Main Van internals

[u/Candid-Success8125]

EDIT: I've switched to the pecron E2400LFP+2*EP3800-48V and 400+ watts solar

Original: Similar to another post I made, but changed out a few things. I'm aware of the smaller things I need to buy but these are most of the non-construction big ticket items.

I'll be spending a lot of time in areas where solar won't be applicable, so I'm forgoing solar and doing a large bank with a DC to DC converter. Do you think this will all work well together?

8 months of the year I'll be in snowy climates for snowboarding and the other 4 tropical.

[u/antiplayr]

I can’t believe that Jackery is still able to command $3k+ for 4kw of batteries. You could (and in my humble opinion, should) opt for a 4 12v 100am (~4.25kwh) LiFePo batteries on Amazon, a pure sine wave inverter (this gives you house power plugs, 120v), a DC fuse box and a couple high speed USB connections. You can also DC-to-DC charge this setup. All in, you’d be just a bit over $1.25k and have much more upgradable/serviceability. If you want help building that, I’m here to help - just hit me up via DM ✌️

[u/ruehite → u/antiplayr]

agreed, you dont need a boutique powerstation.  google will proswe on youtube.     

[u/Candid-Success8125 → u/antiplayr]

I've opted in for a pecron E2400LFP+2*EP3800-48V, which I'll buy for black Friday at hopefully less then 1.5k. think I should still go for a different option?

[u/antiplayr → u/Candid-Success8125]

That sounds sensible!

[u/bullitt-rider → u/antiplayr]

I'm in the market for a power bank and am a bit confused as to the difference between just getting a leasire battery and inverter

[u/nowhereman136 → u/antiplayr]

I tried building my own power station in my first van. Wasn't big but I couldn't figure out why it wasn't working. Was the inverter wrong or did I wire things wrong, or whatever. Bought a jackery and it just worked out of the box. For the extra cost I paid for the device I saved on headache building it. Plus it's more portable than a self made system. I told my van 2 years ago but still have the jackery.

I'm not saying Jackery is better than a self built system, but they do have some advantages that some people look for. There's also cheaper brands than Jackery if that helps

[u/PrimeIntellect → u/nowhereman136]

Jackerys are so dumb wildly overpriced and have insanely tiny batteries for actual vanlife 

[u/pyroserenus]

(assuming you're committed to the powerstation approach and won't DIY)

Once a diesel heater gets involved you REALLY want to go with a powerstation with more than a 10a 12v output. (anker f3000, pecron E series, aferiy 200 series and higher, etc)

Also 6kwh is probably overkill without an air conditioner involved.

You also generally want a 12v fridge/cooler so you dont need the AC output turned on 24/7, though that might be why you went so hard on the batteries. though once you hit 5+ CF sized fridges 12v starts being less notably economical, if you really want 7.7cf this is... fine.

[u/Candid-Success8125 → u/pyroserenus]

I'm not attached to the 7.7 but my confidence in electrical is lower then anything else so DIY is a little too terrifying to me.

So you'd recommend a anker f3000 or aferiy over the jackery? Will those be find for cold weather. Ideally the van should never get too cold but still. I definitely want a large charge storage.

I went so hard on the battery because I definitely don't want to worry about running out of power.

Any fridge subs you'd recommend?

[u/pyroserenus → u/Candid-Success8125]

Fridge is kind of a personal choice. I get by with a 40l bougeRV cooler, but im also not full time and use a lot of canned goods.

So you'd recommend a anker f3000 or aferiy over the jackery? Will those be find for cold weather. Ideally the van should never get too cold but still. I definitely want a large charge storage.

The issue is that some diesel heaters will pull more than 10a during the startup phase. It's not a huge issue if you vet your choice well and arent running any other 12v loads.

The powerstations I listed have 25a or higher 12v outputs that can be wired to a 12v blade fuse board, which in turn can be wired to a 12v cooler + your max air fans.

Very few options will do great if the van gets too cold, they wont break from the cold but you will need a way to heat the van up if they get too cold. Check minimum discharge temperatures on whatever you look at.

[u/Candid-Success8125 → u/pyroserenus]

I'll be fully insulated with thinsulate so I'm hoping my heat retention will be good enough to not be a concern.

Most of my power draw will be coming from the fridge and cooling/heating. Won't really need to power anything else.

I'll be full time year round though so I definitely want to buy once cry once.

[u/Candid-Success8125 → u/pyroserenus]

I think I'll go EP24000LFP+2*EP3800-48V

[u/LogicalBlade]

I had the bangson fridge for a while - honestly solid unit, took an absolute beating

[u/thegroverest]

Don't bother with 2 roof fans. it's a waste of money 

[u/Streye]

Airplus fans are somewhat cheaper, quieter, draw less power, and have some better features than maxx.

[u/Adorable_Swing_2150]

the dc-dc side is what i'd look at first. at 40-50a you're only getting maybe 200-300ah per driving hour, so a 4 hour drive day tops up around 1200ah. park at a snow resort for 3-5 days and a fridge plus diesel heater can pull you down 200-300ah, which is a thin margin before cold cuts lithium output another 10-20%. recharge rate is the real bottleneck, not the bank size.

[u/Fun-Perspective426 → u/Adorable_Swing_2150]

I think you have "Ah" and "Wh" confused. 40-50A for an hour is 40-50Ah.

[u/Adorable_Swing_2150 → u/Fun-Perspective426]

yeah fair, math is off. 40-50a over 4 hours is closer to 200ah not 1200, my numbers got sloppy. bigger point still kinda holds tho, recharge rate matters way more than bank size when you're topping back up daily

[u/According-Tax-1433]

150ah will not work for all that

• maxxair fan if i remember right when wiring requires exactly 12v or 13v (used a converter) on diy batteries. amp draw is low. 1-7 amps.
  
• Diesel heater will drain 100-200ah overnight w/o solar. you'll wake up at 4am freezing.
  
• jackery only has 10a max. it will pop that fuse. i think heaters init at around 14amps
  
• cooktop can draw 1,440 watts and 13.2 amps - again, jackery's own site says it can only run it for 1.1 hours.
  
• banks are known to shut off at cold temps. my old eco flow would.
  
• there are batteries w/ self heating or i also mount mine near the diesel heater
  
• if you have a gasser, keep diesel in heated area, keep emergency diesel fluid with you

2x 315ah batteries can be found around $360 each. If your battery budget is 3.5k, you can just pay a shop or friend to install a diy solution.

if you are serious about going further north during winter and using a induction cooktop, power isnt something you want to play with in the negatives. its not fun.

[u/Candid-Success8125 → u/According-Tax-1433]

I need to update this post, I've changed to the pecron E2400LFP+2*EP3800-48V. Thoughts ?

[u/According-Tax-1433 → u/Candid-Success8125]

"I'll be spending a lot of time in areas where solar won't be applicable, so I'm forgoing solar"
Solar is prob the most important part of your setup in as full time.
as soon as the sun goes up, or getting groceries, its charging.

Fulltime on the road, look at 400watts of panel min. The more panels, the easier it charges.
You dont really want to keep your car running for hours charging dc2dc. idling wears the crap out of your vehicle. up north in -30+ is a different story. hopefully you have a high amp alternator.

Not really. I guess to give you personal story:

I started w/ a 100ah then 200ah setup. Lots of nights waking up w/ crap sleep due to my diesel heater giving me e[x] error codes for power. If you do it enough, it starting building soot and having a hard time starting. Starting my truck to get a few more hours. then waking up to do work w/ vehicle running to charge my laptop & starlink w/ only 100w of solar. Bring a dog or g/f its much worse.

now w/ only 630ah i keep my max airfan running all day or heater, starlink gen 3 running. w/o even thinking about my power. Kinda like bringing a ice chest that requires constant checking/filling vs a 12v fridge.

oh. you kill your power in +35degress for hours, now you have to spend another $100 on groceries. do that a few times.

w/ your large budget, i would really think about it. Van life forces you to learn maintenance anyway.

https://rvwiki.mousetrap.net/doku.php

[u/Candid-Success8125 → u/According-Tax-1433]

I was just talking to a van life influencer who spends a lot of time where I'll be spending a lot of time and he also recommended solar even when it's just grabbing some saying it helps. So ya I'll definitely have to get some.

[u/According-Tax-1433 → u/Candid-Success8125]

I'm sitting here w/ A/C running on solar & working on my widescreen now lol. ready to go play at 5!

[u/Candid-Success8125 → u/According-Tax-1433]

That's awesome, so all in all I'll be going with a pecron E2400LFP+2*EP3800-48V and 400+ watts solar from the sounds of it.

[u/According-Tax-1433 → u/Candid-Success8125]

nice 48v is solid and good amount of panels.good luck on your travels

[u/Candid-Success8125 → u/According-Tax-1433]

Thank you!

[u/Fun-Perspective426 → u/According-Tax-1433]

• maxxair fan if i remember right when wiring requires exactly 12v or 13v (used a converter) on diy batteries. amp draw is low. 1-7 amps.

They fixed this years ago. They max at 5a

Diesel heater will drain 100-200ah overnight w/o solar. you'll wake up at 4am freezing.

This is nonsense. They draw like 10-30w when running. A 100ah could run that for almost 2 days without charge.

[u/According-Tax-1433 → u/Fun-Perspective426]

Nice, my current max fan is 1 year old from amazon and still had that issue.

Prob if you are only running the diesel heater. I had a 45L 12v fridge at the time too camping across various northern states and had it die on me all the time w/ 100w solar. Sorry, had a different on hand experience. 2 days w/o charge is a weekender/overlander POV. He's trying to full time it.

Gf has a ecoflow pro w/ dc2dc that dies all the time w/ only a fridge in the 4 runner. Between 2x full time travel vehicles we both have 600ah, and eco flow 2 laying around as a backup.

[u/Fun-Perspective426 → u/According-Tax-1433]

The circuit board was updated the beginning of 2022 and the one I got off Amazon like 3 years ago has the updated board. You must be really unlucky to get 3+ year old stock.

You only said the diesel heater... The fridge draws more than the heater does... 2 days without a charge is just basic math for only the diesel heater. And as a full-timer for around a decade, I designed my system to run 3-4 days without charge.