Hello from washington. currently finished phase 1 of my 5th wheel install which is a 3kw AIMS inverter and a Victron BMV-712. (photo)
have 3x330w canadian solar panels and 2 x Victron 100/50 smart mppt charge controllers sitting in the basement waiting for install in the spring.
Now looking at whats needed to swap out my 4x6V batteries (400ah) for 3 LiFePO4 batteries. (don't tell the wife...)
sorry for leaving out the specifics. those are flooded wet cells 4x6V=12V bank 400ah. big and heavy; taking up a lot of space in that one enclosed container you see in the bottom of the photo. Looking at building 3 x 12v LeFePO4. if I use 120ah cells I would get 360ah and actually better usable wattage compared to the wet cells. right now I'm steeped in to the whole BMS selection. I'm not finding any low temp protection in the majority of the BMS's which I want for cold weather in the 5th wheel. Current wise; I thought if I went went individual 100a BMS on each battery they would match up well with the 3kw inverter. (250-300a max discharge which would be 100a from each individual LiFePO4 battery). Dave...
it's actually the aims combined 3kw inverter/charger. (PICOGLF30W12V120V) so it can charge up to 100a when I'm on shore power and/or connected to my generator. (3100 champion)
Somewhere I read that 3 large batteries in parallel is about the limit. I have almost the same inverter, and I plan to go to at least 24 volts when I upgrade to LiFePo4
Will: hmm. I will have to dig a little in to the manual and see what it says. how would the inverter/charger know how many batteries you have ?
or care ? I could put all the cells together and make one big whopper 12v battery. ha ! and call it 'the big whopper'
right now that 4x6v battery bank is already so heavy I'd think it already qualifies as a big whopper.
Hello there. I like the aims inverter/charger a lot. it has a very good price point for what it delivers and it is very reliable. It's heavy and seems very well built. (60#) most other inverters are so much more expensive. Only thing I don't like about it is the little potentiometer you turn for the battery selection. it's pretty much impossible to really know which selection you are on. the use of the BMV-712 monitor though make's it easier. It is also easy to adjust the charge rate by a similar little dial. If I did it again I would not buy the large LCD remote display. It doesn't really tell you anything. much better to go with the smaller / cheaper LED one with a switch and 3 little LEDs. I would highly reccomend getting the Victron BMV-712 monitor for anything you do. with the bluetooth it is awesome to sit inside the trailer and watch my consumption / charging etc.
