Grey Goose

I just replaced mine with a Delco 28SI, it was a 200 AMP with J mount. Battery and ground wiring only. If you have your old one off and call this place they can make sure you get the right one to convert. https://www.qualitypowerauto.com/ There are a lot of variables so double check. With the 28SI I figure I can now easily walk into any major auto parts store in the US and get a replacement if I need it.

I was thinking the same as I usually have a hose on my wet bay faucet. Another good reason to keep some water in your fresh tank when traveling.

The link you sent is for charging lithium ION. I think most in this forum would be using or considering LiFePo4.

Understood, I assume this was for lead acid battery chemistry and I was not sure if it did the same for what ever battery type you have yours set at. I assume you are using custom or CC/CV? So it does what it is supposed to do in your case.

But what are your settings? Battery type/voltage etc. And what battery chemistry?

By "crank up" do you mean exceed the settings or just go to max voltage setting? I assume you are using CC/CV or customer settings.

My point is Victron uses the float term for its second stage of charging. It basically uses bulk to 80% charge (also known as constant current) and then it goes to "float" (second stage) which is constant voltage. Assumption is this second stage would maintain charge to offset a load on system and or time out and stop charging at a certain period of time if there is no load. But either scenario would prevent the battery from being overcharged. Of course it depends on how the user sets the parameters for the second stage/float voltages and will vary depending the manufacturer of the LifePO battery. My main point is that "float" may be configurable based on the battery chemistry/charger and not necessarily taboo as far as LifePo is concerned.

"Float" seems to be sort of a generic term depending on the manufacturer. I assume in your case a lower voltage (float) would prevent over charging the battery while still maintaining the SOC.

I did not realize that the Magnum products had such a bad reputation. I do know they make a remote that supports a lithium profile as well as custom settings to set up specific CC/CV to match your batteries. Magnum also makes a BMK (monitoring kit) which is must if you want to get the most out of a lithium battery bank. Not a must if you are not a high demand user and spend most of your time with FHU. As you already know I have a 2007 vintage Magnum inverter with a late release remote. As far as defaulting to 14V that should not bother my Lithium batteries as they are supposed to charge at 14+ and have a BMS that will stop over charging. As far as I know most Lithium batteries are similar is this regard. I have considered getting a Magnum BMK kit but I am on the fence about spending more money on Magnum products because I know utlimately I will end up with Victron seeing how they have more control/monitoring and charging products available that seem to be more future proof than Magnum. I am guessing all are made in China these days anyway. I do question Victrons factory support as I hear they push it all down to their retailers. Do you still run your Magnum or did you upgrade/change to something else? Another feature that some of the late model Victron Inverters have is a hybrid mode (Power Assst) it basically allows the inverter to draw power from the battery bank if the shore power is not enough. So if you were plugged into 20 amp and needed a bit more it would make up the difference. I am sure there is a limit but if it worked well it would be good for short periods of time and hypothetically could provide a more stable 110 voltage in those situations that were pushing or exceeding 20 amps. Of course Magnum has a similar feature as well.

I cannot make an excuse for Victron because of the location when I can buy a very inexpensive, AA battery powered temp sensor and place it in the same location and get at least double the range that the Victron has. Yes, you could basically mimic the BIRD/Big boy system as far as charging logic goes. And in this case enhance the logic to support lithium. And in my mind you would not need much capacity (charge rate) for the house to chassis charging function as you should just be maintaining the chassis batteries in most scenarios.

Are you using the bluetooth Victron DC/DC charger? If so how is the range? I cannot connect to mine unless I am in the rear of the coach. I have other blue tooth devices located in the same compartment that have much better range.

You are right on about the block heater but you can always just run an extension cord if you get to that point.

Agree, no need to touch the inverter wiring if you are doing a dc to dc charger. I connected mine to the batteries directly with a dc breaker to protect the wiring. I am contemplating making the connection at the big boy so the Alladin will pick up the charge current. But I am currently getting the voltage reading so I can tell if it is charging or not, so it is low on my priority list.

Edit - I missed the post from John C, it looks like he already covered this. Sorry I am not following on the bold. Why replace the Magnum inverter? Magnum has the capability of charging lithium (depending on the release level). And it is relatively easy to charge the chassis that really need nothing other than a maintance charge when the alternator is not running. Solutions for chassis charging - 1. Solar 2. DC/DC charger from house to chassis - low amperage unit would work and with the Victron you can program it to activate at certain voltages and control the charging profile as well. 3. A small battery maintainer plugged into 110/charges when on shore power - the logic of using the block heater works if you remember to flip the switch otherwise a smart charger wired to a 110 source permanently would maintain the chassis batteries whenever the alternator is not running.

Thank you for sharing the wiring diagram documents. It will save me a lot of time fumbling through the hard copies I have that do not have an index.

Perfect! Thank you so much.

Good news! It appears the small coolant leak was the issue. The alternator started working normally again today after about 10 minutes. I am cautiously optimistic at this point that it is fixed.

MOSFET...I assumed. MOSFET is the most common type of transistor today. Their primary use is to control conductivity, or how much electricity can flow, between its source and drain terminals based on the amount of voltage applied to its gate terminal.

One additional qustion. I know that the Alladin on my coach picks up the dc voltage level from the solar panel and the house batteries at the solar controller. I verified this physically and with the wiring diagram for my coach. Where does the Alladin pick up the DC current charge and discharge amp reading for the house batteries?

Let me clarify a few things. Inverter - Magnum MS2812 - 2800W 12/125A max charge rate House Batteries - 230AH Lithium x 2 Chassis batteries - 3 month old - SLA Big boy selenoid disconnected Chassis batteries charge by the alternator and 1 rooftop solar panel. I have never had an issue with the chassis batteries being undercharged/dead. House batteries charged by Magnum MS2812 - when on shore or generator power - I installed the lithium house batteries in early November and only charged the batteries via the Magnum inverter/charger. This worked okay but when traveling and spending a night here and there without shore power I needed to run the generator periodically to maintain the charge. Obviously when I was in a site with FHU it was never an issue. I spent the entire months of December and January with FHU. In late January of this year I installed a Victron DC/DC 30A charger to allow me to keep the house batteries charged or at least maintained without needing to run the Onan 10K generator. In my mind I would think the most current the Lithiums could have pulled from the alternator was 30 amps via the DC to DC charger. Based on the recent issue of the alternator not working I could tell the chassis/engine with headlights on was pulling about 50 Amps based on the charger and alladin readouts. I would think 50 amps to the chassis plus 30 amps to the DC to DC charger should not have abused a 200 amp alteranator. Keeping in mind before the lithium changeover the Big Boy was providing charging to the 800AH lead acid battery bank. I do think the alternator is the original. It has a little over 50K, which is not a lot but I did notice the small coolant hose that is right above the alternator was dripping right into the alternator. This just started recently as I inspect my engine bay often when traveling. I will be curious to see what it looks like when I remove it and crack it open. I know alternators can take a lot of water but I am not sure what coolant could do in the wrong place. I did notice the voltage was a little off on my last leg from Mississippi to Missouri. Anyway it all reminds of saying we used to use when we rode and modified snowmobiles. "Once the hood goes up it never stops going up". Basically saying that once you start modifying it never ends, either because we wanted more or we impacted reliability in some way. I will go on to say, I think lithium has its place in a coach but dont do it to save money. The price of the batteries is just the start. Chargers, heaters, inverters, controls and monitoring etc. It could go on an on and for what gain? My alladin system is aging but it gives me a lot of pertinent information for monitoring the electrical systems. I can tell if the ac compressor units kick in, if the dryer is cycling properly, if the aquahot primary and secondary heating elements are working etc etc. It really depends on how you use your coach and IF you have other systems such as the inverter that is compatible and or needs replaced anyway. Dont get me wrong, I love new technology and I have worked with DC power systems for years but if I could go back in time I think I would have just replaced my 800ah lead acids with about 400ah lead acid and saved a whole lot of hassle because I really dont "need" a lot of house battery capacity based on how I currently use my coach. If you are boondocking a lot and NEED as much capacity as you can get then of course it makes more sense...then you are likely adding solar panels as well. At that point you would likely scrap the alladin and go with some other way to monitor tanks plus the electrical. Sorry for rambling on. I dont mean to come off as negative on lithium either. I just think people tend to overbuy capacity on a lot of things that really dont matter. But it gives them some kind of gratifcation to "have it". What is the plan for charging the lithium house batteries? Does your current inverter/charger have a CC/CV or custom profile to adequately charge lithium? Will you be traveling and or operating in colder climates? The reason I ask is lithium batteries need heat/warmed when it gets below 35 degrees. Also if you have a solar panel that may be enought to keep your chassis batteries topped off. It certainly has for me at least.

It is a 30 amp dc to dc charger so I assume it should not have been over loaded regardless. I also just noticed today that there was a small coolant hose located right above the thermostat housing that had a very small leak that was dripping right into the alternator. I tightened the clamp today but I will find out more when I remove the alternator.

Good luck! I found out yesterday it was good to have a DC to DC charger on board. I was just ready to pull out of a campground and my low battery light went on. A quick check with my voltmeter verified that my alternator was not charging. I flipped the 30 amp DC to DC charger wiring to charge my chassis batteries from the house and in parallel with a 110/20 amp charger running off my block heater switch I was able to generate enough charging to complete my 400 mile trip home. Is it a coincidence that my alternator went out about 1000 miles after adding a DC to DC charger?

Two chargers in parallel is theoretically possible and is not uncommon in large dc power plants. Also many DC to DC chargers advertise that you can you multiple units in parallel to increase capacity.

Disappointing that the two Victron chargers do not play nice with each other. I will say that I am very disappointed with the bluetooth range on the Victron DC to DC charger that I have. I have several battery powered bluetooth temp monitors that have much better range.

I am using the factory Magnum MS2812, with a late release ME-ARC remote that includes a lithium as well as CC/CV and custom battery profiles. But I am not happy with the charging cycles and plan to add a Magnum BMK when I get home from Texas in a couple weeks. I also took the factory solar controller and wired it so it only charges the chassis batteries.