Winnebago View electrical upgrades / questions

[twinboat]

Pretty sure you've got that wrong.

If the cable can't carry the amps, the cable will, heat, resistance will be high and the volts will drop. The voltage drop is in the cables not the battery.

[garbonz]

Originally Posted by twinboat

Pretty sure you've got that wrong.

If the cable can't carry the amps, the cable will, heat, resistance will be high and the volts will drop. The voltage drop is in the cables not the battery.

We are talking 3% voltage drop in the recommendations for the wires in order to not contribute to the inverter shutting down or other electrical components malfunctioning due to voltage drop.

Batteries are different issue, and contributory.

There are temperature specs for current also but they are much less restrictive, ie much smaller wire gauge to avoid excessive heating.

It’s in the NEC look it up.

[garbonz]

Originally Posted by garbonz

We are talking 3% voltage drop in the recommendations for the wires in order to not contribute to the inverter shutting down or other electrical components malfunctioning due to voltage drop.

Batteries are different issue, and contributory.

There are temperature specs for current also but they are much less restrictive, ie much smaller wire gauge to avoid excessive heating.

It’s in the NEC look it up.

To add to this, the ABYC has a 10% voltage drop standard for those situations where voltage is not an issue. Voltage is never an issue with Lithium batteries, plenty of volts.

The Lithium world is so different from lead acid that it is proving hard for many to adjust to the challenges and opportunities.

[vman4639]

Originally Posted by garbonz

I can’t imagine it getting hot, the spec on wire gauge is based on voltage drop, not heat and it would take a lot of voltage drop to heat the wire up in a few minutes, unless you have a bad connection. The BB’s have such a low voltage sag, you won’t even notice anything.

Good luck.

SUCCESS!

I wired up the 2/0 cables for the batteries, cut to length so no unnecessary length, and replaced the fuse. I know the cables may be overkill but what the hell.

Kureg worked perfectly and the cable going to the inverter did not generate any heat.

Thanks for the help everyone!

[Jlo11111]

Originally Posted by vman4639

So, I installed the charger, inverter, and batteries.

First - the batteries really do not fit in the space provided - I got them in there, barely, but they are not sitting flat - the ends sit on the lip and I cannot use the hardware to secure them.

Second - I think I did something wrong.
- The 1800watt inverter cannot run a Kureg without failing. I tested this in my house with a Kill-O-Watt, and it shows 1400 watts for about 30 seconds. My inverter gets about 10-15 seconds in and the input voltage drops below 11.9 and it shuts down. Am I wrong in thinking an 1800watt inverter should be able to power 1400 watts for 30 seconds?

- Second, it appears not all my outlets are working - although to be honest I forget which ones are supposed to work on battery - but it seems like fewer.

My concern is that I did something wrong on the install. Maybe I'm only taking advantage of one battery? My my inverter is not wired in correctly? But all the lights work, slide works, etc.

Thoughts?

I have 200ah LifePo4 and a 2000w xantrex inverter. When I run my 1600W microwave, the voltage drops to 11.6v on the display. When I run my 1800W kettle, it drops to 11.5V and sometimes 11.4V. They both run just fine. There is a setting on the Xantrex inverter that will shut it down down when the voltage drops below a certain level. I believe you can choose from 12.5V, 11.5V or 10.5V. Mine is set to 10.5V. All is good. Voltage returns to 13.1 when these appliances finish their run.

[vman4639]

Originally Posted by Jlo11111

I have 200ah LifePo4 and a 2000w xantrex inverter. When I run my 1600W microwave, the voltage drops to 11.6v on the display. When I run my 1800W kettle, it drops to 11.5V and sometimes 11.4V. They both run just fine. There is a setting on the Xantrex inverter that will shut it down down when the voltage drops below a certain level. I believe you can choose from 12.5V, 11.5V or 10.5V. Mine is set to 10.5V. All is good. Voltage returns to 13.1 when these appliances finish their run.

Interesting - in my setup the Input Voltage dropped to 12.3 while making coffee, then returned to 13.1 also.

Thanks for the inverter setting tip - is there a downside to choosing the lowest setting for cutoff?

[Jlo11111]

I have the Freedom Xi 2000. The first one went bad, but I don't recall it going below 12.3v when I ran the microwave and the float was closer to 13.3. The new one shows a float of 13.1 and drops to 11.5 or 6 when running the coffee maker. Per the xantrex manual, "The low battery shutdown for the inverter can be manually selected by the user by choosing a low (10.5 V), middle (11.8 V), or high (12.1 V) setting". I don't think Xantrex would let you fry your batteries and I believe my batteries also have low voltage protection so I'm not worried about harming them. And remember, the instantaneous voltage shown under load is not indicative of the true state of charge of your batteries.

Perhaps the difference between our readings is your coffee maker is lower wattage than mine and is pulling less. Or perhaps your 1800W inverter parameters are slightly different than my 2000W unit. Or perhaps I got another bad unit. ;-)

[artcaida]

Look at XANTREX XC-2000 Inverter/Charger eliminate PD-9245 and use pure sine a couple hundred more but worth it.

[sibe]

Geez, I have 2 deka 27 agm.. approx 180ah..
Aims sine wave 2000.. 4awg jumpers 18 inches, 2awg to invert, 24inchs.

works, 1200 micro.. single serve kuerig,, it will fire and run mach 1 ps AC,,oops..
I use inverter to watch TV at nite, run refridge at nite, make 4 coffees and nuke a danish or bagel sandwich or 2 in AM before I fire genny up..

I can squeeze almost a 2 amp 110v load for almost 10 hours,, so TV /Ref on 9pm.. TV off 1am or so// up at 6AM coffee etc.. Genny on at 7 or 8am... seems to work out..