datuttlejr
New Member
I am trying to retrofit my 1998 Mountain Aire motorhome with lithium and eventually solar. I started with 8 Trophy cells and 2 Overkill BMSs to make two 12v 100ah batteries. I connected them in place of the 4 - 6v batteries that were swollen and cracked and everything worked fine. I also installed a Victron Smart Shunt to monitor them.
I then added an Orion TR Smart 12/12 - 30 to keep them charged while traveling. Everything worked fine.
I then decided to take a big leap. I purchased a Victron Multiplus ii 24v 3000w 2x120v charger/inverter. I paired this with an EG4 LifePower4 24v 5kw battery. I also installed a Cerbo GX and Touch 70. I put the Inverter in the same cabinet that the old inverter was in. This would allow me to utilize the existing connections mostly and keep the Chassis and House batteries separate. I put the battery under my bed inside the camper to keep the temps more controlled. The design I planned would allow for me to add more batteries in the future very easily. I ran 1/0 cables from under the bed to the Multiplus. I plan to make 2/0 flexible bus bars under the bed. From junction bolt under bed I will run the 2/0 cable about 18" to another junction that will allow me to add another battery along the 2/0 busbar. My idea is that this will allow me to connect up to 6 batteries in parallel as I can afford them.
I connected the 1/0 cable to the Lynx Shunt through a switch. I connected the Lynx Distributor to the Shunt. I connected the Multiplus to the Distributor. I connected an Orion 24/12 - 70 to the Distributor to keep the Chassis battery charged. Which in turn fed the already installed Orion TR Smart 12/12 -30 to keep the House batteries charged. I left the homemade house batteries in the mix because I had heard that the Orion 24/12 -70 sometimes struggles with larger loads like large slide outs. I figured these could work as an accumulator would. So in reality, my 2 home made house batteries ran the motorhome's system. This was charged by the Chassis 12v system while driving and when sitting on shore power, the 24v system would continually charge the chassis system at 13.8v which would trigger the Orion TR Smart 12/12 into thinking we were driving and charge the home made house batteries... In theory...
If the we lost power the 24 volt system would eventually stop providing power, the 12v chassis system would finally drop below 13.8 and the smart charger would stop charging the house batteries and finally the house batteries would be drained. Leaving the chassis batteries with 12.8v where the smart charger kicked out.
I thought everything was working okay. I was parked at my storage facility and I thought I saw electricity flowing in all the right directions. But next thing I know when I was getting ready to leave for my trip. I got a low voltage alarm from the inverter side. I checked it with my meter and it said 26.something volts. I then realized that I had no way to charge the 24v system while traveling unless I ran the generator. So I ordered the Orion TR Smart 12/24 - 15 to add to the system later. I also ordered the cable to connect the EG4 to the Cerbo and the cable to connect the EG4 to my laptop. I started my journey with the generator running.
When I arrived I was still getting the low voltage alarm. I called Victron and they walked me through all of the settings they recommend and everything checked out okay. That narrowed it down to a battery issue. I tried calling Signature Solar but it was Friday afternoon of the 4th of July weekend so after being on hold for 2 hours I hung up. My cables came in the mail. I went to connect the EG4 to my laptop but now I don't get ANY lights when I turn the battery on. I put the Multiplus in Charge only mode. I tested with my meter that it is putting out 28 volts. Looking at the Touch 70 it shows nothing flowing. So I then pushed the reset button on the EG4 for 10 seconds and then it shows that the charger is in Absorption mode and the Lynx Shunt has 27ish volts and usually between 1 and 2 amps flowing. The battery and the Cerbo are the ONLY two things connected to the Distributor now. After a short period of time it drops into Float mode and even less flow. Then I push the reset button again and it goes back to the 1-2 amp flow at 27ish volts. Still no lights light up on the battery at all.
Does anyone have any ideas?
Should I disconnect the Multiplus and try the Orion TR Smart 12/24 - 15 and see what it will do?
I then added an Orion TR Smart 12/12 - 30 to keep them charged while traveling. Everything worked fine.
I then decided to take a big leap. I purchased a Victron Multiplus ii 24v 3000w 2x120v charger/inverter. I paired this with an EG4 LifePower4 24v 5kw battery. I also installed a Cerbo GX and Touch 70. I put the Inverter in the same cabinet that the old inverter was in. This would allow me to utilize the existing connections mostly and keep the Chassis and House batteries separate. I put the battery under my bed inside the camper to keep the temps more controlled. The design I planned would allow for me to add more batteries in the future very easily. I ran 1/0 cables from under the bed to the Multiplus. I plan to make 2/0 flexible bus bars under the bed. From junction bolt under bed I will run the 2/0 cable about 18" to another junction that will allow me to add another battery along the 2/0 busbar. My idea is that this will allow me to connect up to 6 batteries in parallel as I can afford them.
I connected the 1/0 cable to the Lynx Shunt through a switch. I connected the Lynx Distributor to the Shunt. I connected the Multiplus to the Distributor. I connected an Orion 24/12 - 70 to the Distributor to keep the Chassis battery charged. Which in turn fed the already installed Orion TR Smart 12/12 -30 to keep the House batteries charged. I left the homemade house batteries in the mix because I had heard that the Orion 24/12 -70 sometimes struggles with larger loads like large slide outs. I figured these could work as an accumulator would. So in reality, my 2 home made house batteries ran the motorhome's system. This was charged by the Chassis 12v system while driving and when sitting on shore power, the 24v system would continually charge the chassis system at 13.8v which would trigger the Orion TR Smart 12/12 into thinking we were driving and charge the home made house batteries... In theory...
If the we lost power the 24 volt system would eventually stop providing power, the 12v chassis system would finally drop below 13.8 and the smart charger would stop charging the house batteries and finally the house batteries would be drained. Leaving the chassis batteries with 12.8v where the smart charger kicked out.
I thought everything was working okay. I was parked at my storage facility and I thought I saw electricity flowing in all the right directions. But next thing I know when I was getting ready to leave for my trip. I got a low voltage alarm from the inverter side. I checked it with my meter and it said 26.something volts. I then realized that I had no way to charge the 24v system while traveling unless I ran the generator. So I ordered the Orion TR Smart 12/24 - 15 to add to the system later. I also ordered the cable to connect the EG4 to the Cerbo and the cable to connect the EG4 to my laptop. I started my journey with the generator running.
When I arrived I was still getting the low voltage alarm. I called Victron and they walked me through all of the settings they recommend and everything checked out okay. That narrowed it down to a battery issue. I tried calling Signature Solar but it was Friday afternoon of the 4th of July weekend so after being on hold for 2 hours I hung up. My cables came in the mail. I went to connect the EG4 to my laptop but now I don't get ANY lights when I turn the battery on. I put the Multiplus in Charge only mode. I tested with my meter that it is putting out 28 volts. Looking at the Touch 70 it shows nothing flowing. So I then pushed the reset button on the EG4 for 10 seconds and then it shows that the charger is in Absorption mode and the Lynx Shunt has 27ish volts and usually between 1 and 2 amps flowing. The battery and the Cerbo are the ONLY two things connected to the Distributor now. After a short period of time it drops into Float mode and even less flow. Then I push the reset button again and it goes back to the 1-2 amp flow at 27ish volts. Still no lights light up on the battery at all.
Does anyone have any ideas?
Should I disconnect the Multiplus and try the Orion TR Smart 12/24 - 15 and see what it will do?
