Another vote for that hopeless DIP Switch diagram, I see the same question every day in one of the forums I help out in for Renogy, and it just defies all known formats. But well done getting it all in and going. A fair bit of heat gets pumped out of it so keep an eye on airflow (you probably already have though). And there's also the option of using the Cerbo outputs as triggers for turning the Renogy DC-DC on/off if you decide to have even more of a play, but it's probably not worth the faffing about for the one trip unless you particularly want to experience those features. Kudos for the way you put these videos together too, they're much more informative than you realise. Even though I use a dozen of these units every day, it's still good to be reminded of the features I don't use every day. And for the novices out there, it's a valuable resource.

I love that moment of triumph at the end. As others already noted, seeing the problem solving process is the most educational part. I find it interesting as is. If you're concerned it's too boring, you could add some explosions. 🤷‍

I'm really excited about seeing the sailing schematics/planning and seeing how you work through it. I enjoy the figure it out as you go approach and like the honesty of it. Great going and for sure the dip switch seems a terrible mess to understand. I'll keep watching and enjoy it tons!

Oh wow -- I wish I knew those terminal covers were removable! They are awful! I just installed one of these three days ago. One side of the unit was out of my line of site and I had endlessly-fiddly problems with those terminal covers and ended up cross-threading one screw as a result. If I had just watched your video a few days ago... :)

Yay! Always good to see you succeed. I hope you are almost ready to head north.

I love your videos, within a few years I’ll built my own electric propulsion based on your learning experience. Keep up the great work!

Just thinking about your trip. I do hope you are doing ok . Can’t wait to hear all about it. You are amazing for taking on this adventure.

Great stuff solving the setup.

Super interesting! Thanks for the video, very cool topic to learn about

I‘be been trying to get my 60a B2B working for 2 months. Had so many challenges like accidentally. blowing the midi fuse. Your video (dip switch setting particularly) helped me finally get the thing to charge. I thought since my battery bank was 13.2v that I’d be type 1 or closer to 13v than 14. Tried your dip switch setting and the thing finally started charging. Thank you! I subbed and liked!

I have been enjoyed, so thank you for delivering.

Will come back and watch again. Ordered the 40A version to replace my old DC to DC charger in my Promaster.

Another step closer Maddy, well done

Renogy also makes a version with dual inputs, One from the starter/alt side and another input from PV (built in mppt), Manages it automagically .

Good job working thru the bugs. Would have like to see under the covers of the DC-DC. Thanks for sharing

Great fun and very helpful in sorting out my own unusual project. Thanks!

Smart lady... She taken the time to figure out how things work and why....As this stuff is not learn as you go. Unless you like spending lots of money to fix, when they burn up....And you still would need to know why it broke to start with...

Great. 👍 I'm putting 1 Li Fe 230A in my van for power.

Great video, really good timing for me. Ive been preparing a lot lately to make starting off with LiFePO4 batteries videos. Including having 2 or more separate energy storage systems for stuff like the induction that you mentioned. I've long known that a LiFePO4 system may terminate a connection for various reasons, and so that needs to be planned for. I don't have a large project I want to work on, let alone the space or money to do so, so I have been spending a lot of time planning out smaller scale simulations. I also find it confusing to learn about LiFePO4 compared to other battery types, so my long term goal is to try to explain it to other people starting out in a way that is easier to understand.

Well done. I like your process. 🎉

Excellent Video thank you... just bought a 60 amp version of this to put LiFeP04 battery on my steam yacht to power the boiler burners (the Inverter kills the existing LeadAcid AGM battery)

Great Video …. Very informative 🎉

It's good to learn from others troubles. Thanks for being the guinea pig.

Very informative

exciting video!

I like your workaround. Another way that I know a few people do, is an inverter off the starter battery, powering a battery charger. I did something similar but different, for charging my LiFePO4 from a 240V source. I use two HP DPS-600PB B server power supplies, wired in series, which gives me 24V at 47A, that's 1128 Watt. I then use some DC circuit breakers that basically allow me to change the input into my Victron Mppt Charge Controller, from Solar to this HP Power Supply. Saved me buying a separate 240V Battery Charger. Also being Victron its fully Programmable. Actually, in use I just change the input and leave all the Mppt settings as they are. It works well.

Wow cool 😎

Hooray. I monitored the fluid level in your drink (Scotch? Bourbon?) and was reassured that the situation couldn’t be actually dire, as there seemed to be as much booze at the end of the video as the beginning. Congratulations-I presume you toasted your achievement, as you should.

I have built quite a few Lifepo4 battery packs to replace startup batteries on a car, pickup truck, Van and even 24v one for 5 metric tons 10 wheeler truck and it all been working fine. I used a specific bms model that was designed for that use case not the JK ...... The trick is to fully charge the before connect it to the alternator to not overload it. And yes the bms does turn off the charging but it was at 3.75v per cell not 3.65v so this rarely happens, and for that I am also using a Lifepo4 battery that can absorb voltage peak UpTo 3.8v. That was at least a year ago and no problem so far. I am experimenting with another 12v battery pack without bms and use an active balancer on my daily work truck. So for also no issues.

wwuuuhhhuuuu new vid. and the waiting did not kill me :-) and looking forward too the next one. In a way nice too se that I am not the only one how do not allways understand the text in manuals. Not knowhing that much about eletronics do not help. But most time after some WTF and some time on the web ( and some time sleeping on it) I get it to work. And then I ( like you i this vid ) knowh a bit more. Good to see that you got i too work and now have charging for the trip home.

Hi Maddy, this reminds me of a problem I’ve got; self made 14kw 18650 system running at 24v, but I’m just starting to get 48v gear. All my panels are linked into 24v, so I’m toying with some kind of dc-dc boost converter to make all those lovely 18650’s available to 48v gear. I know it would be very lossy, but it bugs me that when those 24v batteries are full, I’m tossing away all that lovely sunshine ☀️ 😉

I use 4 ga wire from my alternator to a coupler and 6 ga from that to the dc to dc charger input and 6 ga from a terminal lug attached to the body of the van to the negative input

good luck to you

D+ is positive when engine running/alternator is running/turning .

I wished always a smart woman like you. Thanks for you video. I just bought a charger like that one.

A simple timer and large relais can charge every LiFePo4 from an alternator cheaply, just make sure that it charges for 10-15 minutes and disconnect for 5 to 10 minutes cooling down the alternator, this gets more charge into your battery that some expensive DC - DC charger.

HOWdy T-D-M, ... Great REVIEW :-) COOP the WiSeNhEiMeR from Richmond, INDIANA ...

I had to take my renogy apart many times to tighten down the terminals on the circuit board

Hi thanks for the video. Is the dcdc charger also a MPPT solar reg?

Right around 21:00 i had to laugh cause i was like you need to attach the d+ to the POS input wire

Thanks, when you were doing it I was trying to figure out why you were attaching it to the output. Now I get it, you didn’t think of "it's isolated". We learn every day. To me it was "it expects to be attached to the starter battery, why are you doing that?" 😢

Now that I've caught up on videos, I'm looking forward to hearing about your trip. I see on Patreon that you made it home - congrats! - but I want to know how you got there! In particular, I'd like to know how you prepared for the trip, what route you took, what challenges you faced, etc. Did you take the ASA cruising courses? If so, were they helpful? Were the crew experienced boaters? I know you didn't just wing it, so I'd love to hear about your decision-making for the trip. I assume you've learned some things that will guide you for your future adventures. Some day I might like to do some cruising, and it would helpful to hear how you got into it. Yeah, I know there are many sailing channels out there, but most of them seem to be about bikinis more than anything. I know you want to get back to battery building, but if you could throw some cruising videos our way, I'd be happy!

Wish I could show you my 600 ah setup in my 98 ford e250 and I use the renogy 40 dc charger myself

Coming here late to the show did you get the sail boat home?

Is it anyway that we can get all the parts that you use to put this system, go ahead and check the description if you have then ignore this post but I wanted pacifically to know exactly how you put this together and all the monitors names and where I can get them so and reproduce this beautiful thing you put. Tumi the monitors are the most important part and knowing how they are put together, so can you help me.❤

Hi, Maddy. I love your videos. One request. Please do not have a glass of whiskey near any of your electrical gear. Whiskey is highly flammable.

Is it possible to use a Victron Orion Tr smart also? Is there a current limit on the Renogy or Victron to make sure cables won't melt?

If you only wanted a one-off use you could have charged your lithium from the engine battery using it as a buffer to avoid the BMS surge and limited the amps drawn by connecting the two batteries with a longish length of say 8AWG - as the current rises the undersized connecting will drop in voltage which would then moderate the current - it sounds like a bodge but was used for years on RV's

ok!!!

I'm thinking I'll just buy Clark's battery maintainer and use a thermal switch on the alternator sonif it gets to hot it will shutdown before damaging itself. Also I'd the BMS shuts off the boat wont go dark with a little bit of lead in the system to keep everything going.

Question…. If one had an inverter/charger (such as on an RV), couldn’t one put the Renogy DC/DC between the output side of the Inverter/Charger and Lipo4 batteries? I’m looking for a short term solution before I change all of my gear over for an Airstream Interstate.

❤❤❤❤

24:58 -Yes, that moment when it works. It is always the point of: i can do it...

Bon travail ... Mais comment se comporte la ventilation interne de ce Renogu 40A ? Le coffret chauffe t-il ?

My dc to dc is set for 14.1 i think

HI HIIIIIII great feeling

I have agm lessuire battery's. I'm not sure what dip switches to use tbo .. the battery's are 2x 95ah agm .. honestly you seem to know stuff more than others what would you recommend my dip switches to be ?

= I love Love LOVE your HEAT GUN stands UP on it's own accord ( on it's BUTT ) !!! COOP ...

i think that's why these systems are sold in pieces....it's probably no problem, ( no regulation violation ), and becomes at the installers own risk, and that's all. but people need to know that 38.4Vnom is a saltwater maximum, beyond which it is at your own risk. and i think systems running higher than that would have to be dismantled before reselling the yacht.

Mermaid LADY GREAT Job need more Shows like THIS THANK YOU

Did you get the boat home?

Wakespeed WS500, I want, I want, I want :)

how are you going to charge that huge battery bank once the Diesel is gone?

Would love to meetup in NY. Albany?

= you forgot SAFETY 1st !!! STEEL TOED House-Slippers !!! LOL COOP ...

I wasn't aware there is special wire for marine. I would have thought that regular sheathing would be okay!

= just bye coincidence = ALL of my Rolls ( four spools of 100' each / red / black ) of 8 AWG Marine Grade Tinned Copper Wire are "ANCOR" brand :-) COOP ...

I installed the same unit and now I find I have to jump start the battery every morning. I have a switch instead of ignition power but the switch has a light so I know I shut it off and still idle the engine to top off my lead acid battery. I replaced it once thinking it was a weak battery and the new one does the same even though it’s a better brand.

Well, you said "Solder", not "Sodder", so you are all good here ;-p

you saying you re not organized!!!! thank god you didnt see my workbench.

I thought mermaids didn't have toes 😂

I am not 100% sure, but the DIP switches had OFF position on top, not at the bottom. So I believe you did not configured the switches OK. The correct setup should be DOWN, UP, DOWN, DOWN, UP, I guess. I might be wrong, it's not 100% visible how you've set them up during the process. Great video though!

Minn Kota got approved for 38V user installable ( 12 cell per series string ) on salt .... so i am guessing that is where the new regs are going to be going. and, with that, i am putting my money on 38V as far as my development work goes ... i hate to design things over again.

You didn't need the icharger between the p/s and the renogy.

Never seen a bc-dc?

i need one of them for my vehicle...... but it sounds like i need to win the lottery first.....ha ha

May i say you have lovely hair.

A method that works well is simply adding some resistance from the alternator to the batteries. You use a cable capable of handling the max current of the alternator and then increase the cable length to introduce voltage drop at the current you decide you want. This works well with LiFePO4 because of the very flat charge curve. Simply take alternator regulated voltage, subtract about 13.6v divide the result by the current you want and that is the resistance you need in the circuit. In reality you often don’t actually need to add any because the existing wiring has enough resistance. 100s are doing this in hybrid lithium setups where the lithium is in direct parallel with the lead acid. You simply set the lithium BMS to disconnect at 14v and the lead acid protects the alternator during the disconnect.

the bad chinese/english is often refered to as “Chinglish”, from KZfaqr “Not a Rubicon” 😂

May need to hookup similar soon, for some the living room is in the boat.

I need a smart woman like u

Some groggy thoughts while coffee brews. In automotive settings a DC-DC (or even plain relay) works well. WIth a relay the NEG return is typically through the steel chassis which introduces significant resistance (I=V/R). My 100Ah LFP pulls ~32A from the 180A alternator in this configuration, for example. And there is external airflow through the grille to cool the alt. Marine applications seem to be much tougher, hot engine rooms with no external airflow for either the alt or a DC-DC. Much smaller alternators. In this environment I see why boats often use external regulation with temp sensing/derating. We might automate crude derating on the Reno with a NO thermal switch on the alt. Alt gets hot, switch closes and provides 12v to the Reno's current limiting ("performance regulation") terminal, dropping it to 5A (12.5% of rated). Subjective note: I'm not in love with Renogy's Li profiles, which have no quasi-float (voltage floor). That's cool if there are no loads, but with loads running bank voltage will pogo between the Absorption and rebulk (13.2v IIRC) setpoints. Given the canned options I might be tempted to use the lead mode, Absorping at 14.1v and quasi-floating at either the 13.2v or 13.5v option. We could also use a thermal switch on the battery bank to disable D+ for a poor man's low-temp charging cutoff. Eager to see it used in anger in the install.

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That switch diagram has the worst layout!