Victron v Renogy

[Scottishstu]

Hi all,

Currently in the middle of planning the electrical setup for my T6.1 LWB camper conversion and just wanted to get some opinions from people who have gone down a similar route.

The van already has the factory fitted auxiliary battery setup under the passenger seat along with the factory charge feed from the starter battery already run into the seat base. I’ve also already run my shore power cable up to the engine bay ready for hookup/consumer unit install.

Current plan is:

• Remove factory lead acid leisure battery
• Upgrade to lithium (likely around 200–230Ah)
• Renogy DC-DC charger with built in MPPT
• 2000W pure sine inverter
• Victron SmartShunt
• Shore power hookup with consumer unit + AC charger
• Solar provision later down the line

The van will mainly be used for:

• weekends away being off grid
• occasional longer trips
• YouTube filming/editing
• charging drone batteries/laptops/cameras etc
• usual camper loads (fridge, lights, diesel heater etc)

I’m not planning a full “off-grid expedition van”, but equally don’t want to under-spec it and regret it later.

I was originally looking at a full Victron setup, but the Renogy DC-DC/MPPT combo unit seems really appealing from a cost and simplicity point of view, especially with Bluetooth built in.

Plan at the moment is:

• lithium battery under driver seat
• passenger seat becoming the main electrical hub (DC-DC, busbars, fuses etc)
• inverter

Would be really interested to hear:

• anyone running the Renogy setup long term?
• any reliability issues?
• anything you wish you’d done differently?
• is 2000W inverter the sweet spot or overkill?
• anyone mixing Renogy + Victron components successfully?

Trying to do it properly first time


Cheers

 

[soldas]

I've got a full Renogy setup.

DC-DC / MPPT 12V 50A DC-DC On-Board Battery Charger with MPPT|Renogy UK

Smart shunt 300 Renogy Battery Shunt 300

One core RENOGY ONE Core | Renogy UK

3000w inverter 12V to 230V Solar Inverter Pure Sine Wave DC to AC (with UPS Function) | Renogy UK

200w solar panel Renogy 200 Watt 12 Volt Flexible Monocrystalline Solar Panel | Renogy UK

And a 230ah Fogstar setbase battery.

Why did I go Renogy? Price and space I guess. Is it as quality as Victron? Probably not but it's actually worked flawlessly for me and I can't fault it. The app isn't super amazing but it's always worked when I need it. I strangely use the leveling tool in the one core more than I thought I would.

I think I was all in on the Renogy side around £900. Not sure what the equivalent Victron would be.

I've everything mounted behind the drivers seat on a board attached to my kitchen unit. I've upped the inverter from 1000w to the 3000w (think the 2 and 3kw are the same size unti) as I use an air fryer. I bumped up the cable sizing for this from what comes supplied.

If I was to build the van again (I didnt build from scratch but I wasnt happy with what was there when I brought the van) I'd probably still go Renogy tbh as I've not had any issues and like the form factor.

Personally I wouldn't mix and match but only really from and OCD stand point that I like to know I'm not introducing any reason for things not to work.

 

[Dellmassive]

I love the renogy kit..

That's what I started with... Them slowly moved over to victron.

 

[Scottishstu]

I love the renogy kit..

That's what I started with... Them slowly moved over to victron.

What made you move over to Victron?

 

[Salty Spuds]

What does the smartshunt give you, that a good Bluetooth battery BMS doesn’t?

 

[Skyliner33]

What does the smartshunt give you, that a good Bluetooth battery BMS doesn’t?

Accuracy.

 

[Dellmassive]

What made you move over to Victron?

For me it was the app and software integration.

For example with the victron kit you can fully configure all aspects of the charging profile on all of their charges and dcdc charges,

You can change all the settings on that solar mppt controllers all via the one app.

Then there was the internet based servo monitoring and integration..

The victron cloud system and Bluetooth system when way further than they renegy kit.

The quality and warranty of the vitron which is better than the energy.

But I do love the energy kit sure it's Chinese made but it's of a decent quality, and I've seen enough tear down videos where they show you what's going on inside these things.

I was happy when her energy kit until I see the advanced monitoring of the victron stuff and I geek out on all that kind of business so I might be jump and slowly started swapping over from renegy to victron.

 

[soldas]

What does the smartshunt give you, that a good Bluetooth battery BMS doesn’t?

A better read out and mine is connected to the one core for remote checking as the core is connected to my WiFI.

 

[Dellmassive]

I have the Core one for a while.

Loved the fact it connected to local WiFi switches, very useful addition. (Victron can't do that afaik)

Thread '[Guide] Renogy IP67 50A DC-DC Charger + MPPT (for leisure battery) -- How We Done It --'

9 Feb 2024

[Guide] Renogy IP67 50A DC-DC Charger + MPPT (for leisure battery) -- How We Done It --

..

with thanks to a Forum Member for buying this for himself, but sending it to me first to test it out.

we have the new

..

RENOGY IP67 50A DC-DC Battery Charger with MPPT​

RENOGY 12V/24V IP67 50A DC-DC Battery Charger with MPPT

Introducing the RENOGY IP67 50A DC-DC Dual Input Battery Charger with MPPT, a slim, waterproof dual charging solution perfect for confined spaces. Equipped with intelligent boost and buck logic, it seamlessly accommodates...

• Dellmassive
• dc - dc charger renogy
• Replies: 70
• Forum: Electrics, Lighting, ICE, Security

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