I built a 560Ah lifepo setup myself for my caravan, it's only fed by a 1kW PV but I got a renogy dc-dc / b2b charger as well I can recommend. Comes in 30A or 50A charging current versions which also support hooking up a solar panel or a 60A version without PV support. They're the most powerful out there right now I believe and used by many up north only relying on it as their only power source.
Thanks again for this, i had a look and didn't knew about this manufacturer. Looks definately interesting with this combo in one unit. I will look further into this.
@@Braapncamp My pleasure! Yes, I'm using it for days also when the sun is low, and basically everything. But I'm a non-fishing vegan. (: I do not know of any more powerful charger and you get a lot for the money you spend. One can push a lot of power into lithium batteries only chargers are the bottleneck, which unfortunately involves too much driving I think. Lyn
@@Braapncamp Yes I do, the 160W monocrystalline ones. Main reason being that they had a guarantee on the power output for 25 years and the offer was good. I stay in contact with others building large pv setups and renogy so far was very close to their advertised performance. I do not think that it matters much which brand combination you pick, the max voltage is 25Vin but all "12V panels" have a open-circuit voltage of 20-22V when there is no load on them. So any of them is fine or multiple of them on parallel connectors.
Perfekt, tack så mycket! Skulle vilja byta till lithium i vår Adria Twin (2014), men har inte fått riktigt klart för mig exakt hur eller vad jag måste göra för att få det att funka. Ser fram emot fortsättningen!
Tack, på en så tidig bil har du ingen smartgenerator, vilket jag har. Din EBL kommer inte att vara optimal heller och har du solceller är troligtvis inte den regulatorn optimal. En vän har troligtvis samma förutsättning som du och han har bara satt i sitt LiFePo4 batteri och är nöjd. Börjar du i den ändan kommer du att märka vad du behöver. Mitt batteri skyddar sig självt från fel användning, över och under spänning. De tester jag gjort hittills utan att göra något visar att jag vill ha en DC-DC (B2B) laddare och troligtvis en 230v laddare istället för den genom EBL. Jag kommer att komma till hur jag gör stegvis. Mycket nöjd så långt iallafall då det funkar men skall optimeras.
I read somewhere that the camper vans electronics are not to happy with the Lithium batteries? Mercedes does not recommend it in their vans? I guess you have much more insight in this issue than me, but this would be great to hear your thoughts about it? Nice to see and learn how I could adjust my own van when I order one. Cheers Tjommi.
This could be the case, but the battery output voltage is within the range that most electronics accept. The battery though, does not like non optimized charging from different possible charging sources.
@@Braapncamp Lots of MB vans using lithium over here in Canada. Mattias, I installed a Sterling B2B charger when I built out my Sprinter. It works perfect with all batteries so I highly recommend the brand. I just replaced my AGM (315 AH) with two new AGM 450AH. I have two 100 watt Solar panels on the roof and I seem to be able to go for 5 days in mixed light condition using Fridge,Fan, Water Pump, a little Convection cooking and charging electronics. I did not do Lithium because of price but I may next time. One think I noticed in your Video is the gauge of your wires coming off of the battery, they seem to be very small. I'll e-mail you some photo's of my electrical room in my Van.
@@jamesprecious1035 Cool, please do. I will look up that DC-DC charger as well. I will beef up the wires when changing charging system. For now it's low current charging. Fuse is in place. This set up equals to approx 325 Ah AGM. Fascinating to have full overview of the battery thru the BT connected app. I also see full history, will do a follow up video of this and how it develops. Had solar on the former RV, but will go with DC-DC first and see if I need solar. I will dig in to if I will go with 12-12 30, 50 or70.
@@Braapncamp This is the best part about the internett... share knowledge like this and educate your self on stuff in so many ways. Great stuff mate. 🔥
Tackar, jag köpte det på Energilandet. Har kanske lagt en Amazonlänk i videobeskrivningen? Men där tror jag att det bara fanns 100Ah, vilket i sig faktiskt räcker för de flesta. Jag stod 5 dagar i skogen denna veckan med värme på och mycket belysning, laddade alla prylar. Hade 70% av 161Ah kvar i batteriet när det var dags att åka hem. Med B2B laddboostern så laddades batteriet upp i princip helt på hemvägen.
It’s a lot to learn about lithium batteries. They have a lot of pros but for what I can understand from your video, not complete plug and play. But I am sure you figure out what works best in the van.
Yupp Joones, i will figure out how to optimize the system for my use or even to get the most out of it beyond my needs. I will take it in steps forward.
Ahhhhh nu blev jag avundsjuk ju! Mycket intressant storlek 150ah 🤔 Hur gick det med transport och övrigt när du beställt från Tyskland? Vart köpte du batteriet?
Jag köpte det via Energilandet som är återförsäljare i Sverige. Det är tydligen rykande åtgång. Det stod tillgängligt inom 5-7 dagar, men det tog nära en månad att få det till uppfarten. Just transporten verkar vara den trånga sektorn just nu (också). Energilandet gjorde vad de kunde. Men det blev ju bra till slut. Nu börjar redan till att få laddningen bättre anpassad. Mitt AGM var ju helt slut på en 3 år gammal bil, så det var dags för byte helt enkelt och då är det ju ingen idé att köpa på sig mer sådant när behovet av energi är stort. Vi fricampar ju mest eller åtminstone mer sällan tillgång till el. Vintercampandet gör ju sitt med såklart.
Hej, nej den funktionen behövs inte. Om batteriet skulle vara kallt när bilen stått och inte vill medge laddning, då sätter du på full belysning i bilen och eller sätter igång pannan. Då blir batteriet varmt inuti av urladdning samt att det blir varmt när bilen värms upp. Jag har aldrig haft något problem med detta och batteriet skyddar sig självt via BMS.
Yes, thru a MPPT regulator that have a charging profile for lithium battery. Which most of them have. That is a common set up, but not really the most prioritized since you already have an alternator on the engine, so I begin with optimizing charging from that source. Wintertime the solar panels are useless flat on an RV roof. Summertime the energy needs are not as much as at the winter. But with that said, a solar panel set up will be a step as well, it allows us to be even more offgrid or keep the battery in shape over long time (though this battery type has a great standby performance).
I had solar on our previous RV and i definately dod good. Especially with the set up i had. But at time for the moose hunting season it did not power up enough. I'm into a portable solar panel (maybe) since that could be directed towards the sun.
Yes have been watching at 150-200W folding panels with mppt. Could be thrown up inside the front window or outside. But I have not decided yet. No hurry with that. But it is preppy. At our vacation trips we could be offgrid for 30 days. Only needed to fill water and empty the waste cassette two times a week (3 persons).
Great battery I like the app on this one probably didnt need to install my battery monitor with this app. Still got a lot to do on my van electrics before I get the Lithium battery. From my research so far the problem with the EBL is it stays on float charging which is fine for AGM/GEL batteries but not Lithium. These batteries last longer if the charging is turned off when they are fully charged. They also last longer if they are not kept at 100% charge all the time. So you can see the EBL will eventually lower the life expectancy on the battery. As for the B2B, Lithium battery will pull as much current as they want from any circuit. If you have a very low charged Lithium battery it may try to pull up to 100 amps from your alternator. This will eventually burn out your alternator solder joints and can cause serous damage to your vans wiring. This is the main reason for the B2B to limit the current flow, I am looking at Renogy for this. Like you said for mains charging I am looking at disconnecting the EBL and using a Victorn bluesmart 30Amp charger. Anyway nice to see you have this setup now. Like the battery under the seat more space for other electronics. Look forward to seeing you next setup.
Thanks for your comments Stephen! My EBL 208 is even less suitable than the 211 that you probably have. I do not leave the van hooked up for now because of that reason. The alternator does not give enough and no worry to burn if not installing a charger that draw like 75A that is about max for this battery. 50A is optimal for battery. B2B with 50A and MPPT from Renogy looks the way to go, you cam also set this unit to lower charge amps if wanted. Only drawback with that unit is the 25V max from solar, but I'm fine with that. I just upgraded the app and it's even better now than from the video. Full history of everything. Great to have started and look fwd to follow your set up. Solar is less important than an optimal B2B in the prio order.
@@Braapncamp You are making me rethink my route. I was going solar first then Lithium but might now go Lithium then solar. Like you we like to move about a lot so solar is only needed if I am stationary for more than 3 days. I like the battery app you have but see they do not have a UK branch. will start looking around for similar in UK
I had solar om the previous RV and ofc it's nice and helps. But fpr most this is a better start and with a good B2B the battery will be topped up. Wintertine, the solar is useless, at keast here. From the end of september to mid march the consumtion is larger than the solar charges. At the moose hunt in mid Oct i use to stay 7-9 days offgrid in the woods, the solar did not help me much. I have to bring a power generator. In summertime though, i could be offgrid for 30 days with the solars. (Moving every day or stay a couple). Even if the charging system i have now is not otimal at all it still charges this battery better than it does with a AGM due to the time it takes to top such a battery. For you that probably have a 211 elektroblock it could be fine with a switch mounted on the charge wire. The 211 have a 14,4V charge setting, then just switch off when you reach full or want to store the battery at 80%.
@@Braapncamp Interesting idea about the charge switch on the EBL. This will save buying a Lithium charger. Might even look into building a voltage sensing switch to do this automatically. I have decided on the Victron Orion Smart DC-DC charger for the van side as I do like the Bluetooth connection and I already have the Victron MTTP with Bluetooth. Great thing with the Victorn is you can add a second DC-DC in parallel, just need to see what rating the alternator is on the van. However I don't think I will need a second one. Now just need to find a good Lithium battery in UK.
Yes, i'm not completely happy with the idea of needing a switch either. Should be plug and forget solution. I like to have the fridge on 230V when at home. We seldom empty the fridge in the van since we use it every week.
There’s a Chanel on here called John and Mandy on tour, he had the same charge control as you , and he fitted a victron b2b charger to work along with the original one, maybe of use to you
Thanks, it could be of help. The question is not if I need it. it's which one, I have had a look at it but I concider charge rate and different brands 👍.
I had a look Matt, interesting with the parallel charging of the existing charger. But thats how it works if you have solar as well, so that makes sense. Very pedagogic video by John.
@@Braapncamp Also good person on here is will powse. he is like a guru in solar energy. I believe he also runs the forum diysolarforum.com/ which is a good source of information. Search on Will powse for the b2b Renogy controller.
Om man nu har dc-dc laddare i bilen är det bara att sätta den på Lithium och byta ut batteriet så är allt frid och fröjd, eller måste man göra något mer. ( hittar inte din fortsättning, kanske inte kommit ut än) fd. Rimorist
Hej Christer, kul att se dig här. Är dc-dc laddaren inställd på lithium är just den delen ok. Jag fick koppla ur 230v sladden in till EBL, då batteriet inte gillade min äldre EBL 208. 211 är bättre. Men det gör inget. Är kag inkopplad på 230V så går ju kylen och jag har 230V i uttagen ändå, samt att pannan element fungerar. Jag behöver inte mer laddning än vad generatorn ger. Solcell har jag ibte behövt då jag sällan står still så länge att det behövs. Har du det får du kolla så att den regulatorn är rätt inställd.
I built a 560Ah lifepo setup myself for my caravan, it's only fed by a 1kW PV but I got a renogy dc-dc / b2b charger as well I can recommend. Comes in 30A or 50A charging current versions which also support hooking up a solar panel or a 60A version without PV support. They're the most powerful out there right now I believe and used by many up north only relying on it as their only power source.
Thanks for the tip lyn1337, i have not looked in to that one. Will habe a look at it. 560Ah is serious, are you out fishing for weeks? 👌😁
Thanks again for this, i had a look and didn't knew about this manufacturer. Looks definately interesting with this combo in one unit. I will look further into this.
@@Braapncamp My pleasure! Yes, I'm using it for days also when the sun is low, and basically everything. But I'm a non-fishing vegan. (: I do not know of any more powerful charger and you get a lot for the money you spend. One can push a lot of power into lithium batteries only chargers are the bottleneck, which unfortunately involves too much driving I think. Lyn
Do You use Renoge solars as well? Those looks optimized for the max 25V in to the mppt.
@@Braapncamp Yes I do, the 160W monocrystalline ones. Main reason being that they had a guarantee on the power output for 25 years and the offer was good. I stay in contact with others building large pv setups and renogy so far was very close to their advertised performance.
I do not think that it matters much which brand combination you pick, the max voltage is 25Vin but all "12V panels" have a open-circuit voltage of 20-22V when there is no load on them. So any of them is fine or multiple of them on parallel connectors.
Perfekt, tack så mycket! Skulle vilja byta till lithium i vår Adria Twin (2014), men har inte fått riktigt klart för mig exakt hur eller vad jag måste göra för att få det att funka. Ser fram emot fortsättningen!
Tack, på en så tidig bil har du ingen smartgenerator, vilket jag har. Din EBL kommer inte att vara optimal heller och har du solceller är troligtvis inte den regulatorn optimal. En vän har troligtvis samma förutsättning som du och han har bara satt i sitt LiFePo4 batteri och är nöjd. Börjar du i den ändan kommer du att märka vad du behöver. Mitt batteri skyddar sig självt från fel användning, över och under spänning. De tester jag gjort hittills utan att göra något visar att jag vill ha en DC-DC (B2B) laddare och troligtvis en 230v laddare istället för den genom EBL. Jag kommer att komma till hur jag gör stegvis. Mycket nöjd så långt iallafall då det funkar men skall optimeras.
Snygg keps mannen och en proffsig vid.
Hehe, den kepsen går inte av för hackor Majk! Tack kompis 💪
I read somewhere that the camper vans electronics are not to happy with the Lithium batteries? Mercedes does not recommend it in their vans? I guess you have much more insight in this issue than me, but this would be great to hear your thoughts about it? Nice to see and learn how I could adjust my own van when I order one. Cheers Tjommi.
This could be the case, but the battery output voltage is within the range that most electronics accept. The battery though, does not like non optimized charging from different possible charging sources.
@@Braapncamp Lots of MB vans using lithium over here in Canada. Mattias, I installed a Sterling B2B charger when I built out my Sprinter. It works perfect with all batteries so I highly recommend the brand. I just replaced my AGM (315 AH) with two new AGM 450AH. I have two 100 watt Solar panels on the roof and I seem to be able to go for 5 days in mixed light condition using Fridge,Fan, Water Pump, a little Convection cooking and charging electronics. I did not do Lithium because of price but I may next time. One think I noticed in your Video is the gauge of your wires coming off of the battery, they seem to be very small. I'll e-mail you some photo's of my electrical room in my Van.
@@jamesprecious1035 Cool, please do. I will look up that DC-DC charger as well. I will beef up the wires when changing charging system. For now it's low current charging. Fuse is in place. This set up equals to approx 325 Ah AGM. Fascinating to have full overview of the battery thru the BT connected app. I also see full history, will do a follow up video of this and how it develops. Had solar on the former RV, but will go with DC-DC first and see if I need solar. I will dig in to if I will go with 12-12 30, 50 or70.
Thanks for the photos, looked very tidy! Looked at LivingTheVanlife's new rig and set up. A powerplant 👌👍.
@@Braapncamp This is the best part about the internett... share knowledge like this and educate your self on stuff in so many ways. Great stuff mate. 🔥
Halloj. Tack för en bra kanal 😃 Har du en länk till batteriet eller säljaren där du köpte det?
Tackar, jag köpte det på Energilandet. Har kanske lagt en Amazonlänk i videobeskrivningen? Men där tror jag att det bara fanns 100Ah, vilket i sig faktiskt räcker för de flesta. Jag stod 5 dagar i skogen denna veckan med värme på och mycket belysning, laddade alla prylar. Hade 70% av 161Ah kvar i batteriet när det var dags att åka hem. Med B2B laddboostern så laddades batteriet upp i princip helt på hemvägen.
It’s a lot to learn about lithium batteries. They have a lot of pros but for what I can understand from your video, not complete plug and play. But I am sure you figure out what works best in the van.
Yupp Joones, i will figure out how to optimize the system for my use or even to get the most out of it beyond my needs. I will take it in steps forward.
Ahhhhh nu blev jag avundsjuk ju!
Mycket intressant storlek 150ah 🤔
Hur gick det med transport och övrigt när du beställt från Tyskland?
Vart köpte du batteriet?
Jag köpte det via Energilandet som är återförsäljare i Sverige. Det är tydligen rykande åtgång. Det stod tillgängligt inom 5-7 dagar, men det tog nära en månad att få det till uppfarten. Just transporten verkar vara den trånga sektorn just nu (också). Energilandet gjorde vad de kunde. Men det blev ju bra till slut. Nu börjar redan till att få laddningen bättre anpassad. Mitt AGM var ju helt slut på en 3 år gammal bil, så det var dags för byte helt enkelt och då är det ju ingen idé att köpa på sig mer sådant när behovet av energi är stort. Vi fricampar ju mest eller åtminstone mer sällan tillgång till el. Vintercampandet gör ju sitt med såklart.
@@Braapncamp okej, ska kolla lite på detta. Återkom gärna om du är nöjd och att allt funkar som det var tänkt
Det är en djungel så det är bra att bilda sig en uppfattning.
Hallå Mattias. Det verkar som mitt batteri är på väg att ge sig. Behöver man heat funktion på litiumbatterier när man vintercampar?
Hej, nej den funktionen behövs inte. Om batteriet skulle vara kallt när bilen stått och inte vill medge laddning, då sätter du på full belysning i bilen och eller sätter igång pannan. Då blir batteriet varmt inuti av urladdning samt att det blir varmt när bilen värms upp. Jag har aldrig haft något problem med detta och batteriet skyddar sig självt via BMS.
Would you be able to connect a solar panel to that battery?
Yes, thru a MPPT regulator that have a charging profile for lithium battery. Which most of them have. That is a common set up, but not really the most prioritized since you already have an alternator on the engine, so I begin with optimizing charging from that source. Wintertime the solar panels are useless flat on an RV roof. Summertime the energy needs are not as much as at the winter. But with that said, a solar panel set up will be a step as well, it allows us to be even more offgrid or keep the battery in shape over long time (though this battery type has a great standby performance).
I had solar on our previous RV and i definately dod good. Especially with the set up i had. But at time for the moose hunting season it did not power up enough. I'm into a portable solar panel (maybe) since that could be directed towards the sun.
@@Braapncamp I think that’s a good idea. You could even set it up at winter on nice days.
Yes have been watching at 150-200W folding panels with mppt. Could be thrown up inside the front window or outside. But I have not decided yet. No hurry with that. But it is preppy. At our vacation trips we could be offgrid for 30 days. Only needed to fill water and empty the waste cassette two times a week (3 persons).
Great battery I like the app on this one probably didnt need to install my battery monitor with this app. Still got a lot to do on my van electrics before I get the Lithium battery. From my research so far the problem with the EBL is it stays on float charging which is fine for AGM/GEL batteries but not Lithium. These batteries last longer if the charging is turned off when they are fully charged. They also last longer if they are not kept at 100% charge all the time. So you can see the EBL will eventually lower the life expectancy on the battery. As for the B2B, Lithium battery will pull as much current as they want from any circuit. If you have a very low charged Lithium battery it may try to pull up to 100 amps from your alternator. This will eventually burn out your alternator solder joints and can cause serous damage to your vans wiring. This is the main reason for the B2B to limit the current flow, I am looking at Renogy for this. Like you said for mains charging I am looking at disconnecting the EBL and using a Victorn bluesmart 30Amp charger. Anyway nice to see you have this setup now. Like the battery under the seat more space for other electronics. Look forward to seeing you next setup.
Thanks for your comments Stephen! My EBL 208 is even less suitable than the 211 that you probably have. I do not leave the van hooked up for now because of that reason. The alternator does not give enough and no worry to burn if not installing a charger that draw like 75A that is about max for this battery. 50A is optimal for battery. B2B with 50A and MPPT from Renogy looks the way to go, you cam also set this unit to lower charge amps if wanted. Only drawback with that unit is the 25V max from solar, but I'm fine with that. I just upgraded the app and it's even better now than from the video. Full history of everything. Great to have started and look fwd to follow your set up. Solar is less important than an optimal B2B in the prio order.
@@Braapncamp You are making me rethink my route. I was going solar first then Lithium but might now go Lithium then solar. Like you we like to move about a lot so solar is only needed if I am stationary for more than 3 days. I like the battery app you have but see they do not have a UK branch. will start looking around for similar in UK
I had solar om the previous RV and ofc it's nice and helps. But fpr most this is a better start and with a good B2B the battery will be topped up. Wintertine, the solar is useless, at keast here. From the end of september to mid march the consumtion is larger than the solar charges. At the moose hunt in mid Oct i use to stay 7-9 days offgrid in the woods, the solar did not help me much. I have to bring a power generator. In summertime though, i could be offgrid for 30 days with the solars. (Moving every day or stay a couple). Even if the charging system i have now is not otimal at all it still charges this battery better than it does with a AGM due to the time it takes to top such a battery. For you that probably have a 211 elektroblock it could be fine with a switch mounted on the charge wire. The 211 have a 14,4V charge setting, then just switch off when you reach full or want to store the battery at 80%.
@@Braapncamp Interesting idea about the charge switch on the EBL. This will save buying a Lithium charger. Might even look into building a voltage sensing switch to do this automatically. I have decided on the Victron Orion Smart DC-DC charger for the van side as I do like the Bluetooth connection and I already have the Victron MTTP with Bluetooth. Great thing with the Victorn is you can add a second DC-DC in parallel, just need to see what rating the alternator is on the van. However I don't think I will need a second one. Now just need to find a good Lithium battery in UK.
Yes, i'm not completely happy with the idea of needing a switch either. Should be plug and forget solution. I like to have the fridge on 230V when at home. We seldom empty the fridge in the van since we use it every week.
There’s a Chanel on here called John and Mandy on tour, he had the same charge control as you , and he fitted a victron b2b charger to work along with the original one, maybe of use to you
Thanks, it could be of help. The question is not if I need it. it's which one, I have had a look at it but I concider charge rate and different brands 👍.
I had a look Matt, interesting with the parallel charging of the existing charger. But thats how it works if you have solar as well, so that makes sense. Very pedagogic video by John.
@@Braapncamp Also good person on here is will powse. he is like a guru in solar energy. I believe he also runs the forum diysolarforum.com/ which is a good source of information. Search on Will powse for the b2b Renogy controller.
Om man nu har dc-dc laddare i bilen är det bara att sätta den på Lithium och byta ut batteriet så är allt frid och fröjd, eller måste man göra något mer. ( hittar inte din fortsättning, kanske inte kommit ut än)
fd. Rimorist
Hej Christer, kul att se dig här. Är dc-dc laddaren inställd på lithium är just den delen ok. Jag fick koppla ur 230v sladden in till EBL, då batteriet inte gillade min äldre EBL 208. 211 är bättre. Men det gör inget. Är kag inkopplad på 230V så går ju kylen och jag har 230V i uttagen ändå, samt att pannan element fungerar. Jag behöver inte mer laddning än vad generatorn ger. Solcell har jag ibte behövt då jag sällan står still så länge att det behövs. Har du det får du kolla så att den regulatorn är rätt inställd.
Jag får göra en fortsättning på denna. ☝️😁👍