AIR CONDITIONING OFF INVERTER AND LITHIUM, THE REAL THING

[Bushtracker]

Hello Friends,

I am sorry, I have been too busy to update some of these things, but now I am going to be Semi-Retired, and travel on Expedition a couple of trips a year. I will have more time to keep you up to date with the latest.

This is a bit extreme, but in my opinion bigger is better in the Outback. I like being a self-sufficient Station when I pull up, and I have a medical condition and cannot sleep in very hot weather. This will give me air conditioning in peak solar times, and four-five hours and night, AND a way to charge it back up quickly the next day to do it all over again. This beats the generator dependence, because you cannot run them in some areas..

There ARE Companies that CLAIM that do this, is a bit of deception and a rort as their version is just a Sales Gimmick. Their system will work off Lithium, but only once and then struggle to charge back up. They are doing silly things like flat plastic solar panels that suffer heat degradation and output drop, and they have no practical way to charge the system back up once it is massively depleted. The generator run time to do that would be about equal to the run time of the air conditioning, so they might as well run the generator in the first place instead of advertising the Sales Gimmick that doesn't work....

Look, it is possible, and we have broken a few barriers on my new Bushtracker. I am building myself a new (outrageous) 23' Bushtracker right now that will run the air conditioning (one of two) off the inverter and Lithium batteries...

HOWEVER, to do this right, it runs off of our new electrical system, 600 AH in two 300 AH slim line Lithium packs, with obvious massive recharging requirements if you want to do it every day. Sooo, I am going to run (6) 150 watt solar panels lifted off the roof with a Laminar air flow so they will actually work in the hot weather: OK!!! It can be done, and during peak solar times it will be running at a very low loss because of extreme solar. It will also run about five hours at night, and we have just broken a barrier with new technology on my van that will allow it to be charged up the next day in normal travel. (More to come on this).....

This is only available for larger vans and larger tow vehicles. It is being done by other Companies, but their system is woeful, and you could only deplete their system once with no practical way to charge the big Lithium system back up. Their system is a sales gimmick as their solar is glued down flat panels that perform poorly in hot weather, and the generator run time to charge the system back up would be about equal to the time the air conditioning was run in the first place..

We have broken that barrier with a couple of new tricks. I have a new extreme truck ordered, and will release these new tricks when the truck is here in April-May. I like to travel with the extremes of gear, a virtual Station when I pull up... Like all the tools and boxes and fuel and fridge freezer on the bed slide out like this:



Massive Ranch Hand Bull Bar in steel and winch, and heavy duty Ranch Hand rear bumper, and more gear yet, so I have upgraded this 2500 HD to a 3500 HD 5200 kg GVM with Firestone Air Bags in heavy duty sleeves, inside the coils..

I have a new truck ordered, since I am carrying a long tonne, nothing beats a Dually off-road with this large of a van. The difference between a regular ute and four wheel drive, is that much again with a Dual Rear Wheel and limited slip rear diff being virtually 6-Wheel Drive. If you have the weight in the back for traction, it works a treat. I know, as I have done the Outback for 15 years with Duallies and Bushtracker, and I am going back to a Dually. This one is as extreme as the idea of air conditioning running off the Lithium and the ability to charge it back up. This truck even has Air Suspension over the main springs, for an adjustable ride. A Dodge Cummins Diesel Mega Cab, Long Horn, top of the line with rear Air Suspension...

I am going back to a Dually, for DVD Expedition, but my Six Wheel Drive will have bite due to the weight on it. In addition to the long ton I carry now in bed slide and tools and fridge/freezer, I am going for three tanks, 500 litres, 410 diff gears, Aisen A6, 2500 km Range. Big American Alternator system running two DC to DC chargers.

The point of all of this is if you want the extremes like air conditioning off of Lithium, it is here, but to do it properly so it works right you need a larger van (six 150 watt solar panels) and a big alternator, and the proper tow vehicle to handle it all with ease... Really beyond a modest sized Bushtracker and a Landcruiser OK? This is Mega Yacht stuff!





Here is the latest, adjustable Air Suspension over the main leaves on a 3500 Dually..



And a major sized Bushtracker to handle it all... Air Suspension, six solar, My point is these extremes are possible, but only in the larger gear to handle it... This system will work well.. But then again this is a 23' Bushtracker, a Mega Yacht with everything, matching the tow vehicle extremes:



Further You will see more on all of this as we are going on Expedition this coming year to some of the roughest country in Australia, to make a new DVD for Bushtracker..

Pioneering, out scouting the trail ahead with the lone Ranger....

[Bushtracker]

Here is the latest thing on this Lithium powered AC Topic:

First of all on my new truck coming around April, I will have a dual larger charging system that I will unveil. It is just not worth bothering with right now on this truck, as I have someone that wants it, and so it is not practical to do it right now. In addition, the average temperatures in Tasmania are around 23-24 C, and at night in 12-14 C, so I am not likely to have much need for the air conditioning OK?

When I get back I will introduce two things:
First, a timer system, so if you have the ac running at night and do not turn it off, your whole Lithium system could be shut down on LVD (Low voltage disconnect). This would mean no refrigeration, freezer, lights, nothing until you got 5% of the charge back in to switch the LVD back on... Hmmm. Now you could rely on the timer on the air conditioning itself, there is one on the Truma Aventa II, however we are building a new BMS system that will shut off the ac unit at 50% of Lithium capacity.

That way if you fall asleep and leave it on, it will shut itself off in the middle of the night at 50% of Lithium capacity. This means your refrigeration and lights and the rest will still be running in the morning.

Secondly, we will introduce a massive charging system, so the Lithium pack will charge up quickly the next day without the use of a generator. It will be a double charging system off the tow vehicle.

We will discuss these new options and innovations in February when I return from Tasmania. In the meantime, I will still be contactable via Email and this Forum, to help you.

Kind regards, da lone Ranger

[Bushtracker]

Hello Friends,

The good news is, our system works flawlessly.. Two month gone, my impressions of Tasmania that 73 have voted they wanted to hear, against 1 that did not want to bother, in the Owners Section. I was mistaken about needing air conditioning in Tasmania. A High builds over South Australia and pushes the desert heat down as far as Tasmania once a week or so. It got to 29-30 once a week to once a fortnight..

Anyway, I had ample opportunity to test the system. I even ran it to LVD once in cloudy weather, bottle of wine with lunch and a nap, and the solar did not support the air conditioning. It only ran about five-six hours and then shut down on LVD (Low Voltage Disconnect).. That evening I had to run the generator and charge up.

We now have a system, where it shuts down the air conditioning at 50%. Overall the solar (on sunny days) keeps up with the air conditioning with only minimal losses, so you can run the air all day and about five hours into the night with the 600 AH Lithium pack. Maybe that is only four hours run down to 50%, I have not tested that yet.

Also, when my new truck gets here in April, I should be able to test a new charging system that may make generators and carrying explosive fuel, completely redundant.. !!

Stay tuned... Regards, Director, Bushtracker

[nifty07]

What inverter are you using to run the air-con unit? Is there any headroom to run anything else with the air con on?

[Bushtracker]

Hello Nifty,

You are trending into Proprietary Design Information from real time R&D, that I do not necessarily want to help our so call Competitors with here on the Public part of the Forum..

Suggest you contact me by Email. What you is practical depends on DC to DC capability, size of Lithium set up, what tow vehicle, and how much solar.

I am on a Yacht, three hours from Lady Musgrave Island, and so am not privy to your file. I will be back at Bushtracker next week. Suggest you contact me via email for advice with the details above.

In general, you cannot run a microwave, but smaller 240v things like a short term toaster or hair dryer, will run for short periods of time. We have built in overload capabilities, but we can add in more if you had special needs and a big enough system..

Kind regards, Steven Gibbs, Director

[nifty07]

Steve, we have had our BT now for three years. I can say that we often run the air con and the coffee machine at the same time using the inverter and lithium. My wife often uses her hair dryer. Microwave is no problems.

When parked with no shading, at midday for lunch we have often run the air con, made a coffee etc, all on lithium. After an hour the batteries reported 98%. Amazing product and we are very happy with the finished product.

It goes to show how important it is to goto BTHQ prior to ordering. We were provided with advice and options. Made our selection in an informed basis and we have fulfilled our expectations. Thanks again to your team. Nifty

[Pete & Kerrie]

Hi Nifty,

Interested to know the tare and aggregate trailer mass shown on your compliance plate. We also have a 20 footer but only 4 solar and 300 lithium.

Regards.

[nifty07]

Pete,
We are heavy because we ticked every electric assistance available and we were looking to be self sufficient for 2 weeks. Have been known to blow this out to three weeks.

3200kgs and the GTM 4495kgs.

When fully loaded with all water tanks filled, food, etc ready for a trip we weight in at 4100kgs. This gives us about 400kgs head room.

When we had the 200 series had to run with two water tanks empty and only half a tank of diesel. This was after the upgrades to GVM 3800, GTM 4000 and GCM 7800. We now tow with a Ram 2500 and no longer consider weights every time we refuel.

When we drive from home, up the Toowoomba range it is a 180km run. Return trip in the 200series we used between 27 & 30 litres per 100 kms. In the Ram we use 20.? and sit on the speed limits. Even down the range as the exhaust brakes are that good. For stability, better driver comfort, less fatigue and safety will never go back to a 200.

[Loki of Condor]

Pete,
We are heavy because we ticked every electric assistance available and we were looking to be self sufficient for 2 weeks. Have been known to blow this out to three weeks.

3200kgs and the GTM 4495kgs.

When fully loaded with all water tanks filled, food, etc ready for a trip we weight in at 4100kgs. This gives us about 400kgs head room.

When we had the 200 series had to run with two water tanks empty and only half a tank of diesel. This was after the upgrades to GVM 3800, GTM 4000 and GCM 7800. We now tow with a Ram 2500 and no longer consider weights every time we refuel.

When we drive from home, up the Toowoomba range it is a 180km run. Return trip in the 200series we used between 27 & 30 litres per 100 kms. In the Ram we use 20.? and sit on the speed limits. Even down the range as the exhaust brakes are that good. For stability, better driver comfort, less fatigue and safety will never go back to a 200.

How do you deal with “soft codes” before they become “hard codes” and you’ve only got about 300kms before the vehicle stops dead?

Great if it happens at Birdsville.

[Pete & Kerrie]

Thanks Nifty,

Very informative response.

Food for thought.

Regards.