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Old 06-09-2018, 11:04 AM   #41
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Originally Posted by Dena m View Post
Got it. Thanks.
Tech will start work next week. Anxious to have power to boondocking.
I suppose that most of the time I would like both battery houses connected to solar, topping off the house batteries first, then the chassis battery. Yes? am I learning? Ha, careful how you respond!

With the addition of the Blue Sea ACR, and leaving it in Auto mode, ANY charge source will cause it to close and connect the house batteries to the chassis battery (engine, solar, generator, or shore power). This will ensure ALL batteries are charged/maintained regardless of the charging source. It doesn't work where one is charged first then the other, instead all are charged at the same time. The end result is the same, and that's really all that matters.
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Old 06-09-2018, 11:33 AM   #42
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What he said^

Install, set to Auto, and forget about it!
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Old 06-09-2018, 06:39 PM   #43
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So just like Ron Popeil, eh ?
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Old 06-12-2018, 02:05 PM   #44
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My tech installed the mppt and Blue Sea ACR. In trying to remove the BIM and replace with the ACR, he said that the BIM has more wires. One to the engine battery, one to the House battery, but 4 more that he us unsure as to what they connect to.
Do you have a schematic of the BIM or can you help solve how to replace with the ACR wiring?
A head-scratcher.
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Old 06-12-2018, 02:30 PM   #45
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Originally Posted by Dena m View Post
My tech installed the mppt and Blue Sea ACR. In trying to remove the BIM and replace with the ACR, he said that the BIM has more wires. One to the engine battery, one to the House battery, but 4 more that he us unsure as to what they connect to.
Do you have a schematic of the BIM or can you help solve how to replace with the ACR wiring?
A head-scratcher.
Not a head scratcher... I gave you a link to my install with the mapping of each wire

But here you go again, no worries:

My Blue Sea ACR was installed in the following way (remember to install the 2amp inline fuses!! ):

Terminal 1 - I ran a cable from chassis battery negative/ground post to here...
Terminal 2 - I reuse the cable that goes to the exiting switch. Red wire from ACR connected to Gray/Black wire that goes to switch.
Terminal 7 - Yellow one that goes to the switch in the front... ran additional wire for this.
Terminal 8 - Ran an additional wire from switch to house battery. Also with a 2amp inline fuse. I connected this to the terminal A in the ACR since the house battery connects there as well.
Jump Terminal 8 and Terminal 3
Used the Isolation #2 (Green) for the Gen-Stat wire - remember to place a 2 amp inline fuse.
Isolation #3 (Orange wire) - left without any connection.

I might be repeating my self. But for clarity. Here is matching to old Battery Isolator:

Dash Switch - Goes to Terminal 2 on ACR switch - I reuse the cable that goes to the exiting switch. Red wire from ACR connected to Gray/Black wire that goes to switch.
Ground - to ground block in that area
Gen-Set- Connect to the Isolation #2 (Green wire) - remember to place a 2 amp inline fuse.
Coach Bat - Terminal A on ACR
Chassis Bat - Terminal B on ACR
Ignition - Connected to Isolation #1 (Brown wire)

So connection ends up being as if you had two engines (one is the Sprinter engine and one is the Generator):

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Old 06-12-2018, 03:33 PM   #46
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Yep, did find your link on your first postings. I'm positive my head was full by the time I got to that! �� Thank you for reposting and for your patience. You and a few other forum heros deserve a beer on me. Heck, several!
Passing all this info on to my tech.
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Old 06-15-2018, 10:32 PM   #47
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Solar controller upgrade

Mppt, ACR in. Sun Explorer out. Hopefully I can get away for a few days to test. High hopes for a solar install that meets my needs. Thanks all. Hope my next log in is without
problems. I just want to sit outside, enjoy the wind in the trèes and not think about battery voltage decline
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Old 06-16-2018, 09:36 AM   #48
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dena m View Post
Mppt, ACR in. Sun Explorer out. Hopefully I can get away for a few days to test. High hopes for a solar install that meets my needs. Thanks all. Hope my next log in is without
problems. I just want to sit outside, enjoy the wind in the trèes and not think about battery voltage decline
I wish you great success on your next outing!

It's sad to think that we have to go through these "trials" just to do as you describe (sit outside and enjoy nature without worrying about the tech inside the coach), but everyone's needs are different and as more people come to the B van market with plans to actually use them as weekend+ getaway vehicles, unless/until Airstream recognizes this shift in demographic and addresses it, we'll have to keep "rolling our own" solutions.
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Old 06-27-2018, 07:02 PM   #49
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Mppt, installed. Test did not go well.

Ok , Friends, new solar equipment installed. Did a test run with full sun, house battery switch on, frig on low.
When I got in my rv, the batteries only read 11.44, both chassis and house. I thought it odd, so started the engine and ran it for a bit it take readings up to 11.58. Left it from 11:30 a.m. To 11:30 a.m. The next day.
In the morning, Monitors read 8.11! Eek!! Panicked, I pushed the button to link batteries. Engine started and I let run for awhile. Drove it 70mph fir a bit. Reading we're still 8.11 ish. Odd that the engine fired right up without joining house and chassis batteries. Hmmmmm.

Monitors would make it appear that the mppt and isolator are actually draining the batteries both house and chassis Maybe monitors are off?

The isolator makes a humming noice every couple of minutes. Is this normal?
Rv back at shop who installed the new equipment.

Any ideas? Wine time
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Old 06-27-2018, 08:28 PM   #50
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Any ideas? Wine time

Sadly, I do have an idea: They screwed up, but it's impossible to tell where without more data. In bright sun, if everything is set correctly, your monitor for your solar should be reading something like 13.8v, assuming the batteries are topped up. You said your batteries were reading 11.44 after a full day of sun. Here's a chart that shows you were already screwed:





You'll notice you don't see 11.4v even down in the red bits.....

If I had to guess, I'd say your solar wasn't working, but someone would need to put a voltmeter on the output of the solar charge controller with sun on the panels to know for sure.

Best luck with your installer.
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Old 06-27-2018, 11:10 PM   #51
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Rv back at shop who installed the new equipment.

Any ideas? Wine time
Quote:
Originally Posted by FlyFishinRVr View Post
If I had to guess, I'd say your solar wasn't working, but someone would need to put a voltmeter on the output of the solar charge controller with sun on the panels to know for sure.

Best luck with your installer.
DENA M - First of all, very sorry to hear this did not go well. It seems you have had issues after another on the unit. Sadly, I have to agree with FLYFISHINRVR. The one thing that makes this hard for anyone to troubleshoot is no one has any idea exactly how things were done. We only know from you said what was replaced. That is it. With so many changes done & upgraded, anything is suspect, even brand new components. It is not that uncommon for brand new automotive & electronic & electrical equipment to fail on 1st use.
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Old 06-27-2018, 11:27 PM   #52
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Just so that we are clear... can you recap what changes and parts were installed?

Victron Solar controller... there are only 4 cables to connect... clearly labeled...Yellow one is the Solar positive... only confusion could be with the solar negative... that one is the green one. Battery side are labeled as well... If there are only 3 wires connected (meaning the left the green one out) you can have a problem.



The ACR, do you hear it switching when you go from Auto to on (combined) or off (disconnect chassis)??

What else did they do?
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Old 06-28-2018, 04:20 AM   #53
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They installed the Blue Sea and BIM. Yes, something is really screwed up here. Seems like the more sun the panels receive the more it discharges my house batteries.
Thinking about it, I believe that the reading for my chassis battery must be the reading for the house batteries, as the engine starts easily. After driving, the meter readings are the same .... very low, 8.11. So house batteries are not being charged.
Is is possible that it can be wired in a way that the solar discharges rather than charges?
I emailed the tech the info from this forum. Im going to run hard copies to try to make it impossible not to wire it as you guys have.
Im not having a lot of faith in the tech as this point. I was suspect when I picked it up; the engine was running and he encouraged me to just take it to the beach for a couple of days to try it out. (Im in a coastal town.)

3:19 a.m. and here I am.
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Old 06-28-2018, 04:26 AM   #54
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Oh, the clicking every couple of minutes ... sorry I don't know exactly what is making the noise. The tech seemed to think that this was the solar working. Has to be either the BIM or MPPT.
Does yours make noise at any time?
Im going to visit my rig today (taking a phillips screwdriver) and take a look under the jump seat. Maybe I can take a photo and/or see how things are wired.

Thanks.
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Old 06-28-2018, 06:36 AM   #55
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The BIM will audibly click as it connects or disconnects the chassis battery from the house battery. I replaced the original BIM with a much better Blue Sea BIM. I listen for that click to know I have charging. The Blue Sea BIM is quite loud.
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Old 06-28-2018, 07:43 AM   #56
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Hi

Here's a little more conventional table for battery charge:


State of Charge 12 Volt battery Volts per Cell
100% 12.7 2.12
90% 12.5 2.08
80% 12.42 2.07
70% 12.32 2.05
60% 12.20 2.03
50% 12.06 2.01
40% 11.9 1.98
30% 11.75 1.96
20% 11.58 1.93
10% 11.31 1.89
0 10.5 1.75

The conclusion that 11.5V is trouble is still correct. The gotcha is that these all apply at a specific temperature. Change the temperature over a reasonable range ( winter cold to desert sun hot) and all the voltages can easily move by +/- 0.6V. Without knowing battery temperature, your 11.5V *could* be right at limit. It would have to be mighty hot for that to be true ....

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Old 06-28-2018, 10:41 AM   #57
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Red face

May have just gotten some good news! Tech reviewed every wire hook-up then went up on the roof. He discovered that a wire from one one the solar panels was hooked up incorrectly. Positive to negative, I think. He switched the wires, plugged in to shore power, and monitors are reading correctly etc.
I'll continue to leave it outside with frig on to test solar.

The solar panels were installed by Airstream. May account for the solar never working well, or at all before. Any chance Airstream will reimburse me for this repair? Place your bets.

Still keeping my fingers crossed with this one. Just want to comfortably camp and read a book instead of monitoring batteries as a camping activity!
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Old 06-28-2018, 11:12 AM   #58
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The solar panels were installed by Airstream. May account for the solar never working well, or at all before. Any chance Airstream will reimburse me for this repair? Place your bets.
DENA M - that does seem good news. Hope that was the issue all along and get you back to enjoying.

I would prep all your documentation if you have a trail that can be followed that supports facts that may point to miswired solar by AS, especially if they have not been able to fix it. If you have enough facts to support that, I would certainly push AS to get reimbursed. Now whether your upgrades would be a consideration, I highly doubt that as that is your own choosing to upgrade the base components (irrespective of how inferior we all feel they are). But in terms of the time to fix & replacement of components that failed, I think you should talk to them about it. It's a 2017 and you still have a warranty?
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Old 06-28-2018, 11:38 AM   #59
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Thanks. I've been documenting everything. I have, I think, a ream of antidotal notes; problems, conversations, dates, etc. I would hope that would be enough. Suppose I'll have to work my way up the Airstream food chain.
If the problem was with my upgrades from an independent tech, a remedy would be easy. I did have two solar panels and two additional house batteries added, and that was installed by an Airstream shop. Shop manager told me that Airstream had a kit, meaning the solar panels and batteries. Either the original panel or Airstream's additional panels were wired incorrectly.
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Old 06-28-2018, 04:06 PM   #60
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That is strange... solar cables can only go in one way. And yes... I remember running into the same thing... Airstream had them labeled incorrectly but connected correctly... made for a few minutes of me being puzzled by it...
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