LITHIUM install | REDARC BMS 30 | 120X ITECH Caravan Lithium Install Jayco Caravan Upgrade

Watch as I remove the old Setec Jayco charging system and AGM battery and swap in the REDARC Battery Management 30 BMS and ITECH world 120x 120ah Lithium battery.
This video is a guide only, I merely followed the REDARC BMS instructions. If this is out of your depth I highly recommend going to a 12v specialist.
Cheers

[@troyatkinson3253]

Great video, we’ll explained. I’m on a mission to do the same, getting rid of agm & upgrade to lithium, been tossing up between chargers & solar controllers, but I think your persuaded me towards the bms1230 Couple of questions, I have a similar Jayco van - 2016 Journey Outback 17.55-8 I see you put in a fuse panel, did you take out the Setec unit ? Did you run the roof solar & solar blanket into one inlet for bms ? What size solar you have up on the roof ? Thanks

[@tinkeringtimmy4061]

Hey Troy, Thanks for watching! The RedArc Battery manager 30 is a great unit. Yeah the auxiliary fuse panel will eventually run all the stuff the Setec powered. I just unplugged the Setec so it just acts as a fuse panel. But that will be removed from use. I currently don't have roof solar, you absolutely can run roof and portable solar together in parallel (positive to positive, neg to neg) to the bms30. Although you could run the roof solar to another regulator to get both solar charge and vehicle whilst driving. The RedArc will prioritize solar if both are wired to the unit and only achieve 30amps, where as you can get 30amps from your vehicle and possibly 20-30 from roof solar in perfect conditions. Keep in mind when connecting solar panels of different wattage and open circuit voltage in parallel, have a read online about the pro's and con's. Cheers for watching!

[@GrimTTL]

Awesome video, was there a decision point between redarc and other bms like the BMPro? Ive used a BMPro before and know they are well suited to caravans but I like the redarc, seems very simple and robust.

[@tinkeringtimmy4061]

If it was a new build the BMPro J35-D would have been hard to pass, with the option to install the control node and then put water tank level etc and a phone app it makes a pretty good buy. My van has a simple tank level indicator that is pretty accurate and the wiring is in a hard to access location away from the battery and charger so that would have added to the modification. The J35 having a fuse panel also would have saved my installing my aux fuse panel. The RedArc ticked a lot of boxes for me and was a super simple install/ upgrade and I really like the remote monitor, its easy to use and quick to monitor for information about battery SOC and solar input. I have RedArc products in my Cruiser, dual batt isolator and RedArc towpro, and the instructions are clear and concise and the products have worked flawlessly. Cheers for watching and the questions

[@troyatkinson3253]

Also can you explain how you wired up the inverter ? Did you wire it up in the whole van outlets ? Looks like you have a extra power point in kitchen, with the remote on/off for inverter Thanks

[@tinkeringtimmy4061]

Yeah I didn't want to go into to much detail about 240v power as it should only be handled by professionals. That power point you noticed is inverter power only, I chose to do this instead of running it into the van as it gets a bit complicated with the bypass. This is also our first inverter and we are pretty stocked up with 12v and gas appliances etc. Some inverters come with a bypass system like the enerdrive inverter bypass. As you noticed I also ran the remote switch to the location so all I have to do is turn it on and there's 240v power. Cheers, Tim

[@GrimTTL]

Hi, I'm also pretty interested in the inverter into 240v. Those are some beefy cables. How does the battery manager know when mains is plugged in or not, to use the inverter or mains?

[@tinkeringtimmy4061]

@@GrimTTL Inverter is installed separate to BMS. To use the inverter I have to switch it on at the unit itself. I also have a remote on/off up near the power point I have at kitchen bench. When unplugged I turn the inverter on and use the remote on/off when needed. The BMS will charge from 240v when plugged in and all other van power points work and are completely separate from inverter setup.