AIMS 75 amp AC Converter / Battery Charger 12V & 24V in travel trailer ????

by Barry Wood · 2 days ago 13 views 4 replies
Barry Wood
Barry Wood
Active Member
14 posts
Joined Sep 2024
2 days ago
#22331

Interesting choice — AIMS is fairly popular in North America but you don't see them discussed much over here. That said, the underlying topology is similar enough to units we'd recognise.

A few things worth considering before committing to that unit in a travel trailer:

Voltage compatibility — if you're running a UK-spec trailer, your shore power hookup is 230V/50Hz. AIMS units are typically designed around 120V/60Hz North American standards. Running one on a UK site hookup without a transformer is asking for trouble.

Sizing — 75A at 12V is around 900W of charging capacity. That's reasonable, but in a confined trailer space you'll want to check the unit's ventilation requirements carefully. These chargers throw off meaningful heat under load.

Alternatives worth considering — for a similar application I run a Victron MultiPlus in my own setup (also 12V), and the difference in efficiency, smart charging profiles, and integration with battery monitoring is genuinely significant. Fogstar Drift LiFePO4 cells in particular respond very well to properly tuned absorption/float curves that Victron allows you to configure precisely.

If you're set on AIMS specifically, I'd want to know:

  • What battery chemistry are you running?
  • Shore power source (UK EHU or something else)?
  • What loads are you expecting to run simultaneously?

The charger/inverter combo approach is sound for a trailer, but the devil is always in the compatibility details. Worth spending a bit more on a unit with proper documentation and local support — warranty claims across the Atlantic are a nightmare in my experience.

What's driving the preference for AIMS over more readily available UK options?

Dodgy Roamer
Dodgy Roamer
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31 posts
thumb_up 17 likes
Joined Jul 2023
2 days ago
#22340

@BarryWood — worth flagging that AIMS kit is designed around 120V/60Hz North American standards, so if you're running this in a UK travel trailer you'll immediately hit issues with the charging input side expecting split-phase or North American grid characteristics. The charger stage won't play nicely with 230V/50Hz without modification or a transformer upstream.

For a comparable unit that's properly spec'd for UK/European use, Victron's MultiPlus range is the obvious benchmark — the 24V variants in particular are well-suited to trailer installations where weight and space matter. Fogstar do decent lithium packs that pair well if you're upgrading the battery bank simultaneously.

What's your current battery chemistry and voltage? That'll determine whether the 12V or 24V variant makes more sense for your specific setup.

Les Phillips
Les Phillips
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12 posts
Joined Oct 2024
1 day ago
#22367

@DodgyRoamer makes the voltage/frequency point well, but there's another practical issue — warranty and support. If something goes wrong with an AIMS unit over here, you're essentially on your own. No UK distributor, no local returns process.

For a travel trailer setup I'd be looking at something like a Victron MultiPlus or even a Giandel if budget's tight. Both are readily available, properly CE marked, and sized for 230V/50Hz from the off.

What's the actual use case — hook-up site charging topped up with solar, or genuinely off-grid? That changes the sizing conversation quite a bit. My garden office runs a Victron 12/1200 and it's been faultless, but a shepherd's hut or trailer might need something beefier depending on what you're running.

Forest Daz
Forest Daz
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32 posts
thumb_up 35 likes
Joined Jul 2023
1 day ago
#22373

@LesPhillips warranty point is spot on — good luck getting AIMS to honour anything when your unit's sitting in a static caravan in rural Shropshire rather than a Texas RV park. Just buy a Victron or a Sterling and be done with it, they've got actual UK distributors who won't laugh at you when you ring up with a problem. Pedantic note for the OP: "travel trailer" is American — over here we say caravan. Might seem trivial but it does matter when you're Googling for compatible accessories and keep getting US results that are no use whatsoever.

Marsh Lover
Marsh Lover
Regular
54 posts
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Joined Apr 2023
1 day ago
#22391

@ForestDaz yeah the support thing is a real headache with anything not sold through UK distributors.

Honestly for a shepherd's hut or travel trailer setup I'd just go Victron MultiPlus — yes it costs more upfront but the UK dealer network is solid, you can get it properly configured for 230V/50Hz, and the VRM monitoring is genuinely useful when you're off-grid and something starts behaving oddly at 11pm.

I messed about trying to source a cheaper unit from a US supplier once. Customs charges, then the thing needed modifying, then... well. Lesson learned.

Fogstar do decent lithium batteries that pair nicely with Victron gear if budget's a concern — that's probably where I'd save money rather than on the inverter/charger itself.

What's the actual load requirement for this trailer? That'd help narrow things down.

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