What You NEED to Know About Adding Lithium Batteries to Your RV
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- čas přidán 5. 02. 2024
- This is a follow up video to the Vatrer LiFePO4 460Ah battery that I just installed in my motorhome and it might be a be unpopular. There are many comments from that video asking about converters, inverters, and the alternator upgrades for such an upgrade so I thought I would put this video together to help explain. There are 4 areas of concerns when doing this upgrade on motorhomes and not everyone covers them but also most of the solar, battery, off-grid- RV- channels either do not explain or cover them or make it seem so complicated I thought I would try my best to explain what needs to be done.
Like always, I will differ to the manufacturers of the batteries and this video DOES NOT apply to DIY homebrew battery builds but modern LiFePO4 batteries with BMS built for the RV application.
Thanks for watching!
Vatrer 460Ah battery: amzn.to/4bg9oZ0
Vatrer 230Ah battery: amzn.to/4bv8qIA
Precision Circuits Lithium Battery Relay: amzn.to/3HPwJU0
Victron Energy MultiPlus: amzn.to/3Uwc66W
Victron DC to DC Charger: amzn.to/3SLOgD0 - Auta a dopravní prostředky
Out of all the you tube channels that I've watched on upgrading to lithium batteries you are the first person to address the problem of compatibility between coach and motor batteries. This was a real concern of mine. Thank you for sharing your solutions to this problem.
Wow, thank you!
@@AZExpert I have a question (hand raised) I contacted the battery designer and i asked them can you set the charge to be lower so that you can use a alternator too charge they said in the app you can set the charge to the same as non-lithium batteries from the factory and run them at 78 percent and they said this configuration will allow the alternator to rest and the b
Batteries will turn off the charge early allowing the alternator less stress and it wont overheat.
@@AZExpertI have 1200 watts on my roof and 600ah for AGM battery now. I'm going to lithium, my charge controller is already capable of lithium so I think solar will give me that extra 10% to top off the lithium over the the standard charger. What do you think?
James, congrats! You covered the main points perfectly. I live in southern Az and have a trailer. I installed a lithium in my trailer and it works and charges perfectly.
The only suggestion is I did change over the main board of my WFCO converter/charger. Cost under $150 and was a 5 wire install! Took 10 minutes.
Again, thanks for the clarification. Lithium is an easy install for trailers. Motor homes and vans do have the alternator issue that must be addressed.
Lastly, When my truck battery died on the road, I sat for an hour allowing my trailer lithium to charge my truck battery through the 7pin connection. It worked. High voltage always flows to low voltage. I was able to start the truck and get to the dealer for a new truck battery!
Thanks again.
David
James - I have the same Magnum Energy MS2812 as you have in your motorhome. They absolutely do work on lithium batteries as I did this conversion about 5 months ago (4x230Ah). I changed out the board and the remote (less than 30 min job) on the MS2812 and it now has the Li battery profile. I did not need to do this as the original board and remote would allow me to customize the charge - as you showed - to CC/CV (constant current/constant voltage). I did not have to really change anything on my 2014 Dutch Star to handle Li batteries. However, I did elect NOT to charge my Li batteries using the 250 amp alternator from the engine. If I want to juice the batteries, I simply start my 10kw generator and within an hour, the batteries are topped off. The chassis batteries are still being charged by the alternator. With a 10kw generator, there is no need for expensive solar stuff. With our setup, we can be off grid for about 5 days (920 Ah) and with a genset, we are only limited by the black/grey tank capacity. Great videos.
Very good points. I think i'll do likewise and isolate the the alternator to charge only the chassis battery- gas engine, and let the combination of solar and genny take care of the house lithium.
Even at 80-90% charge on the lithium, you still get more than twice the ah usage as a comparable lead acid battery. I have had many clients who finally upgraded after I told them this and they are all extatic with the results. Fore those that have 120v fridges I installed two LiFePo4 batteries. For any of them with solar installed, they never run out of juice. The isolator, I did not know about. I will be installing these from now on. Also, installing larger current alternators is usually easy. Thanks for making this more public! Good for business. Ryan at Glenwood RV Repair in Colorado.
Ps. Love your videos! They have made me a better rv tech.
Another way - since many 'RV size' engines commonly have mounts available for a second alternator (as many also are used in ambulances, etc. that require two alternators), is to install a second 'constant duty' alternator (not a second OEM alternator that is still NOT constant duty.) Those alternators are built to stand constant output and have a thermistor built-in as a safeguard.
Thank you for this - People tend to really overthink the switch to Lithium and sooooo many folks think they're a safety issue when they absolutely are not. I've worked in the UPS industry for over 22 years now. 19 of those years were spent handling escalated customer issues at APC/Schneider Electric (who are the biggest manufacturer in that industry). I have dealt with hundreds (if not thousands) of potential safety issues with lead acid batteries. Explosions, fire, leaks, venting/swelling, you name it. With LiFePO4 I have dealt with exactly zero. Not one, not ever. They are fantastic. From a vendor perspective I have seen the failure rates and they are pretty much zero. When they do fail, it's typically more common to see a BMS failing, or maybe a physical connection like a bad screw terminal or something to that effect. The actual batteries are insanely good and rarely fail. Its great great stuff.
Thats incredible to hear. Thanks for sharing, I'm glad we share similar pov on this
I have a 24 year old Georgie Boy 26 ft class A motorhome. I have been doing a major renovation and used AZ Expert's videos extensively when I completely replaced the roof two years ago. For the past few months I've been working on the electrical system. I kept the original house battery and engine battery but disconnected the house battery from the 12 volt house circuits and removed the original charger/inverter. This original house battery now serves only as a backup to the engine battery. Both of these are charged by the engine's alternator. To manage house power needs, I installed an independent 48v EG4 LiFE house battery that is charged via a Growatt 3 kw charger/inverter. Through the Growatt, the EG4 battery can be charged by shore power, by the generator, or with 800 watts of solar panels on the roof but not by the engine alternator. So when I am hooked up to shore power or running the generator, the 120v feeds through the automatic transfer switch to the Growatt charger/inverter. The Growatt unit normally routes the 120v directly to my 120v AC breaker panel. The Growatt also charges the 48v battery. If there is no incoming 120v, the Growatt automatically inverts 48v DC from the battery to 120v AC and feeds it to the 120v AC breaker panel. The 48v DC runs through a 48 to 12 volt DC converter, and is distributed to the eight 12 volt DC circuits in my motorhome. When I started the project, I expected it to be very complicated but was amazed at all the things the Growatt can do, and how much simpler it was than I expected. I'm not pushing Growatt over other manufacturers, it just happens to be the one I got, after seeing it on the Will Prowse channel and I'm sure others operate similarly. As AZ Expert mentioned, the electrical equipment available for RVs are getting smarter and thus easier to use.
Jim
Yes you helped someone. I need to replace my coach batteries anyway so moving to LiFEPO4 is making a lot of sense. My coach is a 2001 Monaco Dynasty and the expense and effort to replace all the inverters, charge controllers, etc. was keeping me from jumping to the new batteries. Finally someone explained how to do this and removed my fear. Thank you. Now to buy the right equipment!
Thank you for creating such a clear and practical guide on lithium battery upgrades. You've outdone others who've tackled this subject and provided all the necessary information without trying to sell anything. Bravo!
Glad it was helpful!
I appreciate the kind words and support too!!
You confirmed my hunch about using PV to top off the batteries as a more cost effect way on an older rig than changing out the perfectly good inverter/charger. I like the solution for the charging off the alternator. I might jump in now.
Great job. Thanks for show how simple it can be. It takes the fear factor out of installing lithium battery's.
Thanks for watching!
Your coach is so cool! I live in bend where it was most likely built
Might want to make sure your bms can handle amps from the converter some can only take 50 amps these converters can be over 50
Great set up. Don't over think it. Words to live by. Thanks for the video.
Excellent video James I'll be watching this over again. Lots of important info thankyou!
James, great video on this much debated subject. Very clearly outlined as usual and simple enough for me to understand the steps and reasons for the choices. Thanks, PZ
Very helpful and informative video in layman's terms. Thank you for the time to make the video. Answers a lot of questions and concerns.
Glad I came across this channel, and I like the shelter setup....with the shipping containers and hoop canvas.
thanks for the info on emergency start switch. I have a trailer now with Lithium batteries but in the past had an old Class C which I remember that button. I will keep it in mind when eventually move back to a Motorhome.
my new favorite RV channel
Thank you so much for this video. You just answered all my questions (and more) about lithium battery set ups.
The best video on doing the important things when upgrading to LiFePO4 batteries.
Very good video. Thank you James. Happy trails!
Great information !
I used the Renogy 50a Dc-Dc mppt charge controller, it uses solar first and then bucks up the alternator as needed. It can also be tuned back as needed.
Your videos are top notch !
Excellent! This is the information I've been waiting for. Thought I would have to change / upgrade the alternator in my 2000 Beaver. Thanks James! You rock, buddy!
You're welcome!
Glad I gave a listen, my Foretravel MH has a switch to tie all batteries together for starting, not just a momentary Emergency start switch. I'm putting 2 of those liop4 batteries to replace the 3 8d gels. Never considered the Alternator limitations or the Em start solonoid issue you've brought to my attention. I have a portable 3-30-200 amp charger that I could rig to boost 200 amp for emergency start with the EM start switch instead ( generator running, shore power or inverter powering the portable charge/ boost) . Almost like a snake eating it's tail in the later mode. 😂 I didn't even think of the Isolator issue and the stress on the engine alternator. Guess that funny looking Isolator Amazon was offering me, without explanation, had some merit. Thanks for the video.
Excellent video!
Answered all my concerns about replacing my Lead Acid batteries.
Thanks!
Excellent video James! Thanks for the clarification!
Excellent video. I think you have discussed all the important points. I have a 2022 class A on the F53 chassis. When I upgraded to lithium I spoke to Lion Energy and Battle Born techs and well as Victron. I changed out the converter, added a Victron DC-DC charger and changed my ZAMP solar controller setting to lithium.
Because I’m always concerned with electrical connections and shorts I paid a local repair shop here to check and confirm everything was good.
16 months later and everything still working great.
I truly appreciate your videos. Thank you
I used to have the same battery isolator in my 2000 Monaco dynasty. I went the DC to DC charger route on my coach with a 40 amp Renogy Unit and I’m happy with it.
Great job i was waiting to see what you did for the rest of the install
Awesome job on the video James. Well put together and very informative.
Glad you liked it!
Another great video that answers all the questions.
Thank you for the very helpful information about using the older converter/charger on my travel trailer with a LiFePO4 battery. I had deduced, based on vague comments on other sites, that it would work but not give a full charge. Thanks for confirming that. I will stick with the onboard unit for now and use solar as described to "top off" the charge as I hit the road for the '24 RVing season.
Thank you so much it’s always good watching your way. Learn a lot.
You did a great job !! I have pretty much the same setup. I removed my Big Boy and installed the Li-Bim.. I left the Signal Lead off. However, I did have to run a separate wire with 12v and fuse for the power of the Li-Bim. Going on 2.5 years and no issues.
A real expert this guy thanks for documenting your experiences. Had to subscribe right away.
Wow, someone that knows what they are talking about, perfect information, I have see so many people on boats/yachts that think they can up the alternator to 200 amps only to find out they are lucky if they get half that... maybe some day when someone comes out with a water cooled unit and separate voltage regulator... I used to wind by hand electric motors for electric vehicles, and I would tell people the motor will be drawing 50-80 amps in cruise, meant nothing to them... A 100 amp hour battery will not supply 100amp hours, I could go on and on about this.... clicking on my name will take you to my utube on motor winding stuff...
Just wanted to let you know, that I absolutely loved your video. I thought I had researched lithium batteries fairly thoroughly, but I did not realize the charging issue. My system currently has 1800 amps of charging from the roof solar. And I'm charging 4-6 volt AGM batteries wired in series and parallel. These batteries are about 3 years old and I will be changing them to lithium at some point in the future. Thanks again for your thorough advice.
Great video! A few points I think is good to make. If you buy a quality battery for the most part you don't have to worry about longevity of the battery. Most quality lifepo4 batteries will have charge cycles exceeding 3500. That means you can charge/discharge down to a reasonable percent (20% is usually the absolute lowest you should go) that many times and still see 80% of original capacity. Not charging to 100% will only make this number better. That means in 10 years your lifepo4 battery will still be 80% of what you purchased!
Also when selecting a battery make sure it has a hot AND cold cutoff sensors especially if you're in those climates. Lifepo4 doesn't like being too cold or too hot and will damage the battery, this cutoff sensor will prevent damage. Some batteries come with built in heaters that'll keep the battery above a damage voltage.
Either way, great install!
Thanks for the Update, James !!
You bet
Just upgraded to a LiFePO on out travel trailer after the deep cycle it came with died, I did use a LiFePO charger to charge to 100% before installing it, but the current WFCO doesn't have any LiFe settings.
I'm also adding a 3000W inverter charger and 460AH LiFePO battery, 400W solar this month for an upcoming boondocking trip.
Your videos on the LiFePO was very informative, dig the other videos across the other platforms too, keep up the good work & "Hi" from the west valley!
James, great follow up, thank you!!
Glad it was helpful!
You did a great job explaining. I would also remove the alternator charging rectifier and replace it with a smart one but install it away from the alternator and engine. Then when it gets hot or the amp draw decreases then it lowers the output or shuts down. if you cant afford a smart rectifier than moving it and adding a big heatsink will help keep it cooler. Heat as always is the enemy of electronics.
Thanks, James you made it perfectly clear.
You can re purpose your battery isolator to charge your chassis battery with the solar and never need to lock down the boost switch again I know you took out the jumper relay its just in case your new relay leaves the chat your solar will charge the chassis batterys. Just put the wire from the house batteries to the alt side of the isolator and number one to the chassis battery, it works great on my Monico. Keep it going. We all Love your work.
One day when I break down I hope your around. You know your shit! I installed my system on my travel trailer and love Lithium batteries. I replaced my charger on my trailer that gave I think 30 amps with an inverter/charger from Renorgy. 3000 watts with a 6500 watts boost for 2 seconds and 65 amps charging for my 200 amps of Lithium batteries (small system but capable) Runs my tv and Starlink for 36 hrs none stop. Love my system and it gives me coffee and toasts anytime, without the dimming of lights as before with lead acid sometimes had to run the truck engine for a Keurig coffee before. I can start the air conditioner no problem and run it for 2 hours (current draw of 1200watts or about 100 amps). However I only run it for 30 minutes when stopping for lunch and it damn hot outside. Thank for the video, cheers from Canada!
Great information on the batteries ! I was thinking about upgrading my 1999 HOLIDAY Rambler batteries 💯🔥
Thanks for the awesome video! You convinced me to stay with my AGM batteries. Best wishes!
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Thanks so much, James! My factory installed equipment was similar to yours on my 1997 Safari. I called Battle Born after purchasing my equipment from them.. I ended up setting up the equipment improperly and until I saw your video I did not realize it was not correct.😮 I won’t bore you with the details, but I just wanted to let you know you helped me get my system installed properly. I had previously installed a 240 amp alternator so I do not know if my original installation would have damaged my alternator over time, but I am thankful to have the equipment hooked up properly now.
great timing, I was doing this build over the past 2 months. I just pulled 2 strands of 2awg through my van from the front to rear and through the rear floor. Next is to build some battery packs.
Helped out a bunch. Much appreciated. *adds more stuff to online shopping cart*
Glad it helped!
👍 Thanks man, that Li B I M looks intriguing.
AWWW, this is an excellent vid. I now know I can buy and realize an roi by replacing my lead acid with a lipo4 battery☺ using existing charge controller and inverter in my towable! I also, have learned I can reach a 100% by using a lithium charger connected to battery and/or using solar with lithium charge controller. Again, thank you.
All good points you make. I went through this with my 5th wheel when adding lithium bats. Kept the stock charger knowing it can’t fully charge. Once I add solar I’d use the mppt w/ correct profile to charge or if I decide to add Victron multi plus 2.. my truck to trailer I don’t worry about it on the dodge as the small wiring limits the draw on the alt.
Your video is well done and thought out. Your common sense is refreshing.
Thanks you! :)
Excellent info as usual. I have a Xantrax 2500.
This is great into. Thanks. I want to do this with my yr2000 Dutch Star. My Charger inverter are pitiful now so may upgrade that, to something like a victron 3000. My fridge is still elec/gas and works great. But if/when it goes with go to standard 110V. Again, thanks for the well laid out info. No not super detailed but much more than I know before!
great video, thank you for taking the time!!!
I am enjoying the lipo school episodes 👍
Great info James thanks.
I have JUST been looking at THIS! I will go with you, too! @ 12:54 🔴 Greetings from across The Pond! 👋
Welcome aboard!
Thanks for confirming my own thoughts on this :)
Very good video , thanks for the information, looking at some of the lithium conversions is scary, now I know I don’t need all that
Love simple and straightforward. 🙏🦅👍😎🇺🇸
Thank you for your very simple explanation about charging the Lithium batteries. I currently have a Xanterx Freedom 458 Inverter/Charger in my 2006 motorhome, I am hoping that installing the Lithium Battery Isolation Manager will allow me to charge while driving down the road along with the solar that I will be installing.
You have answered many of my questions concerning the lipo4 batteries. I have opted to keep them on a Seperate Circuit. I can top them out with an eu2200i and ac-dc charger or solar power.
The Lithium circuit charges the Chassis battery via a trickle charger/maintainer.
This keeps them isolated from one another. Also have a 700w inverter on Chassis side for power on the Move which can also run the Ac/Dc charger for the Lithium bank so on arrival the Lithium is topped off with little to no strain on the Alternator.
By the way your Content is always appreciated Love your Videos and Knowledge. So much so I am now a Mobile RV tech 😂
Good video. I probably would have switch that signal battery momentary rocker switch to a off/on rocker switch and add a relay to ignition so ignition is disabled when switch is in on position while charging the chassis batteries. This way you don’t need pry something in the momentary rocker switch to charge it and RV can’t be started while the switch is in on position charging the chassis batteries.
My LFP house battery install on my Triple-e Commander Diesel, I installed a time delay relay on the sense switch terminal on my DC to DC converter, and for my chassis battery maintenance I install a small 10Amp 12volt Trickle charger to keep the chassis battery topped up, I have a a Magnum MSH3012M Hybrid inverter charger (hybrid in you can supplement your shore or generator power with house battery inverter power, so say you have 115VAC 15amp plugin, and you turn on the Convection oven, it will draw the 15 amps from your shore / generator and the balance from the house battery / Magnum Hybrid inverter, truly awesome upgrade. My custom profile for my battery setting on my Magnum for Lithium is I use 14.6 on absorb, also set the inverter cutout to 11.8volts even though they can go down to 10VDC but that will initiate the Lithium BMS shutdown. I still have a Reliance configurable low voltage relay to prevent the house battery getting to below the BMS cut out but I have not installed that yet but might when I sell my coach. I normally ab bit anal when it comes to watching my power situation when dry camping, I have fun doing that! I am a retired electronics Technician and love the tech!
Thanks, great video, I've just started looking to this on my Winnebago class a.
Hope you enjoy it!
@AZExpert 1 question, do you need to change the inverter?
Hey, I think you did a really good job my background electrical engineering
I build my own batteries, and I use that same isolator
Wow! As an old Rver, this is interesting, I don't even still own an RV. But, I am interested in lithium for home us. I just came across Ur channel, very intertaning,
Great video, I love how you explained things and keep it simple. I am headed this direction when my lead acid head south on my Alfa & with six of them, I will look to go to two of these. I noticed there was great pricing on Black Friday, maybe next year.
Yeah, I always recommend using the life out of existing batteries first and Alfa kept the house and inverter batteries seperate so you could probably combine them and remove a lot of extra "stuff" too.
BTW, keep up the great videos. You're one of the few that I watch and always look forward to the next one!
Nice video, this subject has been coming up a lot lately on the forums. I did this conversion on my 97 Monaco Dynasty 3 years ago. Built my own LiFePO4 battery and used a bluetooth BMS with it so I could monitor and control charging, charge states, etc. from my phone. In my case I went with a Renogy 60A DC-DC charger as I wanted complete isolation and reasonable charge rate, and the cost was low (on sale). I connected the oem 80w solar charger (non MPPT) to the chassis circuit to keep my chassis batteries topped up.
I just wanted to point out that if you are using an converter/charger that doesn't have a lithium charge profile, and thus you may be using less than full cutoff voltage for the batteries, it is a good idea to occasionally charge using a charger that DOES have a lithium profile, either a solar charger (as in your rig), or a DC-DC charger (as in mine). The reason for this is that the BMS will do cell balancing during the charging, and the most beneficial period of time for this is in the upper "elbow" of cell voltage, which you may not achieve without the lithium profile. Over a large number of discharge/charge cycle the capacity of the battery could be lessened if the BMS isn't able to keep the cells in balance.
Keep up the good work and ignore the naysayers, LiFePO4 house batteries are a game changer.
My LiTime Lithium Batteries are fully charged @13.5 volts. They will absorb and eventually float to 13.8v daily. I use Victron Shunt and Network to monitor it and Victron MPPT to keep topped off everyday.
Really enjoy the graphs provided by Victron in the App.
I installed the Renogy 50 Amp DCDC converter rather than that smart relay you used. The Renogy included a 25 Amp MPPT solar charger as well. If solar is installed, the Renogy unit will charge the starting battery from the solar panel after the coach battery is fully charged. It was very easy to install and configure. It doesn't required a start or run wire from the vehicle. It works great and absolutely limits the load on the alternator to 50 amps as opposed to the relay that AZ Expert used that has some voltage thresholds and time intervals. I just didn't want to load the alternator at 100 Amps.
How many watts of solar do you have and how many amps and voltage are you making out at from them? What size PV wire do you have?
That's my plan as well. I already have the a 40A DC-DC charger. 100A into a the right set of lithiums is probably low actually. The fact that these things do that for several minutes and then switch off.... I don't want that much stress on the alternator for 15 seconds, let alone 15 minutes. I'm an electronic technician. This is not something I would design for intermittent service. If you have to shut it off periodically because it's too much current, don't feed it so much current in the first place.
@@EliTuber Today I have a single 170 Watt panel that gives me about 7 Amps in full sun. So I can add two more of those before I max out the 25 Amp charger capability. I' used wire I had bought for another project. It looks to be 10 gauge? It's wire rated for outdoor solar panel use.
Back to the shop 😊
Thank you ! Good info, since I did the same same setup on my 2002 Newmar - NO BIM change Per Newmar.. I may change my mind !
Excellent info.
Thanks for the detailed info, my friend is looking at a 22ft. 200k coach but has acid starting and agm coach batteries and I was going to suggest lipo4 instead but for simplicity's sake I'll leave it alone.
GREAT STUFF!
Glad you enjoyed it
Your absolutely right about everything in your video
Thanks James. I'm on the finals step of doing the same upgrade on my 2003 Dynasty. In 30 minutes, you compressed months of research and in some cases misinformation. Just for a basepoint for others to design around I went for 2 batteries with a total of 600 Amp Hours powered by 4 panels totaling `1,600 Watts wired 2P/2S fed into a Victron MPPT 150V /100A solar charge controller. I removed the same 3 components (The battery booster, the isolator and the "maintainer"). I am in the process or adding the Progressive Circuits Li-BIM 225 Lithium Battery Isolation Manager even though I have a 200 Amp alternator. Total cost including tools, wiring connectors and Dicor was around $3,500 and can go 5 days off grid on sunny days without conserving energy.
As a note' Magnum Energy sells remote control panels with Lithium profiles.
Getting ready to dive in on the deep end. Picked up a 2000 Gulf Stream diesel pusher. Tires and batteries first, then gonna take it to a mechanic for the once over, check hoses and belts and all the other stuff..... Then gotta learn to drive the big mutha. Been a few years since I drove anything that size. Looking forward to the whole process tho.
Very safe and very durable.
good video - I did not know almost anything you showed - not familiar with diesel pushers
There are some magnum inverters that support lithium charge profiles, you just need to make sure you have the right display unit. I swapped out the existing ME-MR25 for a ME-MR25-L for a 150 bucks. You need to make sure the ME-MR25-L has version 1.3 on it to get the Lithium charge profile. My existing unit had version 1.2 software.
I think you are right on the money.
You are absolute right that LiFeP04 batteries are safe. But poor installation of LiFeP04 can. And many RV do have poor electrical systems that do not present a big problem with LeadAcid batteries. But install LiFeP04 and it can get dangerous. In my RV the cable from the converter to the batteries was not able to transfer the 60A to the battery. With lead acid not a problem as lead/acid do not accept higher amps for a long time. With LiFeP04 this cable got very hot.
Always install a T-fuse directly after the lithium battery. T-fuses have an interrupt current of 20000A. “Normal” fuses can weld shut. The BMS is just an on/off switch for protecting against under/over voltage and temp. It does not replace proper charging equipment.
James, As I understand it, Magnum has a replacement panel for $250 that does have everything needed for LiFePO4 batteries.
Keep up the good work.
Yes, I have tried and had a few inverters not compatible so I didn't want to say it was possible.
Great info, just clarify the 14.4+ volts are needed to balance the cells. The BMS will not balance the cells completely without a top-off voltage. You are correct that you can use lithium on a standard system. However, this will degrade the cells faster than normal. You had some great recommendations on how to handle the top-off voltage. solar being one of them or using the alternator system in a motorhome. almost all converters that have been made in the last 15 years can output 14.4+ volts. It’s usually either some kind of jumper wire that looks like a telephone plug or some kind of smart controller that also uses an RJ-45 jack. Check with the manufacturer before you buy new equipment.
most lithium batteries don't want to be charged at 100% all the time so undercharging to 80-85% will not damage them, BMS keeps cells balanced while charging too
James, you look to be doing well. Seems like a lifetime ago we worked at LMRV!
I'm suspect of that Precision Circuits unit. Seems a few commenters are having issues with it.
My first concern is the size.
It may say it's rated for continuous 225 amps, but I must question that. Any solenoid with a true 225 amp rating is quite a bit larger. Thus disapates more heat. 225 amps can generate a lot of heat. That is why those diode isolators went ot of favor. They could get quite hot and the RV builders rarely had them mounted in a location to get decent airflow.
Anyway, my 2 cents worth.
Happy Trails!
Wow GREAT CONTENT 🎉🎉🎉
Thank you!
Looks like VARTER is using JBD BMS modules, nice. There are LifePO4 BMS modules that can be used for much higher current demands, like starter motors however, those have internal boost converters to meet the demands of charging the starter battery.
I have the Ford 6.8 liter V10 in my old class C. With 400Ah of LiFePo4 coach batteries installed I am able to start the engine from the lithium if my chassis battery dies, so I guess it depends on your motorhome.
I carry the largest Noco boost pack with me. It’s probably the best stand alone jump pack you can have when you are out camping and may find yourself unable to start your rig.
On the magnum, I believe you can just change the control head up front. The newer control head has the lithium profile.
That’s what I had to do on my 06’ Beaver
Thank you for the very good video. However, I found the middle part regarding the wiring using the battery relay a bit confusing. Even so, the video was very helpful.
Idle current capacity of your alternator is KEY. It will do full output at idle.
If you dont rev up your motor you will typically not get you rated output current. It will overhead. You NEED the fan speed.
And burn up your alternator.
And like he said that truck pigtail will not carry current you will need on a depleted lithium.
For a Class C or smaller, just get a beefy portable lithium battery jumper. Always handy to have around, as you can give other people a jump without risking your own electrical! They usually double as flashlights and USB power banks, too.
I have solar and a new converter.
I found with 500w of solar and 400ah of lithium battery I would still run low after 3-4 days in glamis. Particularly if it’s cold and I need to run the heat a lot. Or it’s cloudy.
I installed an 80a lithium compatible converter and now I can just run the genny for an hour or two and juice them up pretty good if needed. New converter sends 30+ amps to each battery, whereas the factory one would only push 5-8A each.
Thanks James for the information I believe I have a couple more years on my 8 full River 4D batteries so not going to waste the money at this point to get lithium but if I still have this Prevost then I will definitely go lithium. Your information has been educational I don’t do very much Boondocking so not really sure of the benefits over the AMG batteries for me. Although the lithium is as cheap now as good AMG’s. Ok enough of my rambling.
Thank you!