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I have 300AH also.... definitely no switch wire to the Redarc 30 Manager.... as there isn't one. The lithium's are an EnerDrive system with mains charger and DCDC charger (feed from the solar and Anderson plug).
I'm glad that we got the lithiums... though the thing that I didn't understand is that you cannot back feed the Traxide/Yellow Top in the D4 directly from the lithiums without another DCDC.... my original idea was to parallel all the batteries (which you can do if you have AGMs).... still deciding what I'm going to do long-term (want to understand how much power I have in winter/lousy weather/trees, if I need a portable panel as well). At the moment I can't have the trailer solar panels charge the car second battery (if running a second fridge in the car). (I do know that in summer I'm normally fully recharged by 1pm). I occasionally run a separate (borrowed) 120W solar panel plugged into the D4 Anderson if not planning on running the D4 for a few days. Could run a 12V cable from the trailer directly to the fridge... but not my idea of a great solution (for lots of reasons).
The other thing that I discovered is that I cannot plug the (borrowed) 120W solar into the trailer Anderson as the MPPT regulator is looking for a battery (not the front-end of a DCDC charger) so will not turn on... so if I buy a panel I need a "dumber" regulator. I cannot take the MPPT direct to the lithiums as it does not support them. I possibly could wire the solar panel direct to a second input on the trailer DCDC solar inputs... but have not researched this yet.
So, to get additional charge into the trailer at the moment, I connect to the D4 Anderson (before 10am)... then I use the external solar to re-charge the D4.
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That would drive me mad!!!
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Hi Nod, the reason the lead acid batteries in your D4 can not be paralleled to the lithiums is because lead acid batteries have a fully charged voltage of 12.75v max, while the lithiums have a constant 13.2v.
So if you parallel the lithiums in your trailer/caravan with the two lead acid batteries in your D4, when your motor is off, the lithiums would continually discharge back into the lead acid batteries, until the lithiums went flat.
Not a good move.
Next, if you set your solar regulator to a Gel setting, something like 14.4 bulk and 13.2 to 13.6v float, you can safely and very effectively charge your lithium batteries.
If you ever had the need to charge your D4 batteries from the lithium batteries, the simplest way is with a small 12v to 240v inverter and a small battery charge, as most people will usually have something like this on hand for charging phone and/or camera batteries or to charge and run a laptop.
Power the inverter from the lithium batteries, the run a standard 240vac extension lead to the charger, which can be plugged into the Anderson plug at the rear of your D4.
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Hi Hugh, if you were to discharge your 330Ah of lithium batteries down to where the BMS would disconect, you will need to replace 264Ah of used capacity and your 30 DC/DC will need around 10 hours of constant driving to do that.
A 30 amp unit is just not big enough if you plan to do a lot of free camping and then recharge while driving. f you have not committed to the Redarc Manager 30, here is a suggestion that will give you a far better setup, for a lot less money.
This package setup will recharge your batteries in way less than half the time the 30 amp unit can and again, the package cost less.
I deal with a company who have a package deal on the following kit.
1 x 60A PCU Mains Charger $950.95
1 x BB1260 DC/DC Charger $630.26
1 x Midnite Brat 30A PWM solar Reg $195.00
That's a total of $1775.76 to give the following potential charging:
DC/DC + solar* up to 90A input
Mains +Solar up to 90A input
This kit it is being offered for $1500.00 including GST and Delivery
If you, or anyone else is interested, drop me a PM and I will give you the contact details.
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Thanks for that info Drivesafe. No rush to upgrade to lithium on my van then.
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Thanks for the valuable info, Drivesafe. Unfortunately the camper is midway through construction, so I'm committed to the existing setup.
I don't plan to run the batteries down that far (although it's feasible). (My emergency backup is a Honda EU-10i). I may look at the DC/DC and solar a little down the track after I get some experience with the camper and an idea of my average daily power usage.
Gidday Nod, my system is a little different to yours, I think. AOR have changed a few features since the original Enerdrive setup. I've been advised I need the 12v ignition wire with mine. It will also have a second Anderson plug on the drawbar to back-feed from the Manager 30 (not the batteries) to the tow vehicle, but only functions once the lithiums are fully charged. So, being sourced from the charger, I believe it should work with the Traxide (assuming the charging profile is correct). I will have to find this out. I suspect the profile will be the same as that going to the camper batteries (lithium).
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I had a chat with the Al-Ko and Redarc Technical Departments the other day. Of course there is conflicting info from both.
Al-Ko: (Based on getting the van registered in NSW through Blue-Slip) - NSW requires a visual or aural indication of breakaway status (either battery state, or in the case of the IQ-7, trailer connected). That's achieved on the P3 only by the 'trailer not connected' warning.
He advised the TowPro Elite has no such indication, and it may be difficult to get the van registered without it.
He stated that there have been reports of intermittent lockups of brakes with Tow-Pro's and they have not done any deep testing as yet.
Redarc: The first problem with the Tow-Pro Elite (now solved) was calibration. As long as the Tow-Pro has been either auto calibrated (no trailer), or manually (trailer with conventional brakes), there should be no problems.
Secondly - the Tow-Pro Elite may not detect the IQ-7 (similar problem to the Disco and LED lights). The solution in this case, is similar to the Disco - a 21w resistor between the blue brake controller wire and earth, fitted in the trailer harness.
Thirdly - Redarc does not currently have a solution to the NSW requirement for breakaway status. He said I would have to be looking at the LED in the Redarc controller knob to see it change colour (in acccordance with Redarc's colour code chart). He agreed that I could have a problem getting it registered in NSW without the breakaway status. He suggested I could fabricate something myself through the vacant pins on the 12-pin.
So, my conclusion is that the Redarc may be workable (with the resistor mod), but the Redarc is deficient (with the IQ-7 for NSW) in terms of breakaway monitoring. So it looks like I'll have to work with the P3 for the time being.
I think it's crazy that NSW needs breakaway monitoring for the IQ-7, because it doesn't need a battery to keep charged like conventional breakaways. Anyway, I think I'd have a lot more to worry about than looking for some alarm, should a breakaway happen.
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I thought that most of the brake safe monitoring is done separately from a brake controller. Two completely different systems. That is the way it is on my daughters vehicle. Tow pro for brakes and a separate monitoring light for the brakesafe
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In NSW, if the trailer/caravan is over 2 tons, then it must have a Breakaway Battery Monitor on the battery and an indicator in the tow vehicle.
I manufacture a Wireless Breakaway Battery Monitor, it was the first wireless unit available in Australia and has been specifically approved by the NSW Minister for Roads.
A Breakaway Battery Monitor has nothing to do with indicating if a Breakaway has occurred.
The sole job of a Breakaway Battery Monitor is to indicate if the Breakaway Battery is in good condition and has the capacity/ability to maintain the brakes on the trailer/caravan for at least 15 minutes if a breakaway event occurs.
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I think that the elephant in the room is the IQ-7 does not have/need a breakaway battery, as its inbuilt breakaway is triggered when the Anderson plug (where the IQ-7 gets its power from) is disconnected in such a situation. Therefore, a monitoring system is not needed (IMO) as there's nothing to monitor. But the NSW RMS apparently still wants some sort of indication in the cabin that the IQ-7 is connected. I checked out the standard, and all I could find is the requirement for a monitoring system for the breakaway battery.
