LFP Wiring Diagram

[cyb3rl4d]

Hi All,

I thought I would share my wiring diagram for the GC600, I've done a few bits (additional LFP battery, orion b2b, mppt for ground solar and mppt for factory solar), all other items i'm yet to do, please note this is logical representation so I understand some of these things arnt actually there such as the factory bus bars, etc. I used the german forum posts to pull this together and thought I would share one of the diagrams that "Dusty" put together as its a great explanation of how the factory electrics works.

Hope this helps someone in future and comments welcome.

Things to note which im not too happy on is the 230v charger being unprotected so thats something to resolve, again just logical for now.

 

[NobardPhilFr]

Thank you cyb3rl4d

 

[Gareth Salton]

Hey Dom.

You obviously know your stuff

Really love the first diagram. It’s the closest I have found to a GC schematic but I am finding it difficult to differentiate between the bits you have added and the as built spec. Do you have one or why not build one an flog it. Gotta be worth a fiver and so many of us need one.

Gareth

 

[cyb3rl4d]

Thanks!! I wouldn't say I know what im doing. I’m happy to do a few updates / break it down. No need for payment, when I get some time in the next few days. It looks a bit overwhelming but if you break down each section it’s quite simple. If you have any questions let me know. There are a few unnecessary bits in there too. The only reason I added them is that if I was having any issues I could “cut out” all my mods and but it back to the original configuration with a few switches but I find for example I don’t need to switch over the 230v as the inverter UPS feature does that job stuff like that. Also if you want to take a direct cable from the starter battery that simplifies stuff too rather than what Ive done piggy backing off the original cabling coming from the factory leisure battery.

Any questions don’t hesitate to ask, and always verify any advise or guidance you get from some random like me off the internet lol!!

 

[cyb3rl4d]

here's a breakdown of the 230v, as you can see the hook up goes directly into the black waygo plug. I removed that and then put in the kit on the right. this way I can put it back as it was before. The change over switch isnt really needed as I've not used the switch since I installed it. This is due to my inverter having a UPS type backup facility, so when the hook up is connected the inverter directly passes the 230v through to the wago / 230v consumer unit. Then when disconnected I can enable the 230v sockets by switching on the inverter. Simple!

Again the 230v junction box isnt needed but I wanted to have a dedicated plug socket in the cupboard so I can test the hook up directly before its gone through everything (I have one of those 230v tester plug things), I then have my 30a fogstar charger to charge my fogstar batter if needed directly via the 230v but again this isnt really needed as my B2B charges it. I only installed it as I thought, well you've bought the fogstar charger you might as well use it, but I've only used it once or twice over the last year. 99% of the time I leave the B2B to charge the fogstar via the VW leisure battery and the VW onboard charger. Its a lot slower (as the VW charger is only 15a or so) but its perfectly fine when needed.

 

[cyb3rl4d]

next we have the 12v change over, this is the same setup that everyone else uses, take out the on/off change over to a one, two, off unit. I made sure I did not get the 1, 2, 1+2, off unit as I didnt want to accidentally link the two leisure batteries together causing some loop and making something go bang.

The only major difference to what others do is that I put in the B2B, this allows me to piggy back my fogstar off the VW leisure battery without having to change cabling, etc. So the idea behind this is that the alternator charges up the VW leisure battery to over 80% when that happens the B2B kicks in and starts to charge the fogstar, this way I dont drain the VW leisure battery, it allows me to always know I have a backup to my fogstar (via the 12v changeover) and also allows me to charge up the fogstar and leisure battery either via the 230v onboard charger via the hook up cable and the solar panels.

So in summary, inputs are; 230v hook up (via onboard charger), solar panels and alternator while driving. All three inputs charge the vw leisure battery to 80%, then when once the VW leisure battery is at 80% the B2B kicks in ramps up to 30 amps but then ramps down to the amount of amps coming into the VW leisure battery, so can be very little via solar panels, 15a when 230v hook up is on, or all the way up to the full 30 amps when I press the vw leisure charge button when driving.

It works amazingly well, giving me the flexibility I need while ensuring both batteries are managed correctly.

hope this helps explain whats going on.

 

[cyb3rl4d]

oh and one more thing on the solar panels, I changed the orginal vw MPPT because I can manage / monitor it via bluetooth with the victron MPPT which was the same price as the bluetooth module! I have two small solar panels on the roof to help and as these are running a different voltage to the VW panel I have another small MPPT. The two small panels arent really needed as the one on the front does well to keep things topped up in the summer (when its not in use). Also the ground solar panels are totally over kill! I have used them once and when in use, they are amazing, you really dont need it. If I had my time again I would not bother having the 3rd MPPT and ground panels! I got a bit carried away when buying stuff / designing my setup.

So I hope this explains why the diagram is a bit overkill, there are a lot of extra things that are not needed. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[Gareth Salton]

Oh well…
You asked for it
I’ve got a 4kWh eco flow. I’ve currently set it up so the plug in connector on the outside of the van goes directly to the EcoFlow input then the cable that was previously connected to the plug in connector has a standard 3 pin plug on it and plugs into the output of the EcoFlow so that when plugged in the power goes to the EcoFlow charging it and then the output from that goes to the onboard leisure battery charging that. All this is good.

But…

When not connected to the mains things become a bit of a problem I think. The EcoFlow continues to charge the onboard leisure battery at the same time as driving the camper 230VAC system. I’ve tried pulling the plug from what I think is the leisure battery charger (under the passenger seat) and that stops the drain from the EcoFlow but then all the systems appear to run only off the leisure battery which defeats the object.

I was toying with putting some sort of isolator on the leisure battery output but any advice would be welcomed.

 

[cyb3rl4d]

Oh well…
You asked for it
I’ve got a 4kWh eco flow. I’ve currently set it up so the plug in connector on the outside of the van goes directly to the EcoFlow input then the cable that was previously connected to the plug in connector has a standard 3 pin plug on it and plugs into the output of the EcoFlow so that when plugged in the power goes to the EcoFlow charging it and then the output from that goes to the onboard leisure battery charging that. All this is good.

But…

When not connected to the mains things become a bit of a problem I think. The EcoFlow continues to charge the onboard leisure battery at the same time as driving the camper 230VAC system. I’ve tried pulling the plug from what I think is the leisure battery charger (under the passenger seat) and that stops the drain from the EcoFlow but then all the systems appear to run only off the leisure battery which defeats the object.

I was toying with putting some sort of isolator on the leisure battery output but any advice would be welcomed.

Yeah your thoughts are correct, if you don’t disconnect the vw charger under the passenger seat (the black right angled kettle lead) then the vw charger will think it’s still connected to hook up and so will charge the leisure battery (and trickle charge the starter battery too). If you use the truma heater with elec that will also pull from there.

I have the same situation so I’ve installed a Shelly relay in front of the vw charger (a male and female kettle lead with the Shelly in between). This allow me to switch off the onboard charger when I switch on the inverter.

This was the reason why I “replaced” the leisure battery with a bigger LFP.

Although what you could do (and you would need to get someone to confirm if they’ve done this, the GC Facebook group has a lot of people who have Ecoflows - Gordon is your man on this one I think) is to use the 12v output of the Ecoflow and add that into your 12v system. This way you can stop the vw onboard charger from charging but use the Ecoflow to supply the 12v stuff.

Things o would be concerned about with the above is, the 12v system isn’t exactly 12v (100% 12v AGM has a voltage of 13v for example) so you wouldn’t be able to mix the two 12v systems you would need a switch and have one or the other. You could have issues with high amp devices as the Ecoflow might not be able to output the required amps to say start the truma heater (glow plugs for diesel).

So I think the setup you have is as good as you can get it without a lot of extra planning. I think the Facebook group is defo the right place for you on that.

Hope this helps.