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Thread: Rejigging battery setup in camper trailer

  1. #1
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    Rejigging battery setup in camper trailer

    I’ve recently bought a well used camper trailer that’s fitted with two big Century deep cycle batteries that were installed about a year ago. It also had a CTEK MXS 10 battery charger but it was faulty when I bought it and I’ve just removed it. I figure now’s a good time to change things up if needed so I’m trying to work out what to do. The camper will have a fridge and some LED lights, and we’ll probably want to charge a device or two via USB. We won’t have any other electronics. It came with a 160w solar panel with an MPPT regulator that plugs in via the Anderson plug, that I’ll also plug into the D3 when we’re driving. The D3 has a second battery and a Traxide battery controller.

    I’m wondering whether I need the two deep cycles in the camper trailer. We might be setup for a week or so here and there so maybe it might be good, but the solar might keep us charged up with a smaller battery just fine. Should we go lithium? I’m thinking I’ll replace the CTEK charger with a Victron one that has a lithium program just in case. Or should I use one of those DC/DC chargers? Will the Traxide charge a lithium fine when the trailer is hooked up or would it cope better with an AGM? Any other tips or tricks with your camper trailer setups?

    Ta

  2. #2
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    Hi Peter, once the new cabling is installed in the D3, try connecting your two deep cycle batteries in your caper trailer, via the Anderson plug, direct to you auxiliary battery in the D3.

    I think you will find your camper trailer batteries will recharge much quicker then they ever did will the DC/DC devices.

  3. #3
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    I’d use it a few times (or just set it up at home as a tester) as it is given it all pretty much there. This will give you an idea of you have enough capacity for you usage over the week period you mentioned..

    If you’re out camping or testing and getting bit low on capacity than you can always hook the disco up and put some charge back into the batteries.

    No real need to rush into switching to lithium…..I know I know it’s the new must have…..

    We switched to lithium for a few reasons (in our current Poptop defer, if we still had a camper trailer we’d switch for the same reasons).
    - Ditched gas for induction cooking which required more capacity
    - had limited real estate for batteries, needed max. A/H for available space
    - weight…..
    - set and forget, I no longer worry about checking on the voltage.

  4. #4
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    The only motivation to consider lithium at the moment is mainly because the mains charger is dead. I figure if I might go lithium later, I need to get a charger that would charge lithium, and that might be a DC/DC charger that would do it all.

    You're right though, I'll work with what I've got for now. The main reason for asking is because I didn't really understand it all. I didn't even know that lithium requires a DC/DC charger if charging from the car.

  5. #5
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    Hi again Peter, and just to elaborate on my last post.

    Once you have the heavier cable fitted, you will have the fastest charging system available.

    And while using the AGMs, you will very quickly realise how fast your new setup charges ALL your batteries as compared to how slow your DC/DC device just charged your trailer batteries.

    NOTE to get the maximum benefit and the fastest RECHARGING, when on a trip, keep your trailer connected to your D3 when ever possible.

    The reason for this is not just so you have power coming from all your batteries to power your trailer’s accessories, while camping, because you are using all your batteries, this means you are drawing down the cranking battery with the other batteries.

    When you start your motor, the D3’s battery monitoring will see that the cranking battery is discharged and will set the alternator voltage higher for a longer time.

    The D3’s battery monitoring can not “see” the other batteries, or what state of charge they are in, so it is important to make sure, by keeping all the batteries connected together, that the cranking battery is discharged as much as the other batteries.

    This will guarantee that the BMS will see that the cranking battery is in need of a charge and this will result in all your batteries getting a fast charge.

    Also, something to think about while you consider going to Lithium.

    Because you need to use a DC/DC device to charge the lithiums in your trailer, you are still going to use the same amount of battery capacity, but it will now only come from the lithium batteries.

    This means the lithium batteries are going to be discharged to a much lower state, that means you will need to drive for a much, much longer time to recharger them, over what your existing system can do.

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