Re: Power Banks

by Caraman Thu Aug 03, 2023 7:43 am

I agree with Dbvwt. Unless you are trying to turn your van into Hinkley Point, a second 80W panel with both panels connected through a single dual battery controller, is probably all you need. The second panel could be a temporary folding one that you take with you when you need, or a permanent roof one.

by YorkshaPud Thu Aug 03, 2023 12:56 pm

Dbvwt wrote:YP, you have upgraded your leisure batteries so why not go a bit further and add a second solar panel with a decent MPPT dual battery controller?
It will sort your winter problems having to hook up and manage through apps etc..
Bypass everything Sargent and connect directly to the batteries. Hope that makes sense.

Thanks it’s an option for sure just not got to that point yet to understand what the best route is so appreciate the info

by YorkshaPud Thu Aug 03, 2023 12:58 pm

FreelanderUK wrote:The thing with running 2 solar controllers , ( ie one on your fixed panel and one on the folding solar panel, ) is that one controller will see the higher voltage of the battery that the other controller is producing and drop into Float mode and not provide any charge,

If you bypass the Sargent and use a Victron MPPT regulator and then buy a folding panel with no regulator fitted and also use a Victron MPPT regulator for this, these can use the network feature of Victron and act as one big MPPT regulator giving maximum charge from both panels

Cheers that’s interesting will look into that (it’s Dave L off the Warwick XL forum by the way - hope all is good)

by YorkshaPud Thu Aug 03, 2023 1:01 pm

Caraman wrote:
I know what you mean but the solar charge from the 80W panel in the depths of winter isn't virtually zero. If you replace the Sargent solar controller with a dual battery MPPT controller that is connected directly to the batteries, i.e. bypassing the EC700, there is enough solar charge in the winter to keep both batteries fully charged, providing the EC700 is shutdown. This is with a 10mA load on the LB caused by the tracker and in my case an additional load on the VB caused by a vehicle alarm and use of the central locking. If the Sargent system is retained it will still keep the VB fully charged, providing the EC700 is shutdown. If the "security" you have is being powered from the habitation USB or 12V sockets, the EC700 can't be shutdown. But if it's powered directly from the LB, the EC700 can be shutdown which will mean the LB will need less frequent mains charging, for which the EC700 can remain shutdown. When the EC700 is shutdown, the mains charge goes to the LB.

Thank you I didn’t realise the mppt would do that. I wouldn’t be able to shut it down with the current setup as it needs to be in for my internet router which connects to my battery powered security cameras over Wi-Fi.

by YorkshaPud Thu Aug 03, 2023 1:06 pm

Dbvwt wrote:YP, are you sure you haven’t the room on your XL roof for even a small second 80w panel like the one I linked to earlier, it is just 700 x 670. This and a decent controller bypassing the Sargent is a relatively cheap and simple upgrade and will transform your van.
So many of us have done it and I bet not a single person regrets it.

Thank you that’s great to hear, I can indeed understand a modest boost would make a tremendous difference tbh but that is great to hear so thank u.

I do have some room at the front in front of the bathroom heki or whatever it is, the pop up roof light thing (technical eh!) Would need to measure the space.

I haven’t seen that link sorry can you re-share?

by FreelanderUK Thu Aug 03, 2023 1:34 pm

YorkshaPud wrote:
Cheers that’s interesting will look into that (it’s Dave L off the Warwick XL forum by the way - hope all is good)

Yes Dave all is good cheers

by Dbvwt Thu Aug 03, 2023 1:37 pm

“I haven’t seen that link sorry can you re-share?”

I’m sure there are many others but so far can’t fault it.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

by glyne lock Thu Aug 03, 2023 6:07 pm

Yorkshapud
Can get the area space that has a panel in now as this will fit a much bigger panel