Redarc bcdc1240D

depends on what you intend to run off all that power
cheers mechpete

You will have enough solar and batt power for 6 mths in the one spot....as long as there is sun.

Hi Mechpete and Gronk. Thanks for your reply. We bought this van with the 100ah and 300w solar but have found that on a trip up the WA coast and to Darwin and down the centre that the solar would not put enough into the battery to last overnight having to put on the genie or move on the next day. The weather was almost always sunny, about 32 /34 degrees so the fridge wasn't working THAT hard.
We run all led's, use the tv only at night ( sparingly) but have a waeco 190 Lr compressor fridge which I suspect is the culprit.
our previous van had similar except for a 3 way fridge.
I have always been a fan of " more is better" and don't like the thought of running out of power, hence the move to the proposed 600 and 200ah system.
Regards

It all depends on whether you park in the shade, and what you run off your system! You need to work out what you will be drawing out compared to what you might put in. However, you can top up with the generator if you have a need.
I understand the Redarc charges lithium at 14.6 volts, so you need to make sure this rate is compatible with the brand of batteries you are using.

I know these are different batteries but I have 2x 105 ah agm batteries charging via a Dual Imput Redarc bcdc 40 amp charger for around 2 yrs and I recon it's an overkill I should have gone with their Dual Imput 25amp charger. It can surge or draw over 50amps I know this because I initially used 50amp fuses I already had and it blew the one at the starter battery on a hot day in summer so replaced them both with the correct 60amp fuses. Also another very important thing to seriously consider is If your alternator is up to the job of supplying plenty of power. I have an 80amp alt which is not liking it I originally thought it would be fine but I will be in the market for an up grade sometime. Mine is not suited for Lithium batteries though or I may have been able to sell it to you or someone who is after a 40amp and buy myself the smaller unit.

Flipper

I have just been through a similar excercise. For what it's worth here is my two bobs worth.

The Redarc BCDC1240d is a good unit. Beware input voltage is limited to 32VDC so your solar panels will need to be wired in parallel.

Your 190 Waeco fridge probably pulls around 10A according to Waeco website ( don't know your model). Assuming a 50% run time you will lose 50Ahr overnight (10hrs) without any thing else running. Your 100Ahr lithium can supply about 80Ahr before getting close to the danger zone. So in theory you should be OK for an overnight stop. However when you think about it you only have 30Ahr or 3Amps per hour in reserve. A 20" LCD TV draws about that.

Your 300W solar panels should produce around 12Ahr in full sun. So 7-8 hrs full sun will add say 90Ahr - but your Waeco will draw another 70Ahr during the same time. If your panels are wired in series, and/or you park in shade, the panel output will be degraded. So in theory you should be OK to fully recharge your Lithium if the stars align for you.

The addition of the 100Ahr lithium will solve your power storage issue. But the fine line on the power supply side remains.

Rather than install a further 300W of solar on the van I would suggest you look at 200W of portable panels. So you can camp in the shade but deploy the panels in the sun. When installing the Redarc just add another Anderson plug, that's easily accessible on the outside of the van, as another input to the solar side of the Redarc.

Cheers John

Mine is a little more complicated than some as I did run 2 x bcdc charges 1 for 12volt & 1 for 24 volt but be wary I originally did wirer mine using the relay to change from vehicle charge to solar & use it as the regulator but the relay itself FAILED so many times & also so did 1 of the bcdc charges (24v) redarc supplied several relays & 24v charges in the end I did away with the relay & changed back to a solenoid charger for the 24V as I was sick of the problems & have not had an issue since (touch wood)

Redarc were great help even had there NSW rep Wayne come an check, photo etc. & in the end they gave me a package to make up for the problems I had

I have no issues with redarc they were helpful & never tried to pass on the problem & tried so hard to solve the issues

Hi Flipper, in my van I have a 190 Ltr Compr. fridge (Dometic/Waeco), LED lights, with 300 watts of solar on the roof & 2 x 160ah AGM batteries. So far, we have never run out of power, even sitting for over a week in one spot. I would humbly suggest your problem is battery capacity. I think your 300w solar should be enough to charge a 600ah Lithium battery, but if in doubt, just add another 150w panel to the roof. Macca.

hi
Fridge demand depends on weather
Bigger fridges seem to need around
600 ++++ watts of solar
3x120ah = 360ahtotal usable =180 ah for the fridge
Search this site and others and its what u will find

240v AC charger 35amp unit and gene to run it

need to transmit at least 40amp dc to dc
direct connect to altenator 35mmsq cable give good amperage at high volts above 14.oo. Below 14.oo volts slows recharge a lot
dc2dc charger preferably 40amp min

160 watt produces around 38ah
200watt produces around 48 ah

Using PSH peaksun hrs 5.5hrs per day at 100%
less 20% due to panel positioning , wiring ,controller etc
light outside the psh is unreliable this includes mppt

Cloudy day or panels quarter or more shaded means negligible power generated.

Assessing peak sun hours on average is essential. Down south in winter it can be down to 1-2.

Manufacturers' fridge draw figures can be doubled for safety. Or get an inline monitor and measure the draw yourself.

Every degree ambient warmer or every degree lower in the fridge mean another 5% of draw, so a setup that works in one season and region can easily fail in another.

Thanks to all for your help and advice.
Going with what I am reading I will probably do this:
Increase the solar by one 150w panel,( gives me 450w ) install 200Ah lithium , increase reg to the redarc 1240D (40amp ), replace all the wiring which according to an auto electrician is too thin.
We will still carry our 150w portable panels and generator

Hopefully this will solve my power problems. Any further comments??

On overall strategy (not component detail)....just as governments in Oz are wrangling various solutions to energy supply / reliability, the concensus among gurus seems to be having numerous 'egg baskets' ....charging from the car and fixed solar while mobile, plus fixed and portable solar when parked (augmented with the gennie) seems the only approach for free campers. I have 260w fixed and 100w portable solar, plus the pure sine gennie....batteries are 3 x 100Ah Full River deep cycles (Lithium would be nice...maybe one day). I often run the gennie for an hour around dark, if we've had a less than a full sun day. BTW...the portable solar is great for catching early and late direct sun. Good luck with it.

What you need depends on your usage, from personal experience running a 40 ltr waeco and an 80ltr waeco as well as the usual lights pumps etc 450W of solar and 200Ah of lithium does the job providing the sun shines. I now generally work on 50% of the solar capacity as the max standard output.

If the sun don't shine then 5A from the fuel cell operated 24 hours a day just keeps up.

As for the Redarc personally I wouldn't go that path as the charge voltage is way to high. I'm currently charging my Lithiums to around 13.8V, this recharges them to a 100% and there is no need to charge them any higher, I could probably go down to 13.2V-13.5V and still have no issues. General consensus these days is less is better. I would opt for a charger that lets you adjust the charge voltage, current level at which to stop charging and no float stage as it is not needed with Lithiums. Also with at least .1 resolution etc.

hi
Battery lithium recovery from solar 80% discharge from 200ah =160ah
each 200 watt panel produces say roughly 9ah x 3 [600 watt ] =27ah
27ah x [PSH] 5.5 = 148.5 ah

Need accurate power consumption figures on the fridge.