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diy solar

12V or 24V for a 2000W inverter with induction cooktop

700w could work for spartan 1-person cooking, ie mostly boiling water or pasta or something like that. and definetely not boiling the pasta in 5L pot. ?
heating up the water would be slow compared to 2 or 3 times more powerfull model but once you get it up to temperature the rest of the process takes very little energy. Throw a thick towel over the pot and you can stew something for 2 hours with quite small energy use.

what car/van model you have planned to use in your build?
I have been looking at 4wd vans also and Ducato (dangel) 4x4 seem to have most space available.
What I don’t like about it is the ”aftermarket” Dangel 4wd drive as it is not very common and parts are somewhat rare.

That was my thought, 700W is not enough for a long-term everyday cooking solution, but I'm sure 1600W will be (the reduced power mode of the Elleci leaf 30 model for example).

I ordered a Ford Ranger chassis cab almost 3 months ago, with all the semiconductor issues car makers are having I probably won't get it before next year, hopefully, sooner. I was looking at the used market first but couldn't find a decent single cab 4x4 pickup in Italy or Europe in general, the few I found were close to new prices (after you add sales tax in Italy). So I ordered a new one and I'll build a flatbed camper in the back. The single cab will give me enough space for a comfortable camper and the 4x4 ladder frame truck will allow me decent off-road ability.

I previously considered 4x4 vans, but Sprinters are too expensive and too big/heavy and low for decent off-road ability. The Ducato is technically a 2wd only vehicle. I know about the Dangel modification, but like you said not very popular and there's not much info around. I only ever saw one in real life in Iceland. Impossible to find used (at least for almost 1-year research) and for the new one there's a long waitlist and prices are very high. You can't modify a used one as far as I know. The Ducato chassis is not made for off-road and even with that system and many other suspension modifications won't come close to the ability of a pickup, so for the price it's not worth it in my opinion.

The perfect overland vehicle is probably the Iveco Daily 4x4 with a camper box in the back, it's a very strong and capable chassis and transmission and made to carry big loads. But most of them require a truck driving license in Italy and they are also very expensive and out of my budget.

So I decided to go with the pickup + camper box. It's not going to have as much space as a Ducato or Sprinter, but I'll have more off-road ability and I can build myself an all-new custom camper with the same money I could buy a 10-year-old 200k km Sprinter 4x4. I'll mostly travel by myself so I think the space will be enough. Also, I like the idea of having a lightweight fiberglass camper box without thermal bridges which has much better insulation than any metal van.

That was my thought process, of course, everyone has their needs so it will vary.

Also, I just ordered 8 280ah cells from Amy of Shenzhen Luyuan. I'm still undecided between the 12V or 24V but I want the induction so I'll need 8 cells anyway. I now need to decide BMS (was thinking Electrodacus), and figure out the whole system and finally decide 12 or 24V haha.
 
I previously considered 4x4 vans, but Sprinters are too expensive and too big/heavy and low for decent off-road ability. The Ducato is technically a 2wd only vehicle. I know about the Dangel modification, but like you said not very popular and there's not much info around. I only ever saw one in real life in Iceland. Impossible to find used (at least for almost 1-year research) and for the new one there's a long waitlist and prices are very high.
Italy seem to have more 4x4 Ducatos than any other country, for example https://www.autoscout24.it/annunci/-c3c42bd0-0428-4e6a-bb17-1b4fb3997b40

Otherwise I fully agree that it is not really a offroad vehicle like Ford Ranger. 4WD would be nice nevertheless as heavy 3000kg van is easily stuck even on wet grass on your yard. :cautious:
 
Italy seem to have more 4x4 Ducatos than any other country, for example https://www.autoscout24.it/annunci/-c3c42bd0-0428-4e6a-bb17-1b4fb3997b40

Otherwise I fully agree that it is not really a offroad vehicle like Ford Ranger. 4WD would be nice nevertheless as heavy 3000kg van is easily stuck even on wet grass on your yard. :cautious:

I couldn't find any when I did my initial search, that would have been my preferred vehicle last year. Now there are actually many different options in the used market and prices are not even expensive as I thought. ?

Yes coupled with a good set of all-terrain tires it will make a big difference on grass and various trails. Not sure about the reliability and find parts around the world, but for Europe, it's a solid choice yeah.
 
Hello everyone, it's been a while and I still haven't decided between 12 and 24V. The 8 cells are on their way.

At this point I need to decide on a BMS and go ahead with the plan of the system.

I did some more calculation and based on components I could save about 400-450 euro with a 24V which is not bad.

I really liked the idea of redundancy of having 2 separate 12V batteries in parallel, but upon further consideration the likelihood of a cell going bad after some time is pretty slim. They are "matched" grade A EVE cells ordered from Amy. If they don't look damaged, after compressing and top balancing I should be good to go for a long time. I think it's much more likely that other components like a BMS or an MPPT etc could brake after 1-2 years of use. So that's why I reconsidered 24V again ?

What are your thoughts?
 
Hello everyone, it's been a while and I still haven't decided between 12 and 24V. The 8 cells are on their way.

At this point I need to decide on a BMS and go ahead with the plan of the system.

I did some more calculation and based on components I could save about 400-450 euro with a 24V which is not bad.

I really liked the idea of redundancy of having 2 separate 12V batteries in parallel, but upon further consideration the likelihood of a cell going bad after some time is pretty slim. They are "matched" grade A EVE cells ordered from Amy. If they don't look damaged, after compressing and top balancing I should be good to go for a long time. I think it's much more likely that other components like a BMS or an MPPT etc could brake after 1-2 years of use. So that's why I reconsidered 24V again ?

What are your thoughts?
Just seeing how things are progressing :) only fell on the thread yesterday as a few months behind were your at , wanting to go the all electric route and use Induction for cooking also with the Giandel 2000W Inverter so any advise would be appreciated little article if you havent come across it re Induction cooking . https://www.victronenergy.com/blog/...a gas bottle; it’s safe, and it’s sustainable.
 
Just seeing how things are progressing :) only fell on the thread yesterday as a few months behind were your at , wanting to go the all electric route and use Induction for cooking also with the Giandel 2000W Inverter so any advise would be appreciated little article if you havent come across it re Induction cooking . https://www.victronenergy.com/blog/2021/09/17/van-life-with-induction-hob/#:~:text=Induction on board Gas is by far the,a gas bottle; it’s safe, and it’s sustainable.
Nice article, thanks for sharing. If they are making it with only 200ah and 2000VA inverter then I'm good to go ?

Regarding progress, in reality, there hasn't been much:
I received my 8 280ah cells in December, they all look perfect and capacity tested from 3.5V to 2.9V at about 275ah ±1.5ah which is great.
I got the Ford Ranged delivered 2 weeks ago and I'm now waiting for the flatbed to be made and homologated before it's ready to go on the road. After that, I'll have the camper box made and hopefully, I will be able to start the build in June/July. Between production delays, shipping, shortages, and bureaucracy it's very slow progress.

I'm decided on the induction, especially now that we have an energy crisis and natural gas is becoming more and more expensive (especially in Europe), I think going electric and solar is the way to go.

I'm decided on 24V because of the reason stated above and will probably carry a space BMS, but I still have to decide if going with a JBD or JK.

I still haven't decided on the Inverter, if I'm getting the Giandel I'll probably go with the 3000W versions, as that gives me more peace of mind that it can sustain a 1000-1600W constant load. At the same time, I'd like to go all Victron and even though it's much more expensive it's probably worth it in the long run, what worries me most it's the size and weight. The 2000VA according to specs is rated at 1600W @25ºC and only 1450W @40ºC which means on hot days I'll be over the limits with my 1600W cooktop. Of course, I won't have that at max all the time, but I'd like to plan with a bit of headroom. The 3000VA model is much bigger and weighs 18kg which is a lot.

Will a 2000VA Victron be better than a 3000W Giandel?
 
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Some water pumps can be very susceptible to voltage fluctuations.
Thanks, I'll definitely look into that since I was planning on using 24V pumps so it won't be regulated. In theory voltage from Lifepo4 is pretty much all the same through the state of charge cycle, with only a little fluctuation at the extremes, so it shouldn't be a problem.
 
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