Electrical Inverter installed to Power entire van

Base23

Well-Known Member
Jan 17, 2016
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Adelaide
Do you know where you got the shunt from ?
I got the 200A shunt from Setec. I rang them to ask a few questions about shunts and they tod me they sell the 200A one. So I otdered it from them.
20160225_125531.jpg

Contact details are
SETEC Pty Ltd
19 Henderson Road
Knoxfield Victoria, 3180
Australia
Tel: +61 3 9763 0962
Fax: +61 3 9763 8789
sales@setec.com.au
 
Last edited:

Bellbirdweb

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Jan 24, 2014
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I got the 200A shunt from Setec. I rang them to ask a few questions about shunts and they tod me they sell the 200A one. So I otdered it from them.
View attachment 57162

Contact details are
SETEC Pty Ltd
19 Henderson Road
Knoxfield Victoria, 3180
Australia
Tel: +61 3 9763 0962
Fax: +61 3 9763 8789
sales@setec.com.au
Cheers for that.
Not really happy that when I contacted them they sent me to eBay :(
 

Smash

Active Member
Apr 23, 2013
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Perth WA
Cheers for that.
Not really happy that when I contacted them they sent me to eBay :(
Why do you need to change the shunt it very unlikely you will ever need to draw more the 100amps at one time?Unless you are drawing more than 100 amps at one time setec say you don't need to change the standard shunt.My battery capacity is 360 amp hours on the standard shunt with no problems.
 

Bellbirdweb

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Jan 24, 2014
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Why do you need to change the shunt it very unlikely you will ever need to draw more the 100amps at one time?Unless you are drawing more than 100 amps at one time setec say you don't need to change the standard shunt.My battery capacity is 360 amp hours on the standard shunt with no problems.
The inverter is 3500w continuous / 7000w peak, which is 290A +
 
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Clewsy

Member
Apr 17, 2017
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Cairns
What size batteries are you all running? Generally for lead acids max current draw or charge is 10% of C100 rating, so for 100Ah you draw 10amps at 12VDC which is 0.5amps at 240V AC which is 120W You must have some big batteries or lithiums or they have a short life?
 

Eddii

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Jun 28, 2017
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Saw this video of a bloke with Starcraft 22 OB running a 2000W inverter to run his Dometic Harrier A/C. It looks doable under the right circumstances ie Blue sky and at least couple of batteries. Not bad;) . I wonder if the inverter he's using would be reliable in a long run (Giandel), maybe I would stick to a projecta or redarc.

 

Clewsy

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Apr 17, 2017
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good video, thanks, that really is hammering the batteries, doubt they would last long at that rate, might be in the dark before the sun goes down. And if your cashed up and don't mind replacing batteries it's a great idea.

I'd love to hear from anyone that has done it for sustained periods to see how long the batteries have lasted
 

Eddii

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Jun 28, 2017
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Lifepo4 batteries would be an ideal setup for this if you can afford it. They're getting cheaper to buy, maybe in a couple of years time they'd be down below $1000. Went to a show and priced one, $1300 for 105 ah with built in smart charger so any charger would work and only weighs less than 15 kg!
 

Clewsy

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Apr 17, 2017
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Yes matter of time before they become economical. Doesn't mean they're safe, we've been working with lithiums for a while now and i wouldn't put one in the van yet, i've seen what happens when they go wrong and the smoke gets out.
 

Bellbirdweb

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Jan 24, 2014
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Yes matter of time before they become economical. Doesn't mean they're safe, we've been working with lithiums for a while now and i wouldn't put one in the van yet, i've seen what happens when they go wrong and the smoke gets out.
I’ve not heard of a LiFePo4 battery catching fire yet, but certainly lithium ion and lithium polymer are well know to burn with a lot of energy.
 

Bellbirdweb

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Jan 24, 2014
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Saw this video of a bloke with Starcraft 22 OB running a 2000W inverter to run his Dometic Harrier A/C. It looks doable under the right circumstances ie Blue sky and at least couple of batteries. Not bad;) . I wonder if the inverter he's using would be reliable in a long run (Giandel), maybe I would stick to a projecta or redarc.

The key here is that he is running a soft start inverter air conditioner.

I haven’t tried my Ibis 2, but I think I already know the result would be to trip out the DC with the startup current alone.
 

Clewsy

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Apr 17, 2017
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true, soft starter would be best with a lot of Ah's to run it, auto start generator is what we need!

true LiFePO4 have a higher thermal runaway around 300 degrees than some of the other lithium's, the fires involving LiFePO4 tend to be in the BMS or cabling,

depends what is around it, lino has a flash point around 200 -250 degrees I think and timber would be 300 degrees, so might be safe to not burning the van from just heat transfer without flames
 

Eddii

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Jun 28, 2017
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Burua Central QLD 4680
Almost all new caravans from Jayco now comes with Dometic Harriers as standard. When we we asked what a/c we're going to get they said they don't stock Coleman machs anymore so got the Harrier for free:)
 
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Bellbirdweb

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Jan 24, 2014
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So finally used the autochange over System on our Christmas trip, and found that the AC would not start up properly when running from the generator.

Looks like the relay, whilst being rated for the correct current, could not handle the high startup current from the aircon.

Moving now to a manual changeover switch to select between the inverter supply and the shore power supply.
 

Bellbirdweb

Well-Known Member
Jan 24, 2014
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Sydney
So finally used the autochange over System on our Christmas trip, and found that the AC would not start up properly when running from the generator.

Looks like the relay, whilst being rated for the correct current, could not handle the high startup current from the aircon.

Moving now to a manual changeover switch to select between the inverter supply and the shore power supply.
OK, so version 2 of the changeover system now installed and working.

Removed the changeover relay as it was not handling the AC startup current, and have swapped it for a manual changeover switch, should do the trick.
changeover switch.jpg
 
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