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Best sequence to connect 12 to 48 volt DC to DC converter from car battery to Ecoflow Delta

gfmucci

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May 21, 2021
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What is the best (safest) cable connection sequence to connect a car battery to the Ecoflow Delta through a 12 to 48 volt DC to DC converter? I understand the car should be running either prior or soon after connections are made. See photo of device to be connected:

DC to DC converter.jpg
 
Super generic answer...

Does that DC-DC converter have a remote turn-on lead, or does it stay on all the time?

I would just connect up the 12v to it, check that it has 48v live on the output. If it has a remote turn-on trigger wire then that must have 12v trigger power to turn on the converter. Then connect your 48v load onto the 48v output, of course making sure the load supports 48v... Make sure to have fuse or breaker protection on both the 12v and 48v sides of it.

If it doesn't have remote turn-on, then you may need to put in a big switch to kill the 12v side, so it doesn't discharge the battery too much when the car is not running.
 
Ya what he said except - if you need to add your own remote switch in order to keep it from running your battery down, then add a 12v 500A solenoid that's switched on when your engine is running. Just get one off Amazon and fuse on the way to it.

Also if you are charging your batteries via other souurces, PV etc at some point your batteries might be fully charged and you would no longer need to supply the voltage to them. Does the rest of your system have this provision to STOP charging when not needed? Just a thought, probably won't break anything if not, depend on what the rest of your system and battery pack is. Are you running this 48v+ to some charge controller etc?

.
 
Super generic answer...

Does that DC-DC converter have a remote turn-on lead, or does it stay on all the time?

I would just connect up the 12v to it, check that it has 48v live on the output. If it has a remote turn-on trigger wire then that must have 12v trigger power to turn on the converter. Then connect your 48v load onto the 48v output, of course making sure the load supports 48v... Make sure to have fuse or breaker protection on both the 12v and 48v sides of it.

If it doesn't have remote turn-on, then you may need to put in a big switch to kill the 12v side, so it doesn't discharge the battery too much when the car is not running.
No remote turn on. It will not be running when I am not monitoring the system. Since it is feeding the solar input of the Delta, the Dekta reduces its input as it approaches 109% charge.
 
Ya what he said except - if you need to add your own remote switch in order to keep it from running your battery down, then add a 12v 500A solenoid that's switched on when your engine is running. Just get one off Amazon and fuse on the way to it.

Also if you are charging your batteries via other souurces, PV etc at some point your batteries might be fully charged and you would no longer need to supply the voltage to them. Does the rest of your system have this provision to STOP charging when not needed? Just a thought, probably won't break anything if not, depend on what the rest of your system and battery pack is. Are you running this 48v+ to some charge controller etc?

.
As I replied above, it will not be charging without the engine running and being monitored. The Delta automatically reduces the rate of charge to zero as it approaches 100%.

I'm not sure of the value of fusing each side of the converter. The converter has a variety of built in protections as does the Delta. Plus all of these cables will be outside the vehicle. There is no fuse recommended when I feed it with 400 watts of panels at 10 amps. Why would this be different.

Here are the features of the converter. Note the last item regarding built in protections:

Features:
  1. 100% full power and stable current output, non-isolated module.
  2. Waterproof level IP68 and anti-shock protection, Ultra-compact size, lightweight.
  3. Industry grade DC 12V to DC 48V converter, efficiency up to 95%.
  4. Die-cast aluminum shell, epoxy potting, cooling by free air convection.
  5. Protections: Over-current, Over-voltage, Over-temperature, Over-load and Short-circuit, auto-recovery when the device is back to normal operating.
 
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As I replied above, it will not be charging without the engine running and being monitored. The Delta automatically reduces the rate of charge to zero as it approaches 100%.

I'm not sure of the value of fusing each side of the converter. The converter has a variety of built in protections as does the Delta. There is no fuse recommended when I feed it with 40 watts of panels at 10 amps. Why would this be different.

Here are the features of the converter. Note the last item regarding built in protections:

Features:
  1. 100% full power and stable current output, non-isolated module.
  2. Waterproof level IP68 and anti-shock protection, Ultra-compact size, lightweight.
  3. Industry grade DC 12V to DC 48V converter, efficiency up to 95%.
  4. Die-cast aluminum shell, epoxy potting, cooling by free air convection.
  5. Protections: Over-current, Over-voltage, Over-temperature, Over-load and Short-circuit, auto-recovery when the device is back to normal operating.

I just have to say that as a disclaimer about proper fusing so you don't burn your car to the ground and blame it on me hehe. Fuses are there to protect the wiring from melting in a dead-short or overcurrent situation.

Back in 1995, I had this 1987 convertible Mustang, where I installed 2 batteries, main one in the front and a gel battery in the rear for some audio amps, and I had only fused the cable-end near the front battery, and a couple years later, the wire grounded-out through the insulation (from the weight of back seat support rail pressing on it when people would sit back there).

So it grounded out one day (friend in the back seat started yelling, 'whoa what's all this smoke coming out of the seat?!'), and the whole 4 AWG wire from under the back seat all the way to the trunk started glowing cherry red, melted all the insulation off, and was trying to start my car on fire (the carpet along the wire was starting to flame up), luckily I remembered I had a Leatherman w/ pliers/cutters on it in the glove box, and was able to quickly go grab it and cut the wire, before the flames got too big, then pat out the flames.

I learned in that particular case, not only did I require the one fuse, but TWO (one on each end), since I had two power sources paralleled, at each end of the car hehe. The fuses protect the wire from dead-shorting, not the just the circuit from device overcurrent.

Fuse protection is used at your own discretion, you will obviously be there to babysit it, since you will disconnect it after use. So it is ultimately up to you :geek:
 
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