Lithium Batteries!

[wherewolf17]

I may never take this step off again. Maybe. Hopefully. We'll see.

[Toyman]

I've got 4 of them in my Foretravel that powered a residential Refer & residential freezer this summer on a 3 mo trip to Alaska. Lover them, the best was I never saw much voltage drop, which kept the inverter happy. I plan to put them in the Forester soon.

[wherewolf17]

Sounds good, I'm a little nervous but I got sick of checking the water. LOL.

[CHICKDOE]

I'm envious! for those who have upgraded to lithium batteries did you just drop in the new batteries or did you also have to upgrade the converter to one made for lithium batteries?

[wherewolf17]

Originally Posted by CHICKDOE

I'm envious! for those who have upgraded to lithium batteries did you just drop in the new batteries or did you also have to upgrade the converter to one made for lithium batteries?

So far I'm going as is.First I think I will change my solar controller to a more lithium friendly device. Otherwise since I don't need AC now, I'm unplugging shore power during the day, it's said lithium batteries don't really like constant float charging. The manufacturer says the built in BMS (battery management system) will handle just about anything you already have, but this is all still cutting edge and unproven.

[jjfmd2]

What size is your battery box? I am also looking it go getting two Battle Born Batteries the web site stats the batteries are group 27 or close. My box is 25" long.

[Toyman]

Check the size on their web site, I believe they're 12.5" or so long.

[wherewolf17]

They fit just fine as you can see in the pic. Same size as what was in there.

[newRVer]

Has anyone looked at what mods might be required when switching to Lithium batteries? I.e. the RV and engine charging systems are not optimized for a lithium charging profile which is different from a wet cell or AGM battery profile.

[wherewolf17]

They claim that you don't have to change anything though to max out performance lithium does have different parameters. Everything is always changing.

[newRVer]

I have been doing some reading lately about RV Li battery installations as it looks like I have to definitely replace my batteries this year. It seems that a number of Lithium battery manufacturers have been recommending that Li batteries be housed inside the RV as to avoid significant temperature changes. In cars they have temperature management systems which helps mitigate that concern but as replacement batteries in a RV, that is not likely. Also, the charging systems definitely are different. Li batteries don't need any kind of float voltage once they are charged and applying a typical float voltage could reduce the longevity of a Li battery significantly. A couple of Li batteries that I have seen now appear to have a power management systems built in and I'm thinking that it may cut off any continuous charging once the batteries are full. Maybe that's how they can be installed without any power system modifications. ?

PS. What make/model of Li batteries where installed here?

[wherewolf17]

These are the Battle Born, cheapest ones I could find. Nice people. I read they don't like to be charged below freezing otherwise temperature doesn't matter. Since I will be charging with solar and will seldom be that cold... I did seal up the vent hole in the battery box below the steps. I could take off the step at night if it came to that. The fact that I can supposedly use near 100% of the lithium batteries just made it so tempting. And no waterings.

[ependydad]

I've documented my lithium battery upgraded on my Facebook page (@LearnToRV) but not the blog yet.

Longest story shortest- yes, these lithium drop-ins can be just that (drop it in and change nothing else). The battery has a built-in battery management system (BMS) that protects the battery from over and under charging. It means that most of the time, you don't need to change your converter.

Even if the converter doesn't push out high enough current to top the batteries up 100%- lithium is perfectly happy with that. In fact, they don't want to be at 100% for long periods of time.

That said, upgrading your battery charger has benefits and is typically inexpensive enough that it doesn't hurt to do.

As well, I strongly advise a battery monitor. I personally am in love with the Victron BMV-712 because it has built-in Bluetooth support (or the BMV-702 + bluetooth dongle). It let's you see the state of your batteries in an app on a smartphone. Boondocking for 2 weeks, this was invaluable to see what was going on for us.

Lithium has a tremendous number of benefits and only a few negatives (cost being the largest!).

[wherewolf17]

Very cool! I'm sitting here waiting for my Victron right now. Angelica at Battle Born Batteries said that I really didn't need the Bluetooth dongle because she was programming the charger for my set up and it would all be automatic. I said "I'm a nerd, I want the dongle". As soon as I get it installed, we're going to do some boondocking up by Mancos CO. Can't wait to see how it works. I told the Son that I think it will cut down on my complaints about how much electricity he's using.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by wherewolf17

I told the Son that I think it will cut down on my complaints about how much electricity he's using.

OR the exact opposite!

The knowledge and having it in your hand is sooo worth it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF9N7XK7WJM

[wherewolf17]

Oh I'm sure I will still yell "Turn out the lights!" Just like when we were sticks and bricks.

[aeblank]

I have a victron battery monitor with Bluetooth and it's great. Planning on victron with Bluetooth for my solar controller as well.

Someday
Bluetooth leveling....
Bluetooth propane level....

Just wish there was Bluetooth tank levels.....

[wherewolf17]

HeeHee. Yeah my black tank sensor never did work. No I don't need any advice on that. The flashlight works fine.