Integrating a lithium ion battery with the Scamp 12 volt system.

[zack sc]

I recently bought a deep cycle Trojan battery, group 27, which is mounted in the usual place on the tongue of my 2015 Scamp. Then I also bought a Jackery explorer 1000, a 1000 W hour lithium ion battery pack with built-in MPPT controller and inverter. I also bought two 60 watt solar panels which can charge the Jackery at about 100 W. I keep the jackery inside the Scamp except when I’m charging it with the panels, and I have to say it’s really convenient and great to use. For charging, the Jackery has one input plug that I am not familiar with and also an Anderson power pole option. I happen to have a cable with Anderson connectors spliced into a light fixture already that I keep around for general purpose stuff, and I was thinking I could just plug that into the Jackery Anderson power pole port input and charge the Jackery lithium ion batteries in that way, for example when I’m driving. Does that seem like a reasonable thing to do? I don’t see why not, but I guess I’m pretty cautious and don’t wanna do anything that would hurt either of my batteries. Thanks a lot for your advice.

[CarlD]

It sounds like you are trying to charge the Jackery directly from the house battery, or TV when driving. The Jackery has a Lithium battery which is most likely a different voltage (depends on the Lithium battery type). I can speak to a Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) battery which has a higher voltage than the lead acid battery and will not charge if it is just connected to the house battery, in fact it may discharge into the house battery. A LFP requires about 14.2-14.4 volts to fully charge. To do what you propose you would need a DC-DC isolated power supply to raise the TV or house battery voltage to the proper charge level. Implementing this configuration is not as simple as it sounds, and requires careful selection of wire and connector size from the TV alternator to the Jackery. In a nutshell, I wouldn't do what you are trying to do.

[zack sc]

Well, not exactly. I’m not connecting directly to the battery but rather to the MPPT input. But I do think that the NPPT input is generally expecting a higher voltage, as you say and so I haven’t tried it yet

[CarlD]

MPPT solar chargers are Buck type converters, they only lower the input voltage. You would need a DC-DC Buck/Boost converter, similar to the victron 12/12-9, which can raise and lower the voltage. Here is link to one.

https://shop.pkys.com/Victron-Energy...waAj17EALw_wcB

[Gompka]

Your jacket came with a 12v automotive cigarette lighter charger didn't it? So yes it can charge from 12v just fine, but it does take longer. The connection to the hackery doesn't go straight to the lithium battery inside goes through a charging circuit first so no need to worry about overloading anything or 12v being too low. I believe the dc input and anderson connection are one and the same. If you look up will prowse on youtube he has done testing on both ports. You will be absolutely fine connecting scamp to anderson on hackery, this is exactly what I was contemplating on doing in the future, but i was just going to use the provided 12v car adapter from hackery in the scamps 12v socket.

[Mike Livdahl]

I think I have a related question with my 2015 Scamp. Am going to replace the agm house battery and progressive dynamics charger with bluetti ac200p.

But I think I need the idiots guide... if I am going to do anything more than just plug the trailer into the bluetti :-)

What do I need to worry about?

Can I connect the 12volt 25amp output from the ac200p into the distribution panel where the progressive dynamics charger connected?

Or, Should I use the existing wires coming off of the existing battery?

Do I have to disconnect the bluetti before towing?

Any issues with running/towing without existing system battery connected in the system?

Not worried about charging from the tow vehicle.

[CarlD]

1. The bluetti contains a LFP battery which is a higher voltage than lead acid batteries. This can cause the bluetti to discharge into the TV electrical system. I wouldn't recommend leaving it connected while towing unless you have a isolated DC-DC converter.

2. If the trailer has electric brakes the emergency braking system needs a source of power to actuate the brakes and stop the trailer if it becomes disconnected from the TV. This can come from the trailer house battery of from a dedicated battery. Maybe someone will chime in here that knows the Scamp system.

3. The Bluetti has a feature that turns the output off if the output load is less than 50 watts for 4 hours. This is unacceptable for use as a battery for the emergency braking system.


That being said:
1. If the trailer is not equipped with electric brakes then, connect it where the original battery was connected, and make sure it is not connected to the TV electrical system.

2. If the trailer has electric brakes than install a trailer braking battery and disconnect the Bluetti when towing.

3. Forget the Bluetti and just install a LFP and charger and don't connect it to the TV electrical system, or connect it to the TV electrical system thru a isolated DC-DC converter.

[zack sc]

Originally Posted by Gompka

Your jacket came with a 12v automotive cigarette lighter charger didn't it? So yes it can charge from 12v just fine, but it does take longer. The connection to the hackery doesn't go straight to the lithium battery inside goes through a charging circuit first so no need to worry about overloading anything or 12v being too low. I believe the dc input and anderson connection are one and the same. If you look up will prowse on youtube he has done testing on both ports. You will be absolutely fine connecting scamp to anderson on hackery, this is exactly what I was contemplating on doing in the future, but i was just going to use the provided 12v car adapter from hackery in the scamps 12v socket.

Thanks a lot Gompka. Everything you say makes sense to me.

Regarding the Jackery 1000 (kWh), there is a lot to like about it; the light weight, the beautiful design and interface... I charge mine with the Jackery 60 watt panels and that is effortless and works like a dream (Both the panels and the battery are very light weight, easy to store and handle...). However, when I happen to be around shore power the slow charging rate (150 Watts = C/6) is disappointing and seems very unnecessary to me. I would love to be able to buy a charger that would charge it at C/2 (500 Watts). I don't see why that would be so difficult for them to provide. Charging on 12 V is even slower, about C/12. I would love to be able to charge much faster on 12 volt. I don't want to switch to another company, because of the the light weight of the Jackery, but I am hoping they will offer options with higher charging speeds soon.