Camoer trailer battery management

[John_D4]

Hi all. I’m rejigging the hard to camper’s battery management and electrical locker. My OCD brain doesn’t like how things are currently done.

Trailer’s usage: fridge, diesel heater, stack of USB charge points, led lights, Redarc 2000w inverter, twin cigarette point (to run twin camping electric blankets - kids get cold in their swags!)

Currently: 2 x 100amp lead/crystal batteries (may go to LiPo in the future), 30amp elcheapo Chinese crappy 240v charger, victron blue inverter (can’t remember model/size - maybe 10amp?). I’m adding 2 x Redarc 180w panels and have a 160w folding panel. Looking at wiring the inverter up to the internal power points and having the 240v mains input only going to the battery charger.

Thinking of:

Own/reused fuses and rocker switches with either:

Redarc manager 30
Some sort of Victron combination (love Victon but don’t know much more than their solar controllers are great)

Thoughts on which way to go?

[loanrangie]

My setup is similar in my caravan as will also be going to lithium when the AGM's die, my jayco has a setec 240/12V power supply that charges the batteries and contains the fuses for the 12V circuits (lights etc) but when i go to lithium it wont be suitable anymore.
Not a big issue since we never use 240V accept when at home for cooling down the fridge before a trip, a renogy MPPT looks after solar charging.
I hadn't thought of routing the 240V from the inverter into the vans 240 circuit until i saw my dad do it on his newish van on the last trip.
I assume the victron you have is the solar reg ?

[DiscoDB]

Maybe this thread should be in the Trailer and Camper section.

But to help give it a bump…..

I would definitely draw up a scale plan first and layout what you want to have installed. Makes it easier to then work out the simplest wiring diagram.

Big fan of Lithium batteries - preferably LiFePO4. They just seem to be much better value for money these days as they have higher usable capacity, lighter weight, and longer life. Even 2,000 cycles is a lot of useable life.

You may want to consider adding into the mix a Portable Power Station as when not being used for camping these make for excellent home backup power. I now have both fridges at home connected to a backup power station - one runs a small 12v freezer for 2-3 days, and the other the main 300L fridge/freezer for 12 hours. Power black outs are no longer a concern.

The Renogy inverters are neat in that they allow for pass through AC when connected to the grid. Which means you can make up a UPS type backup with a lithium battery, one battery box, and the inverter. I use a dedicated lithium battery charger on a timer to keep topped up.