Lithium Battery install ? - R-pod Owners Forum

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Olddawgsrule View Drop Down

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Joined: 20 Sep 2017
Location: New Hampshire
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Posts: 1014

Topic: Lithium Battery install ?
Posted: 29 Oct 2019 at 7:31am

Originally posted by offgrid

The reason to add a battery fuse is because there should be one there, FR is remiss in not having one there already in my opinion. That is where the current is going to come from if you have a conductor or charge controller fault, and you're not protected now. Any halfway decent power circuit designer will tell you that is bad practice.

Is that not what the Auto-breaker is? The real dusty module you see.

I'll be getting to the panel hopefully later this week, with this off & on rain it's been tough getting anything accomplished outside.. I want to see just where and how the hot wire from the pin ties in and how the WFCO is tied in. That will help with decisions of what & how I proceed.

I have say OG, shutting off the breaker sounds far too easy! Nothing is ever that simple.. LOL

Byways no Highways
2017 Tacoma
Truck Camper Build
2004 F150 My Overlander

Olddawgsrule View Drop Down

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Joined: 20 Sep 2017
Location: New Hampshire
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Posted: 29 Oct 2019 at 2:18pm

Well, got started between rain drops.. So far I haven't located/comfirmed the line back from the TV to the panel area. What I did find was a bit disappointing..

Now, I have read some pretty good arguments that there can be logic to chaos.. One of those believers wired my trailer! What a rat's nest of wires!

Worst are these two wires.. If anyone can identify, please do..

This one comes out of the DC side of the panel box. End is flatten like it was connected to something..

This one looks like it comes out of that red whatever (some sort of fused splice I think) but it actually passes under that and runs back into the abyss of wires.. Again, flatten end like it was connected somewhere.

Next is what I believe to be the Converter charger return. And yet another of those auto breakers hidden away never to be found by the average consumer..

In that last picture you see two wires on a side and the single that is running the the panel box. I need to ring both these out, but I think this is the 7 pin and the battery cable meeting up. If this is so, it explains another fuse here before the panel. And if indeed so, that makes the DC side 30amp max, at least from TV or battery.

Lastly, I was hoping to find the Converter/charger was a separate unit from the panel. Not going to be that easy.. It's integrated. I'll read some more on the repair to the WFCO that another member (here?) posted and possibly reach out to see if a switch can be installed. A bit more time required on this part.

Most important right now is if anyone can identify those loose wires?

Byways no Highways
2017 Tacoma
Truck Camper Build
2004 F150 My Overlander

Olddawgsrule View Drop Down

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Joined: 20 Sep 2017
Location: New Hampshire
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Posts: 1014

Posted: 30 Oct 2019 at 11:05am

Test out/traced the wires and here's what I see now.

Yes, there is a fuse between the 7pin 12v (#4 pin) and the rPod battery. And yes there is a fuse on the Solar-on-the-side line. Both enter the 30a auto-breaker (underneath, Portside, fore) just before the battery. Well, at least on my 2017 182g they are.

There is also a 30a auto-breaker prior to the panel where the #4 12v line and the battery cable meet.

Here's my chart.

Byways no Highways
2017 Tacoma
Truck Camper Build
2004 F150 My Overlander

offgrid

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Joined: 23 Jul 2018
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Posts: 5290

Posted: 31 Oct 2019 at 8:20am

I couldn't follow where all those FR breakers were and some seem undersized to me. Here's what I'd do. I'd dispense with those hidden FR breakers and wire up as shown in the schematic below. I like simple, safe, and robust, with as much as possible in one place.

The objective of having overcurrent protection is to be sure you are protecting all your +12V conductors in case they get a fault to ground. The fault currents are going to come from the batteries if that happens. So, I am showing a 30A breaker at the TV battery (you probably have that already) and a 50A breaker at the trailer (Li) battery. That could be a fuse instead. I would put it as close to the battery as possible, preferably a bolt on device right on the battery terminal itself.

A 50A fuse protects down to 6 gauge so everything downstream of the 50A fuse or breaker (until you get to the next converter, charger, or panel) should be 6 AWG or larger. 30A protects 10 gauge so same thing there. The reason for 50A and not 30 from the trailer battery is that 30A might be a little shy when operating the slide if you have anything else on at the same time. You could test that and go with 30A and 10AWG if you wanted to.

This is a single line diagram so I'm not showing any of the negative conductors. They should be a min 10AWG on the TV and 6 on the trailer in order to be able to handle the maximum return currents that can pass through the respective circuit breakers or fuses. Those conductors could go to the frame, that's fine.

I would also add a battery current shunt for monitoring. That would go in the battery negative conductor (not shown). I'd also have a high voltage and a high temp safety disconnect for the Li battery (also not shown).

Hope that helps.

1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold