Lithium Solar Generators

[Jadcoz]

Im thinking of buying a portable solar panel and lithium battery generator like the poweroak 400wh or goalzero yeti

anyone have one of these beauties or similar and what are your though after using them a while, i love gadgets and have macbook which i could recharge using this along with whole tribe of iphones etc, any thoughts grateful received! Allows me more possibilities of wildcamping i think?

 

[HandyAndy]

your motorhome pretty much does everything this box does already, only using lead acid instead of lithium. It would be cheaper to just replace the Lead acid hab batteries with lithium ones and add in a DC to DC charger specific to Lithium.. everything else is already taken care of.

 

[Jadcoz]

cheers andy but i had looked at lithium but would i not have to change all the wiring and my ec500 electric sargent unit and all that gubbins?

 

[HandyAndy]

The Sargent unit distributes all the 12v stuff to all your ancillaries fine and links to your control panel to show you tank levels etc. so all that can stay as nothing has changed.
You would however probably not use it to "pass through" the alternator charging current from the engine when it's running but instead opt to divert that through a separate DC to DC charger. (B2B charger)
The 240v - 12v charger in the Sargent, when on hookup would charge the lithium but not in an ideal way but for all intents and purposes would do fine. (it wouldn't fully charge the lithiums but in actual fact not fully charging them will increase their cycle life)

 

[Jadcoz]

many many thanks for your valuable advice andy!

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[Steve and Denise]

As handyAndy said B2B and fit a cut off relay between the normal charging leads with a signal from +D

 

[ShaKen]

Guys forgive my ignorance, but what does the +D do / what’s it used for?

 

[Pausim]

D+ is a signal from the alternator to say it is charging. Used to trigger things like 12v operation of fridge and no doubt used by engine management funtions.

 

[Jaws]

Guys forgive my ignorance, but what does the +D do / what’s it used for?

In the old days it just put the charging light out..
In motorhomes it is used for all sorts, from switching the fridge over to switching the relay which diverts some of the charge from the cab to the hab batteries
In Brit vans it also triggers the relay that turns off the whole 12 v system in the hab area

 

[Pausim]

In Brit vans it also triggers the relay that turns off the whole 12 v system in the hab area

Has anyone come up with a reason for this strange practice?

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[ShaKen]

In the old days it just put the charging light out..
In motorhomes it is used for all sorts, from switching the fridge over to switching the relay which diverts some of the charge from the cab to the hab batteries
In Brit vans it also triggers the relay that turns off the whole 12 v system in the hab area

Thanks, and taking the question one stage further....I note from a circuit diagram for my Chausson that the +D can/should be connected to a Solar panel system (should I choose to install one).

Can anyone advise what the purpose of the +D would be in that system?

Could it be to switch the controller output off when the 12v panel is deactivated?

 

[596]

I use this, a fantastic little gadget and reasonable price, they arrive in about 3-4 days ?. Check out all the various outlets, can also be charged by solar as well as 240v. There are videos on YouTube

Amazon product ASIN B07DVGYDL5

 

[Jaws]

Thanks, and taking the question one stage further....I note from a circuit diagram for my Chausson that the +D can/should be connected to a Solar panel system (should I choose to install one).

Can anyone advise what the purpose of the +D would be in that system?

Could it be to switch the controller output off when the 12v panel is deactivated?

That is only on the odd van.
It is actually an old idea that was needed before all panels came with a protection diode that stops the system trying to feed voltage IN to the solar panels.
Maybe the panels used my the Chausson factory are cheaper ones and made for them without the diode.
I certainly would not be concerned if you fit 'normal' panels... I must have handles about 95% of all the different solar controllers out there and none have had provision for a D connector on them ( though no doubt there are still some out there somewhere )

 

[ShaKen]

That is only on the odd van.
It is actually an old idea that was needed before all panels came with a protection diode that stop the system trying to feed voltage IN to the solar panels.
Maybe the panels used my the Chausson factory are cheaper ones and made for them without the diode.
I certainly would not be concerned if you fir 'normal' panels... I must have handles about 95% of all the different solar controllers out there and none have had provision for a D connector on them ( though no doubt there are still some out there somewhere )

Thanks for the info Jaws ??