Leisure battery - help me spend my money.

[Stay Frosty]

In my case I've got the Roamer seatbase 230Ah battery which has a monitoring app and I have the BT app that comes with the Renogy smart shunt you can see in the picture in my post.
I used the shunt display 99.9% of the time as balanced cells and all the fantastic techno babble you get on both my apps is, to me anyway, chaos. I look at the display and what I need to know is right there, no need to scroll further and in that respect is like the Webasto control alongside which we use very occasionally.
I can physically isolate the battery output and solar input as like you I don't camp when it's cold but realistically you can still draw power from a lifePo4 battery around freezing but don't charge (introduce the solar) until the temperature is suitably above.
If you're in Spain for three months then a big battery and as much solar as you can get will certainly carry you over the dull weather days and maybe you can take some of your kitchen appliances with you for their first holiday abroad?
Just read the above and the Renogy DCC50S B2B has the BT option not the smart shunt... didn't say I was an expert

 

[doncarlyon]

Charger comes with BT module.

Battery comes with shunt and monitor.

 

[JumpShip]

Charger comes with BT module.

Battery comes with shunt and monitor.

Can't find that option on the renogy eBay shop (so I can take advantage of the discount) .
My search will continue after work

 

[doncarlyon]

Pardon our interruption...

Only 151.99 at the minute for the charger

 

[soldas]

I've just installed a full Renogy setup. Its great for the money. Very much plug and play once you get your head around things. Software is not up there with Victron but again for the money its great.

The Shunt 300 and One core does give great remote monitoring.



Found this useful RV Solar Power Blue Prints

 

[DXX]

Do I need a battery with heater? I don't 'do' cold and clear off to spain each winter in the van to escape it

If the battery is inside the van it could drop below the automatic temp’ cutoff, from what I remember most are set at a few degrees above freezing.
I realise that you’re probably heading for warm coastal southern Spain but there are many areas in central Spain where the temperature drops close to or below freezing in the winter.
To prevent freezing on my underslung water tank I have a 12v / 20W immersion heater operated through a simple controller with a tank mounted thermometer.
Depending on the mass it takes time for the item to loose heat gained during the warmer day time.

 

[JumpShip]

Yeah thinking about it now your right about central Spain in the winter there's a few times we've overnighted in Teruel or Zaragoza etc and the windscreen has been frozen in the morning so a heated battery might be more useful than I first thought .
We sometimes choose to drive through france and over the pyrenees at that time of year aswell .

 

[JumpShip]

Pardon our interruption...

Only 151.99 at the minute for the charger

You star!! Thanks for the link

 

[JumpShip]

Ok me again ...is the 50a option in the link the new version DDC50S ? What's the IP67 option ?
Need to order tonight

 

[Howzat]

IP67 is waterproofing, for boats maybe? We dont need that.

 

[Stay Frosty]

You'll see that the heatsink fins are a lot taller on the latest DCC50S and the solar input goes to an higher input voltage now.
My old one on the mat after being swapped out when it karked...

 

[JumpShip]

Can't see the fins in the link ....is there anything else that I can tell by ?

 

[Stay Frosty]

If you're buying a new one from Renogy directly then it'll be like the one you can see mounted into the front of my seats base.

 

[doncarlyon]

Just buy it will ya

 

[JumpShip]

Emailed them ....it's the old version

 

[Salty Spuds]

If the battery is inside the van it could drop below the automatic temp’ cutoff, from what I remember most are set at a few degrees above freezing.
I realise that you’re probably heading for warm coastal southern Spain but there are many areas in central Spain where the temperature drops close to or below freezing in the winter.
To prevent freezing on my underslung water tank I have a 12v / 20W immersion heater operated through a simple controller with a tank mounted thermometer.
Depending on the mass it takes time for the item to loose heat gained during the warmer day time.

Can I ask where you got your immersion heater from please?

 

[doncarlyon]

Buy it anyway, it's a bargain at 159squid

 

[MTransporter]

Emailed them ....it's the old version

What did you end up doing ?

 

[JumpShip]

Still not bought anything
Got too much to do and running out of time now before we go away to start ripping things out .

 

[MTransporter]

Still not bought anything
Got too much to do and running out of time now before we go away to start ripping things out .

Ah no!
Reason I ask is the fogstar 105ah (heated and Bluetooth) is £299.
Whilst the Renogy 100ah (heated and shunt with monitor) is £237!
Was only going to ask if you’d had a good experience with Renogy