Dual Battery T4R5G Redarc BCDC1225D - Work in Progress

[Farzad_K]

Hello, Folks.

I started a thread here, picking your minds about fusing the dual battery system. I appreciate all the input.

I have made lots of progress and am posting a couple of pictures of what my design looks like; it is a "portable" system in the sense that once I return from one of maybe three to four adventures I predict I might go to each year, I can disassemble the system easily and stow away and my vehicle will be ready for normal service.

I have the BCDC mounted on a 12"x8"x3/4" thick HDPE that serves as the heart of the system. I don't know if this board is eventually going to slide inside a box, but I have a few other items to add to it. I am looking at inverters, and once I find one I will be building a similar board but for "load" to which the inverter, power distribution, etc., will get mounted. In the end I might change the design to utilize a single board with BCDC on one side and load management on the other side.

Description:

[1] I am bringing power from the startup to just inside the vehicle, just past the firewall and then using an extension chord to connect to the BCDC.
[2] I am bringing power from the solar panel in the same way as [1].
[3] I have a plug-out that will be connected to a LiFePO4 battery which is connected to the load.
[4] The Blue Sea Ground Buss arrived just in time today but by then I had already decided to do a vertical buss as you can see in the pictures. The vertical buss saves on space.
[5] I have contacted Redarc about partially slitting the wire bundle jacket that comes with the system; it is very rigid, and if I can slit it partially, handing the wires becomes a lot easier in a tight space. I know the warranty will be voided if I do that but I don't care as long as the casing doesn't have some magical function in the system that will impair it if eliminated.
[6] I forgot to mention that I have used 3/4" spacers to keep the BCDC fron being in direct contact with the HDPE.

Due to lack of clear and dry skies in my region for another few months, I am currently trying to simulate solar panel power source by using a 19.v-12.3A AC/DC brick. Not to worry, Redarc has already given me thumbs up on that one. I did connect the brick to the BCDC and I was able to measure 13.7 volts on the output, yes, without load, but it looks promising.

Let me know if you have any questions, and your comments are valued as always. The HDPE is very easy to work with.

Farzad

 

[Farzad_K]

Finally the setup is located in the vehicle and working.

[1] Picked up ground from the bolt at the foot of the removed rear passenger seat.

[2] Fished in 6g wire from +ve terminal of the Strtup battery to the inside from driver's side.

[3] Measured voltage drop (not under load) to be 0.02 volts.

[4] Powered up and observed the BCDC waking up and going into Boost (bulk) mode of charge. Even though the connected 50Ah 12v LiFePO4 battery is fully charged, Boost is the first phase the BCDC goes before moving on to the absorption and then float mode.

[5] Placed the cooler in the vehicle and powered it up from the LiFePO4 which reported 13.27v at the time. Cooler's internal temperature at the time was 71 degrees Fahrenheit and it began pulling about 3A to cool down to 34 degrees, I think! It will take a good one and a half day for the battery potential to drop to mid 12's and when charging it can be tested.

In the below pictures the BCDC is disconnected from the Startup battery because I still have a couple of other things to do: connect the ignition wire in when I get one of those add-a-circuit things and when I can find which of the three ignition fuses is the one that I need to connect to.

I might need to work on the grummet a bit more or get a replacement for the one that was on the firewall but with a hole in it already. I tried to cut the grummet open clean but...

Farzad

 

[4r-4ever]

looks good! that's another way of doing it. the problem with that is everything is separate. chances of loosing the pieces are high.

 

[Farzad_K]

looks good! that's another way of doing it. the problem with that is everything is separate. chances of loosing the pieces are high.

Agreed, but I am just testing this system. Eventually it will have a location among the cargo and bedding, etc. that will also occupy the space and it will be secured. There is a sweet spot in the car that lends itself to not only accessibility but also shortest cabling distance that is practical for the application.