Dual battery setup modifications

[DaveB]

I think that's an important distinction to highlight Dave, thank you.
We assumed Ineos would deliver a conventional dual-battery system where house loads are taken by the 2nd battery. In effect they have delivered a parallel battery arrangement. I'm not convinced there is anything wrong with Ineos' approach but as consumers we're struggling to understand it so want to convert it to a system we recognise. The lack of info from Ineos on their design approach and BMS operation is not helpful, but show me another manufacturer that provides that level of info to the end user.
I'm happy with what Ineos have done for my use case (touring, camping, not winching). I have added a D250S for solar input. I don't plan on making wholesale changes to the setup but I appreciate those that are because we will learn from their efforts.

Yes this also suits my needs more too.
I only plan to add a fridge and charge some phones.
Went to the butchers today after the markets and had to come straight home as it is 34 degrees and the meat won't last long in the beast.
110 litre upright fridge will be very handy and will plug straight into the cigarette lighter on the left wheel arch.

 

[bigleonski]

Yes this also suits my needs more too.
I only plan to add a fridge and charge some phones.
Went to the butchers today after the markets and had to come straight home as it is 34 degrees and the meat won't last long in the beast.
110 litre upright fridge will be very handy and will plug straight into the cigarette lighter on the left wheel arch.

Your call, but I’d prefer to hardwire a different connection with a decent guage of wire for the fridge. OEM ciggy sockets tend to be fairly thin wires. Also use something a bit more reliable than a cigarette socket to stop it falling out accidentally if you ever go off the bitumen.

Have you settled on an upright fridge yet Dave? I see Engel have one now that also has a 240v connection- much more versatile than the Bushman / Kings which only have 12v. Neither will be as efficient as a chest fridge but do have other benefits, size and vertical bent being two of them.

 

[DenisM]

Your call, but I’d prefer to hardwire a different connection with a decent guage of wire for the fridge. OEM ciggy sockets tend to be fairly thin wires. Also use something a bit more reliable than a cigarette socket to stop it falling out accidentally if you ever go off the bitumen.

Have you settled on an upright fridge yet Dave? I see Engel have one now that also has a 240v connection- much more versatile than the Bushman / Kings which only have 12v. Neither will be as efficient as a chest fridge but do have other benefits, size and vertical bent being two of them.

I've "switched" to Merit plugs/sockets. Guaranteed not to pop out. The plugs have a plastic collar allowing them to be used in standard sized cig. sockets.

 

[bigleonski]

I've "switched" to Merit plugs/sockets. Guaranteed not to pop out. The plugs have a plastic collar allowing them to be used in standard sized cig. sockets.

Yep, I’ve used the screw in Engel connections for the same reason.

 

[DaveB]

Your call, but I’d prefer to hardwire a different connection with a decent guage of wire for the fridge. OEM ciggy sockets tend to be fairly thin wires. Also use something a bit more reliable than a cigarette socket to stop it falling out accidentally if you ever go off the bitumen.

Have you settled on an upright fridge yet Dave? I see Engel have one now that also has a 240v connection- much more versatile than the Bushman / Kings which only have 12v. Neither will be as efficient as a chest fridge but do have other benefits, size and vertical bent being two of them.

Yes the Dometic CRX110ACDC
It has the 12 VDC & the 240V AC connections so I will be able to plug it into 240V to get it down to temp and then just maintain the temp in the vehicle.
Also am planning on getting a Bluetti unit so i can power the fridge off it when needed as well.
Mu daughter can get it at the right price form me
she is Warranty manager for Leader/Supreme caravans and they use them.
It has a good size freezer and a proper compressor.

 

[bnebenda]

View attachment 7831776

I checked with a clamp meter and afterwards confirmed when disconnecting that this indeed powers the roof outlets. I moved that to the output of the blue battery protect switch that is hooked up (now via a 100 A fuse) to the second battery actually using the lower terminal of the 300 A fuse that connects the 2nd battery and the Smartpass 120S

 

[DenisM]

Hi All,

I have the factory dual battery setup and decided to make a few changes to the vehicle wiring to make it more useful. I wanted to have the following:

• Front and rear 12V outlets powered from second battery
• Rear USB outpets powered from second battery
• All aux power supplies (under bonnet, roof and footwell) powered from second battery
• Rear high power output (NATO socket) powered from second battery and switchable whenever needed (no neutral interlock etc.)
• Winch (transmission) still protected by existing interlocks
• Aux fusebox for additional 12V loads on second battery
• Battery monitoring on second battery
• Allow for high current supply to inverter from seconf battery

It was actually pretty simple even without a wiring diagram - although this sort of thing is pretty related to the day job.

I rewired the second (5 way) high current fuse box to be powered from the second battery instead of the main battery - this moved the power supply for the NATO socket and grey aux relay / fuse box to the second battery.
I rewired to input to the CTEK unit to come from the main (7 way) high current fuse box.
I added a small aux fuse box powered from the 5 way high current fuse box.
I rewired the power supply to the RI03 relay so that it comes from my new aux fuse box instead of from FI04 - this is the red wire going into the interior electrical centre fuse box wher a fuse used to go. This powers the front and rear 12V outlets, read USB outlets, front footwell outlets and EXT1 under bonnet outlet and the lights in the aux switches of the roof console.
I cut the wire from the EXT5 relay output under the grey fuse / relay box and wired it directly to the positive coil connection of the Albright relay - the NATO socket is now under control of the EXT5 switch. I need to replace the fuse on this with a 5A one.
I added a Victron Smart Shunt battery monitor to the ground line from the second battery - I can now precicely monitor its state of charge.
I removed the 300A single fuse between CTEK output and second battery and used a 300A Z Case fuse in the 5 way high current fuse box instead.
I added additional lighting in the rear load space and am output for a fridge from the new aux fuse box.
I also got rid of the top panels of the under seat electrical enclosure and secured the front panesls with cable ties - the whole under seat enclosure is a crap design which would get any of my engineers fired.


View attachment 7829456
View attachment 7829457
View attachment 7829458

Tristan

Was wondering what the mushroom coloured circular device is in the top photo #7825496?

 

[tristand]

Was wondering what the mushroom coloured circular device is in the top photo #7825496?

The circular device is a remote monitoring system that my company manufactures (www.vircru.com) - they are normally used on boats but I'm using it to monitor and control various systems in the grenadier. It's not related to the power distribution wiring.

Tristan

 

[Lord Ripon USA]

Is the parallel battery arrangement just something designed for starting the diesel model in cold weather?

 

[anand]

Is the parallel battery arrangement just something designed for starting the diesel model in cold weather?

I believe the intent is so that when you add further electrical accessories, you already have the second battery there to connect those to