Victron vs REDARC charger

[lembowski]

Have a 100ah lifepo4 battery that will live under the ARB drawer wing and looking to buy a dc to dc charger. I’ve narrowed it down to the REDARC bcdc1225d and Victron XS. Both are priced right under $300. Any strong reason I should buy one over the other?

 

[george_tlc]

Another option. I've got one installed in the engine bay to charge my 100AH lifepo4. Has a solar mppt controller built with autoswitching. Nice solution.

Good price and I bought from this vendor. Fast ship etc. No affiliation etc.

Wagan 7410 25A DC-DC Battery Charger | DonRowe.com

The Wagan 7410 25A DC-DC Battery Charger is a 3-stage, multi-input battery charger capable of charging most types of auxiliary batteries commonly installed in boats, RV's, 4WD's and commercial vehicles.

www.donrowe.com

cheers,
george.

 

[e9999]

yes, having a solar input is a significant plus IMO, that can save hassle and $$ down the line.
On a side note, whatever unit you are considering, one thing I'd be careful about if you are connecting the DC-DC charger directly to the starter battery, is to figure out what protection the charger has towards keeping the starting battery charged enough. I'm told some units are a bit sketchy in that respect.

 

[FrazzledHunter]

I have both brands. Victron and REDARC are about the only brands I'll buy. They're the best most solidly built stuff out there.
I pulled out the SRNE MPPT controller from my travel trailer which came with it from the manufacturer and replaced it with Victron. The professional installer asked what was wrong with the SRNE unit. My reply was a snarky "It's not Victron. Nuke it".

Travel trailer:

• Victron 100|50 MPPT controller for the 400W solar panels on the roof
• Victron Battery Temperature Sense to sense battery temperature and pass it on a network to the above mentioned MPPT controller
• REDARC BCDC 1250D to receive 600W power from the tow vehicle and when at camp, auxiliary free-standing solar panels

Land Cruiser 200 series:

• Victron 12|24-15 DC-DC charger to charge Yeti Goal Zero 1500X while driving
• REDARC BCDC 1225D under hood to charge Odyssey group 35 2nd battery

Here's my checklist:

• RECARC if you want under hood and solar in the same unit and bullet-proof hard-wired reliability.
• Victron if you want connectivity via Bluetooth, numerous configuration features and connectivity into other members of the Victron ecosystem like MPPT's, inverters, networks etc... NOT for under hood.

 

[RKRUGER]

I chose Victron for what has been said above as well as redundancy. If you have a RedArc failure, you lose both chargers. Highly unlikely you’d nuke both the Victron MPPT and the DC DC charger. The Victron stuff is highly configurable and the app interface is pretty good.

Check mine out here. Victron DC/DC charger install ARB Drawers - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/victron-dc-dc-charger-install-arb-drawers.1349090/

 

[lembowski]

Ended up pulling the trigger on the REDARC bcdc1225d along with their battery monitor. Had my shop make some brackets for the battery and components for easy bolt in and out. All wired and tested, will clean up the wiring along with a cable guide for the fridge cord this weekend.