600AH Battery Bank Complete

[chemist308]

Ampere time batteries are the same as Chins and Zooms (Zooms goes by a different name now.) They do not have the low temperature shut off built into the BMS system. You can manage the low temperature shut off with your Victron battery shunt though. That's what I did with my system when I installed three 200amp Zooms.

Yes, they most likely do not have a low temperature shutoff. It works for me because I installed them in a heated area, and I'm full time, so I won't let my rig get down to freezing temperatures. That said, you absolutely should not install them in an area like an uninsulated front compartment or the tongue of a travel trailer.

If I had it to do over again, I'd still use them, but I'd get the newer ones with higher discharge current. The batteries I currently have are 200AH but I think they can only discharge 100 amps a piece, which isn't bad
(300 Amp x 12 volt / 120 volt = 30 Amp at 120 volt), of course minus whatever the inverter efficiency loss is.

[Butcher]

With my limited experience, 300A is more than enough. The highest load I found on mine was less than 150A. I had the A/C on and a few smaller draws and it was around 125A.

Technology improves daily but I would be totally happy with a battery set up able to pump out 300A.

[TerryH]

Ampere time batteries are the same as Chins and Zooms (Zooms goes by a different name now.) They do not have the low temperature shut off built into the BMS system. You can manage the low temperature shut off with your Victron battery shunt though. That's what I did with my system when I installed three 200amp Zooms.

Did the same low temp settings for my Chins 300ah battery. Very nice feature built into the Victron equipment.

[Indy Tim]

I finished my 600 amp hour battery bank and wanted to share. For the major components I used 3 - 200AH Ampere Time batteries, a Giandel 4000 watt pure sine inverter, an automatic transfer switch and a Victron 712 Smart Shunt / Battery Monitor. For a charger, we have a Progressive Dynamics 60 amp unit. One thing I like about the system is I simply hit one button and I'm running on batteries. It runs my fridge and chest freezer great while traveling. This morning, I even made coffee, scrambled eggs (on the induction burner) and toast without stressing the system too much.
Attachment 36249
Attachment 36250

As for where I put the batteries, you probably noticed they appear to be behind the false wall of the pass through.
Attachment 36251

What I did to protect the batteries was build battery trays from poplar with a 3/4" sanded plywood floor and 1" of foam insulation underneath to keep them off of the floor when it's cold. Those trays were then screwed to the floor.

The parts I didn't do myself were the clean up of area behind that false were and install of the transfer switch. I hired a local handyman who was much skinnier than I--my main requirement was that he fit in there Actually I think he did a decent job cleaning that area up, since it was just a myriad of pipes, wires and ducts laying loose mostly on the floor. Here's how much space is really back there:
Attachment 36252

I rebuilt the false wall but left one small open area to visually inspect everything from the pass through door--sorry no pics there because that part is still kind of rough. Next will be the solar install. One thing I really like about this system is that it's not a $10-15k battleborn / Victron everything system. Those kind of systems are great but just beyond what I was willing to shell out. I did go with the Victron monitor though because of the 500 amp shunt. I also found that having it talk to my iphone for real time monitoring is priceless.

Looks like you replumbed the black water and vent pipes. What pipe did you cap off, the drain for the washer?

[chemist308]

Looks like you replumbed the black water and vent pipes. What pipe did you cap off, the drain for the washer?

The black water pipe was done long before. The toilet flange broke and the factory original was glued in, so the only way to get it out was to cut the pipe. I might have done a post on it--can't remember. And yes, I think that was the washer pipe. We moved it up.

[Indy Tim]

The black water pipe was done long before. The toilet flange broke and the factory original was glued in, so the only way to get it out was to cut the pipe. I might have done a post on it--can't remember. And yes, I think that was the washer pipe. We moved it up.

After looking at the pictures again it looks like a "T" was added to the washer drain for venting of the gray water tank after you caped the factory gray water vent.