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Probably my final update on this question, posted only in case this comes up for anyone else and my experience might be useful. To sum up, my steady-state 12V load on this battery is between 3.5A and 4.5A. My goal is to serve the loads full time from the battery/charger, keep the battery...

Well, I was wrong about this, or I read docs for a different charger. I'm in Storage now after exactly 8 hours in Float. Sitting at 13.2V (which is what I set Storage to), BMV reporting 95% SoC, no current from the charger. We'll see how it does overnight.

Thanks, that is helpful. My understanding of all of this is evolving as I continue to test, and I think I have ended up pretty much where ya'll originally suggested I should be. But now I (think I) understand why I'm there. For one set of tests, I had Float set to 13.7V and rebulk current...

Iterative testing can be very informative, if you understand the results. I am trying to understand how my BlueSmart charger configuration and the outcome are related. I’d appreciate some feedback on my conclusions. I had a brief power outage (go figure) so the charger was reset and started...

Having had some coffee, I now suspect it'll never get to re-bulk and it will just continue to pump 3A to 4A into the battery until it gets to a nearly charged state, but don't understand what that state will be, nor whether the cells will balance in this situation. I suspect not. I now believe...

I'm down this rabbit hole now, and I'm going to keep going. :) I hadn't seriously considered a mechanical timer outlet for three reasons. One, I didn't have a sense that they are as reliable as you suggest, but that may well be my own ignorance. Two, I was concerned about higher amperage...

BlueSmart is now putting 3.4A into the battery, so we're definitely on the curve up to re-bulk. Since my load is only 3A to 4A, I wonder what will happen once the charger's current in equals the current out. Will it get to 15A in and re-bulk, or will the Storage mode just keep pumping a few...

Testing and observations so far: The battery has been serving load for 8+ hours with the charger config above, and with the BatteryProtect set to disconnect at 11.8V and reconnect at 12.8V. I chose this cutoff to maximize runtime while still avoiding a hard BMS low voltage cutoff. The BMV...

I think I have zeroed in on my config for maintaining this AmpereTime 50Ah battery using a Victron BlueSmart IP65 based on everyone's comments above. Feedback welcome: Absorption: 14.3V Float: Disabled 13.8V (I see that Victron has disabled this in their preset, but I can't seem to do the...

Sure. Regarding my goals: Reliability I mean here that the configuration will work, work consistently, and work without intervention in as many circumstances as possible. Specifically, I want to ensure that: The 12V loads will be served directly from the battery, with appropriate fuse...

Thanks. That is exactly what I needed to know.

That's helpful as I think about how to quantify SoC. However, the problem is implementation. Victron's BlueSmart charger doesn't offer a re-bulk voltage offset configuration parameter. That parameter only seems to be present on their solar charge controllers.

It's sort of a DIY UPS. There's no active load transfer if utility power fails. Rather, the loads, which are 12V DC, will be served full time from the battery, and the battery will be charged from the BlueSmart charger. I would like to allow the battery to regularly draw down somewhat before...

I have an AmpereTime 12V 50Ah battery that I intend to use as a DIY UPS to power some 12V network gear. My plan is to keep it simple, and just have fused 12V leads from the battery feeding the loads and a Victron BlueSmart IP65 charger plugged into the wall to keep the battery charged. I will...

I think the challenge is doing 100W in a buck/boost panel mount form factor. It is already done in a cigarette lighter form, but that offers more space to work with, since the "bulb" can be of relatively large size.

If you find a panel mount that does 100W PD and will do that from 12V, please post here. I'd love that.

For USB-C charging, I have used a couple of options that I like. The first option is to install a decent quality cigarette lighter style socket and use a dedicated car charger like this one. That particular charger has a 100W USB-C PD 3.0/QC 5.0 port, a 30W USB-C PD 3.0 port, and an 18W USB-A...

After a full discharge and charge, my cycle count has incremented by 1, as expected. What is more concerning is that the "actual capacity" reading in the BMS is < 206Ah and has not changed at all.

This thing is STILL GOING. We are at 77 hours of continuous runtime, 194.5 Ah consumed, and an estimated 5% or so capacity remaining based on that consumption figure. Running to 20% SoC as a discharge floor should easily net 60 hours of runtime without charging. That should be PLENTY of...

Regarding the accuracy of my critical load estimate, now that I have a big enough battery (206Ah SOK), I did an initial test. Conditions I set the Dometic to 37F on one side and 5F on the other side, and let it come down to set point temp before beginning the test. I put nothing in it, so this...

You could have the tensioner/moveable hook in front if that's more convenient. I'd think about using U channel for the hooks. For the tensioner/moveable hook, you could perhaps have static U channel on one edge of the crossbar, and a moveable L or U channel on the trailing edge, with bolts and...

FWIW, I just received an SOK 206Ah Heated battery at 12.87V with 0 cycles showing. Mfg date 2022.3.2, SoC showing 0%, but I know it needs to be cycled a couple times for that to be accurate.

I'm never buying anything but pure sine at this point.

I ended up looking seriously at 5 possibilities and bought the SOK 206Ah heated battery. I looked at these: Manufacturer/Model Spec Cost per Wh BattleBorn BBGC2H-1KIT 12V 100Ah (1200 Wh) Heated GC2 Size $0.83/Wh Discover DLP-GC2-12V 12V 120Ah (1536 Wh) Heated GC2 Size $0.85/Wh Relion...

The Discover is not yet available for sale, but the Relion Insight 12V120-GC2-LT is available, at $1495. Yow. I found this video from Relion discussing how the Insight batteries are made. Looks pretty robust to my untrained eye, but would be interested in others' thoughts. They have several...

I have been looking for other GC2 sized alternatives to the Battle Born BBGC2H Group GC2 size heated batteries, because I have felt a bit like the BB's are expensive for their specifications. I'm looking for alternatives that are less expensive and higher performance. If nothing else, I'll...

I think I'm going to stick with off the shelf batteries for now. Building my own pack is a deeper rabbit hole than I want right now. So I'm looking at options. Way I see it, I can either start small with a 12V 100Ah battery and see how it goes, or try to maximize my battery capacity out of...

This has all been super helpful, and I have enjoyed the practical perspectives. @mikefitz, I appreciate your component suggestions, and your tacit suggestion that I'm over thinking this. My new load inventory is as follows: Planned Loads: 1093 Wh/day Critical - 864Wh: Dometic CFX3 75DZ...

A good point that I had not considered. Probably safe to assume an every other day use. For that matter, it's probably safe enough to assume that many places with a shower will have an outlet available for use. If we boondock and do jerry can showers, which we will, we can use the inverter in...

I mean, they DO. But you only need them once or twice!

I am definitely planning on 12/24V chargers. I now see your and @kenryan's point about the inaccuracy of my estimates for phones and laptops more clearly. I will have to spend some time getting more realistic with those estimates.

The Dometic has been a total game changer for road trips, and I'll never go back to a cooler with ice if I can avoid it. It's really really nice. I agree on the stove. I'd done a brief calculation on what it would take to run an induction cooker on battery and noped out of that instantly...

Thanks for all of the information and feedback so far. Here's what I'm learning: I have a power consumption problem. I need more accurate estimates for anticipated loads. Ideally actual data. I need to reduce consumption. Ideally below 1 kWh/day. I have a charging problem. Going to need...

Thanks. You're right that a HO alternator would be a good choice, and the Wakespeed and Kilovault battery pointers are helpful. Those Kilovault batteries seem to have it all in terms of features, except for a form factor that meets my desires. I'm not quite ready to rethink that, but I'm...

Ah, you're right. I misread!