Hi All,
I've recently bought a T6 4motion SWB and I'm looking at options for the electrical system. I've taken a look through the "Seat Base Electric - How We Done It" thread and have seen some interesting ideas as well as a large variety of gear.
For context, I'm trying to keep things as modular as possible, so setup mainly for surf/emtb/eskate at home, easily convertible to snowboard racks and tuning table for the snow. I want the option to sleep in it, but that'd be overnight or naps on long trips only - more likely we would stay in a tent if we were camping for a few days, and leave our gear in the van. Occasional picnic/bbq, nothing too extreme. Primary use for the electrical system would be recharging (potentially relatively large) batteries (phones/laptops/eskates/emtbs/cordless tools) and running a fridge/freezer. Highest loads would probably be an induction cooktop & toaster for occasional use during picnic/bbq/camping and snowboard waxing iron (which would get a bit of a workout during snow trips). I probably would get away with a 2kw inverter, but since I'm going to need some reasonable capacity to charge 2x emtb batteries in particular, I'm probably up for a battery bank (circa 2.5kwh) rather than a single battery, the constant amp draw shouldn't be a problem for a 3kw inverter. For the price difference, I think I'll just go 3kw so it's got an easy, quieter and hopefully longer life and I don't have to worry too much about overloading it and can get a nice powerful cooktop. I'm wanting shore power so I can juice it up from our solar/battery setup at home without having to take gear out, easily removable rooftop solar (so I can actually use roof racks) and a moderate dc-dc charger (say 30-40A) to keep things ticking along if I'm sans solar.
There seems to be 4 "Tiers" of gear out there, Mortgage your testicles (Redarc et al), middle of the road (Itechworld seems to have great support, great reviews, but much cheaper gear), cheap (renogy, adventure kings etc. - if something goes wrong, you're going to have to fight for warranty) and DIY build from the cells up, being the cheapest but with no warranty (and potentially just a more expensive way to set your car on fire than petrol and a match).
Given that I'm not going full camper in the middle of nowhere, any electrical failure (in the aux system) would be maybe a bit inconvenient as long as it didn't catch fire. Given that, I'm thinking Redarc is completely out. The DIY option is really interesting to me. I've been watching Will Prowse on youtube and it could work... I've got some basic electrical skills, but to be honest I'd be far more interested in a DIY battery bank at home in a shed well away from the house so it can burn in peace without destroying much more than itself, so that leaves middle of the road and cheap.
I'm sort of leaning towards Itechworld but the increased cost suddenly gets even more expensive when you need a shore charger and inverter instead of an inverter charger (for significantly less than the price of the itechworld inverter!) like Renergy do. I don't mind spending a bit of money on good gear, but all this stuff starts adding up real quick.
Quick comparison in AUD (with sales!) of key components (will leave solar panels out for now as my car wont fit in our garage with roof racks until our planned new garage is built)
for Renogy
3 x 170AH 12v batteries, 3kw inverter charger, 50A DC-DC charger with MPTT, and 500A battery monitor = ~$3.8k, but I've heard horrible things about their support.
for Itechworld
2 x 200AH 12v batteries, 3kw inverter, 40A shore charger, 40A DC-DC charger with MPTT, and 500A battery monitor = ~$6k, with (allegedly) great support
Is there an argument for the cheaper option? I mean on specs alone it's a no brainer, even if I have trouble I'd have an extra 2.2k saved to buy my way out of trouble... that just wont last long if I need to buy replacements regularly.
Any thoughts appreciated.
Cheers,
Rob
I've recently bought a T6 4motion SWB and I'm looking at options for the electrical system. I've taken a look through the "Seat Base Electric - How We Done It" thread and have seen some interesting ideas as well as a large variety of gear.
For context, I'm trying to keep things as modular as possible, so setup mainly for surf/emtb/eskate at home, easily convertible to snowboard racks and tuning table for the snow. I want the option to sleep in it, but that'd be overnight or naps on long trips only - more likely we would stay in a tent if we were camping for a few days, and leave our gear in the van. Occasional picnic/bbq, nothing too extreme. Primary use for the electrical system would be recharging (potentially relatively large) batteries (phones/laptops/eskates/emtbs/cordless tools) and running a fridge/freezer. Highest loads would probably be an induction cooktop & toaster for occasional use during picnic/bbq/camping and snowboard waxing iron (which would get a bit of a workout during snow trips). I probably would get away with a 2kw inverter, but since I'm going to need some reasonable capacity to charge 2x emtb batteries in particular, I'm probably up for a battery bank (circa 2.5kwh) rather than a single battery, the constant amp draw shouldn't be a problem for a 3kw inverter. For the price difference, I think I'll just go 3kw so it's got an easy, quieter and hopefully longer life and I don't have to worry too much about overloading it and can get a nice powerful cooktop. I'm wanting shore power so I can juice it up from our solar/battery setup at home without having to take gear out, easily removable rooftop solar (so I can actually use roof racks) and a moderate dc-dc charger (say 30-40A) to keep things ticking along if I'm sans solar.
There seems to be 4 "Tiers" of gear out there, Mortgage your testicles (Redarc et al), middle of the road (Itechworld seems to have great support, great reviews, but much cheaper gear), cheap (renogy, adventure kings etc. - if something goes wrong, you're going to have to fight for warranty) and DIY build from the cells up, being the cheapest but with no warranty (and potentially just a more expensive way to set your car on fire than petrol and a match).
Given that I'm not going full camper in the middle of nowhere, any electrical failure (in the aux system) would be maybe a bit inconvenient as long as it didn't catch fire. Given that, I'm thinking Redarc is completely out. The DIY option is really interesting to me. I've been watching Will Prowse on youtube and it could work... I've got some basic electrical skills, but to be honest I'd be far more interested in a DIY battery bank at home in a shed well away from the house so it can burn in peace without destroying much more than itself, so that leaves middle of the road and cheap.
I'm sort of leaning towards Itechworld but the increased cost suddenly gets even more expensive when you need a shore charger and inverter instead of an inverter charger (for significantly less than the price of the itechworld inverter!) like Renergy do. I don't mind spending a bit of money on good gear, but all this stuff starts adding up real quick.
Quick comparison in AUD (with sales!) of key components (will leave solar panels out for now as my car wont fit in our garage with roof racks until our planned new garage is built)
for Renogy
3 x 170AH 12v batteries, 3kw inverter charger, 50A DC-DC charger with MPTT, and 500A battery monitor = ~$3.8k, but I've heard horrible things about their support.
for Itechworld
2 x 200AH 12v batteries, 3kw inverter, 40A shore charger, 40A DC-DC charger with MPTT, and 500A battery monitor = ~$6k, with (allegedly) great support
Is there an argument for the cheaper option? I mean on specs alone it's a no brainer, even if I have trouble I'd have an extra 2.2k saved to buy my way out of trouble... that just wont last long if I need to buy replacements regularly.
Any thoughts appreciated.
Cheers,
Rob
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