How do I find out specs for factory battery charger?

[OldGoldwing]

Last year I bought a new Forest River Grey Wolf 22RR TT for hauling our old Goldwing to good roads and a place to stay. It works superbly for that purpose.

We are doing more dry camping and our group 24 marine battery is not lasting more than 1.5 days. I'm looking at upgrading to 2 golf cart 6v or even to the lithium batteries.

I want to find out the specs for the factory installed charger. None of the manuals that came with the trailer have any info.

Where can i find out the make and model of the factory installed charger and the specs? Will it charge 2 6v batteries in series? Will it charge a lithium that requires different charging spec?

[MR.M]

Originally Posted by OldGoldwing

Last year I bought a new Forest River Grey Wolf 22RR TT for hauling our old Goldwing to good roads and a place to stay. It works superbly for that purpose.

We are doing more dry camping and our group 24 marine battery is not lasting more than 1.5 days. I'm looking at upgrading to 2 golf cart 6v or even to the lithium batteries.

I want to find out the specs for the factory installed charger. None of the manuals that came with the trailer have any info.

Where can i find out the make and model of the factory installed charger and the specs? Will it charge 2 6v batteries in series? Will it charge a lithium that requires different charging spec?

Your WAFCO converter charger is located in your distribution panel . not sure what amp rating it would be they go from 35 amp up to around 75 amp.
it will handle charging the 6volt in series . or you could just add another deep cycle to your existing battery.

[latner]

Most likely wfcoelectronics.com | wfcoelectronics.com should be a model # on the unit.

[Duckogram]

There are three main converter/charger manufactures. When you find which one you have, I suggest going to that manufactures website for the details you seek.

[OldGoldwing]

Hello all,
Thanks for this good info. I'll examine the panel and go to the mfgr web site for data.

I was thinking about adding another 12v in parallel, but i think i mangled the one i have by discharging it too deeply. I've probably shortened the life. A couple of places on the web (battery mfgr sites) said that it would be a bad idea to hook up a new with an older battery as they would not charge in a balanced fashion. I don't want to trash another battery, so i won't do that. Looking at the Battleborn 100AH lithium-iron-phosphate battery. It gets good reviews in some other forums. Costs double the price of a pair of 6v golf cart batteries, but life is supposed to be 5 to 10 times as long (depending on who you read). No fire hazards with the iron-phosphate model either. And only 30 pounds. Am I crazy to spend $1000?

Now whether the batt charger will charge the lithium battery is what i'm going to find out as it will add another $200 for a fancy smart charger...

[rk06382]

Originally Posted by OldGoldwing

Hello all,
Thanks for this good info. I'll examine the panel and go to the mfgr web site for data.

I was thinking about adding another 12v in parallel, but i think i mangled the one i have by discharging it too deeply. I've probably shortened the life. A couple of places on the web (battery mfgr sites) said that it would be a bad idea to hook up a new with an older battery as they would not charge in a balanced fashion. I don't want to trash another battery, so i won't do that. Looking at the Battleborn 100AH lithium-iron-phosphate battery. It gets good reviews in some other forums. Costs double the price of a pair of 6v golf cart batteries, but life is supposed to be 5 to 10 times as long (depending on who you read). No fire hazards with the iron-phosphate model either. And only 30 pounds. Am I crazy to spend $1000?

Now whether the batt charger will charge the lithium battery is what i'm going to find out as it will add another $200 for a fancy smart charger...

I purchased four 100ah Battleborn Batteries. I asked and received a Military Discount on each battery. I looked at the long life of the batteries and the lack of acid corrosion. I want to RV for years and one less thing to worry about the better.

[Lins]

Originally Posted by OldGoldwing

Am I crazy to spend $1000?

Not necessarily. For the amount we camp, I can't justify it currently. When the price starts to come down, I will definitely look into two lithium batteries.

[camaraderie]

1. NO...no standard charger will properly take care of LifePoBatteries...and some mfr.'s are adding lithium cycles that don't either. If you insist on going to a technology that isn't perfected ...suggest you buy the WHOLE system from one place and get a solid warranty.



2. Your group 24 battery only supplies around 40 amp hours of usable power before recharge is needed. A Pair of 6V's will provide around 110 at 50% discharge.
Do you KNOW how many amp hours you USE and need to account for in your battery bank? Suggest you take a tiny bit of that lithium $$ and buy a Victron or Trimetric battery monitor. It will insure you don't destroy the new ones. let you know when they are full, let you know when they need to recharge, show you what amps each item you use draws and show you how long you have at present usage before you need to recharge.

[rk06382]

Originally Posted by camaraderie

1. NO...no standard charger will properly take care of LifePoBatteries...and some mfr.'s are adding lithium cycles that don't either. If you insist on going to a technology that isn't perfected ...suggest you buy the WHOLE system from one place and get a solid warranty.



2. Your group 24 battery only supplies around 40 amp hours of usable power before recharge is needed. A Pair of 6V's will provide around 110 at 50% discharge.
Do you KNOW how many amp hours you USE and need to account for in your battery bank? Suggest you take a tiny bit of that lithium $$ and buy a Victron or Trimetric battery monitor. It will insure you don't destroy the new ones. let you know when they are full, let you know when they need to recharge, show you what amps each item you use draws and show you how long you have at present usage before you need to recharge.

Lead Acid batteries have a higher OHM resistance to charge. It takes more energy to charge above 80% than at 50%. Usable Amp Hours 30-50% 220ah will give you 66 to 110ah. The typical energy efficiency for lead acid batteries is 70% – 80%.

Lithium-Iron-Phosphate batteries have a very low OHM resistance to charge. Usable Amp Hours 70-80% 100ah Battery will give you 70-80ah. The typical energy efficiency for Lithium-Iron-Phosphate batteries is 92%.

"The typical energy efficiency (energy that can be taken out of the battery compared to energy required to re charge) for lead acid batteries is 70% – 80% The final 20% charge for a lead acid battery is particularly inefficient with efficiencies of 50% and can take a very long time for the battery to become completely charged. This is important to note as the recommended DOD is 50% and the last 20% of the battery is very inefficient to charge. The result being that you have circa 30% of usable power from a lead-acid battery. Additionally, you need to continually fully charge a lead acid battery to prevent sulfation."

"The typical energy efficiency (energy that can be taken out of the battery compared to energy required to re charge) for Lithium-Iron-Phosphate batteries is 92%"

Quote source:
Lithium-Iron-Phosphate vs. Lead Acid Batteries……. Is the extra cost worth it?

[camaraderie]

Originally Posted by rk06382

Lead Acid batteries have a higher OHM resistance to charge. It takes more energy to charge above 80% than at 50%. Usable Amp Hours 30-50% 220ah will give you 66 to 110ah. The typical energy efficiency for lead acid batteries is 70% – 80%.

Lithium-Iron-Phosphate batteries have a very low OHM resistance to charge. Usable Amp Hours 70-80% 100ah Battery will give you 70-80ah. The typical energy efficiency for Lithium-Iron-Phosphate batteries is 92%.

"The typical energy efficiency (energy that can be taken out of the battery compared to energy required to re charge) for lead acid batteries is 70% – 80% The final 20% charge for a lead acid battery is particularly inefficient with efficiencies of 50% and can take a very long time for the battery to become completely charged. This is important to note as the recommended DOD is 50% and the last 20% of the battery is very inefficient to charge. The result being that you have circa 30% of usable power from a lead-acid battery. Additionally, you need to continually fully charge a lead acid battery to prevent sulfation."

"The typical energy efficiency (energy that can be taken out of the battery compared to energy required to re charge) for Lithium-Iron-Phosphate batteries is 92%"

Quote source:
Lithium-Iron-Phosphate vs. Lead Acid Batteries……. Is the extra cost worth it?

Absolutely true...but he is talking about drop in lithium batteries with the EXISTING charger. The lithium batteries will destroy themselves quite quickly in the proposed purchase. If you wish to install lithium...you need a charger specifically designed for them. And what will happen when the alternator tries to charge them all day long going down the road? Again...system must be specific to lithium requirements.

[OldGoldwing]

Thanks again for the good info all. Camaraderie, an excellent point about the alternator charging while driving. It looks like a drop in place of Pb will not be optimal. I'll look into a battery monitor to get a better handle on my requirements.

It's looking like more and more expensive to replace everything I have currently to support lithium. I'll do more research and post a result.

[mrscloonan]

I'd like to know what you've learned. I'm in the same exact position!

[OldGoldwing]

Hello mrscloonan. As pointed out to me, i looked on the front of the AC/DC breaker/fuse panel in my trailer. Mine is a WFCO model 8855. Here is the web site of the manufacturer if yours i WFCO. ALL PRODUCT DOWNLOADS | wfcoelectronics.com All the specs are there. Good luck!

[OldGoldwing]

Well, today I installed my new battery bank. Lithium, while very light, long lasting and high power density, is also very expensive. A 100A LiFeP0 battery alone is over $1000USD (I'm in Canada so that's $1300CAD). Add a lithium charger plus the install costs for it and i'm over $2000.

So instead I went shorter term. I installed 2 Interstate Extreme Cycle 6v golf cart batteries. With new battery boxes (they are taller than 12v group 24) and a short cable to connect them in series (+ on one to - on the other) I'm into it for just under $500CAD. The existing battery charger works with them. If I understand it correctly, I have about 85 Amps of useable power (at 50% discharge) which is almost as good as the 100A lithium. So lots of capacity for 4 days of-grid.

They are flooded batteries (cheaper than AGM) so will require some babysitting. However, if i do careful maintenance i should get more than 5 years out of them. Maybe lithium will be cheaper then...