Thanks Ken, that was very informative and well presented. I found with my MUX that if you drive with the parking lights on the alternator maintains a high charge voltage. As you know normally the voltage goes up and down a lot making charging a second battery difficult. With our new van it wasn't fitted with a charging Anderson plug, just one for the fridge, and we find that the solar panel on the roof keeps things charged while driving along. Of course gotta be a sunny day! I am considering upgrading to Lithium and your video has clarrified a few things for me. Cheers.
Thanks for watching Leon, really appreciate the feedback, happy if it was helpful in some way.😊 Hope it all goes well if you decide to upgrade. Thanks again, Ken and Julie.
you prob gave a smart Alternator. Put in a dcdc charger with a wire that takes that into account. Then you good to go. Large wires are a must and the dcdc as close to battery as possible
Lovely Ep and info guys. Our 2 x 140amp lithium batteries there Bms cuts the power off at 12,8 volt or around 20% capacity of the batteries. I like that as I do not have to put a jump starter pack on the batteries to accept charge.
Hi Ken, thanks for the plug and a great review, very comprehensive as I expected. We had the same issue with our Isuzu having a smart alternator and not being able to charge the battery while travelling other than solar input. Installed a 25amp redarc dc-dc charger which fixed the problem. It’s mounted in the cupboard next to the Bmpro HA35 and our AGM battery is located outside the van. I noticed you said you were able to turn off the 240volt charger I would have thought the Bmpro would have an inbuilt one unless you were talking about an inverter and I misunderstood. Anyway great review and thanks for your effort and lack of sleep to make it happen.
Thanks Sep, appreciate the feedback, the 240v plug that is on the SR35 Battery Management System is just for the charger in it. If you turn off just turns of charger, nothing else. Thanks for watching again Sep. Ken and Julie
Hi ken, I rang itech regarding my lead gel battery told them the name of the charger I had and the said all good just drop it in. I then rang projects which my charger is and asked them the same question and there answer was my projects will charge the lithium battery no problems. BUT it will not charge enough to keep the itech battery fully charged but it shouldn’t do any harm but when you can change over to a Lithium charger for the long term. So you pays your money and takes your chance. By the way Ken just fit a Victron shunt to get a correct and proper reading they are really worth it for a definite reading. Hope this helps.johnWA
Thanks John, appreciate the advice, i will change my battery management system to a lithium model soon. I wanted to leave for a while to see how it went. Everthing still ok and i am happy with the advice itech gave me but has you said not 100% charge. If i could not afford to change bms i wouldnt be worried, works ok. Ive heard good things about the victron shunt, good to know. Thanks for watching. Ken and Julie
@@merdel9663 Thanks for watching, We are constantly using our van even when not away on long trips. we still get away every 3 weeks or so. We just let our system do its thing. We do not isolate the batteries and have the van plugged into a small solar panel on it's carport roof. Have never had any issues. I have read if you store at 50 to 60% it can increase the life of the battery. I would ask your battery manufacturer for there advice. Thanks for the feedback. Happy and Safe travels. Ken and Julie
can u tell me how the dcd charger is performing and how u installed our bmpro35 plus 35 my bmp is in the tunnel boot battery is under our seating i enjoyed your video i did have a itecworld battery and bm500
@@iandavis5445 Hi Ian, My mini boost pro is working excellent. Even though i bought the mini boost pro, It is connected straight to the bmpro bms35-SR where the aux normally goes in. I am not running the solar wire on the mini boost as the solar is already running through the bms35. So just need the mini boost not pro if connecting this way. I have heard that other brand dc to dc chargers dont work if connecting this way and not going direct to battery. I get 35amps going in usually when driving 20 from car and 15 from solar on caravan roof. This can vary, if more solar available will use less from car. If no solar will only imput from car about 20.5 amps. I hope this helps, im no expert, but ours is working well for us. We mounted it next to our bms35 and wiring was fairly easy once i got my head around it. There is a site bmpro users tips you can get plenty of info and help from. Thanks for watching. Ken and Julie
@@iandavis5445 Hi ian, thought id send desciption of how i wired mine (mini boost pro) Take the, aux +, off the BP35 and along with the small blue wire connect to the Orange on miniboost. Take the Red on miniboost and connect to the, Aux +, where you took the previous wire from on the bp35. Connect the black to a common earth, for mine it was on back of board Bp35 mounted on. White for solar, not used. Green not used as the bp35 is set to battery type.
Hi Peter, thanks for watching, No, we did not have the bmpro shunt already, at that point there was no need as we were not running any hi amp usage items direct from battery. I can tell you, if you already have a shunt you can run both shunts, first shunt from neg on battery and 2nd shunt from output on first shunt. I have now done this as i have now installed inverter. So have the bmpro bc300 on battery negative and then the itechworld shunt. Both working well. Its nice to see 2 sets of numbers that are close to each other. Hope that helps Appreciate the feedback. Ken and Julie.
Hi Ken, very good information. When you put in the DCDC charger how did you manage the trigger wire for the ignition in the car. Did you have to run an extra wire as you already had an Anderson plug going to the car from the caravan? I am hoping to do the same but the 3 wire bit has got me scratching my head. Thanks.
Hi Roger, The trigger wire (blue) can just be connected with the orange wire to the aux in from the vehicle. Got this tip from the Bmpro tips, tricks and help group on facebook, very good for answers sometimes. I have the mini boost pro but could have just bought mini boost has i am not running solar through it has i have mine going into the battery management system and not direct to battery, so have enough solar without boosting. I am getting my 20amps from mini boost pro from car and 15 amps from solar whilst driving. If more solar available it drops the amps from car but maintains 35.5 amps till charged. Hope that helps Thanks for watching Ken
Lots of figures there.Thanks for the information. I have a 200amp itech world system. Been working great for 5 years. Only thing I changed was the shunt. Bought a Victron Bluetooth shunt.
Hi, Stephen, have had no problems, away freecamping at moment and all is good. We did have one little issue to do with the charge wire at battery. The wire coming down from the battery management system was quite thick, maybe 8awg, where they put a fuse on it at battery the wire was much thinner and heating up. i relise now this has always been this way from new, when i took the old battery out there was a mark accross the top of it. I would put my hand on cables after been charging for a while just as precation. But other than that, no issues.
Thanks Ken, that was very informative and well presented. I found with my MUX that if you drive with the parking lights on the alternator maintains a high charge voltage. As you know normally the voltage goes up and down a lot making charging a second battery difficult. With our new van it wasn't fitted with a charging Anderson plug, just one for the fridge, and we find that the solar panel on the roof keeps things charged while driving along. Of course gotta be a sunny day! I am considering upgrading to Lithium and your video has clarrified a few things for me. Cheers.
Thanks for watching Leon, really appreciate the feedback, happy if it was helpful in some way.😊
Hope it all goes well if you decide to upgrade.
Thanks again,
Ken and Julie.
you prob gave a smart Alternator. Put in a dcdc charger with a wire that takes that into account. Then you good to go. Large wires are a must and the dcdc as close to battery as possible
Lovely Ep and info guys. Our 2 x 140amp lithium batteries there Bms cuts the power off at 12,8 volt or around 20% capacity of the batteries. I like that as I do not have to put a jump starter pack on the batteries to accept charge.
Thanks Craig, good feedback on your batteries.
Thanks for watching,
Ken and Julie
Hi Ken, thanks for the plug and a great review, very comprehensive as I expected. We had the same issue with our Isuzu having a smart alternator and not being able to charge the battery while travelling other than solar input. Installed a 25amp redarc dc-dc charger which fixed the problem. It’s mounted in the cupboard next to the Bmpro HA35 and our AGM battery is located outside the van. I noticed you said you were able to turn off the 240volt charger I would have thought the Bmpro would have an inbuilt one unless you were talking about an inverter and I misunderstood. Anyway great review and thanks for your effort and lack of sleep to make it happen.
Thanks Sep, appreciate the feedback, the 240v plug that is on the SR35 Battery Management System is just for the charger in it.
If you turn off just turns of charger, nothing else.
Thanks for watching again Sep.
Ken and Julie
@@gonecaravanning you have just advised me of something I didn’t know about the Bmpro. Just goes to show you are never too old to learn. Thanks
Hi ken, I rang itech regarding my lead gel battery told them the name of the charger I had and the said all good just drop it in. I then rang projects which my charger is and asked them the same question and there answer was my projects will charge the lithium battery no problems. BUT it will not charge enough to keep the itech battery fully charged but it shouldn’t do any harm but when you can change over to a Lithium charger for the long term. So you pays your money and takes your chance. By the way Ken just fit a
Victron shunt to get a correct and proper reading they are really worth it for a definite reading. Hope this helps.johnWA
Thanks John, appreciate the advice, i will change my battery management system to a lithium model soon.
I wanted to leave for a while to see how it went.
Everthing still ok and i am happy with the advice itech gave me but has you said not 100% charge.
If i could not afford to change bms i wouldnt be worried, works ok.
Ive heard good things about the victron shunt, good to know.
Thanks for watching.
Ken and Julie
Hi Ken did your original BM system have a shunt and if so what did you do with it. Great episode that’s for sharing
How do you store your batteries? They say while your not using your van it'd best to not leave lithium at 100%.
@@merdel9663 Thanks for watching, We are constantly using our van even when not away on long trips. we still get away every 3 weeks or so.
We just let our system do its thing.
We do not isolate the batteries and have the van plugged into a small solar panel on it's carport roof.
Have never had any issues.
I have read if you store at 50 to 60% it can increase the life of the battery.
I would ask your battery manufacturer for there advice.
Thanks for the feedback.
Happy and Safe travels.
Ken and Julie
can u tell me how the dcd charger is performing and how u installed our bmpro35 plus 35 my bmp is in the tunnel boot battery is under our seating i enjoyed your video i did have a itecworld battery and bm500
@@iandavis5445 Hi Ian, My mini boost pro is working excellent.
Even though i bought the mini boost pro, It is connected straight to the bmpro bms35-SR where the aux normally goes in.
I am not running the solar wire on the mini boost as the solar is already running through the bms35. So just need the mini boost not pro if connecting this way.
I have heard that other brand dc to dc chargers dont work if connecting this way and not going direct to battery.
I get 35amps going in usually when driving 20 from car and 15 from solar on caravan roof.
This can vary, if more solar available will use less from car.
If no solar will only imput from car about 20.5 amps.
I hope this helps, im no expert, but ours is working well for us.
We mounted it next to our bms35 and wiring was fairly easy once i got my head around it.
There is a site bmpro users tips you can get plenty of info and help from.
Thanks for watching.
Ken and Julie
@@iandavis5445 bmpro site, BMPRO TIPS, TRICKS AND HELP on facebook
@@iandavis5445 Hi ian, thought id send desciption of how i wired mine (mini boost pro)
Take the, aux +, off the BP35 and along with the small blue wire connect to the Orange on miniboost.
Take the Red on miniboost and connect to the, Aux +, where you took the previous wire from on the bp35.
Connect the black to a common earth, for mine it was on back of board Bp35 mounted on.
White for solar, not used.
Green not used as the bp35 is set to battery type.
Hi thanks again for your advice I have purchased a mini pro looking for a good result from it
Hi Peter, thanks for watching, No, we did not have the bmpro shunt already, at that point there was no need as we were not running any hi amp usage items direct from battery.
I can tell you, if you already have a shunt you can run both shunts, first shunt from neg on battery and 2nd shunt from output on first shunt.
I have now done this as i have now installed inverter.
So have the bmpro bc300 on battery negative and then the itechworld shunt.
Both working well.
Its nice to see 2 sets of numbers that are close to each other.
Hope that helps
Appreciate the feedback.
Ken and Julie.
Hi Ken, very good information. When you put in the DCDC charger how did you manage the trigger wire for the ignition in the car. Did you have to run an extra wire as you already had an Anderson plug going to the car from the caravan? I am hoping to do the same but the 3 wire bit has got me scratching my head. Thanks.
Hi Roger, The trigger wire (blue) can just be connected with the orange wire to the aux in from the vehicle.
Got this tip from the Bmpro tips, tricks and help group on facebook, very good for answers sometimes.
I have the mini boost pro but could have just bought mini boost has i am not running solar through it has i have mine going into the battery management system and not direct to battery, so have enough solar without boosting.
I am getting my 20amps from mini boost pro from car and 15 amps from solar whilst driving.
If more solar available it drops the amps from car but maintains 35.5 amps till charged.
Hope that helps
Thanks for watching
Ken
@@gonecaravanning thank you for your reply. 👌
Lots of figures there.Thanks for the information.
I have a 200amp itech world system.
Been working great for 5 years.
Only thing I changed was the shunt.
Bought a Victron Bluetooth shunt.
@@bellajess100 Thanks for watching Brent, appreciate the feedback.
Ken and Julie
Thanks Ken, very informative ! Bill Mc
Thanks for watching Bill, a bit long winded,😊
Appreciate the feedback
Ken and Julie
Great video
What about your car
Are you changing your car or going to keep it.?
Hi Mark, we are going to keep it, at least for now, it really has served us well, and not let us down.
Thanks for watching
Ken and Julie
Thanks for watching Jack 😊🙏
Hi ken what kind of solar regulator are you running.
Hi Stephen, our BmPro Battery management system BP35-SR-11 has a MPPT solar regulator built in to it.
Thanks for watching.
Appreciated
Ken
Hey Ken I just dropped an Itech 120x pro in the van. Is yours still going ok?
Hi, Stephen, have had no problems, away freecamping at moment and all is good.
We did have one little issue to do with the charge wire at battery.
The wire coming down from the battery management system was quite thick, maybe 8awg, where they put a fuse on it at battery the wire was much thinner and heating up.
i relise now this has always been this way from new, when i took the old battery out there was a mark accross the top of it.
I would put my hand on cables after been charging for a while just as precation.
But other than that, no issues.
Thanks Ken.
What’s inside? Let’s see…!
Itech had a good deal in their 240 X PRO, if you have space for it.