grumps147
LIFE MEMBER
As one of the winners of Jim’s half price lithium competition we had this fitted last week at Oaktree Motorhomes.
Much consternation beforehand because of the uncertainty around a smart alternator or not was soon calmed by testing on arrival for the fit which showed it was not a smart alternator.
The only hiccup during the fit was my standard Victron solar controller would not allow the change from lead acid to gel settings (used for lithium setup), so the controller was changed for a Bluetooth one. I had already asked for a Bluetooth smart shunt, and that was fitted at the same time along with a 1500w inverter. One of the two dinette area 230v sockets was removed from the mains power and connected to the inverter (which has its own on/off control panel). The cables provided with the inverter were replaced by Oaktree, those supplied not being suitable.
This should allow some comparisons with other winners in terms of the different fit specifications we have.
Below are some images taken from the Victron Connect app, but first a picture of the install.
The app shows output from the shunt and the solar controller.
It starts with the first after the installation.
We have had some sunny days since, and one night was cold (freezing outside) but no power to the van, and the next night as it was going to be colder we left the power on with a fan heater on a frost guard. There have been no error messages to indicate any shutdown due to frost.
Any observations would be welcome.
Much consternation beforehand because of the uncertainty around a smart alternator or not was soon calmed by testing on arrival for the fit which showed it was not a smart alternator.
The only hiccup during the fit was my standard Victron solar controller would not allow the change from lead acid to gel settings (used for lithium setup), so the controller was changed for a Bluetooth one. I had already asked for a Bluetooth smart shunt, and that was fitted at the same time along with a 1500w inverter. One of the two dinette area 230v sockets was removed from the mains power and connected to the inverter (which has its own on/off control panel). The cables provided with the inverter were replaced by Oaktree, those supplied not being suitable.
This should allow some comparisons with other winners in terms of the different fit specifications we have.
Below are some images taken from the Victron Connect app, but first a picture of the install.
The app shows output from the shunt and the solar controller.
It starts with the first after the installation.
We have had some sunny days since, and one night was cold (freezing outside) but no power to the van, and the next night as it was going to be colder we left the power on with a fan heater on a frost guard. There have been no error messages to indicate any shutdown due to frost.
Any observations would be welcome.
