R23 electrical upfit!

F

freedomvango

New member
I anticipate this will be a lengthy post with lots of numbers. I’ll document the process as I go, so you can decide if this is something you'd like to take on as well.

Problem:
2022 R23 with AGM batteries, air conditioning and heat that only work on shore power, and a single solar panel.

Solution:
Upgrade the entire power system to support faster shore power charging, lithium charging from the outboard, a larger solar array, and reconfigure the breaker panel to support a larger inverter/charger.

Parts List (abridged):

3 x 320 AH Dakota lithium batteries (current model in use)
1,200W solar array on a custom rack extending over the bimini
Orion DC-to-DC charger for charging from the outboard
2 x Victron 100/50 solar controllers
Multiplus 12/3000 inverter/charger
Cerbo GX and Touch 70 for monitoring
SmartShunt IP67
IP22 charger for starting and thruster
Class T fuse and holder
Various bus bars, wiring, and related components
Plan:
The goal is to place the batteries and related components where the factory batteries are located, in the port-side locker. This configuration should work for both the R23 and R25 models.
I will remove the existing charger, the ACR for the house batteries, and any other unnecessary components, replacing them with the upgraded system listed above.

The inverter installation will be a bit challenging, but I believe I can fit it in the space where the factory inverter is located. I’ll need to build a bezel to extend the panel slightly into the berth area to make room for the inverter, but overall, it’s a manageable task. Additionally, I’ll likely remake the fascia panel on the CNC to reposition the battery switches under the AC panel, rather than beside it, and rearrange components to optimize the layout.

All the parts are currently at the shop, except for the batteries, which are expected to arrive by the end of the year.

While we are traditionally van builders, I love the Ranger Tug because it’s essentially a van on a boat—perfectly aligned with my needs. I’m excited to begin working on our R23!
 
Spent the first day with the R23 working on Phase One of our electrical overhaul.

While I’m still waiting for my lithium batteries to arrive, I decided to tackle what is arguably the most labor-intensive portion of the upgrade: replacing the existing inverter and battery charger with a new inverter/charger and a dedicated charger for the starting and thruster batteries.

I installed a Victron Multiplus 3000VA 2, along with an IP22 charger that has three outputs.

The process required disassembling the entire power area. To improve serviceability, I cut the compartment into two pieces and added a metal flange, so when it’s all reassembled, everything lines up neatly.

The wiring changes were as follows:

Shore Power to ELCI, then ELCI to AC In on the inverter.
AC Out 1 from the inverter is routed to the old shore power input (with labels moved around), powering the panel as if it were connected to shore power.
AC Out 2, which only works with shore power, is dedicated to the battery chargers for the starter and thruster, and automatically engages about one minute after shore power is connected.
I also upgraded all inverter wiring to 4/0 and will continue to retrofit the system as I make other changes.

Currently, the inverter/charger is derated to avoid overloading existing bottlenecks in the wiring.

One important reminder: Always label every new wire you install! This step is essential for future troubleshooting and maintenance.


54226811651_2bff22d5d6_z.jpgUntitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
54227207755_9acdaf9904_z.jpgUntitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
54227207750_bf4271ded1_z.jpgUntitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
54227053974_b16b29d931_z.jpgUntitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
54227045963_92f5e4c7a3_z.jpgUntitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
54227207795_d914d0095b_z.jpgUntitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
 
I’m currently working on videos to track progress, but for this post, let’s focus on solar energy and my vision for its future!

Living in Florida and wanting to run the air conditioning unit during the summer, I aim to generate as much power as possible at any given time. With that in mind, solar energy is a key solution. I currently have 1,000 watts on one of my vans and 1,200 watts on the other. With this setup, I can run the air conditioning almost entirely on a sunny day, and at the very least, significantly supplement it on non-summer days. Every little bit helps keep me off the shore plug!

I’ve designed and built a proof-of-concept rack to house three 200W panels for testing. These are SunPower panels, custom-built for robots on a honeycomb structure to be extremely lightweight, weighing less than 10 lbs each. The rack itself is relatively simple, using standard solar brackets for mounting and not intended to be permanent. I opted for this design to install the panels practically and test real-world issues, like moving them to the bow. Overall, I’m very pleased with the results. This weekend, I plan to finish the new rack, which will hold six of these 200W panels, extending over the rear bimini with two support bars connecting to the transom handholds. I hope to install it next week.

I’ve decided to run each 600W array into a Victron 100/50 controller to minimize shading issues. This will also allow flexibility if I want to use suction mounts (seasuckers) to place a bike or other equipment on the rack without compromising the solar system’s performance. Additionally, there will be an option to use only 600W of solar on the rack, freeing up space above the bimini for storage lockers or similar uses. Maximizing the available space above the boat is a priority for me.

Lastly, I ran new 6 AWG wire from the panels to the solar controller, which is mounted behind the electrical panel where the old inverter was located. There’s enough room for both the solar controller and the inverter!

Without further blah blah here are the pics :)
54233742112_b3a7edf421_b.jpgUntitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
54234876038_8420d03e84_b.jpgUntitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
54235053840_68409b8476_b.jpgUntitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
54233741837_e2bb64ae4a_b.jpgUntitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
54234884919_af3223ed07_b.jpgUntitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
54234644921_a6f34d23c0_b.jpgUntitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
 
Very nicely done and we appreciate the photos. This is very similar to what I did with my C Dory 25 but no solar, a 12/2000 Multiplus, and only 200 amp hours of Battle Born liFePO4 batteries. I used the sterling DC to DC charger, because it was slightly more flexible in its programing. This was for two chest freezers/refers, a microwave and induction burner. The outboard (30 amps for the battery charger) keeps all of the batteries up after a full day's run.

I have a second unit for our SUV to keep a single chest freezer going and

For the House we went with 1200 watts of solar panels, 600 amp hours of LiTime batteries, and the rest very similar to what you have done. Our purpose is to run a freezer and some LED lights over a peroid of time if we loose whole house 18KW generator. (Natural Gas) and or carry through the nights. We did use a 3000 watt inverter for this unit with an 80 amp battery charger.

How long is the run from the batteries to the Inverter, and what size fuse are you using on each end? I used 2/0 and a run of only several feet since all of the components were under the V Berth, with monitoring and control of the inverter in back of the galley counter.

I am looking forward to the finished product and the neat bundling of the wiring. You have a fantastic shop!
 
thataway":3ffggepn said:
How long is the run from the batteries to the Inverter, and what size fuse are you using on each end? I used 2/0 and a run of only several feet since all of the components were under the V Berth, with monitoring and control of the inverter in back of the galley counter.

I am looking forward to the finished product and the neat bundling of the wiring. You have a fantastic shop!
Click to expand...
I used 4/0 with a 400a fuse as required by Victron. Its roughly 5 ft away from the battery compartment to the electrical panel of wire, so not too much at all.
I actually need to swap it out for 2/0 for a while since I put a lithionics battery in there until the dakotas get in as they were on backorder. Lithionics requires a 2/0 for the multiplus specifically due to inverter inrush current when charging capacitors and it could pop the BMS.

The wiring I'm doing is pretty neat, but the ranger wiring is not, and I'm not really going to rerun wires to make it pretty lol.
 
The C dory factory wiring leaves a lot to be desired. I almost always rewire my C Dorys, even the new one, where the shower sump pump didn't work because a #10 wire and crimp fitting to a #18 did not make contact, So the factory solution was to disconnect the shower drain and allow it to go into the Bilge.

I wonder if and how you are using 2/0 wiring to act as an inrush current limiter? Also what is the Epson meter I see in one of the photos, I am not familiar with this.

I would not be surprised if this upgrade will not be in the $10,000 range. (without adding in in your hourly fee, should this be done for a client.)

Yes you are doing nice wiring and a great job.

I noted today in Panbo by Ben Stein, Article linked here on ABYC committee on section E-13 standards revision for Li batteries
that there is complete rewriting of this section.


Do the Dakotas have some special features or reason that you are going with them? If the major function of these batteries are the inverter to run the Air conditioner and other high draw appliances, did you consider 48 volts for greater effeciency and smaller wiring? Or all of the house battery functions going to run off this battery bank.

I chose to put in my li batteries in addition to the AGM house batteries that I already had. They could be cross connected if necessary with a switch. But there are potential issues with AGM and LiFePO4 batteries on one circuit.

Thanks again for a most interesting build.
 
thataway":2zhf54o9 said:
The C dory factory wiring leaves a lot to be desired. I almost always rewire my C Dorys, even the new one, where the shower sump pump didn't work because a #10 wire and crimp fitting to a #18 did not make contact, So the factory solution was to disconnect the shower drain and allow it to go into the Bilge.

I wonder if and how you are using 2/0 wiring to act as an inrush current limiter? Also what is the Epson meter I see in one of the photos, I am not familiar with this.

I would not be surprised if this upgrade will not be in the $10,000 range. (without adding in in your hourly fee, should this be done for a client.)

Yes you are doing nice wiring and a great job.

I noted today in Panbo by Ben Stein, Article linked here on ABYC committee on section E-13 standards revision for Li batteries
that there is complete rewriting of this section.


Do the Dakotas have some special features or reason that you are going with them? If the major function of these batteries are the inverter to run the Air conditioner and other high draw appliances, did you consider 48 volts for greater effeciency and smaller wiring? Or all of the house battery functions going to run off this battery bank.

I chose to put in my li batteries in addition to the AGM house batteries that I already had. They could be cross connected if necessary with a switch. But there are potential issues with AGM and LiFePO4 batteries on one circuit.

Thanks again for a most interesting build.
Click to expand...


The factory ranger wiring, while not as beautiful as a Viking, is pretty good functionally thankfully.

I used 2/0 because lithionics specifically uses that as an inrush limiter for the inverter.
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Longer than 8ft you can do 4/0 but shorter than that it's a 2/0 requirement. That's why it's super important to read all documentation before installing stuff.


This whole situation is a 20-25k install all said and done with good, known, supportable components but I haven't shown other stuff that I have going in either. It's a complete off-grid conversion that is WAY more concerned with reliability and capability than the cheapest components possible. But you also don't have to do everything. Just batteries, some chargers for starter/thruster, inverter, and some wiring are going to be cheaper. then add on dc to dc charging is more, solar upgrades are more, more batteries, monitoring upgrades, etc etc etc and it adds up.

e-13 is about to get a big overhaul as you mentioned. Currently its a very small section to support e-11 but still has important data such as the fusing and other supporting requirements.

Dakotas were selected MAINLY because end goal support is for the fluid motion boats mainly with the kits, where if you have a lithium system you already have 1 or 2 dakotas, so keeping with those in the line is the reason why. Typicaly we will use lithionics because it's American-made, UL listed and metal-cased, or victron energy batteries due to size, and cost and you can use a Lynx Smart BMS for e-13 compliance. Lithionics is expensive, but it's one of the best-built batteries out there IMO.
The entire house system runs from this bank, and as far as the 48v situation. I'm a weird one, and I don't see 48v as a benefit in almost any situation for our size boats and vans. The huge advantage is how fast the secondary alternators charge on vans at driving speeds and wire sizes, and that's about it. The battery bank size is the same as a 12v, just labeled differently. In our boats, the only advantage is going to be the wiring to your inverter, which is hardly worth it to then have a run specialized gear a 48v to 12v converter which is rare to find on a shelf in case of an issue anyway. I still to 12v for simplicity in these installations and reliability, as well as ease for other people to troubleshoot if needed without needing to know a whole other architecture and part selection.

My starter and thruster are agm, I don't have any mingling on the house side.
 
Thank you for the excellent description. I hope that others are equally thankful and impressed by the expertise of freedomvango. This emphasis is on the desirability of having an ABYC certified technician to design and often install the components.

My multiplus 2000/80/50 Called for 2/0 cable (max run of 5 meters.) I am going to mention that this unit has both an 80 amp battery charger and a 50 amp boost to mains power. It is not unusual to have 90 volts (vs 120 standard voltage) at the end of a long dock with older wiring. The inverter detects the low voltage and boosts it to the 120 volts. Also if an adequate amperage is present, the inverter boosts that to up to 50 amps.

I put in take and out take fans in the compartment where I put the Multiplus, with either manual or snap disc (100*) operation. Also in the area of the batteries. The temperature sensor is important and keeping temperatures down of both the inverter and batteries is important to avoid shutdown or component damage.

Again, thank you.
 
Great write up!

I'm going to follow as I'm retrofitting an Adventure 89RBS camper to solar and lithium. You give excellent diagrams and parts lists. Planning to make at least one more summer trip to Alaska.

I bought a 555 AH battery from Lithionics in 2018 for our Tiffen motor home. Spendy, but we were in Mexico for over 3 months and never plugged into their electrical grid. All solar and engine charging.
 
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