Lithium Batteries

[Daryles]

Originally Posted by Ren

I will probably go a simple route of adding some insulation under them like some closed cell foam and wrapping them in heating pads when I decide to go lithium.

https://www.amazon.com/Facon-Holding...2189178&sr=8-2

Just will wire these on a simple switch.

Being in Fl, we probably wont need to use the pads much, but if we travel somewhere cold Id like the option.

I insulated my battery compartment with two 1" layers of styrofoam board. I also wrapped my batteries with tank heaters.
I used an RV tank heater 7"×24". 12v, 6.25A, 75W. The built in thermostat turns on at 45°F off at 65°F.
The tank heater pad has it's own adhesive. I chose to tape it to the battery at one end (so I can remove/adjust it) and wrap it around the battery. Tape the insulation to the battery. Wrap it around the battery AND the heater, leaving 3" of the heater exposed at the wire lead end. This end has the thermostat. Leaving it OUTSIDE the insulation will ensure it is exposed to cold temperatures. Put the entire assembly in a battery box (to anchor it down). This battery heater is wired to my FLA battery via inline fuse and a switch. I turn on the switch if below freezing temperature is expected. I have a remote thermometer in the compartment AND the battery monitor Victron BMV-712 has a thermometer.
While my 5er is stored for the winter I have added a 120vac outlet in my battery compartment and I use a 120vac 75W plug in battery heater. I have it laying along the floor of the front of the compartment standing up on edge for air circulation. It was 28°F the other night. That compartment did not fall below 40°F. I got another one and put it in the basement to keep the pipes etc warm. Same results.

[mlh]

How many amps will your 7 pin wire harness handle?
Lynwood

[Daryles]

Originally Posted by Creeker

I have a Renogy 40 amp DC to DC charger waiting to be installed when winter breaks. Along with two Micro Air easy starts for the A/C's.

Majority of our dry camping is in heavily treed national forest lands in the east. The Kryptonite to Super Solar.

We have no choice but to use alternative methods for recharging. We chose 120 amps of converter/chargers and additional 30 amp adjustable power supply for top charging. All powered by our Honda 3000 Genny. We can get back to 85-90% SOC in a hurry.

We do have a 200 watt portable solar panel system for the rare occasion the sun shines within 30' of our camper.

I'm curious how many amps you get from your DC to DC charger. I have an f350 with dual 200A alternators and I'm looking at the Renogy 60A DC to DC charger for topping off my batteries vice carrying a generator for short boondocking trips. I have 400W solar panels feeding a 30A MPPT.

[Creeker]

Originally Posted by Daryles

I'm curious how many amps you get from your DC to DC charger. I have an f350 with dual 200A alternators and I'm looking at the Renogy 60A DC to DC charger for topping off my batteries vice carrying a generator for short boondocking trips. I have 400W solar panels feeding a 30A MPPT.

From watching all the videos of people with the Renogy DC to DC chargers, I expect to get the full 40 amps when batteries are down and call for it. I decided to run 4 gauge cables from truck back to charger through Anderson power pole connector mounted in truck bed. I'll step it down for the short runs from charger to RV batteries. I have everything here ready to install. Just waiting on old man winter to let up. I'm also curious how our single high output alternator handles the load. Based on all the videos out there I think I'll be fine with the 40 amp charger.

With your dual alternators and proper wire and fuse sizing, I see no reason why you couldn't get the full 60 amps if batteries are low enough to dictate it. Your solar will also be putting in 20 amps or so on sunny days while driving. You could potentially have 80 amps hitting your batteries while driving down the road.

[phillyg]

I'm on a lot of sailing cruiser youtube channels, and a lot of them have successfully switched over to lithium, and some have gone total electric. But, they have a lot of solar panels and/or wind generators and lots of batteries. Their general consensus is lithium great, but not cost-effective unless they go all in, and I'd guess not necessary for RV'ers unless doing a lot of boondocking. Lithium batteries and the sun/wind power to keep them up can cost $3000 plus.

[bcrvman]

Originally Posted by scattershot

Searched the topic, but the entries were two years old. Does anyone have recent experience with lithium batteries? What amp/hour rating did you get, and was it a direct replacement for your lead/acid setup? 2006 Montana 2955 RL, 135 watt solar panel,on the roof.

Thanks.

If you are full time then do the following.

I have 4 100AH Battle Born. You didn't mention a shunt/battery monitor. That should be your first purchase regardless of battery. If you are full time, 400 to 600 AH of battery, 3,000 watt hybrid inverter and 4 to 6 180+W solar panels. You will need to upgrade most if not all your wiring, the factory stuff is minimum spec. Sell or give away the 135W panel, it's almost useless.

If only weekend camper then get the shunt and battery monitor. If you are always in a campground you are done. If you boondock do the above.

It sounds like you should work with a competent dealer/installer.

[djrich]

We have a 3791 SuperSolar 5er. It came with 1000 watts of solar and 6 BB 100Ah batteries. It has the recommended 250 watts/battery. We lived in it from 9/15/21 until early December and found it was not enough for our lifestyle. BTW we are in Nevada-Arizona. We have since added 1000 watts of solar and have plenty. We use a bit of propane for heating and the rest is electric. Portable induction range, micro wave, tv and the rest. With 1000 watts we were losing about 7 amps a day by late October.
We could have cut usage but what fun is that? In fairness I had a real deal on the solar but I would have added anyway. I think I could have gotten by with 500 watts and conserved a bit but 1000 watts is not enough you would need to supplement your power somehow.

[djrich]

For got to say lithium is GREAT I wouldn’t leave home (if I had one) without it, it’s worth every penny.

[kowbra]

Originally Posted by djrich

We have a 3791 SuperSolar 5er. It came with 1000 watts of solar and 6 BB 100Ah batteries. It has the recommended 250 watts/battery. We lived in it from 9/15/21 until early December and found it was not enough for our lifestyle. BTW we are in Nevada-Arizona. We have since added 1000 watts of solar and have plenty. We use a bit of propane for heating and the rest is electric. Portable induction range, micro wave, tv and the rest. With 1000 watts we were losing about 7 amps a day by late October.
We could have cut usage but what fun is that? In fairness I had a real deal on the solar but I would have added anyway. I think I could have gotten by with 500 watts and conserved a bit but 1000 watts is not enough you would need to supplement your power somehow.

Thanks @djrich, I appreciate your first hand experiences.
I think you are saying you don't use a generator for topup? Do you have any truck charging such as a DC to DC charger?
I'm curious because we are locked down in Canada but have a 3791 with the SSF package that we would normally have been using in AZ right now.

Thanks for any other comments you can share!
Brad

[PNW Fireguy]

Not a direct replacment, will have BMS controlled heating capability, can power all coach loads and will have the capability for PV charging at 150Vdc via MPPT. The AH equivalent of 14 Battleborn batteries except with a 3C max continuous discharge rating. 16.8Kwhr of energy density. All cells within .003v after traversing the Pacific ocean and sitting crated for the last 3 months.

[djrich]

We do not carry a generator. We have not plugged in since September. I have thought about carrying a battery charger that I could run off the trucks inverter. I did not do my home work when I got my truck and paid for dual alternators, as far as I can tell the truck does not charge the 5er. I think you have to have additional wiring to make that happen. We are still learning the SSF system and I think have way underused it. As warmer weather comes and more day light I plan to use the ac as needed. We are all about boon docking and avoid rv parks when possible. Sure miss you Canadians! Have good friends out of BC. Hope life can get back to normal.

[kowbra]

Originally Posted by djrich

We do not carry a generator. We have not plugged in since September. I have thought about carrying a battery charger that I could run off the trucks inverter. I did not do my home work when I got my truck and paid for dual alternators, as far as I can tell the truck does not charge the 5er. I think you have to have additional wiring to make that happen. We are still learning the SSF system and I think have way underused it. As warmer weather comes and more day light I plan to use the ac as needed. We are all about boon docking and avoid rv parks when possible. Sure miss you Canadians! Have good friends out of BC. Hope life can get back to normal.

Thanks again @djrich !

I do have some questions about the extra solar you installed, if that's ok;
-I think I understand, you added another 1000 watts, so total of 2000 now?
-how many panels, and what size?
-what model Montana do you have? We have a 3791, so I expect we will have room for more
-did you add the panels into the existing solar charge controllers, using the same wires? I assume not;
-or did you run new wires and install new solar controllers? If so, can you give a quick overview of how the new panels were wired in, and the controllers you used?

I do think your example is showing that the batteries could use more solar input, and that's great input.
Thanks in advance for any details you can share!

Brad

[djrich]

Hi Brad, yes I had an additional 1000watts installed for a total of 2000watts. I have 2 140 watts , 4 130 watts, and 2 100 watt panels. Not a design build but what I had. We have a 2020 3791SSF. So I have 4 500watt legs each gaining into its own controller. Jaboni came with the rig and I had 2 3024IL MPPT fo the 2 new legs. The new solar had new wire. The display is not straight forward I look at the Jaboni display for those two inputs and the Blue
sky display for their output. In reality I haven't found the need to look at either. My installer said my roof is full! I stumbled into what I have, if I were just wanting to add I think 500 more watts would have been enough. Hope that helps, feel free to ask more questions.

[kowbra]

Originally Posted by djrich

Hi Brad, yes I had an additional 1000watts installed for a total of 2000watts. I have 2 140 watts , 4 130 watts, and 2 100 watt panels. Not a design build but what I had. We have a 2020 3791SSF. So I have 4 500watt legs each gaining into its own controller. Jaboni came with the rig and I had 2 3024IL MPPT fo the 2 new legs. The new solar had new wire. The display is not straight forward I look at the Jaboni display for those two inputs and the Blue
sky display for their output. In reality I haven't found the need to look at either. My installer said my roof is full! I stumbled into what I have, if I were just wanting to add I think 500 more watts would have been enough. Hope that helps, feel free to ask more questions.

Thanks again, awesome information!

Our 2021 SSF has 1200 watts from the factory, and I've been considering if I may need to upgrade. The easiest is to add one more 300 watt panel to each leg, for a new total of 1800 watts. I think the existing wiring and controllers may allow for that, but I have more investigating to do to make sure.

Your experience has been very helpful, thanks again!

Brad

[jetskier]

Originally Posted by kowbra

Thanks again, awesome information!

Our 2021 SSF has 1200 watts from the factory, and I've been considering if I may need to upgrade. The easiest is to add one more 300 watt panel to each leg, for a new total of 1800 watts. I think the existing wiring and controllers may allow for that, but I have more investigating to do to make sure.

Your experience has been very helpful, thanks again!

Brad

If you get the 300W panels, keep in mind they are a lot wider than the sub 160-200W panels. The 200W and less can fit along side the AC units and vents that are down the middle. I ran into this as a constraint after adding the third AC.

[kowbra]

Originally Posted by jetskier

If you get the 300W panels, keep in mind they are a lot wider than the sub 160-200W panels. The 200W and less can fit along side the AC units and vents that are down the middle. I ran into this as a constraint after adding the third AC.

Great info, I wondered about that.
Thanks!

Brad