Electrical System Debacle - Page 3

arctictraveller · 01-22-2019, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HK33FAN

This is because the alternator output is tapered off drastically as the battery is charged. You have to add solar, shore power and or a generator to supplement your charging needs and extend your battery life.

I agree completely with everything said above. My system has pretty much the same limitations despite having 300W's of solar, but due to a lack of direct sunshine and drive time, I never seem to get back to better than about 85% recharge. My solution is to not worry about it, and let the batteries die a premature death due to over discharge and under recharge. I'm running two 6v golf carts that sell for around $90ea at Costco. Every couple years I simply replace them. Not the best solution, but it's easier and less expensive than upgrading my charging system even further.

PulseofdaNation · 02-11-2019, 09:39 AM

I think I’ve found a spot where I can plug in for the night to finally fully recharge my battery (as much as I can since I’ve probably damaged it’s capacity by now).

Any recommendations on effective, budget-friendly battery chargers I could pick up in a store today or tomorrow? I’ve seen quite a few options out there, such as this B&D model (https://www.homedepot.com/p/BLACK-DECKER-15-Amp-Battery-Charger-with-40-Amp-Engine-Start-BC15BD/205431782), but would appreciate some advice! It’s cold and stormy here and I want to make sure I maintain enough charge to keep running my Espar D2!

1der · 02-11-2019, 09:59 AM

This may be of interest on Bend Craigslist (no affiliation):

https://bend.craigslist.org/ele/d/be...771966749.html

PulseofdaNation · 02-11-2019, 10:34 AM

Looks like a hell of a deal, thanks 1der. Is that going to be overkill for my current system do you think? Or would it be a good addition as I start building up a more robust electrical system?

1der · 02-11-2019, 10:47 AM

Scalf77 likes the Kisae product line. Do you already have an inverter? What do you have and what is the desired goal and budget?

PulseofdaNation · 02-11-2019, 12:41 PM

I have a cheap Modified Sine Inverter right now that I haven’t used the 5 weeks I’ve been living in my van. It would be nice to charge a laptop, but we’re usually pretty good about doing that when we stop at coffee shops and breweries.

Talked with the Craigslist poster and he said he’d be willing to let the Samlex go for $100 brand new in the box. For the capability, I feel like that may too good of a deal to pass up.

Ultimately, I’m most concerned with maintaining the charge on my house battery in the van. After finding a plug for shore power at a local park last night, I’ve decided that finding a solution for charging the battery with shore power for $100 or less is my goal.

1der · 02-11-2019, 01:31 PM

Given $$ and situation - I would get the Samlex unit and cover my bases for charging.

Make sure the temperature sensor is in the box. It needs to be affixed to the location where the batteries are located. Does not have to be on a terminal, just stuck to the side of the battery.

Set the battery profile to the type of battery you have. Mounting closer to batteries means smaller gauge cables. Follow the wire sizing chart in the installation instructions for connecting the charger to the battery (s)

Scalf77 · 02-11-2019, 06:08 PM

For the cost the Samlex unit is probably a good choice. Do you have a AGM battery? Does your vendor have any specific Charge Rate specified. This unit has 50 -amp setting and a half -power or 25 amp setting. ( it would be nice if the charger had more granularity. A .2C rating of your 155 amp Battery would be about 31 amps, Ideally that would be the minimum, so the half power does not quite work. If you have a decent AGM I would not hesitate to try the full 50 amp setting. The to float change over is 10% of charger at 50 % that is 5 amps, ideally you would be based on the size of the battery not the charger.

The unit comes with the absorption mode being set at a 4 hr limit at default. I would set that out to the 8 hr mark to start off. A lot will depend on how long it takes, but it would be better not to timeout before hitting the reduced current trigger. At 50% with a 60 Amp max charge my Lifeline 4D is in Absorption over 5 hrs

If you come over mountains we could give you a hand on install.

PulseofdaNation · 02-11-2019, 06:43 PM

This is the battery I have right now: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00DD...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

From the details on the Amazon page, it looks like it’s Max Charge is 35A... thoughts?

Scalf77 · 02-11-2019, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PulseofdaNation

This is the battery I have right now: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00DD...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

From the details on the Amazon page, it looks like it’s Max Charge is 35A... thoughts?

Yes, it does say max charge or 35 amps, so you should probably set that charger to half power to be safe.

-greg