Lithium Aux Battery Upgrade, chasing advice Victron vs Redarc

[Rok_Dr]

A common observation is that the D250SE is only a 20A charger. That's fine to pair with the Smartpass 120S to keep the factory EFBs topped up from a solar input if you're on a camp site running a fridge and some LED lights for a few days, but not enough to bulk charge a lithium battery from any source if you're running bigger loads like an induction cooker or a coffee machine or other essentials of modern camping (apparently ).
If your needs are modest then the 250SE is adequate. That's what I'm using.

Also if you are using the DS250Se as a solar regulator it has a low VOC limit of 23v which precludes using many solar panels.

 

[Clark Kent]

Also if you are using the DS250Se as a solar regulator it has a low VOC limit of 23v which precludes using many solar panels.

Excellent point Steve. I always forget about the D250SE VOC limit because I use a 200W MK1 Hardkorr folding panel with a D250SE to charge the Crystal AGMs in my camper when I'm away.

The MK1 panel is 21.24 VOC. The newer MK2 panel is 23.6 VOC which takes it out of safe D250SE range.

 

[TheDocAUS]

Any reason why people goto victron or redarc when the car has ctek? Am I missing something like i can get the 250se and have solar import and run the lithium 2nd battery seems like an awful lot of money for Bluetooth monitoring.

Some owners do it because they want the primary and secondary batteries isolated from each other. A more common setup in Australia.

I went with the CTEK250SE as the easier option. I do not run induction cooktops out of the car. Plus the 250SE allowed me to put a solar panel on the roofrack - keeping both EFB batteries topped up.

If I need extra power I can plug in my Lithium battery box (BB), but I have not needed the BB so far.

My dashcam (front and rear) have their own lithium battery that I can recharge from the two main batteries, which I will do if there is plenty of sun around. That dashcam battery only charges when the ignition is on, unless I flick a switch when the car is off.

 

[Adam-Oz]

Any reason why people goto victron or redarc when the car has ctek? Am I missing something like i can get the 250se and have solar import and run the lithium 2nd battery seems like an awful lot of money for Bluetooth monitoring.

Having owned victron, redarc and CTek installations for 12v systems the reason that victron is the clear winner is the choice of specs, support and usability (especially the app). It just works flawlessly as an entire ecosystem. Redarc is great too and I would place it a close second and CTeK is overrated and too limited in any ability to customise or have an integrated system approach IMHO. If you want just a simple DC charger then the CTek is okay, beyond that the other choices offer far better levels of system customisation.

 

[Tjeska]

Is the combination of 250SE & 120s not capable of charging 120 amps from the alternator to second battery?

I would like to change the stock second battery to a Lifepo4 battery with time...

 

[TheDocAUS]

Is the combination of 250SE & 120s not capable of charging 120 amps from the alternator to second battery?

I would like to change the stock second battery to a Lifepo4 battery with time...

The 250SE and 120S has a combined charging capacity of 140 amps. The IG alternator should be able to provide that amount of power, provided there are not other extreme demands on the alternator (eg using a winch) at the same time.

I have seen my car provide around 140 amps while recharging with a 250SE and 120S fitted - via the Console.

 

[mcdoogs]

Victron's software is best in class. I do know that Redarc's components are better suited for harsher conditions, I watched a video that tested output at as temperature went up and the redarc dcdc output started to degrade at a higher temperature than the victron. Not really relevant for a typical Grenadier setup probably but if you are installing under the hood or doing most of your camping in hot dusty places then Redarc is a great choice.

I'm still on the fence, as the redarc bcdc being able to handle dc-dc and solar in one simplifies a build, and i'm not going to be living out of the grenadier exclusively for more than a couple days at a time. Solar is more of a 'neat, I have a cpl of panels on the roof' kind of thing.

What are people doing for switch panels? My thinking is to leave all the stock switches in the cockpit to running loads and have all the house battery accessories switched in the rear, since those will primarily be used with the engine off and I don't want to have to jump in the front seats to control them. I've read good things about the switchpros SP9100

 

[anand]

Any reason why people goto victron or redarc when the car has ctek? Am I missing something like i can get the 250se and have solar import and run the lithium 2nd battery seems like an awful lot of money for Bluetooth monitoring.

Victron and Redarc both allow precise monitoring and are intended for use with a wide variety of battery configurations (and can be programmed as such), the CTEK Smartpass 120S is effectively a "dumb" device that only passes voltage directly across (and "limits" current). The Smartpass 120S cannot correctly charge a Lithium aux battery and the vast majority of Lithium batteries people are using in these vehicles would be damaged by the start-assist functionality the CTEK offers in the event the primary battery has low voltage. The D250SE solar controller can charge a lithium battery correctly (or, as close to correctly as a generic profile allows), but that only handles the solar side of things, not the DC-DC charging.

 

[anand]

What are people doing for switch panels? My thinking is to leave all the stock switches in the cockpit to running loads and have all the house battery accessories switched in the rear, since those will primarily be used with the engine off and I don't want to have to jump in the front seats to control them. I've read good things about the switchpros SP9100

My primary switching is a SP9100, and then in the cargo area I have an additional Feniex 4200 Mini to control cargo-area/camp specific things; both of these are wired to my aux battery

 

[BBQBob]

Victron's software is best in class. I do know that Redarc's components are better suited for harsher conditions, I watched a video that tested output at as temperature went up and the redarc dcdc output started to degrade at a higher temperature than the victron. Not really relevant for a typical Grenadier setup probably but if you are installing under the hood or doing most of your camping in hot dusty places then Redarc is a great choice.

I'm still on the fence, as the redarc bcdc being able to handle dc-dc and solar in one simplifies a build, and i'm not going to be living out of the grenadier exclusively for more than a couple days at a time. Solar is more of a 'neat, I have a cpl of panels on the roof' kind of thing.

What are people doing for switch panels? My thinking is to leave all the stock switches in the cockpit to running loads and have all the house battery accessories switched in the rear, since those will primarily be used with the engine off and I don't want to have to jump in the front seats to control them. I've read good things about the switchpros SP9100

I went with Redarc's BCDC Alpha and the TVMS Rogue for in the vehicle switching. With two Redvision control panels. One for the back by the rear doors and one up in the drivers compartment. I got a Garmin Powerswitch for underhood control of exterior (mainly front) lighting. I really like the capability to use Carplay for the Garmin app and wish Redarc would come out with a CarPlay compatible app as well.