I have a Hymer Aktiv Loft, which has 400 ah of lipo4 batteries under their proprietary Ecotrek system, which are stored in the undercarriage of the van and are unheated. They are charged by the Nations starter 280 amp alternator, which is aided by the Balmer MC-614H controller. No solar.
I’m looking for more power so that I can run AC overnight without a generator, which I estimate will take around 800-1000 ah. Also, I’d like to take the van skiing and need to figure out how to keep the batteries warm enough to keep them from turning off in freezing temperatures. The Ecotrek system is unreliable and the internet is littered with stories of costly failures.
I’m just now getting through all the beginner faq and videos, but I’m considering starting over with my own self built system, which will still use the existing alternator/balmer for charging and the 3000 watt inverter that came with the van. I still have a lot to learn though.
A preliminary thought would be to purchase 5 of the 170 ah Bigbattery Powerblock units and store them inside the climate controlled cabin. They seem like such a great deal that I’m not sure if I would be saving a lot of money building my own battery. Does this seem viable? Also, would it be a simple matter of connecting the batteries in parallel and figuring out how to reprogram the balmer to control the charging? Thanks in advance for your help!
I’m looking for more power so that I can run AC overnight without a generator, which I estimate will take around 800-1000 ah. Also, I’d like to take the van skiing and need to figure out how to keep the batteries warm enough to keep them from turning off in freezing temperatures. The Ecotrek system is unreliable and the internet is littered with stories of costly failures.
I’m just now getting through all the beginner faq and videos, but I’m considering starting over with my own self built system, which will still use the existing alternator/balmer for charging and the 3000 watt inverter that came with the van. I still have a lot to learn though.
A preliminary thought would be to purchase 5 of the 170 ah Bigbattery Powerblock units and store them inside the climate controlled cabin. They seem like such a great deal that I’m not sure if I would be saving a lot of money building my own battery. Does this seem viable? Also, would it be a simple matter of connecting the batteries in parallel and figuring out how to reprogram the balmer to control the charging? Thanks in advance for your help!
I know enough about it that there are a lot of questions. Enough questions that I simply disconnected my LiFePO4 system from the 7-pin circuit coming from the tow vehicle.
