Fogstar drift batteries

[barryd]

It's a pity they don't incorporate a screen on the controller itself. Our old one did that and they were made over a decade ago. Simple. Showed you power going in, watts being used, battery voltage etc. certainly quicker than farting about with an app.

 

[wildebus]

One reviewer reported that you can stop the flashing by pressing the right and left buttons at the same time David? Mine came with a 16ft armoured cable which will suit my needs for positioning,

Sounds a lot more useful than the typical 30cm . Been years since I bought one so maybe they have realised it was too short and updated? (Victron comes with 10 Metres which is insanely long! (Never satisfied, am I? )).
I thought there was a method to do something with the display? Couldn't remember if it worked or if it was permanent or if it turned off the backlight. You'll have to let us know, please.
Ignoring that aspect, the Alii Monitor itself is a great bit of kit... I found it very accurate and in terms of readability it is BETTER than the Victron.

 

[wildebus]

FWIW, I tried combining the Alii Monitor into a CBE triple cluster for a more integrated look. Think it blends in quite nicely?

WBM-350 - Amphours by David, on Flickr

 

[merl]

So was fitted out the way and not really visible. Quite a common complaint actually as the backlight stays on and when the batteries are charging it pulses on and off to tell you. It is a good monitor but that feature can be rather annoying.

It's actually dead easy to turn the backlight off, you just push and hold the 2 outer buttons, I've got mine off permanently.

 

[davep10000]

It's actually dead easy to turn the backlight off, you just push and hold the 2 outer buttons, I've got mine off permanently.

Snap! The bright display was too annoying...

 

[wildebus]

It's actually dead easy to turn the backlight off, you just push and hold the 2 outer buttons, I've got mine off permanently.

I think this info only came to light after a while I started using the Victrons instead a few years ago with their connectivity and relay features swinging it for me.

If anyone wants one of these Alii Monitors, I have one, or possibly two, brand new 'old stock' ones available and I'll even throw in a shunt cable FOC

 

[merl]

I think this info only came to light after a while I started using the Victrons instead a few years ago with their connectivity and relay features swinging it for me.

If anyone wants one of these Alii Monitors, I have one, or possibly two, brand new 'old stock' ones available and I'll even throw in a shunt cable FOC

If you've got a 350A model I'd be interested David, don't need the shunt or cable, just the display.

 

[wildebus]

If you've got a 350A model I'd be interested David, don't need the shunt or cable, just the display.

Pretty sure the display part is the same on all three and you change a setting? I'll have a check of that as if that is the case, getting the smallest kit would be the cheapest option (IIRC, there are 350A, 100A and 50A shunts).

 

[merl]

Pretty sure the display part is the same on all three and you change a setting? I'll have a check of that as if that is the case, getting the smallest kit would be the cheapest option (IIRC, there are 350A, 100A and 50A shunts).

Pretty sure the display part is the same on all three. That's exactly what I expected too David but I purchased a cheaper 50A model because I didn't actually need a shunt at all, I used the long negative cable from the battery as a DIY shunt, (simply cant get the kit close to the batteries) All works fine EXCEPT the display stops increasing its display of current at around 85A and wont go any higher so I figured that the displays must come paired to their appropriate shunt? There's nothing in the manual or online about configuring the display to whatever shunt you've purchased either.
I'm confident the unit must still 'KNOW' the true current because the %age calculations when drawing over 85A still make sense, it just stops displaying properly, bit of a sod really and a hiccup I wasn't expecting.

 

[Mobilvetta]

Just popped up on my Facebook, Get green energy offering 10% of Fogstars and victron, the battery I just bought using code AUGB10, knocks a further 10% of the sale price, I paid £722.00 for the 300amp Drift, this brings it down to £650.00 to late for me, but if you are thinking of getting a Fogstar lithium, this seems a cracking deal. Same code works to get 10% of all Victron gear too and it's free shipping, could have saved a bit of money if this had popped up a fortnight ago, hope it helps someone else though. getgreenenergy.co.uk

 

[rambrose]

Fogstar app versus display. If running multiple batteries then the display will show the total capacity, current flow etc.
The fogstar app displays info for 1 battery at a time. You have to select the other battery to see it's stats.
If I were to do my build again I'd put a battery monitor where I could see it when driving (fault finding purposes).

 

[The Raptor]

Hi Everyone
Here’s an up update on my Fogstar Drift 460Ah drop in (for a LA 95Ah replacement). Used for a 4 days away and working with no issues. The MPPT is left on LA charging profile from the 200W solar panels, and when home I turn on the 20A Fogstar Drift designated charger until the 460Ah is showing charged. I then open up the Fogstar app and turn off discharge & charge for it, and obviously the Fogstar Drift charger.
I decided this week that rather than risk my remaining 2x 95Ah silver Bosch batteries in parallel at 5 yrs old causing an issue I removed them and bought a new Bosch LA 95Ah battery to leave in parallel with the Fogstar Drift so that my old alternator (Fiat Ducato 2007 Autotrail Apache) doesn’t get harmed as it will still see a LA battery. (Thank you Wildebus/David for your forum comments that I have read). My new set up is a 460Ah Fogstar Drift in parallel with a Bosch silver S4 95Ah LA battery with existing alternator and MPPT ( no B2B gizmo or any alterations), I’ve used my 2000W/4000Wpeak sine wave inverter without issues). Hope this helps anyone with an impending upgrade.
Cheers Dave

 

[Mobilvetta]

Just an update, really pleased so far with my 300amp fogstar battery, I used an 900 watt air fryer for 35 minutes using the Renolgy 2000 watt inverter, the inverter and cables remained cool and I was surprised how little energy it took out of the battery. The Victron Orion and IP22 also seem on top of the job and no signs of heating from them.

But one thing leads to another, the wife said can we now have a microwave oven in the motorhome, so I've now installed an 800 watt microwave, took the best part of a day to fit in a cupboard, that meant moving shelves from the right hand side of the cupboard to the left and slightly shortening them.
There was a pipe from the cooker hood on the left side of the cupboard, so it wouldn't fit that side.

 

[Mobilvetta]

Well tried the 800 watts microwave today on full power for 6 minutes on the inverter, even though it's only 800 watts,it took just over 1385 watts out of the battery, it dropped from 100% to 96%, again checked for anything getting hot and pleased to say everything remained cool to the touch, except the microwave that was quite warm.

 

[wildebus]

Well tried the 800 watts microwave today on full power for 6 minutes on the inverter, even though it's only 800 watts,it took just over 1385 watts out of the battery, it dropped from 100% to 96%, again checked for anything getting hot and pleased to say everything remained cool to the touch, except the microwave that was quite warm.

The 800W is "cooking power". I found my last 800W Microwave had an input power of 1150W. The new 800W Microwave draws 1050W.

Some of that 1385W you are seeing will include other loads on the battery as well as the Microwave ... Lights, USB chargers, etc, etc. take those off the 1385W and that will give you how much power running the microwave took, and the difference between that total and the Microwave input power (say 1150W?) will give you the inverter overhead.

PS. ignoring any other loads, it didn't take 1385W OUT of the battery, it DREW 1385W when running. It actually took 154Wh out of the battery based on the 4% drop in SOC (just to pedantically more accurate ). Running for 6 minutes when drawing 1385W, it should have taken out 138.5Wh. Difference from 154Wh will be down to rounding up of battery SOC on display.

 

[rugbyken]

having replaced the oven grill in my. van with a microwave i think i should mention the ventilation req. a lot of moisture generated

 

[Mobilvetta]

T

The 800W is "cooking power". I found my last 800W Microwave had an input power of 1150W. The new 800W Microwave draws 1050W.

Some of that 1385W you are seeing will include other loads on the battery as well as the Microwave ... Lights, USB chargers, etc, etc. take those off the 1385W and that will give you how much power running the microwave took, and the difference between that total and the Microwave input power (say 1150W?) will give you the inverter overhead.

PS. ignoring any other loads, it didn't take 1385W OUT of the battery, it DREW 1385W when running. It actually took 154Wh out of the battery based on the 4% drop in SOC (just to pedantically more accurate ). Running for 6 minutes when drawing 1385W, it should have taken out 138.5Wh. Difference from 154Wh will be down to rounding up of battery SOC on display.

Hanks for the explanation David.