What we would do DIFFERENT… Victron, off grid solar and lithium batteries!

[@lindsaywhite4502]

Get a small dual fuel generator to save you money. Champion Power Equipment 2500-Watt Dual Fuel Portable Inverter Generator with Quiet $560.00

[@markwatson2403]

One suggestion. Having the equal length battery cables is important. However, with your current hook up, you will still get unequal draw on your batteries. The battery closest to the OO cables connection on your Victron Linx power in is going to work harder than the battery next in line. This will be true of each battery in the bank. The remedy would to be connect the positive and the negative cables to opposite ends of the Linx. One on the right and the other on the left. That makes the draw on each battery equal. If neither of your OO are long enough to reach the other side, you can reverse the order that your negative battery cables are connected to the negative busbar and accomplish the same thing. Under most conditions it probably won’t matter much but under heavy draw cycles it could make a difference.

[@EVoltage00]

In theory I would agree that it would be best practice to alternate them. However the Lynx uses a 1.5/.25" copper bus bar. The resistance in that bar is only 21 Microohms per foot. The variation in crimps and the bolted connections is going to be pretty close to that much resistance.

[@MitchOfCanada]

2 times a year its good idea to balance batteries separatley but should be fine.

[@SuperSushidog]

I think your batteries got warm while you were charging them is because you have a 24v system with pre-made batteries with BMSs inside. Our 48v system uses 1/2 the amperage for the same wattage, so our 320ah 48v (16.4kwh) battery never gets warm. We built our battery with prismatic cells and a 200a BMS that is on the side of our cells, not sealed up inside a battery box with the cells, which allows any heat generated by the BMS to dissipate, extending its life too - though the most current we ever see going through the BMS is around 75 amps.

[@saltytrips]

It never gets much above ambient temperature with this current setup, even running heavy loads or max charging.

[@SuperSushidog]

@@saltytrips Going to 4/0 wires probably fixed it. Good job.

[@KELLYPARRISH]

There’s a glitch that causes your AC loads to read incorrectly. The fix we’ve been informed to use is to take an audio headphone plug and insert it into the current sensor port a few times and it resets this. It worked for us.

[@2hotscottpro]

I now have 8 525 watt Bifacial panels and 230ah 48v.Still not enough to run 1 AC all night. Kinda though. It will recharge 200ah discharge and run 1 ac during day.By 6-7 I’m minus 9-10ah.Longest sunny day was just a few days ago.Solas? So days getting shorter now! A mini split will help me when I find the time. 24k btu usises 1500 watts plus inverter,100 watts ,240v. From 6k split phase inverter. Thinking about a 48v 314 ah bat bank to add to the 230ah 48v system.But there’s no way pv will charge both in a day,period ! My whole roof plus over hanging rear ramp is covered with panels. In a few weeks I’ll see how long it takes to recharge from 240v generator.😊

[@saltytrips]

With our four 24v 200ah batteries (20,400wh) we can easily run both AC through the night here during the florida summer. Mini splits are definitely a good option, if our AC ever dies we’ll look into getting one. Good luck with your build, let us know how it goes.

[@2hotscottpro]

@@saltytrips 11776wh here 48v will kick it down to 68* in Florida from about 7pm to 11pm then shut off and will rise to 78* in morning and have used 200ah of 230ah.Operating one 15k btu roof top ac in 36 footer toy hauler. I have a 6k watt 120/240 inverter that puts out 3k watts at 120v ac only using one leg.That’s why I can only run one ac. 3675 watts of panels on roof for that 48v and 525 watt for 12v battery that runs lights and refrigeration. My plan was to put a 240v mini split in this year.Maybe 18-24k btu 240v. And an other battery bank of 314ah 48v bank next month. One of the 8 525 panels charges from the house 30 amp converter.The other seven 525 watt panels charges the 48v bat bank. 1 charger controller for 525 watt pv for 12v 100ah bat for fridge. 1 charge controller for 2s2p pv = 2100 watts for 48v bank 1 charge controller for 3s pv = 1575 watts for 48v bank. I might turn 3s into 2s2p and just charge the 12v from 48v because the 12v is fully charged by 10am. Dang that was a lot to write lol have a good day n see yah sometime and I’ll show yah how to eat a fish lol

[@SuperSushidog]

What you need is a high-efficiency mini split. It makes all the difference. I only use about 32ah (at 48v) to run my 12k btu EG-4 28.5 SEER-2 heat pump all night when we're asleep (from midnight to 8am). We keep the thermostat set at 72. When the sun goes down, my 16.4 kwh battery is almost always at 100%. So, from about 6pm to midnight (about 6 hrs), my 320ah battery usually drops about 10-12% running my heat pump, big screen TV, computer, etc., This means I use a total of 65-70ah from sundown to sun-up. If it's real hot and I need to run both my roof mounted 14.5k Furrion a/c and my heat pump during this time, my battery can drop down to 70%. The lowest I've ever had it was 66% one time when it wasn't topped off when the sun went down, due to overcast skies and high heat in Yuma. I have 8, 550w panels mounted 15" off the roof of our 35' MH, which give us a nice shade. We use an all-in-one Sungold power 5,000w inverter/100a charge controller/battery charger, for reference. Btw, my MH is well insulated and has dual pane windows, which helps a lot. If you have a big fiver or toy hauler with only moderate insulation, and a kid or two, you'll use a lot more power than we do. BTW, my 28.5 SEER EG-4 mini split is on sale now at Signature Solar for $1,350. I paid $1,500 for mine last November.

[@saltytrips]

@@SuperSushidog if our rear AC dies definitely thinking about replacing with MiniSplit, but its working great right now so can’t justify throwing it away but Mini split is definitely on our radar

[@2hotscottpro]

@@SuperSushidog Looking at a 38 seer 9k. Or 30 seer 12k btu units.For night time use.Use roof tops during the day while the sun runs it. Thanks for info I took a screen shot for future reference. I also have 8 525 watt Bifacial panels over roof top AC’s.

[@MitchOfCanada]

for our batteries i put fuses into the distributor so each battery/charging unit/mmpt is fused within the distrubutor.

[@saltytrips]

@@MitchOfCanada this isn’t a Lynx distributor, its a lynx power in, doesn’t have fuse mounts. www.amazon.com/dp/B00NT9X5AG/ref=cm_sw_r_as_gl_api_gl_i_MXCVBNRZH90BFYZMBKMR?linkCode=ml2&tag=saltystrikes-20

[@SEANRMZ]

I also have a gougar like yours, and I love my awning on the dinet slide. We are are always under that when it rains or looking for shade. I would regret that removal.

[@Tirnanahak]

I've been planning and building a 24V system that is pretty close to what you have. The one stumbling block I'm running into is what fuse size for 24V with 2 mulitipluses. From the documentation, it looks like I need 2 300 Amp Mega Fuses in the lynx distributor. Using simple math, it seems like I would need a 800 amp T Class Fuse on the positive from the batteries (300 multiplus + 300 multiplus + 200 other loads), which has been difficult and very expensive to find. So I was just curious what fuse size and fuse holder you have between the power in and your lynx distributor? Thanks!!!

[@saltytrips]

@@Tirnanahak 3000 watts / 24v = 125 amps, two inverters would be 250 amps. Typically fuse 1.25 times max working load. Where are you getting 800 amps from? We have our Victron install playlist on out channel page, you can go back and watch step by step the entire build 👍

[@Tirnanahak]

@@saltytrips Thanks for the answer and the videos (that should have been in the first comment, sorry :) ). I can't post pictures here, but when reviewing the manual for the Multiplus II 2x 120V 24/3000/70 the manual recommends a 300 Amp DC fuse unless I'm reading it wrong... I would be much happier putting in the 300 or 400 amp T class between my batteries and my lynx distributor instead of trying to find some huge fuse that would never blow on me. That's why I was curious what fuse you put between your power in and lynx distributor as it just doesn't add up right for me. Your numbers sound much more reasonable.

[@saltytrips]

@@Tirnanahak always fuse to protect the wire, if you have 2/0 cable only rated for 200 amps and you put a 800 amp fuse on it the wire will burn up and catch fire. Fuses are there to protect the wire and equipment 👍. We have a 30O amp fuse in the Lynx Smart shunt from the batteries and 150 amp fuse to each inverter.

[@Tirnanahak]

@@saltytrips That's what I thought and thank you so much for taking the time to confirm that I was correct. It got confusing and not making sense once I looked at the documentation. Appreciate you taking the time to answer and confirm.

[@Tom-Fisherman]

200a for one multi, 400a for two multi's. SotaSolar uses that rationale. He is a hardcore installer....These are catastrophic fuses or breakers I'M referring to.....BUT, if your speaking about individual fuses via Lynx Distributer fuses, then do what salty says and fuse ONLY for the device! But catastrophic fuses are if you get dead shorts from the batteries...catastrophic type. I plan to do a 200/400 amp breaker for entire system-- in addition to the Lynx for all the loads.

[@GlennShay]

Do you have any idea how long the 1 A/C ran with 3 - 24v batteries ..with your previous figure of 2:40 hrs. .. did you or do you think you might get 8 hrs .. thanks Glenn

[@saltytrips]

@@GlennShay here - kzbin.info/www/bejne/fp7Lk6yCpLahpMksi=y_FC-XhfrqlP77lW

[@ticopowell]

I recommend not using the in line watchdog ems, I just installed that on my friend's parallel system and the watchdog doesn't play well with the victron inverters. The error code was the RV didn't have a neutral. We double checked the connections, and had others double check the connections, and nothing we did removed the error code. We were able to use 30 amp power, but with 50 amp it was not working at all. My friend did eventually buy a different EMS Surge protector and it worked great. It's something with the hughes power watchdog in line EMS Surge protectors that is having issues.

[@saltytrips]

Good to know, probably wasn’t going to do that anyway, already have one for the plug. Appreciate the input.

[@lindsaywhite4502]

I think two of these are messing up your system 70 amps is a lot of power for DC 🤔 Victron Energy Orion 24/12-Volt 70 amp DC-DC Converter Non-Isolated, High Power YOU ONLY NEED ONE 🤔

[@saltytrips]

@@lindsaywhite4502 i explained in previous video reasoning for two Orion 24-12

[@BorealisNights]

paused at 8:00 mins... Not a big deal but, just for others not that familiar with the Victron Lynx system, I'll just point out that the unit you are showing there is the "power in" component, not the Distributer... the 'Distributer' looks the same, but has mega fuse holders for each line going in(or, going out, on the distribution side). The difference being, with the 'Power In' unit, you would fuse the batteries ahead of the box, whereas with the "Distributer" you fuse them inside the box. OH---EDIT... for those who want the best of both with the least cost, you can find vids here on how to convert/add the fuse section into a 'power in' unit.. you wont get the lights but you still get the functionality, for less that full price 'Distrubuter' cost... Plus, the light on the distributers are nice, but the real reason to pay for a fully functional Distributer is if you're using Victron batteries with a Lynx Smart BMV, in place of your Lynx shunt, because the lynx bmv can communicate all batterty parameters to your Vicrton software,. ALSO, even without the lynx BMV, one might still choose a distributor just to have those lights for each fuse, witch you can't do with a power in. You'll find the hanc to power those light all over the tube, but, thats all you get, is the lights.. no communication of battery condition, cell levels, etc, as they need the Lynx BMV to pass that info along to your system (VENUS Device). ok... back to the vid... just another min later, paused again... I see the "Power In", now has its own case.. its used to share the distributer cover, with empty holes where led's would be for fuse condition indication. back to it... OK... two comments re: solar panels... the 12/24/48 volt choices... Yes, 12 volt will sart charging earlier in the day, and charge later in the evening, than 24 and 48 volts, just because they dont need as many volts to keep the MPPT operating... that said, any given charger is rated to put out(charge with) a set number of amps, meaning, say your chager can put out 100 amps, and you have enough solar to maximize that number, it changes with each step up in battery voltage. 100 amps at say about 14.4 charging volts means 1440 watts of charging, at 24 volts(28.8 charging volt gives you 2880 watts of charging, and, double that again, for 48 volts, get you 5760 watts of charge. (again, these number require enough watts of pannels to deliver said charging watts.). So, the trade off is how may hours per day you have enough light to charge, vs, how powerful the charge is for shorter times with higher voltages. Secondly, re: extra canopy/shade sytems made with solar.. my idea with my build (24 foot van), will be to aquire a a couple "mobile, folding panels", which I will mount hooks on the edge of the roof for, then tie off the bottom corners to stakes. I can install them on whichever side of my van will get the most sun, and, as for cargo caps, they are much lighter than using "solid" panels. In conclusion, with mobile power sytems, there's a hundred ways to do it right, and a thousand ways to do it wrong. lol.✌🏼🇨🇦

[@fu4616]

So.... a 24V system would be a good balance when it comes to charging versus a 48V system? More usable hours available for charging?

[@bobmonztr]

I cut my shore cord and wired into the inverter (90lbs); with electric heat I only draw 2300w through the rv electrical when the microwave is on. Good thing you did not buy lead carbons, 4 batteries 12kw and 800lbs w cable. A 12v460A for the rv battery is an easy swap 5.5kw.With 2 inverters should be enough pv input to vastly expand. Maybe glue down flexible panels on top of the slides, make sure the wire is inside the seal when extended. I am buying 600-watt panels for $200 CAD 93"x44" maybe more power per sq/ft?.

[@2hotscottpro]

Show me a pic of flex panels going under a slide seal? I taped into shore power with cut off switch for inverter to run rv.Switch for shore or inverter option.

[@bobmonztr]

@@2hotscottpro was just a thought , unknown to me when I put my slide out first time there was a disposable camera on top of the slide, it ended up outside ripping a small hole in the rubber, was over and 1" thick so I figured a slim panel would fit.

[@2hotscottpro]

@@bobmonztr wow but no it won’t work for long .Seals are flat for a reason unfortunately my friend.

[@2hotscottpro]

@@bobmonztrI tapped into shore line where it came in.Very close where I put inverter.Just T’D off.Simple for me but not in all rv’s.Thanks for commenting.I like this Chanel.

[@georgeshotrodbarn2113]

When a person gets a serous solar addiction, his tendency is to take it as far as it will go.

[@andrewford80]

It starts small, and the limits are endless

[@dondartt684]

When is enough enough? Probably never, because there’s always something, not everyone can follow 70 degrees or plan for storms. As we can see here, the more you get the more you want. One thing, think about how often you will need all of this and consider other options.

[@saltytrips]

@@dondartt684 we use it everyday 👍

[@jaredpnk]

If you can afford it, why not? Do I need 10,000 wh for just my house system? Not at all considering I'm in an apartment. But that one or two odd times that I might need it? I'm going to be glad that I have it.

[@davesauerzopf6980]

Love your channel. Great breakdown on what you have done and what you are looking at in the future. At some point, I think you are stepping on a dollar to pick up a dime? I know you are concerned about the pups, I am as well. I am also concerned about the pin weight with everything you added. Not sure how much you have spent but?, how long will it take to recoup your investment? Trailers are not like houses and at some point they really start to degrade. Once again, I love your channel and watch everything you post.

[@saltytrips]

This is not a financial investment, this is an investment in adventure and life experiences without having to sacrifice how we live inside the RV no matter where we go. If they trailer begins to degrade, we can easily get a new one and move this whole system over to it.

[@2hotscottpro]

Huh? I’ve seen 20 year old rv’s still rocking with maintenance. Heck most places cut off 10 year old Prevost ($MILLION BUCKS) let alone a tow or 5’er! Grasshopper you will learn lol Wax on wax off hahahha

[@davesauerzopf6980]

@@2hotscottpro I would take a 20 year old diesel pusher in a heart beat. Built to last back then, not like the newer stuff.

[@davesauerzopf6980]

@@saltytrips Great point on just moving your setup from one trailer to the other. And buying a trailer as a financial investment (not), 100% agree.

[@2hotscottpro]

@@davesauerzopf6980 yes I agree ! That’s why there still expensive I guess.

[@my1little2pony]

victron charge controllers only need 4v above battery voltage to charge currently running 2 arrays on my rv one runs at 90v the other at 110v no problem at all. *I am running a 48v system that small wire is nice and easy to work with.

[@saltytrips]

One of the other main reasons I went 24v over 48v is because they don’t make a 2 x 120 48v and the lack of higher amp 48/12v converters.

[@robertnasser9937]

I would have put mega fuses in the lynx

[@saltytrips]

This is a Lynx power not a Lynx distributor, there’s no mount for mega fused in this one.

[@robertnasser9937]

@@saltytrips I did not realize they were different?

[@saltytrips]

@@robertnasser9937 one is a Lynx Distributor 1000 with mega fuse holder and the other is a Victron Energy Lynx Power In Battery Connector which is basically a bus bar with no fuse holders.

[@2hotscottpro]

Sleep well knowing I watched hahah 😊 Nice splicing vid.

[@Foxfried]

So hilarious such nice victron systems with the cheapest batteries...

[@saltytrips]

… and performing flawlessly, have seen so many tear downs with of over priced batteries with same exact cells and similar if not same BMS. Battle Born would have cost over $14,000 for the same amount of power and these cost me $4,000. Thats just stupid waste of money, with the money I saved on Batteries it paid for the rest of the entire system. Have had a generic lithium for my 36v trolling motor for year and that thing takes a beating in the chop offshore. To each his own 👍, thanks for watching.

[@TsaWind]

@@saltytrips We have been running 4x 12v 300ah Ampere Time in series to make a 48v300ah bank. Bought the batteries in August 2021 and still running strong! Just have to make sure not to charge them below freezing. Our last capacity test came in at like 90%-95% of advertised when brand new! We can run all 3 rooftop A/C, a portable A/C, plus microwave and more (BMS finally shut down at like 250amps). I've been very impressed so far, though I cringe a bit seeing the price now being almost half of what we paid.

[@saltytrips]

@@TsaWind prices have come down a lot even in the last year from my first LiTime to my last battery almost $400 difference in less than 1 year.

[@markwatson2403]

One suggestion. Having the equal length battery cables is important. However, with your current hook up, you will still get unequal draw on your batteries. The battery closest to the OO cables connection on your Victron Linx power in is going to work harder than the battery next in line. This will be true of each battery in the bank. The remedy would to be connect the positive and the negative cables to opposite ends of the Linx. One on the right and the other on the left. That makes the draw on each battery equal. If neither of your OO are long enough to reach the other side, you can reverse the order that your negative battery cables are connected to the negative busbar and accomplish the same thing. Under most conditions it probably won’t matter much but under heavy draw cycles it could make a difference.

[@saltytrips]

I thought of that but I checked all the cables under load with my clamp meter and they were all pretty close in amperage reading, wasn’t enough deviation to worry about it. It stays in absorption mode plenty long enough for them to even out quite well so far. I’ll keep check and if I notice any deviations I’ll probably rearrange the wires.

[@2hotscottpro]

Made my 48v all same length as suggested and are cold but I’m over sized wire.Ran 8 gauge in to controller from pv. 6 from controller to bats All cold

[@saltytrips]

@@2hotscottpro nice, thats one of the big benefits pf 48v 👍