ouR escaPOD mods

Originally posted by offgrid Yeah a dc/dc converter is the way to go. Li batteries have a much narrower charging voltage window than lead acid batts so need a more stable voltage to charge properly. The one you're getting should work fine. Note that it needs a terminal to be brought to 12V to turn on. That is normally connected to your ignition so if you ever leave your ignition on with the engine off you could discharge your start battery pretty quickly. I'd be tempted to put a switch under my dash in that line so I could turn the dc dc converter on and off manually if I wanted to.

That is what I may need to do. The Frontier seems to cut off power to the 7-way connector when the engine is off and the lights time-out. If so, I may be able to tap into that for the power signal. Otherwise, I will have to figure out where I can place a switch for this purpose. Most of the wiring diagrams I have seen assume the unit will be installed in a motor home, not a trailer. Putting it in the RPod adds complexity to the installation, but I'll figure out something. As for the battery, I will be checking the specs. I put in heavy enough wiring to handle the 100A rating of the battery. Here are some quick specs from the Amazon listing:

Battery Specifications

• Nominal Voltage: 12.8v
• Charging Voltage: 14.4±0.2v
• Rated Capacity : 100Ah (0.2C, 25°C)
• Terminal Type: F12/ M8
• Dimensions (L x W x H): 13 x 6.8 x 8.4 (H + Terminal: 9.3) Inch
• Weight: 22.6lbs
• Max. Continue Discharge Current: 70A
• Max. Permanent Discharge Current: 100A 10Sec.
• Max. Continue Charge Current: 50A
• Operating Temperature: Discharging: -4°F to 140°F; Charging: 32°F to 140°F

Thanks. The 60A breaker next to the battery was the one that went bad. I'm thinking a fuse might work better as I have a separate cut-off switch already and won't ever use the breaker for that purpose anyway.

Edit: Looking at the various ones on Amazon and knowing the wire I put in is capable of the 100A, I opted for an 80A circuit breaker. This one has a different design, so I hope it will work better than the 60A one that failed.

The replacement arrived and is installed. I ordered this one:

As for recent mods, I installed a Renogy DC-DC On-Board Battery Charger. The model is DCC1212-20. It is a 20A charger, which should be sufficient to charge the battery while towing without putting too much strain on the TV's alternator. Unfortunately, I found that one can't simply tap into the RPod's electric supply to run it. It ends up using the battery instead of the TV's power. Since there is no such thing as a free lunch or perpetual motion, it just would not work so it is installed but currently not connected. I'll post pictures once everything is done. I purchased the charger direct from Renogy. I took advantage of the recent sale and saved some money on the purchase.

What I am working on is a dedicated power circuit. I had previously purchased some AWG6 THHN cable which I ended up not using. Today I ran it from the engine compartment of the Frontier to the back bumper. After I uninstalled the other one, I noticed that it was working differently, like something inside shook loose. The lever is moving farther and it now has a definitive snap when tripping or resetting were before it seemed a little mushy. However, the new one is in and I am not going to install the old one in that circuit again. It may get repurposed for this project, but I am not fully decided on that. The parts I am waiting on are a 2-pole socket with the bumper mounting plate and a waterproofing boot for the Frontier. For the RPod, I ordered a 2-pole plug. These were ordered from eTrailer.

To make it work, I ordered a Battery Isolator Relay. This will sit under the hood of the Frontier and it will only provide power while the engine is running. I opted for this type over the voltage sensitive type because I read that those don't work well for LiFePO4 batteries because the Li battery's voltage prevents the start battery voltage from dropping to the point where the charger cuts off. Since this works with a relay and is merely "clever" instead of "smart" it should work better as once the engine is shut off, the relay should open and power to the RPod should be disconnected. "Smart" devices are not always suitable. This is one of those cases.

Since the maximum draw of the DC to DC charger would be about 30A, this should be more than sufficient. Once these arrive, I will get them installed. The Frontier will be relatively easy. For the RPod, I have to figure out how to run conductors from the compartment where the battery and charger are installed.

Inside the compartment I modified and where the battery sits, some of the floor is cut away for the water lines to cross from the water heater side to get to the bath. I am thinking of drilling a hole there just big enough for the wires and then once I run them, sealing the opening with some expanding foam since it looks like that is what the factory did for items penetrating the bottom of the RPod. Would this be an acceptable way to do this? I am thinking that I only need to run one conductor though the hole for the power side. The negative can be connected through the existing connections inside the RPod and then a shorter wire can be used to connect the negative side of the connector through to the TV where a short cable will be used to tie the negative side to the truck frame. According to the chart in the Renogy manual, I should use an 8 AWG wire for up to 16 ft. If it is only 8 ft. needed, then 10 AWG would be acceptable. I'm not sure how much would be needed, so I'll probably just go with AWG6 to be safe.

Well, that about catched up to current status.

Now that you have run a separate trailer connector for 12V power from your TV the other way you could do this would be to run the wire tapped from your ignition to the 12V pin on your 7 way connector which is no longer being used, and then from the trailer side of the 7 way to the on/off switch on your dc/dc converter. That would save you needing to install the isolation relay.

I am thinking that since the power connector will only be powered when the engine is running anyway, I can just use a wire off that for the D+ connector that tells the charger to turn on. That way, I would not need to mess with the regular circuit at all.