Anyone have a redarc or Spod mounted in the engine compartment?

[smritte]

Just a question of mounting location.
I have been roped into helping someone with these systems and it seems there's a difference on what people do and what these manufactures are telling me.
Just looking for input from people running either or both under the hood.

 

[Mike W]

if you run the redarc under the hood, put it out front where it can get air. It will get hot and derate (output less). It also needs to be close to the battery its charging. You want as little voltage drop as possible between the redarc and the batt you are charging.

I don't know anything about spods, but I assume its some kind of relay system. It probably has its own install instructions. The redarc is the same, it will mention the above in the manual.

 

[smritte]

Sooo.... you have this under your hood and how long has it been their?

 

[Mike W]

Sooo.... you have this under your hood?

no. I have my bcdc50 mounted near my batteries in the cab under my drawer system. It’s connected directly to my victron power in bus bar and then to the batteries via 01 awg cable. I have a 6 awg cable running through the firewall to the starting battery by way of a resetable breaker.

 

[smritte]

Thank you.
I have seen several builds, online and in person using both of these but, I never paid them any attention. I'm just looking for feedback on ones installed in the engine compartment.
This is just curiosity on my part. I already have the systems mapped out.

 

[Mike W]

Thank you.
I have seen several builds, online and in person using both of these but, I never paid them any attention. I'm just looking for feedback on ones installed in the engine compartment.
This is just curiosity on my part. I already have the systems mapped out.

Can you tell me a bit about the system? Where is the battery you are charging? I assume in the engine bay if you install the redarc dcdc there. I also assume it is a lead acid as most lifepo4 batts generally don't like heat and its not a good place for them. What is the capacity, c-rate (charge rate), discharge rate of the house battery. What gauge cables are you using? which dcdc charger specifically.

I had literal spreadsheets with cable and lug sizes to make my cables and ensure proper connections between everything. Happy to help if you want to provide detail.

 

[smritte]

All good.
Thank you for the offer.
This is just curiosity on my part.
I hadn't looked at them until I got two requests for custom installs. After contacting both companies I was a bit dumb founded to find out neither were designed for under hood. I have on the other hand seen people put them there.
My conversations with Spod made me go a diffrent direction. Once I saw how the Redarc was designed, that build changed also.
This post isn't about bashing or praising. Just seeing if these systems held up in an environment they evidentially were not designed for.

 

[shoredreamer]

Just for reference I have done a lot of installs with Redarc product under the hood of mostly Toyota models. Only their BCDC and SBI units, as their larger Battery Mgmt components are only meant for cab/interiors. My personal truck ran a BCDC behind the PS battery box in my 80 series with no issue for a few years and multiple hot desert trips (and I do run in cab monitoring and would see derating or fail to charge). With that said, I have also seen it where they do derate under the hood in conditions where temps rise etc.

 

[smritte]

Thank you.
Last week I finally got proper information. It started out as "you cant mount the BCDC in the engine compartment" to having them send a picture of a unit mounted behind the grill. I believe the person I was communicating with may have misunderstood or was possibly new. Thus my confusion.

 

[Z Adventures]

I've had an sPod mounted in the engine bay of my Gladiator for 41k miles. Per mfg instructions it is mounted over driver fender and power cable ran across engine bay to battery.

Oh and its' short circuit protection does work. I accidentally squished a wire under a bolt head causing a short and when I turned on that light it dropped power in 1 or 2 seconds. Auto reset the circuit too.

 

[smritte]

Per mfg instructions it is mounted over driver fender and power cable ran across engine bay to battery.

Thank you.
I'm assuming it still works well.
Has it ever gotten wet?

 

[Z Adventures]

Thank you.
I'm assuming it still works well.
Has it ever gotten wet?

Still works well. Wet? Only what rain can get to it while driving. The cover protects all the connections. You'd have to have a pretty solid stream coming from underneath to get water inside it.

 

[pcstockton]

Many people mount the Spod right on top of the fuse box, at least in Toyotas. I did in my 4RNR.