Electrical Woes

[buckland]

Perplexed. 2011 FWC Eagle. 160 W panel on roof, 100 W portable. Battleborn 100AH LiFePo4 battery 12V. Victron 100-20 controller. Blue Seas MM ACR, Isotherm DC fridge, Fantastic fan (with speed mod). Heater. LED Lights and USB plugs. Factory Iota. Renogy 1000 W inverter (new... not yet used)

I believe I have a fault (my wife will agree) somewhere. I had this problem last year on a trip across Labrador and Newfoundland with my homemade LiFePo4 battery (which I blamed for the problem... but now not likely). I bought a new Battleborn battery. When installed same issue.

I am definitely not in my comfort zone with electrics though I tend to try and a little knowledge can be dangerous. Either there is a fault somewhere or I have done something wrong (my fault).

Everything is the same as when I had 2 AGM batteries when all worked fine except I upgraded to the Victron100-20 when I switched from AGM to Lithium. I had installed a new thermostat for the furnace but that is just 2 wire plug. I installed the Isotherm 65 fridge 3 years ago and it has run perfectly.

I will attach a sketch of how I wired everything in the battery box as well as a screen shot of the Victron APP. I do not feel the need to attach the truck to camper electrically with the plug as the solar should be enough for my needs but don't mind doing so.
(ACR switch settings?).

What happens:
Pull down the main electric knob to "ON". APP shows Battery at 14 Volts Panel at 20 V 2 Watts. As soon As I turn on fridge or Fantastic fan the APP shows the battery drop to 7 Volts. The CO alarm starts to chirp. Fan slowly dies. Fridge never cools. This is exactly what happened with my DIY battery so I thought it had to be my build but now I see it is something else. (The other "sign" was I plugged in an eBike battery charger 240W... into the inverter and turned on the inverter.... the fault alarm went off... immediately turned off the inverter).

I checked the breakers and clear snapped each, all OK. No fuses are burned out. (BTW... how to know what each is to?) LED lights work. I pulled the Iota out and checked all connections in the back... all seem tight.

How does one chase down a fault? (I have a Fluke meter).

 

[Bosque Bill]

You said, "all worked fine except I upgraded to the Victron100-20". Why are you not considering that this is the problem? Bridge the battery(+) to the load(+) and see if the problem persists: if no, then the Victron may be the problem; if yes, then the battery may be the problem.

 

[PaulT]

Is the ground bus connected to the battery anywhere?

If L is the load out of the Victron, is the ACR there to charge the truck battery?

As drawn, it appears that the truck cannot charge the camper battery as the ACR output does not connect to battery positive.

Paul

 

[rando]

It looks like everything is wired through the load terminals on your MPPT charge controller?

If that is the case, I am guessing one of your loads (inverter for sure, fridge possibly) has enough in rush (or startup) current to kick the over current protection on the load terminals of the solar controller. When it shuts down next, take a look at the load status in the Victron App page for the solar controller - I bet you it is off. You can switch it back on through the Victron App, but it may just trip again once whatever is causing the in rush starts back up again. The easy way to fix this in the short term is to by-pass the load terminals and connect all your loads direct to the battery.

That is a bummer that DIY lithium battery did not work out for you (and maybe it was working fine all along) but I also completely understand getting frustrated and wanting to limit the number of possible causes for a problem.

Perplexed. 2011 FWC Eagle. 160 W panel on roof, 100 W portable. Battleborn 100AH LiFePo4 battery 12V. Victron 100-20 controller. Blue Seas MM ACR, Isotherm DC fridge, Fantastic fan (with speed mod). Heater. LED Lights and USB plugs. Factory Iota. Renogy 1000 W inverter (new... not yet used)

I believe I have a fault (my wife will agree) somewhere. I had this problem last year on a trip across Labrador and Newfoundland with my homemade LiFePo4 battery (which I blamed for the problem... but now not likely). I bought a new Battleborn battery. When installed same issue.

I am definitely not in my comfort zone with electrics though I tend to try and a little knowledge can be dangerous. Either there is a fault somewhere or I have done something wrong (my fault).

Everything is the same as when I had 2 AGM batteries when all worked fine except I upgraded to the Victron100-20 when I switched from AGM to Lithium. I had installed a new thermostat for the furnace but that is just 2 wire plug. I installed the Isotherm 65 fridge 3 years ago and it has run perfectly.

I will attach a sketch of how I wired everything in the battery box as well as a screen shot of the Victron APP. I do not feel the need to attach the truck to camper electrically with the plug as the solar should be enough for my needs but don't mind doing so.
(ACR switch settings?).

What happens:
Pull down the main electric knob to "ON". APP shows Battery at 14 Volts Panel at 20 V 2 Watts. As soon As I turn on fridge or Fantastic fan the APP shows the battery drop to 7 Volts. The CO alarm starts to chirp. Fan slowly dies. Fridge never cools. This is exactly what happened with my DIY battery so I thought it had to be my build but now I see it is something else. (The other "sign" was I plugged in an eBike battery charger 240W... into the inverter and turned on the inverter.... the fault alarm went off... immediately turned off the inverter).

I checked the breakers and clear snapped each, all OK. No fuses are burned out. (BTW... how to know what each is to?) LED lights work. I pulled the Iota out and checked all connections in the back... all seem tight.

How does one chase down a fault? (I have a Fluke meter).

 

[pvstoy]

Also I would be looking at ALL your grounds for loose or shorts. When you put a load on the system it fails, that shows a loose shorted out connection. That goes for the positives too.

I agree with the what was said about the ACR as your wiring diagram seems not complete.

 

[pvstoy]

Thanks Rando, I forgot about the inrush flow on the load port of the solar controller. I don't use it so I over look it.

 

[rando]

I have my system wired through the load terminals as a secondary Low Voltage Disconnect to trip before my lithium BMS trips and to get the net solar charge current. Very occasionally, when Libra is in ascension, and the fridge happens to cycle right as the water heater lights and all the camper lights are on, it will trip the over current. I added a bypass switch that will bootstrap the load terminals to overcome the in rush. Flick the bypass on for 3 seconds and you are back in business.

PS I don't have my inverter wired through the load terminals - it will definitely trip the current limit when it fires up.

 

[DanoT]

I don't know much about electricity but people who do have recommended coating wire connections and terminals with dielectric grease. Apparently it repels moisture and promotes the flow of electricity.

 

[buckland]

Lets see if I can make sense...

PaulT: Should there be an additional wire from Battery + to ACR OR (see below Rando)

Bosque Bill: In your test is the "Bridge" wire an additional wire leaving all else attached?

PVSToy: I have checked all connections I can get to also will try PaulT's idea)

Rando: Should I just not use the Victron Controller LOAD and go from the ACR to Battery?
That is... Have a wire from the negative camper bus bar go to the "MAIN" on the ACR AND should the red LOAD wire go to the Battery + (from ACR) not use the Victron's load connections?

And to all thank you for your patience and advice.
Today is the first warm day and I got the camper (on trailer) out of the barn in hopes of a run to the hills soon.
Rob

 

[Vic Harder]

Lets see if I can make sense...

PaulT: Should there be an additional wire from Battery + to ACR OR (see below Rando)

Bosque Bill: In your test is the "Bridge" wire an additional wire leaving all else attached?

PVSToy: I have checked all connections I can get to also will try PaulT's idea)

Rando: Should I just not use the Victron Controller LOAD and go from the ACR to Battery?
That is... Have a wire from the negative camper bus bar go to the "MAIN" on the ACR AND should the red LOAD wire go to the Battery + (from ACR) not use the Victron's load connections?

And to all thank you for your patience and advice.
Today is the first warm day and I got the camper (on trailer) out of the barn in hopes of a run to the hills soon.
Rob

What I can see:

Your ACR is miss-wired. The RED wire in your pic should to directly to the +ve terminal on the battery, hopefully with a breaker close to the +ve post on your new BB battery.

Your new BB is pretty much fully charged, hence the low power output of the Victron.

Do you have a Victron BMV too? If so, where is the shunt in this circuit?

Your Renogy 1000W can draw (1000/12.2 =) 82A under full load. It should not be connected to the Load outputs of your MPPT.

If as rando suggests your Load Output is OFF in the Victron App, then you should see zero amps/power to your in camper loads... fan, refer, etc. That you are getting some (if load is off) suggests a cross connect somewhere.

Where does the 2nd wire (white) that is sharing the RED terminal on the ACR going?

 

[rando]

I think it may be worth redrawing your diagram more carefully and fully.

I don't see where your loads (fridge, lights, water pump etc) are connected in that diagram? Where is the fuse block you show in the picture?

Yes, you should just go from the ACR to the battery. For now I would ignore the load terminals on the Victron MPPT until you get things sorted out.

But first, a better diagram! The process of making this will likely lead you to the solution without any help from us.

 

[buckland]

Making a new diagram. Will get back Wednesday (tomorrow).

 

[buckland]

Leonardo I am not. Attached find a 'sketch' diagram with how I think I should wire it. (note there two lines with inline fuses...) those two, red and black with fuses are what I had going into LOAD. (duh). Is this now correct?

The other question I have is the ACR switch. Where should it be for the usual usage? Engaged? I know these sound like elementary questions but at this point I'm questioning everything. I have a photo for how it was connected with the AGM (there were two and the extra black and red are from the 2nd battery in parallel as well as two small controllers (now replaced with Victron 100-20).

Really appreciate your input.

 

[rando]

Leonardo I am not. Attached find a 'sketch' diagram with how I think I should wire it. (note there two lines with inline fuses...) those two, red and black with fuses are what I had going into LOAD. (duh). Is this now correct?

The other question I have is the ACR switch. Where should it be for the usual usage? Engaged? I know these sound like elementary questions but at this point I'm questioning everything. I have a photo for how it was connected with the AGM (there were two and the extra black and red are from the 2nd battery in parallel as well as two small controllers (now replaced with Victron 100-20).

Really appreciate your input.

Much better digram. To be clear - the diagram is not the way it is wired now, but how you think it should be wired? I am also a little confused about the photo - I thought you were using a Victron MPPT solar controller?

Anyway, there are a couple of issues with the diagram - read up a little on how an ACR should be wired:

One terminal of the ACR should connect to your truck alternator/battery and the other to your camper battery. You also want to connect your Iota Fuse box (white) to your house battery positive.

 

[buckland]

The photo is of how it was when I had AGM. The diagram is how I think it should be wired now. Is this diagram correct? As the diagram shows the ACR would be connected to camper battery on same terminal as white to truck. The other terminal goes to camper Iota fuses

 

[rando]

No, the diagram is not correct - the camper battery should be on one terminal of the ACR and the truck battery should be on the other. The Iota fuse panel should be connected to the camper battery. Do you have the FWC pull out switch in your camper? If so you should add that to your diagram as well.

 

[Vic Harder]

No, the diagram is not correct - the camper battery should be on one terminal of the ACR and the truck battery should be on the other. The Iota fuse panel should be connected to the camper battery. Do you have the FWC pull out switch in your camper? If so you should add that to your diagram as well.

agreed.

 

[buckland]

Correct... my diagram is wrong. The white wire to the truck battery goes to the ACR post. The other post on ACR goes to the Iota. (That white wire goes back to the pull knob first and then on to the Iota).
NEW DIAGRAM BELOW.

Bear with me here..... on that ACR post with the Iota white wire there is a red (with the inline fuse to the positive house battery). Effectively connecting the Iota main with the battery via the ACR post. (that is the way the camper came).

The camper is not currently on the Truck.
I rewired it as seen in the corrected diagram.
I started the Fantastic fan on high....
I turned on fridge.... and the fan died.

I removed the Victron Controller and reinstalled the 20L Sunsaver controller.
I turned on the fan on high
Turned on the fridge .... all was well

Do I have a bad Victron
Can I test it??

 

[rando]

Are you still connected through the load terminals on the Victron? I am not sure how else it could be switching off the power to your fan and fridge.

 

[buckland]

As the diagram shows there is nothing attached to LOAD on the Victron. Is my diagram okay as to you’re last question about ACR?

Just a thought..... a fault with Fridge wiring?