Anyone upgrading their 12v Flooded Batteries to Lithium 100Ah 12v?

[doanshop]

I updated my batteries to two 100 amp lithium .I did not change converter out . But what I did was buy a lithium battery charger to charge batteries up .I will be changing out converter this year .I have run on these lithium batteries for 2 years now . I do remove them in the winter . I get 80 to 90 % charge with converter that came with camper forest river Salem Hemisphere 299re . If I want 100% charge I just use the lithium charger I bought for 40 bucks .The only reason I'm changing out converter is because it takes 6 hours to get to 80% charge with the new one I should get 100% charge in 4-5 hours . Batteries where Voltxcell on amazon . New converter is PROGRESSIVE DYNAMICS PD9100L 60 amp . This is what Battle Born said I needed for their batteries .I would like to have bought Battle Born Batteries but for price of one of their batteries I got two Voltxcell batteries .If they don't last like I want them to I will get Battle Born .I can go boon docking at the river for 6 days and only have to move to dump black tank . I use a Champion 3400 watt gen remote start to run a/c and charge batteries .just using batteries I can go 4 days with out charging I have a residential fridge that eats up batteries but gen puts me back up again .Hope this helps someone .

[dbutton]

Currently I am waiting for delivery of the Battle Born batteries, they told me 1 week ago they were about 2 weeks behind on production. I am using the Xantrex SW3000 that my RV came with but I am upgrading it to the newest version and ComBox for WiFi access.
With all the talk about campgrounds being booked this year we wanted the capabilities to boondock & Harvest Host, etc more.

[jbflag21ds]

Simple answer is lithium has more capacity for same size FLA footprint (100Ah vs 80ish), more usable capacity (nearly 100% vs 50%), more usable discharge cycles (4-5000 vs 200-500). Over time they will pay for themselves

[Delnari]

Choose to stay with the Deep Cycle 12V flooded batteries due mostly for cost. I upgraded from a single to dual 12V batteries in parallel though. Can now do two days in a row of dry night camping at either a Harvest Host or Parking Lot. All in about $325 for two new batteries, extra battery box, mounting rails, and 2 connector cables. Nearly 1/3 the cost of a single 100ah Battle Born.

[Ripter]

Every mow and then Coatco rus a great deal on LiOn lithium batteries @ $1400 for two 110AH batts with great warranty. Im super happy with mine. And yes, the stock converter in most units wont fully charge your lithiums because there charges atate is 13V+. Hoever, it was mentioned before, if you have solar and an mppt charger it should top you up just fine

[robo44]

Battleborn Batteries are another option, they can also ease the upfront cost if you use their Affirm Program
https://battlebornbatteries.com/

How much batteries does it store up to? is it double?
1 100ah = 2 Lead Acid

How fast does it charge? 2x faster?
Depends on your set up, but faster yes

what model did you go with and why?
Battlenorn 100ah, located in USA, Great Customer Service, proven

Is it worth it to upgrade to lithium? Yes, yes, and yes use their Affirm program made t easier

[Mechcondrid]

Originally Posted by pgandw

I looked into the upgrade, and decided that cost of the upgrade is not justified by our usage model.

The geek in me wants to spend the money on the new toys, but reality is I can't justify it. We have 2 Costco/Interstate GC-2s (210AH) on the tongue, along with a PD 4135 converter. I would love the lighter weight of 2 100AH LiFePO batteries, and effectively doubling my capacity. And I know a good BMS would keep the batteries going for the life of my trailer.

But we do at most 20 nights a year dry camping. After I retire, and we (assumption) go to half time camping, maybe 100 nights of dry camping - that's still at most 50 cycles/year on the batteries (my current batteries will do 4+ nights before reaching 50% SOC with no solar or generator). Even assuming only 400 cycles before I lose noticeable capacity on the flooded batteries, that's still 8 years at a cost of $200 ($95 ea at Costco last time).

Just our numbers, your usage case will be very different. My underlying assumptions are that we are not going to dry camp in the same spot for more than 4 consecutive nights, and that we will not dry camp when/where temps are more than mid 80s during the day. Hope this helps your planning.

Fred W
2019 Flagstaff T21TBHW A-frame
2008 Hyundai Entourage minivan
camping Colorado and adjacent states one weekend at a time

another option for you that would offer a better bang for buck and an easier way to maintain the battery bank would be to simply run regular 4 cell 12v LIFEPO4 packs in parallel to get whatever AH you want, you would have to wire up the cell balance connectors to a single connector and then to a dc lifepo4 charger (or you could just have them self balance since they would all be in parralel, and charge them as a non-balanced LIFEPO4 battery; though the overall lifespan would take a bit of a hit but not by a whole lot)

the average cost of a 8AH lifepo cell is somewhere in the ballpark of $10-20 per cell depending on brand so enough to make 10 8ah 12v packs for a total of 320AH would be about $600, then just the time to wire them up into the 10 12v packs.

its kinda time intensive but for 3 times the capacity for half the price of a 100ah battleborn battery looks like a good deal to me.


i've done this before to make battery boxes for electric bike conversions and for trolling motors to save on the weight of a PB battery on the boat, works well and if you take care of the battery (dont leave it out to freeze or cook, don't fully discharge to 0 regularly, dont get is sopping wet or short it, etc.; usual battery stuff) you can get years of usage out of it before the usable capacity starts to dive below 75-80%.

[J Autry]

The two L/A 6V batteries in my coach were old and bulging out when I decided to change them. Of course my old bones disliked going through the contortions of checking levels and replenishing cell fluids so I looked into lithium or AGM. I soon considered less expensive options.

I decided to upgrade to four L/A 6V's; a clean drop-in arrangement, wired series/parallel. Not only did I not worry about buying upgraded chargers, etc., I doubled the amp hours available from 225 to 450 for about ½ the cost of one lithium. Not that I'll ever need that much reserve, but if I have an unexpected (or planned) boondock experience I will feel better. As far as checking the fluids, I plan on getting one of those battery fill bottles or possibly an automatic battery fill contraption.

[aboyz]

thank you all for the suggestion and sharing your experiences.. After some thoughts. I will hold off on the upgrade until I camp some more and I will know what is needed excatly. Currently the solar panel is working nicely and most of our campsite are full hookup. I am going to go do dry camping in Joshua Tree for 2 nights 3 days and see how that goes.

For now I don't want to spend the money. I'm thinking just get a 2500watts generator. that will be good for me.

thank you all..

[doanshop]

That is 240 lbs. verses 60lbs for two lithium don't have to check water level .You can only use 50% of battery capacity for flooded batteries .It takes 10 -14 hours for 100% charge for flooded 4-6 hours for lithium . But yes cost is the only down turn to lithium but coming down slowly . I saw 100amp lithium for $399 .cost and low temp charging are biggest down turn of lithium . But battery heater for 40 bucks takes care of that . I'm guessing that your batteries weigh about 60 lbs. each . If you boon dock like I do you don't want to run your gen for 10 -14 hours to charge flooded batteries that is just for Me and what I do

[doanshop]

Battle Born do seem to be the Cadillac of the lithium battery world . https://www.amazon.com/Miady-Phospha...ci_mcx_mr_hp_d
But check these out .

[doanshop]

When I looked into gens I looked at 2000 watt one to but I decided to get one that would run A/C so I could stop anywhere run gen and A/C eat rest or just go over plans .Run it in back of Truck .

[PhilFromMaine]

I bought a single 200AH Life Blue with a built in shunt that is connected via bluetooth to my cell phone. It also has a built in heating pad which allows it to get charged down to -5 degrees F.

It is supported by Starlight Solar out of Yuma, AZ and has a similar warranty to Battle Born. Battle Born seems to be the choice of most RV buyers, but I came to the conclusion that although they are great batteries their popularity is mostly about great marketing skills and a proven warranty policy.

My mistake was getting one 200AH battery as opposed to two 100AH batteries because, among other things, fitment in my solar generator and if I want to buy another one, it has to also be the 200AH version which really gets expensive.

IMO, they are "plug and play". Sure. you may have to upgrade your converter, or, you could just buy a cheap lithium charger.

[Pud]

Bought single 100ah Renogy (sale $799) with new 40amp version Progressive Dynamics "L" model (as old converter/charger was rated at 55amp). 2004 Dynaquest M2 chassis RV.

I worry the Alt might overheat; I found the Alt was providing full 14.1v from Alt (to 'chassis' batteries) when NOT when charging both 'chassis" and 'house' batteries. So, currently my RV does not see the Alt. Not sure of amp rating of my Alt. I plan on charging Lithium 'house' battery only when on genset or shore and leave the Alt out of the equation. Besides, my understanding is RV-Liths do not require constant charging (while driving) like the chassis batteries do. And Liths do not require full charge as well.

Patrick

[rjssuzq]

Has anyone tried the Antigravity Battery? About the same price as battle born and more features: build in LED battery gauge and Bluetooth to phone.
https://antigravitybatteries.com/pro...age/dc-100-v1/

[doanshop]

Originally Posted by Pud

Bought single 100ah Renogy (sale $799) with new 40amp version Progressive Dynamics "L" model (as old converter/charger was rated at 55amp). 2004 Dynaquest M2 chassis RV.

I worry the Alt might overheat; I found the Alt was providing full 14.1v from Alt (to 'chassis' batteries) when NOT when charging both 'chassis" and 'house' batteries. So, currently my RV does not see the Alt. Not sure of amp rating of my Alt. I plan on charging Lithium 'house' battery only when on genset or shore and leave the Alt out of the equation. Besides, my understanding is RV-Liths do not require constant charging (while driving) like the chassis batteries do. And Liths do not require full charge as well.

Patrick

might be a problem but I have seen many trucks where one flooded battery went bad causing the alt. to try to charge it boiling the other two or three batteries . Over road truck not shut down for two days .

[jchristo13]

I switched to Lithium from the stock RV marine lead acid battery a year ago.
1. Lithium battery is expensive but much lighter in weight
2. The Renogy Deep cycle AGM battery in the post is not lithium, so it is much cheaper.
3. I get to use 95% of capacity from my Battleborn 100AH Lithium batteries
4. I have a Victron color control system that controls charging and monitors electrical health of the battery I recommend having one.
5. Not sure how fast Lithium charges- depends on what type of solar charger one has - I have MPPT, so it’s more efficient.
6. Protection- I had my shore power connecter accidently disconnect from the RV park power source while on a trip and the A/C drained the batteries to zero capacity. The batteries came back when I reconnected the shore power and charged them. The RV stock would have been destroyed, which would have badly affected our camping trip.
7. AS far as worth- it depends on what type of camping one does- if one always stay at RV parks- no, but if boondocking and want power- probably yes.

[doanshop]

When I talked to Battle Born when I was about to Buy two of their 100 amp batteries they told Me if I installed this 60 amp progressive converter it would charge both batteries up from 20% to 100% in 4 -6 hours they said time varies with temperature of batteries so I just used that for My standard of charging . It was close enough for Me . That is the nice thing about lithium BMS shuts batteries off when discharged to specs of BMS no battery damage .

[robo44]

Originally Posted by Pud

Bought single 100ah Renogy (sale $799) with new 40amp version Progressive Dynamics "L" model (as old converter/charger was rated at 55amp). 2004 Dynaquest M2 chassis RV.

I worry the Alt might overheat; I found the Alt was providing full 14.1v from Alt (to 'chassis' batteries) when NOT when charging both 'chassis" and 'house' batteries. So, currently my RV does not see the Alt. Not sure of amp rating of my Alt. I plan on charging Lithium 'house' battery only when on genset or shore and leave the Alt out of the equation. Besides, my understanding is RV-Liths do not require constant charging (while driving) like the chassis batteries do. And Liths do not require full charge as well.

Patrick

agreed I installed a 40A DC/DC Charger just for this scenario. Lithium can pull a lot of power, if you fail to address this with your alternator with one of a few solution you could burn up your alternator.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by robo44

agreed I installed a 40A DC/DC Charger just for this scenario. Lithium can pull a lot of power, if you fail to address this with your alternator with one of a few solution you could burn up your alternator.

One thing people can do to determine how much headroom they have with their alternator is to actually measure the load that it can be potentially have before adding any extra "charging load".

Using a DC Clamp type ammeter placed around the output wire from the alternator, start the engine and turn on every possible load. Lights on high, A/C with fan on high, and the sound system on as high as you can stand. Also turn on any electric accessories like heated seats, rear view mirror heat and any added accessories like driving/fog lamps, etc.

With this max load number established now subtract from rated capacity of the alternator.

If adding a DC-DC Charger make sure to add a 35% surcharge to the current rating of the charger. Example, my 20 amp DC-DC Charger draws 27 amp when charging at it's full output rate.

If all the numbers "work" don't worry about burning up the alternator.

BTW. do this test at idle. This is where the alternator has the lowest air flow for cooling and if the load doesn't exceed rating you're good.