although this is not with an LiFEPo4 battery they are just using 1 battery protect. Mounted directly on the battery +30, I thought an battery protect could only work 1 way, so either charging or de-charging protection? Does this build on the picture below mounted correctly?

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I am looking forward to an reaction! :)

Thank you, Maarten

Hi all

I'm planning on installing a leisure battery system to my 2012 Vw T5.1. I've decided to go down the LIFePo4 route and have bought a Tn Power 84Ah battery ,Victron Orion-Tr Smart 12/12-30 dc to dc charger and a Victron IP65 Blue smart charger.

My understanding of leisure battery systems comes from older setups,so please bear with me.

I'm planning on running a 16mm fused + feed to the leisure battery under the drivers seat. It will also be earthed here at a factory earthing stud. I also plan to run my 240v feed to here to power the IP65 charger. The Tr smart charger will then be wired to + on the leisure battery (also fused) and then grounded to the same stud as the leisure battery. I'm not sure I fully understand the remote on/off switch's function as a ignition on override? I had planned in stalling a simple low voltage switch here so I can leave the leisure battery unconnected in cold temperatures. I would then activate the charger only when the ambient temp is above freezing.

Is it as simple as connecting the IP65 charger directly to the leisure battery ? I know that this will charger my leisure battery up when hooked up,but will it damge the dc to dc charger in any way? Also when I am hooked up will the IP65 charge up my starter battery, via the Tr smart ,after the leisure is fully charged?

Apologies for the muddled thinking in the above,but things seem to have gotten way more complicated lately

Regards

David

Hello all,

I put all the bits I have in a drawing but not I need to figure out the wiring. I know some of this can use V.E. Direct and some V.E. Bus but still not sure what connects to what and more importantly the proper wire gauge.

All thoughts are welcome

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Hello folks, a couple of questions. I have a VW camper with a solar panel c/w Bluesmart 75/15 MPPT controller connected to a SuperB Lithium 90Ah battery with built in BMS. I need to add a mains (240V) charger & am looking at either the Bluesmart IP22 12/15 or the Bluesmart IP65 12/15. Reading through the instruction manual for the IP35 version, I see that a "Test" is carried out prior to charge commencing,:-

The TEST LED will flash as long as a charge pulse does

not increase battery voltage to more than 12,5V resp. 25V.

If the flashing persists during several minutes the battery is

probably damaged (internal short-circuit): disconnect the

charger.

A false rejection may occur if a load is simultaneously

draining a very weak or fully discharged battery during the

test phase: disconnect the load and repeat the test.

Question:-

1) If during the test phase, the solar charger is charging the battery, would the IP65 12/15 charger see the increased battery voltage & assume a fault & fail the test?

2) Is the IP35 version designed to run in parallel with other charging sources? If not, would the IP22 version suffer the same problem?

3) The charger will be permanently hardwired to the to the battery. Depending on circumstances it's highly likely that the charger maybe powered up whilst loads are simultaneously connected, (fridge/lights/diesel heater etc.) these loads may be running during the "test" phase, would this be an issue for either charger in question?

4) If the "test" fails, does the charger lockout until the next power up cycle or does it retry after a period of time?

5) Is there a more suitable charger for the application, it must be Lithium capable & be suitable for permanent installation in a small space, preferably fan-less.

Thanks for any help.

Hi All,

Apologies if these basic questions have been asked/answered many times before!

Converting VW t5.1 Caravelle into a camper (standard alternator).

We are intending to install the charging/power components in our camper in stages, party due to time and partly due to costs. We're keeping our electrical items simple, fridge, water pump, lighting, wifi booster, phone charging (no TV, microwave, kettle, hair straighteners etc).

Phase 1: Leisure Battery, Cyrix-ct 120A Combiner, BMV-712 Battery Monitor (individual electrical item switch/fuse board) and Phoenix 12/375 Inverter.

Phase 2: Solar Panels, SmartSolar MPPT

Phase 3: 240v mains (this is something we may consider in the future, and I've not really researched this yet).

Hopefully we're on the right track, but if there's anything crucial I've missed, or there's something we could install now that is multi functional and would save us time/money further down the road please let me know.

Thank you in advance for any help of advice!

Pam

Hi All. The scenario is as follows:

We currently have a Cyrix-ct 12/24-230 connected in a Toyota Land Cruiser 79. This Cyrix charges the batteries in a caravan being towed (Via Brad Harrison connectors on caravan A-Frame). This works perfectly.

We now have a second bank of batteries in the back of the Land Crusier (2 x 125Ah). These power fridges in the back of the Land Cruiser.

Can the charging power of the Cyrix be split to charge the Land Cruiser's 2 batteries AND the caravan batteries (2 x 230Ah) simultaneously.... I have Argofet isolators available as well that can be fitted, if this solves the problem...

Thanks

I just bought Gel battery 130 Ah - BAT412121084. In the datasheet it looks like this is the C20 (in German K20) value. My charger requires the C100 (K100) value to be entered. I've read on some places that I can get it by multiplying 130x1.125=146.25 Ah. Is that correct or I can find more accurate source of this value ?

So I have a camper with a built-in AC - DC converter to charge the battery.

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I want to add solar two of these https://www.amazon.com/Mighty-Max-Battery-Watts-Solar/dp/B01HHDC6NQ?pf_rd_p=ce125b32-6eda-4c46-b222-8e405f455858&pd_rd_wg=k4ssw&pf_rd_r=Z0KE2Y2H7DFZY2SPSC7D&ref_=pd_gw_hfp13n_bbn&pd_rd_w=ntgMY&pd_rd_r=fc184b3d-79e3-4052-857d-42f17883413a

and I was thinking about getting this one.. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076N5PTBN/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B076N5PTBN&pd_rd_w=XmWf8&pf_rd_p=8a8f3917-7900-4ce8-ad90-adf0d53c0985&pd_rd_wg=osiYm&pf_rd_r=AHXQEWK65NJKPRR4ZYFE&pd_rd_r=d20e2e79-72c1-11e9-88f1-c5c4d7a27c00&smid=AERMGYAT5R869

so I think how I want to set it up is.. both the output from the campers converter and the solar into the input of the victron converter.. then the batteries on their port and the campers load on the load port... I think..

But I think the input will be too high...

ultimately I want the BT of the CC to monitor the power consumption and battery charge. how should i hook this up for both boon-docking or powered setup?

Hi I have just purchased an Blue Smart IP22 Charger 30A (3) to use in my camper van. I was wondering what size cables should I install to charge the batteries? One battery is <1m away and 12V 75Ah, the second battery is about 4m away and 12V 100Ah. Also I guess it should be Ok to just ground the negative to the chassis?

Dear community,

I'm setting up a campervan and actually I'm curious about electronics but still have a question about this problem.

I want to charge my AGM Battery mainly via solar. Therefore I've got the MPPT 100/20. Input is the Panel, Battery is the AGM and Load are all consumers.

Parallel to this I want to charge the battery (AGM) while driving an the weather is bad so I can be sure my battery is loaded. Therefore I'm using the Orion-TR 12-12-9 with a manual switch.

Actually everything should work, but I'm not sure about the fused inputs and outputs and the solar panel.

What do you think?

Cheers Mario

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Hi,

I am currently converting a van to a campervan and I am currently designing the electrical system. My estimation for a full day consumption is around 250Ah @12V. I was considering installing 640W of solar panels with 320Ah of battery. But to ease the initial investment I want to be able to initially install only 320W of solar panel and a 160Ah battery.

My requirements are in line with the general requirements for this kind of application, batteries to be charger by solar power, shore power and alternator.

After some research on Victron website I got this list of critical items:

Initial setup:

• 2x 160W-12V Mono 1480x673×35mm series 3a
• 1x LiFePO4 battery 12,8V/160Ah - Smart
• 1x SmartSolar MPPT 150/45
• 1x MultiPlus 12/3000/120-16
• 1x VE.Bus BMS
• 1x Smart BatteryProtect 12/24V 65A
• 1x Cyrix-Li-ct 12/24V-120A combiner
• 1x BMV-712 Smart

Upgrade:

• 2x 160W-12V Mono 1480x673×35mm series 3a
• 1x LiFePO4 battery 12,8V/160Ah – Smart (in parallel with the first one)

Any advice regarding my setup?

1. I considered the use of a Multiplus instead of a charger + inverter, is it the recommended approach for this kind of builds?
2. Are the monocrystalline solar panels recomended for this kind of application instead of the polycrystalline?
3. Is there any component on this list that is optional for this kind of setup? Or any critical component that I missed out?
4. Can I mount to lithium batteries in parallel, considering that they will have different characteristics? The second one could be bought years after the first one.
5. Is this setup valid if I use AGM batteries instead of lithium batteries?
6. The use of only one smart battery defeats the purpose of a BMV-712 Smart? Is the same information available is a connect to the Bluetooth of the battery?
7. How can I extract the raw information of all these devices to a server running in the van?

Thank you.

Good morning, I wanted to ask the victronenergy professional staff if I can use my Phoenix inverter, running with my camper.

The system consists of a 300 watt solar panel with mppt regulator, and the service battery connected to the engine battery with a 200 amper relay, like the victronenergy cyrix, but of another brand.

The Phoenix is connected directly to the service battery.

There are contraindications using the Phoenix with the engine running, and with the alternator??

I do not think so, but some told me not to do it.

Thanks for answering.

Hi,

Following a setup I am building for a campervan I have a question regarding the selection of the right MultiPlus for my application. [1]

I am considering the MultiPlus C 12/2000/80-30 and the MultiPlus 12/3000/120-16.

As I only have one LiFePO4 battery 12,8V/160Ah – Smart, can I use a Multiplus 12/3000 as the recommend maximum continuous discharge current for this battery is 160A? Or will be input current be limited to 120A?

Thank you.

[1] https://community.victronenergy.com/questions/3143/complete-system-architecture-for-campervan-640w-so.html