Fitting Ecoflow Alternator Charger in a GC680

[DonGraham]

Has anyone fitted the Ecoflow alternator charger to their GC600 and able to share any pictures of their installation ? Many thanks.

Hi, mine is the 680, I didn't take any pics and now there is nothing really to see as the cable is hidden away. Yours being the 600 will be better in so much as you will have more cable available to allow a virtually completely concealed install. As mentioned in my initial post, on a 680 the cable has to go over the floor between the rear seat and under the passenger seat, although close to the wall and not where it might be stood on. As it is under the carpet it is not really an issue. With a 680 an extra foot of cable would be helpful!
The dual mesh covered cable is thick and can be awkward if not kept straight and must not have any twists as you install it or it will kink. I mounted the EAC directly under the rear outdoor shower shelf, others have mounted within the rear cupboard. It depends on where you intend to site the Ecoflow. The lead from the EAC to the Delta 2 is about 1 metre long and has a 50mm diameter "cylinder" mounted to it, (as does the starter battery cable) perhaps for RF suppresion?
One thing to note if you mount under the rear shower shelf, don't drill the cable hole into the rear cupboard too close to where the EAC will sit. The cable does not bend so easy. Drill the hole closer to the heater vent so to allow a nice slow bend.
It is all fairly straightforward, just allow yourself a day to do it and take your time...

 

[DMC]

Hi, mine is the 680, I didn't take any pics and now there is nothing really to see as the cable is hidden away. Yours being the 600 will be better in so much as you will have more cable available to allow a virtually completely concealed install. As mentioned in my initial post, on a 680 the cable has to go over the floor between the rear seat and under the passenger seat, although close to the wall and not where it might be stood on. As it is under the carpet it is not really an issue. With a 680 an extra foot of cable would be helpful!
The dual mesh covered cable is thick and can be awkward if not kept straight and must not have any twists as you install it or it will kink. I mounted the EAC directly under the rear outdoor shower shelf, others have mounted within the rear cupboard. It depends on where you intend to site the Ecoflow. The lead from the EAC to the Delta 2 is about 1 metre long and has a 50mm diameter "cylinder" mounted to it, (as does the starter battery cable) perhaps for RF suppresion?
One thing to note if you mount under the rear shower shelf, don't drill the cable hole into the rear cupboard too close to where the EAC will sit. The cable does not bend so easy. Drill the hole closer to the heater vent so to allow a nice slow bend.
It is all fairly straightforward, just allow yourself a day to do it and take your time...

Hi Don, that is brilliant information. Many thanks for taking the time to reply and I appreciate your help.

 

[Corradobrit]

The EF alternator charge is a game changer. To be able to fully charge the Delta 2 in less than 90 mins eliminates the need for solar. I plan to install it on my Cali Coast. Just need to figure out the wiring to the engine battery. Or are people connecting it to their leisure battery. I'm concerned about voltage/amperage throttling taking current off the leisure batteries.

 

[myvanrodney]

The EF alternator charge is a game changer. To be able to fully charge the Delta 2 in less than 90 mins eliminates the need for solar. I plan to install it on my Cali Coast. Just need to figure out the wiring to the engine battery. Or are people connecting it to their leisure battery. I'm concerned about voltage/amperage throttling taking current off the leisure batteries.

My thoughts exactly. Despite the 'free' charge and 'all the time' from solar, it still costs £,000's so not really free until recouped.

I want to connect to leisure batteries but wont use unless alternator is providing energy (sounds like this can be achieved automatically via the EAC settings). Then I think its ok to assume the VW internal cabling is rated to at least the alternators max output (150A), so should all be ok.

 

[Kayleigh]

The EF alternator charge is a game changer. To be able to fully charge the Delta 2 in less than 90 mins eliminates the need for solar. I plan to install it on my Cali Coast. Just need to figure out the wiring to the engine battery. Or are people connecting it to their leisure battery. I'm concerned about voltage/amperage throttling taking current off the leisure batteries.

I wouldn’t call it a game changer, but it is very useful. Mine is wired to the Beach leisure battery under the passenger seat. I currently have the charger under the drivers seat with the cable going under the carpet. I did consider wiring to the starter battery, but my thinking was that it’s good to use the Delta 2 to support the existing leisure battery. In a Beach it almost triples the battery capacity. In this setup I use the existing 12v power outlets, but if I want to run anything 240v I plug directly in to the Delta2. The disadvantage is that I need to switch the app from charge mode when on the move to battery maintenance mode when parked up.

If connected to the starter battery, your Delta2 remains separate from the leisure batteries and one advantage is that you don’t need to keep switching the charge mode in the app… Just leave it on the Charge setting.

Ultimately, I would say the battery you connect to depends on how you want to use the Delta2. I do think calling it an alternator charger is a bit misleading though. It is really a battery to battery charger.
If you set the cutoff voltage to 12v in the app, the leisure/starter battery will happily charge the Delta2 at 800W without the engine running. It’s best to set the cutoff to 13v so the charger only kicks in when the engine is running.

The app has 3 charge modes:
Charge, Reverse Charge and Battery Maintenance. The first two modes charge up to 800W and the maintenance mode up to 100W. I use the battery maintenance mode to keep the leisure battery topped up while it’s running my fridge and it works fine.

I should add that I’m not an electrician or any kind of expert. The above are my thoughts from my own usage and testing.

 

[Corradobrit]

I wouldn’t call it a game changer, but it is very useful. Mine is wired to the Beach leisure battery under the passenger seat. I currently have the charger under the drivers seat with the cable going under the carpet. I did consider wiring to the starter battery, but my thinking was that it’s good to use the Delta 2 to support the existing leisure battery. In a Beach it almost triples the battery capacity. In this setup I use the existing 12v power outlets, but if I want to run anything 240v I plug directly in to the Delta2. The disadvantage is that I need to switch the app from charge mode when on the move to battery maintenance mode when parked up.

If connected to the starter battery, your Delta2 remains separate from the leisure batteries and one advantage is that you don’t need to keep switching the charge mode in the app… Just leave it on the Charge setting.

Ultimately, I would say the battery you connect to depends on how you want to use the Delta2. I do think calling it an alternator charger is a bit misleading though. It is really a battery to battery charger.
If you set the cutoff voltage to 12v in the app, the leisure/starter battery will happily charge the Delta2 at 800W without the engine running. It’s best to set the cutoff to 13v so the charger only kicks in when the engine is running.

The app has 3 charge modes:
Charge, Reverse Charge and Battery Maintenance. The first two modes charge up to 800W and the maintenance mode up to 100W. I use the battery maintenance mode to keep the leisure battery topped up while it’s running my fridge and it works fine.

I should add that I’m not an electrician or any kind of expert. The above are my thoughts from my own usage and testing.

I'm pretty convinced that connecting to the leisure battery is less than ideal. The Cali's electronics do not allow the full potential of the alternator to be tapped. The max I see on the controller display is around 35A and it quickly drops to 10A. This is not consistent though so the true potential of the alternator charging is not being realised. Max charge power is only 425W. I would expect this to almost double to 800W by connecting the EF charger to the engine battery and having a more direct connection to the alternators output. Just need to figure out the best route through the engine bulkhead.

 

[Kayleigh]

I'm pretty convinced that connecting to the leisure battery is less than ideal. The Cali's electronics do not allow the full potential of the alternator to be tapped. The max I see on the controller display is around 35A and it quickly drops to 10A. This is not consistent though so the true potential of the alternator charging is not being realised. Max charge power is only 425W. I would expect this to almost double to 800W by connecting the EF charger to the engine battery and having a more direct connection to the alternators output. Just need to figure out the best route through the engine bulkhead.

I agree. In theory one would expect the engine battery with its direct connection to the alternator output to charge faster. There may also be differences between the charging in a T6 and T6.1.

However, what I can say is that in practice the Delta 2 will fully charge during a 90 minute road trip in my configuration with the leisure battery remaining pretty much fully charged as well.

I look forward to seeing your results with the charger connected to the starter battery.

 

[IsThisNameLongEnough]

Right - following dusting a bit of excessive evening off - I had a crack at fitting the Ecoflow Alternator charger to our GC680. And as this thread was a bit sparse of photos of this process - heres a dump

Few things about our setup:
- Delta 2 is in the bottom of the electronics cupboard
- Delta 2 wired 'inline' to the AC plug circuit (not the AC charger / AC part of water heater)
- Alternator charger mounted to said wall

Pre-work:
- Get a damp cloth handy to wipe blood off cupboard walls - scraped my knuckles and left a trail of evidence.
- Take the doors off the cupboards/wardrobes
- Empty cupboards / under bathroom sink
- Remove wheel arch panel(s) in the electrical cabinet
- Remove passenger seat cover (note one screw hiding under the velcro)

- use insulation tape to stop the positive lead catching on things
- unreel the cable - it loves to loop and jam when pulling through

Running cables:
- Loop between cupboards, follow along the side of the heating duct
- Suggest pulling full length between two cupboards, then work along to next one.







- Getting to the bathroom was the easy bit.
- Bathroom to under seat was a bit of a mission. Gently pushing the cable it will eventually worm its way through to next to the heater under the seat.



Passenger seat to battery:
I really struggled to find a better path past this point without fully disassembling the passenger seat / removing the side wall etc - and this spot is typically covered by the dog bed.

- gently pull off the lower seatbelt cover and the bottom half of the upper cover - move the lower cover out of the way.
- remove the floor trim
- remove the starter battery cover and tray


I made a small notch in the bottom of this plastic, and routed through under the floor mat to along the back of the fuse box




Disclaimer - the wiring part is still a work in progress - not sure of the best way to connect up again here.



There is a M5 tapped hole on the positive battery terminal - will be replacing the M8 terminal with a smaller ring terminal this week
Ideally - i want to replace the 40A fuse with a larger unit and mount direct to this spare slot here:


And my grounding point is not ideal either - makes reasonable electrical contact, but there must be something better.


Following wiring all the way though - drilled and mounted the charger in the utility cupboard, and put the delta 2 back again.









So - questions for people who have made it this far:

- Does anyone know what size / standard that 40A fuse is, and if one could replace with a larger 125A one?
- Is there a better grounding point handy?
- How have other electrically connected their alternator charger / other things to the starter battery?
- Is there sufficient space to run behind that panel in front / to the left of the passenger seat?

 

[DMC]

Right - following dusting a bit of excessive evening off - I had a crack at fitting the Ecoflow Alternator charger to our GC680. And as this thread was a bit sparse of photos of this process - heres a dump

Few things about our setup:
- Delta 2 is in the bottom of the electronics cupboard
- Delta 2 wired 'inline' to the AC plug circuit (not the AC charger / AC part of water heater)
- Alternator charger mounted to said wall

Pre-work:
- Get a damp cloth handy to wipe blood off cupboard walls - scraped my knuckles and left a trail of evidence.
- Take the doors off the cupboards/wardrobes
- Empty cupboards / under bathroom sink
- Remove wheel arch panel(s) in the electrical cabinet
- Remove passenger seat cover (note one screw hiding under the velcro)
View attachment 130999
- use insulation tape to stop the positive lead catching on things
- unreel the cable - it loves to loop and jam when pulling through

Running cables:
- Loop between cupboards, follow along the side of the heating duct
- Suggest pulling full length between two cupboards, then work along to next one.
View attachment 131000


View attachment 131002
View attachment 131003
View attachment 131004

- Getting to the bathroom was the easy bit.
- Bathroom to under seat was a bit of a mission. Gently pushing the cable it will eventually worm its way through to next to the heater under the seat.
View attachment 131005


Passenger seat to battery:
I really struggled to find a better path past this point without fully disassembling the passenger seat / removing the side wall etc - and this spot is typically covered by the dog bed.

- gently pull off the lower seatbelt cover and the bottom half of the upper cover - move the lower cover out of the way.
- remove the floor trim
- remove the starter battery cover and tray


I made a small notch in the bottom of this plastic, and routed through under the floor mat to along the back of the fuse box

View attachment 131007


Disclaimer - the wiring part is still a work in progress - not sure of the best way to connect up again here.

View attachment 131008

There is a M5 tapped hole on the positive battery terminal - will be replacing the M8 terminal with a smaller ring terminal this week
Ideally - i want to replace the 40A fuse with a larger unit and mount direct to this spare slot here:
View attachment 131009

And my grounding point is not ideal either - makes reasonable electrical contact, but there must be something better.


Following wiring all the way though - drilled and mounted the charger in the utility cupboard, and put the delta 2 back again.
View attachment 131010








So - questions for people who have made it this far:

- Does anyone know what size / standard that 40A fuse is, and if one could replace with a larger 125A one?
- Is there a better grounding point handy?
- How have other electrically connected their alternator charger / other things to the starter battery?
- Is there sufficient space to run behind that panel in front / to the left of the passenger seat?

This guy did a very informative YouTube video on the fitting of the alternator charger.

Does this help?

 

[IsThisNameLongEnough]

This guy did a very informative YouTube video on the fitting of the alternator charger.
Does this help?

That's really interesting, however he skips the one piece i am missing - about how he connected to the starter battery

 

[CamperFam]

I ran ours as you have with it going under the rail and under the chair, albeit without the nifty cutout.

In terms of wiring, i'll need to go back and check - but pretty sure I did positive and negative based on the instructions. But i've got a bit of fog on it, so could be wrong.

I do now that the thick cable wouldn't fit under the floor panel and had to get the dremel out to cut out an area for it to sit comfortably.

 

[Antti]

I wonder what is your main use case for the EcoFlow when you connect the alternator charger to the starter battery?

In my use case I want to extend the operating time of the fridge and heating and thought it would be best to connect the charger to the leisure battery. I use the original connection from the leisure battery to the cabinet for the charger input, but limited the charging power to 300W in the app.



Lähetetty minun NE2213 laitteesta Tapatalkilla

 

[CamperFam]

Personally, the main purpose is versatility and redundancy.

Versatility:
1. The ability to just plug in an electronic device when not on EHU and get full usage from chargers, devices and appliances.
2. The ability to power the van sockets when not on EHU.

Redundancy:
1. If I ever need heat and the leisure battery dies, i've got some power to get it up and running without having to run the engine.
2. If I ever need power for a device and dont have the juice available in the leisure battery, I have the Ecoflow

Alternator Charger:
As for the alternator charger, it enables both of the above as it ensures i'm always on 100% and even after a moderate drive, i'm back up to full power despite average consumption use. It has further benefits as it means I can permanently power my WiFi and other bits/bobs, as well as further backup should my starter battery end up flat and I can give it a boost by reversing the current.

 

[IsThisNameLongEnough]

Kinda what CamperFam said, but our primary concern for the Delta2/Charger is:

1 - having coffee in the morning
2 - having coffee in the morning the next 3 days (and we like 'remote' / 'off grid' camping / dislike being near other campers/New Zealand is blessed with some amazing campsite locations that are not fullservice outfits)
3 - ebike charging


1/3 - the Delta 2 does this for us - due to VWs weird decision for AGM under the bonnet, putting a 1800W inverter in requires a heap of work (Lithium, DC-DC, Solar, Inverter, questionable warranty elements). A delta was a self contained, easily undoable option.
2/3 - I had done the '15A ecoflow charger' thing off the leisure battery, and 8months later, the leisure battery died. Unsure if related or not, but it did seem to be clicking on and off a lot when the solar was working . This option seems the much better route, and the ~60A charging helps