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I recently saw that my alladin joystick was causing noise to be displayed on the monitor. Do you see a small red light on the joystick? This would indicate if power is getting there. Might try jiggling the joystick around and see if that causes anything to happen on the display. Perhaps could be a failed/failing joystick. steveg 2005 DDIV

I've got everything up and running. I do still though have some questions on some observations I've made. My charger has been reconfigured for the lithium battery profile. I have 2 options for the charging profile - 3 stage or 2stageNoFloat. Any suggestions out there? I've also set absorption and bulk voltage to 14.2v. I have notice something I don't understand though. The Inverter/charger remote display shows it is charging at 14.2v. I take a reading at the inverter/charger posts itself and it reads 14.18v. That seems good. But, if I take a reading at the battery itself, it reads 13.55v. The Victron smart shunt reads 13.75v. Why would the voltage at the battery be about 0.5v lower than at the charger? Long run from charger to rear run bay back to the batteries? To test this, I first disconnected the coach from the inverter/charger. I hooked up a 12v FLA battery directly to the inverter/charger and took the same readings again. I get the same nearly identical readings. (14.18v at charger posts, 13.52v at the battery posts). So, seems the coach wiring is not at issue. Is this normal?? Since the lithium batteries are specified to be charged at 14.2v, should I increase the inverter/charger setting to a higher voltage so that the batteries themselves see this higher voltage? Your opinions? (as a side note, the readings on the amount amps being pushed are the same at all the measuring points) thanks steveg 2005 DDIV

Thanks for the clarification. Makes sense. I was also thinking the same thing about the block heater plug. Any concerns that if running the generator while travelling that both the alternator and this small charger would be charging the chassis battery at the same time? steveg 2005 ddiv

I have a wiring question so I can ensure I'm doing the right thing. I'm in the process of removing the big-boy BIRD. My question is should I jumper the house side of where the big-boy was to the chassis side? If I don't, I don't have alternator power going to the house batteries where the dc-dc charger is located in my setup. (see photo of the schematic for my coach below). If I do jumper the two sides, I think this means that the house and chassis batteries are permanently linked together. So they will charge together and discharge together (basically what the big-boy does when it senses voltage from one bank higher than 13.2v). I wanted to minimize wiring changes, so perhaps my solution is to run a power wire from the alternator connection at the coach battery directly to the dc-dc charger. Thoughts? I'm still looking for a way to charge the chassis batteries when the coach is not used, but plugged in. Perhaps a Trik-L-start. This should keep the chassis batteries charged while plugged in.

Just a brief update on the direction I took using much of the feedback from the group. I decided to go with the Weize Lithium battery. The review on youtube was thorough and confirmed the capacity was true along with the specified features (low and high temp protection plus the usual other protections). One thing I like about this battery was its auto-balancing feature. With other batteries, before you hook them up in parallel you need to first ensure the voltages are nearly identical between the two banks. With auto-balancing, this is now done by the BMS. 200AH for $700 on Amazon. I did go ahead and remove the Big Boy BIRD like others suggested. The dc-dc charger which is only active when the alternator is running charges the house battery when travelling. The only real loss is the ability to charge the chassis battery using the inverter/charger (when the house batteries are full). However, charging at 14.4 volts (what the inverter/charger is configured for with lithium batteries) to the chassis battery is pushing it, so this seems like the safer way to go. I did go ahead and install a temperature controlled heater in the battery compartment which will turn on as needed when the battery temperature is below 40 degrees. This way I can charge the batteries with the generator in colder weather. It is a rather small space, so I don't think too much energy is required to keep this space above 40. Batteries were delivered free and quick in just 3 days. Should be done with the install by tomorrow. steveg 2005 ddiv

I'm setup to get the A/C serviced next week. I'm pretty sure the symptoms are pointing to a bad evaporator/drier. I'm going to have that replaced. After that, I'll have to go on a drive during hot weather and see if the compressor stays running or once again stops while running the AC after some period of time being on. steveg 2005 DDIV

Thanks Walter, that makes sense to me. So, effectively, when the alternator is running, it is charging both the chassis battery and house batteries (regardless of the state of the chassis battery). Total charge to the house battery would be limited by the dc-dc charger. The model I was looking at also has the trigger wire as well. Is there an easy location to tie this ignition sense wire to in/near the rear bay? I'll have to take a look at my schematic. Maybe I'll find something there to tie into. FYI, my house batteries are located on the PS rear bay. Nothing else is in that bay other than the batteries. steveg 2005 DDIV

Rick, You've brought up some good points that I want to further understand. First, the idea that the BIRD is not useful or needed. If there is not a BIRD, then doesn't the alternator just charge the chassis batteries only since there is no connection to the house batteries any longer? How do you charge the house batteries using the alternator via the dc-dc charger? Are you suggesting that the alternator be used to charge both the house and chassis batteries simultaneously (i.e. jump the house and chassis post on the BIRD)? I think your point on having the BIRD connect the house to the chassis battery while charging the house batteries via the inverter/charger is a good point. The charger will be putting out 14.5V (or so) to the house lithium batteries. So, the BIRD would pass that on to the chassis battery when the house batteries are over 13.5V and the BIRD engages. However, I'm proposing to place the dc-dc charger after the BIRD on the house side post. If I'm charging the house batteries via the inverter/charger, nothing would get passed to the BIRD as the dc-dc charger is there. So, I believe in this case, the chassis batteries are no longer charged when the house batteries are above 13.5V (which means in effect, the BIRD is no longer bi-directional, just uni-directional (ie. UNIRD 🙂 In my case, I live and travel in high elevation areas. So, I feel that I'm likely to run into nights where the temperature can be quite cool even into late spring and early fall dates. On the idea of using self-heating lithium batteries, what do you think about using a small 100W 12V thermostat controlled heater used in the battery bay? In my case, the house batteries are located in an enclosed space) Energy wise, I'm wondering if it is more efficient to maintain an enclosed space at some desired temperature rather than try to bring up cold batteries up to temperature. The savings in using non-heated batteries would easily pay for the 12V heater. steveg 2005 DDIV

Dave, thanks for the continued responses. I know for sure I don't have a condenser and electric fan up front near the generator. I did assume the condenser is on the side radiator (I haven't actually traced the high side hose from the compressor to what looks like the condenser on the side radiator). Since the failure of the compressor to engage is not really repeatable, I'll have to try to perform further tests the next time it does occur. steveg 2005 DDIV

I have a freedom pure sine wave inverter which can be configured for lithium batteries. Also, my house batteries are in a separate compartment from my engine batteries. Therefore, there is no outgassing issue in my case since my starting batteries (FLA) are not near my house batteries. One of the items that caught my attention on the batteries I was looking at was the internal heating element which is enabled when charging in colder weather. During such an event, the charge to the batteries are used to first heat up the battery. Once the battery temperature is above the required operating temperature, then the the charge is directed to the battery cells. steveg 2005 DDIV

the ambient temperature when doing my tests were around 75 to 80 degrees. My coach has a side radiator where the condenser is located which is cooled by the engine fan. My high side reading seems high for the ambient temperature I was at. steveg 2005 ddiv

Dave, I went ahead and rented some gauges from AutoZone (basically free if you return it like you got it). Here' some readings I found: Engine Off, compressor off, low side 82 psi, high side 70 psi Engine on, compressor off, 82/70 (same as you would expect) Engine on, compressor on, 30 psi, 175 psi. I however noticed, that the longer I ran the compressor, the higher the pressure went on the high side 5 minutes later, 26 psi/225 psi 10 minutes later, 27 psi/250psi 15 minutes later, 29/275 20 minutes later, 30/300 25 minutes later, 32/310. I believe that after a longer time of operation, the system may eventually shut the compressor off if the pressures keep going too high. Based upon what I've read these readings indicate either too much air in the system or too much moisture. I recently had the A/C evacuated and charged, so it should not be too much air. Like you pointed above though, perhaps this is pointing to a drier failure. At least that is an easy replacement. What's your take given these readings? steveg 2005 DDIV

Hello All, Now that prices are looking more attractive, I'm looking to upgrade my current 6 - 6 volt AGM batteries (600AH, 300AH usuable) with two 200AH Lithium battery. I have a few questions for the group just to confirm my plans are reasonable. 1. Looking around, I found this 400AH lithium battery for what looks like a very decent price. This battery has built-in BMS, bluetooth interface for looking at the status of the batteries and cells, it also includes a built-in heating for cold weather operation. Total price is $1460 on Amazon. This would be equivalent to 8 -6v batteries or about $180/6v battery. Any comments/issues I should look at before purchasing something like this? 2. To protect the alternator, I'm planning to install a dc-dc charger after the BIRD on the house terminal side and before the house batteries. I believe this will minimize any wiring changes, keep the BIRD in tact (although I've read some don't like the BIRD solution), and protect the alternator from running too hot. There appears to be two basic types of dc-dc chargers. Isolated and non-isolated ones. non-isolated are less expensive. I'm not sure I see the value of an isolated one since the ground comes from the frame and no real reason to isolate the ground from the input and output of the dc-charger. However, the ones I've seen that are rated at larger amps seem to be isolated chargers. here's the one I'm considering (60Amp, $188). opinions/feedback. This appears to be an isolated dc-dc charger. Seems like both the input ground and output ground would simply be connected to the frame ground source or ground wire. 3. I'm thinking of putting into place a smart shunt. With the smart shunt, I can then monitor usage and draws from the app on my cell phone. Seems like a better solution than what's currently in place. For this, I'm looking at the Victron bmv-712 smart shunt ($206). This includes the shunt and a wired monitor. I'm wondering of the value of the package offering over just getting the smart shunt and using the bluetooth connection with the app to view all your current parameters. Total cost for these items is in the $1900 range. thanks for your feedback/suggestions/opinions. steveg 2005 DDIV

Thanks for the great explanation. So, based upon your description, what I was seeing was normal when the compressor is not running. So, that seems to now remove the expansion valve from the list of possible issues. The question now is why is the compressor sometimes not running when the A/C is turned on (Max AC settin). I did notice that the A/C line running into the drier has been previously pinched (or crushed). Perhaps this is the problem that the flow is being limited by the damage to this line. Here's a picture of that damage. thanks for your feedback/suggestions, steveg 2005 DDIV

I did not measure this. Also, I don't have a high pressure gauge. So, no info I can supply. steveg 2005 DDIV