Recent content by childcarepro

"Shop1102891696 Store" on Aliexpress is selling "grade A" 50Ah prismatic LiFePO4 cells for $18 each in qty 16, or $0.11/Wh. Store only open since June 2023. The form factor and capacity are exactly what I need to make an ultra compact 36V 50Ah (2kWh) battery to charge my Bluetti AC180 at 400W...

Yet another great application of lithium jump starters! Great tip. Thanks. We already use them for powering 12V/5V items on long trips (our boy overheats without a car seat fan!).

I never thought about this, that solar charge controllers don't simply feed voltage without reading a battery voltage. The Victron 150/85 manual does state: "The controllers will operate only if the PV voltage exceeds battery voltage (Vbat). PV voltage must exceed Vbat + 5V for the controller...

Thank you for the lowdown! I was able to get decent new grade A 280 Ah cells about a year ago for a little over $100 each, tested out to 285 Ah tho I wasn’t able to test at 0.2C, my tester maxed out at 200W, so it was more like 0.05C. Was hoping for a similar good deal.

Anyone try ordering cells from either of these AliExpress sellers: "5825 orders Store" "Battery factory direct sales store" I found "5825 orders Store" first selling "100% New Lifepo4 320Ah 4-16PCS 3.2V Grade A 48V 310AH Battery Pack DIY RV Cell And Solar Energy Storage System EU US Tax Free"...

I'll look into doing that. Thanks! Yesterday I got very little done except unpacked my battery cases and battery cells, which - after all the research and planning - is getting me very excited. Getting ready to top balance but I'm not sure my tester is up to the charging task (ZKE Tech...

If you could upload a napkin sketch, that would be great. I'll try to noodle on it later tonight either way. Thanks!

What if I put the DC-DC charger between the alternator and the chassis battery? (See updated diagram.) The down side is it limits the starter battery to charging at 60A. The upside is the battery solenoid should work normally to boost the battery. I just need to change the boost button to a...

Add'l questions re: alternator, chassis & house battery, and battery mode switch/solenoid: We don't like camping in freezing temps, so I bought a LiFePO4 chassis battery; I will still add a battery warmer to make the system more robust. I found out LiFePO4 batteries can draw too much from the...

I think either three 2s strings or Pappion's dual 3s strings would be the way to go. I like this approach, and the 150-35 are still fairly affordable, could add a third 3s string if I use risers to mount above A/C (low profile unit).

Thank you! That's amazing. I've tried the Victron calculator before, but couldn't quite figure it out. I'll try playing with it again. Costwise, the 150/85 ($560) is a lot less than the 250/100 (~$1K). But it's pretty close to 3 x 100/30's (about $120 more than $147 x 3 = $441). What are the...

Sorry, I thought I successfully uploaded the spec sheet. I'm camped at Wahweap Campground at Lake Powell, 0-1 bar with T-mobile and the campground's satellite internet guest wifi is terrible with good weather, we were having hailstorms yesterday. I've re-uploaded the spec sheet (EDIT: upload...

I'm using 200W 24V Newpowa panels x 6.

Thank you, @HRTKD! So you mean connect the batteries in parallel using bus bars rather than directly wiring them in parallel, correct? That sounds like a great idea. Separate fuses sounds safer, too. But it also sounds like a nightmare in terms of the number of different fuses I have to carry...

Sorry I've been gone for a while, put the system on the back burner. But it's back on the front burner thanks to necessity. First, thanks to all who contributed to helping firm up my PV battery system. Second, I’m switching to a 12V battery. I was decided on 24V, bought all my stuff to build...