Overland Power (6 Viewers)

[kcjaz]

Alternator charger went on sale for $200 so I bought it. Temporarily hooked it all up to the Rav to make sure it all works and set up the app and update firmware. All pretty simple. Easy to set the charge rate from 100 to 800 watts. There also seems to be a reverse flow maintenance mode allowing trickle charging of the starting battery as well as a max (800w) charge reverse mode , though there is no battery type selection for AGM start battery. Potentially that might work as a way to maintain both the ecoflo and the start batter when garaged and connected to shore power via one device/cord allowing me to delete the 2 amp onboard charger I have.

The double 6 awg cable will be hard or maybe impossible to get through the firewall grommet. I think it will have to go under the truck and up through a floor grommet.

 

[eatSleepWoof]

Alternator charger went on sale for $200 so I bought it. Temporarily hooked it all up to the Rav to make sure it all works and set up the app and update firmware. All pretty simple. Easy to set the charge rate from 100 to 800 watts. There also seems to be a reverse flow maintenance mode allowing trickle charging of the starting battery as well as a max (800w) charge reverse mode , though there is no battery type selection for AGM start battery. Potentially that might work as a way to maintain both the ecoflo and the start batter when garaged and connected to shore power via one device/cord allowing me to delete the 2 amp onboard charger I have.

View attachment 3722638

The double 6 awg cable will be hard or maybe impossible to get through the firewall grommet. I think it will have to go under the truck and up through a floor grommet.

View attachment 3722639

I ran 2 gauge wiring through the firewall grommet without any issues. The real difficulty is running it along the floor and through the B-pillar; that was a nightmare and a half. If you have the option to run it underneath, that'll be much simpler. You can pop it back in via the floor grommet that's below the passenger side storage cubby (I used that for similar needs).

 

[FrazzledHunter]

Alternator charger went on sale for $200 so I bought it. Temporarily hooked it all up to the Rav to make sure it all works and set up the app and update firmware. All pretty simple. Easy to set the charge rate from 100 to 800 watts. There also seems to be a reverse flow maintenance mode allowing trickle charging of the starting battery as well as a max (800w) charge reverse mode , though there is no battery type selection for AGM start battery. Potentially that might work as a way to maintain both the ecoflo and the start batter when garaged and connected to shore power via one device/cord allowing me to delete the 2 amp onboard charger I have.

View attachment 3722638

The double 6 awg cable will be hard or maybe impossible to get through the firewall grommet. I think it will have to go under the truck and up through a floor grommet.

View attachment 3722639

I got 6 GA through the firewall at the grommet location on both driver and passenger sides. The nipples on these firewall grommets are EXACTLY the size of 6 GA wire. I did this so I could have Anderson SB-50's and a cigarette lighter at the driver's and passenger's footwell to power all kinds of stuff. I did not thread the wires through the channel below the door to get power to the rear. Yet.

Passenger side: Both nipples are unused so if you want to strip off your wire loom you can go through each nipple you can do so with just slicing the nipple. I didn't do that. On the passenger's side I got 2 6GA with wire loom through. I did it by un-taping the center side opening up the grommet which is split from the factory. Once pulled I secured the grommet with a wire tie. This leaves one pristine nipple ready for piercing. Ahem. It's worked out fine.

Driver's side: The driver's side is a bit of a different story as the hood release cable uses up one nipple. I was able to get a single 6 GA wire plus a 12 ga wire through the unused nipple.

Passsenger's side:

Driver's side:

 

[kcjaz]

I got 6 GA through the firewall at the grommet location on both driver and passenger sides. The nipples on these firewall grommets are EXACTLY the size of 6 GA wire. I did this so I could have Anderson SB-50's and a cigarette lighter at the driver's and passenger's footwell to power all kinds of stuff. I did not thread the wires through the channel below the door to get power to the rear. Yet.

Passenger side: Both nipples are unused so if you want to strip off your wire loom you can go through each nipple you can do so with just slicing the nipple. I didn't do that. On the passenger's side I got 2 6GA with wire loom through. I did it by un-taping the center side opening up the grommet which is split from the factory. Once pulled I secured the grommet with a wire tie. This leaves one pristine nipple ready for piercing. Ahem. It's worked out fine.

Driver's side: The driver's side is a bit of a different story as the hood release cable uses up one nipple. I was able to get a single 6 GA wire plus a 12 ga wire through the unused nipple.

Passsenger's side:
View attachment 3723002
Driver's side:
View attachment 3723001

Thanks. I already have a few things going through the fire wall on both sides. The passenger side is definitely easier to work with from an access point of view, though I have to move my Slee accessary tray and winch controller to get to it. I think the biggest challenge will be dealing with the Ecoflow cables with there proprietary plugs and fuses. It requires pulling the cables from inside the cab, from the Ecoflow charger location, through the grommet to the engine bay. With the fixed length of the cable, I need to figure out the compete route and location of where I'll mount the charger. Alternatively, maybe I could run a single 6 awg wire into the cable and to a fuse block/bus bar with an in cab chasse ground and connect the Ecoflow cables to that.

 

[bloc]

Thanks. I already have a few things going through the fire wall on both sides. The passenger side is definitely easier to work with from an access point of view, though I have to move my Slee accessary tray and winch controller to get to it. I think the biggest challenge will be dealing with the Ecoflow cables with there proprietary plugs and fuses. It requires pulling the cables from inside the cab, from the Ecoflow charger location, through the grommet to the engine bay. With the fixed length of the cable, I need to figure out the compete route and location of where I'll mount the charger. Alternatively, maybe I could run a single 6 awg wire into the cable and to a fuse block/bus bar with an in cab chasse ground and connect the Ecoflow cables to that.

Can you depin the ecoflow connectors?

 

[kcjaz]

Can you depin the ecoflow connectors?

Probably not without destroying the covers as they are all molded rubber/plastic and appear to be "hermetically" sealed. The whole kit reminds me of Apple iPod/iPhone/iPad with proprietary connectors. I think you'd have to cut the cable and splice in butt connectors or terminal lugs to connect to DIY cable. You would for sure need to do this to connect a different DC/DC charger but that would not be hard to do. I'm sure part of the reason they do this is to force people to live in the Ecoflow product universe. To be fair, the stuff is meant to be plug and play for people who are not electricians.

 

[laserturbo91]

With the size of the Goal Zero EC8 connector I pulled through my firewall, you’ve got nothing to worry about. I did not worry about shooting for a nipple in the grommet, just poked an opened up hanger through. It’s a pain and a bit messy (to undo mostly) but I used a bunch of electrical tape, built it up, and have used dielectric grease or even just PB blaster as lube. That is what I think made it all possible. I take the hanger and lightly wrap it around what I want pulled through, so it just doesn’t pull right off. If I find picture, I’ll post up.

 

[laserturbo91]

The Goal Zero connector from 2022, looks like I used dish soap as lube. Before this years LCDC, I pulled 4-12awg, 1-6awg, and 1 cat-5 all in one go. Let’er rip, tater chip.

 

[jjtrou2072]

Anyone have a lead on a quality 12-48volt converter? Something in the 10amp range? I see cheap chinese ones on Amazon with no built-in fans for cooling etc.
I have a Bluetti so the ecoflo alternator charger will not work without some modification and I don't want to be the guinea pig.

 

[UPR LC]

Anyone have a lead on a quality 12-48volt converter? Something in the 10amp range? I see cheap chinese ones on Amazon with no built-in fans for cooling etc.
I have a Bluetti so the ecoflo alternator charger will not work without some modification and I don't want to be the guinea pig.

Victron Orion non-isolated DC-DC Converter has a 10amp and 20 amp 12 to 24 V unit . That is the rated output. Not sure how familiar you are with DC power, but a 10A 24V output would need cabling to handle 20A 12V input. And so on. A 20A 24V output would be the same as 10A 48V output you ask about above.

 

[jjtrou2072]

Victron Orion non-isolated DC-DC Converter has a 10amp and 20 amp 12 to 24 V unit . That is the rated output. Not sure how familiar you are with DC power, but a 10A 24V output would need cabling to handle 20A 12V input. And so on. A 20A 24V output would be the same as 10A 48V output you ask about above.

I have a unique situation.
I ordered and installed the Victron 12-24v 20amp unit mentioned above. However, I didn't realize my Bluetti unit needed more voltage (Min 35volts) to charge. The newer Bluetti units require less voltage (like 10).

Of course I found this out right before I left for my Co. trip this past summer. In a pinch, I went to Harbor Freight and wired in a pure sine wave 120volt inverter and used the AC charger to charge while I was driving during the trip. (much less efficient use of DC power).

Now I am stuck with trying to find a quality converter that outputs something above 35volts (probably 48) and around 10amps as my wiring was originally designed for 24volts at 20amps.

Ultimate goal is to charge at around 500watts.

 

[UPR LC]

I have a unique situation.
I ordered and installed the Victron 12-24v 20amp unit mentioned above. However, I didn't realize my Bluetti unit needed more voltage (Min 35volts) to charge. The newer Bluetti units require less voltage (like 10).

Of course I found this out right before I left for my Co. trip this past summer. In a pinch, I went to Harbor Freight and wired in a pure sine wave 120volt inverter and used the AC charger to charge while I was driving during the trip. (much less efficient use of DC power).

Now I am stuck with trying to find a quality converter that outputs something above 35volts (probably 48) and around 10amps as my wiring was originally designed for 24volts at 20amps.

Ultimate goal is to charge at around 500watts.

Got it, I was not aware of the Bluetti requirements (I have an ecopower). Good luck with the search!

 

[lx200inAR]

I have a unique situation.
I ordered and installed the Victron 12-24v 20amp unit mentioned above. However, I didn't realize my Bluetti unit needed more voltage (Min 35volts) to charge. The newer Bluetti units require less voltage (like 10).

Of course I found this out right before I left for my Co. trip this past summer. In a pinch, I went to Harbor Freight and wired in a pure sine wave 120volt inverter and used the AC charger to charge while I was driving during the trip. (much less efficient use of DC power).

Now I am stuck with trying to find a quality converter that outputs something above 35volts (probably 48) and around 10amps as my wiring was originally designed for 24volts at 20amps.

Ultimate goal is to charge at around 500watts.

I'd stick with the inverter theory. I get that it's "inefficient" to go from dc to ac back to dc, but we are talking about pulling power from the alternator, right? So, I doubt it's something you'd ever notice. You might also find some other use for an inverter down the road in the back of the vehicle. I know the bluetti most likely can provide all the 110v you need, but you never know.

 

[FrazzledHunter]

I would suggest that when you add things like inverters, converters such as the Victron Orions, buck boosters etc... that you also measure the power inputs to these devices. I would do this even if the device provided a way to set/limit its power.

For example, my Victron Orion 12|24-15 draws ~40A while delivering its rated 15A or 360-380W.

Why? 2 reasons:

1. These things may be drawing more than you might guess.
2. Your alternator at idle may not be up to the task, depending on what you're doing of course, and may be slowly burning up.

 

[kcjaz]

I have the Ecoflow Glacier fridge on order and should be here this week. Looking forward to testing it out. They send the 300 WH battery separately so I hooked it up to the EcoFlow Delta II via USB C (100w) to charge it up while the Delta II was plugged into the wall just to see if it would work like I thought it would. The Delta II was at 100% and just in trickle charge mode when I plugged in the 1/2 charge Glacier battery. Initially, the Glacier drew 98w and the Delta didn't draw any AC power form the wall plug. I checked on it about an hour later and it was doing what I expected. It was charging the Glacier batter at ~100w while drawing AC power to charge the Delta II battery at ~400 w ( I have the Delta II set up for "optimized battery charging").

The maintenance recommendations for how to store Glacier battery say to store it for long periods at 50% SOC. The problem for me will be remembering to look at the thing when I'm not using it. I'd rather just keep it hooked up to the Delta II all the time to store it so both are always ready when I need them. The Delta II is meant to stay plugged into the wall in trickle mode.

 

[bloc]

I have the Ecoflow Glacier fridge on order and should be here this week. Looking forward to testing it out. They send the 300 WH battery separately so I hooked it up to the EcoFlow Delta II via USB C (100w) to charge it up while the Delta II was plugged into the wall just to see if it would work like I thought it would. The Delta II was at 100% and just in trickle charge mode when I plugged in the 1/2 charge Glacier battery. Initially, the Glacier drew 98w and the Delta didn't draw any AC power form the wall plug. I checked on it about an hour later and it was doing what I expected. It was charging the Glacier batter at ~100w while drawing AC power to charge the Delta II battery at ~400 w ( I have the Delta II set up for "optimized battery charging").

The maintenance recommendations for how to store Glacier battery say to store it for long periods at 50% SOC. The problem for me will be remembering to look at the thing when I'm not using it. I'd rather just keep it hooked up to the Delta II all the time to store it so both are always ready when I need them. The Delta II is meant to stay plugged into the wall in trickle mode.

It just really impacts battery life to store them at 100% SoC long term. It’s not that they have to stay at exactly 50%, just that you want to keep them away from the upper and lower bounds.

Maybe put checking their status on a monthly list and charging both to 100% on your pre-trip to-do lists?

 

[kcjaz]

It just really impacts battery life to store them at 100% SoC long term. It’s not that they have to stay at exactly 50%, just that you want to keep them away from the upper and lower bounds.

Maybe put checking their status on a monthly list and charging both to 100% on your pre-trip to-do lists?

So what’s the difference to battery health between storing a battery with an initial SOC at 100% and letting it sit for weeks or months or longer and storing it the same amount of time on a trickle charger or battery maintainer?

My current AGM starting battery was stored in my basement on a NOCO Genius 1 amp charger for about 2 years before I just now installed it in my LC. Was that bad? Should I have just occasionally recharged it rather than use the battery maintainer?

 

[linuxgod]

So what’s the difference to battery health between storing a battery with an initial SOC at 100% and letting it sit for weeks or months or longer and storing it the same amount of time on a trickle charger or battery maintainer?

My current AGM starting battery was stored in my basement on a NOCO Genius 1 amp charger for about 2 years before I just now installed it in my LC. Was that bad? Should I have just occasionally recharged it rather than use the battery maintainer?

AGM or lead acid you should max out the charge

Lithium degrades faster at the top ~10% or charge. And you don’t want the cells to truly drop to (really past) zero as once they’ve discharged too far they can’t be recharged. (Note that 0% typically isn’t actually 0 on the cells, it’s closer to 11V, but when you get below 10V or so bad things start to happen)

 

[TailGator]

Thanks. I already have a few things going through the fire wall on both sides. The passenger side is definitely easier to work with from an access point of view, though I have to move my Slee accessary tray and winch controller to get to it. I think the biggest challenge will be dealing with the Ecoflow cables with there proprietary plugs and fuses. It requires pulling the cables from inside the cab, from the Ecoflow charger location, through the grommet to the engine bay. With the fixed length of the cable, I need to figure out the compete route and location of where I'll mount the charger. Alternatively, maybe I could run a single 6 awg wire into the cable and to a fuse block/bus bar with an in cab chasse ground and connect the Ecoflow cables to that.

I routed mine under the front passenger seat. There's an easily-accessible opening in the carpet under the seat. I thread the Ecoflow cable into that opening and under the carpet towards the passenger side grommet. When I camp, I put the Delta 2 Max on the floor in the 2nd row.

When I'm not camping, the alternator charger and its cables just tuck under the front passenger seat.

This is a view under the passenger-side front seat. Behind those vents, there is a big opening in the carpet that the wire can go into.

This is the front passenger seat well. The Ecoflow cable is routing under the carpet towards the upper right corner of the phote, but it's undetectable.

Here's the view of the Ecoflow cable passing through the firewall grommet on the passenger side. It pulled through very easily, but this step required an assistant.

Here's how things are connected at the battery. It was convenient to attach ground to the chassis behind the fuse box.

 

[kcjaz]

Got the EcoFLow Glacier Wednesday. Currently just playing with it by keeping some beer cold and some ice in the freezer. Testing how long it will really run on the batteries. My first test was a little disappointing. I had the fridge side set at 35F and the freezer at -8F. I pre-cooled it down first while plugged into the wall and then let the fridge run on the battery. After about 20 hours, I had about 20% total battery left. I'm running it now in "ECO" mode and 39F/0F thermostat set points. It seems to be drawing noticeably slower now. Its been going about 8 hours now and and I'm at 83%. SO, (1-.83)x1024 = 175 wh consumed in 8 hours is 22 wh/h. The Delta2 has 1024 wh capacity and the Glacier has another 300 in its battery for a total of theoretical 1324 wh capacity. Reducing the theoretical down to 80% and bumping up the capacity draw to 30 wh/h to account for hot days and opening closing the fridge door, works out to 35 hours of use. At 22 wh/h the max theoretical run time would be 1324/22=60 hours. For me, anything over 24 hours would work pretty well and being able to charge at 800w if necessary means I really won't need to worry too much about not having power for the fridge.