Considering Lithium

[bilco82]

Okay, thank you all for your comments and opinions. I've decided to go with 2 Weize LiFePO4 100 Ah batteries, (thanks TucsonJim) and a Powermax PM3-120LK 12 Volt, 120 Amp conveter/charger, (thanks Country Campers). Then I'll be calibrating my Furrion battery monitor, (thanks howson).
Will Prowse has a very good video on his youtube page about Weize batteries. He was quite impressed with the construction of the battery, expecially for a low cost option.
The Powermax converter is highly rated so I'm going to go with the PM.

https://www.weizeus.com/products/wei...44090015088868
https://www.donrowe.com/powermax-pm3.../pm3-120lk.htm

I haven't purchased anything yet, so I still welcome your opinions and suggestions. Thank you all very much!

[howson]

bilco82 -- only other recommendation from me is to use high-quality wires, fuse(s), and connectors. Keep the 12v wires from the converter to the battery bank as short as feasible.

Will has a good video on those topics.

Looks like you've got the basis for a good system! Look forward to the installation notes and lessons learned which I'm sure you'll post.

Howard

[acoleman43]

bilco82 Sounds very nice!


I haven't looked at Weize batteries, but they are priced very good and if Will Prowse gave them his stamp of approval, looks like a great deal.

Looks like that battery has a max charge rate of 100A (each battery). Make sure to match with correct converter/charger.

[bilco82]

Well, change of plans. Will posted an updated video 4 months ago and the Weize battery quality has declined tremendously in the last 18 months. I"m now looking at the Li Time. Will did a review 3 weeks ago and checked quite will. And, I"ve been steered to an IOTA converter and advised to charge 50% of the aH of the battery. Apparently, charging too fast is not good for these batteries.

[Jomani]

I helped my brother in-law install a couple of Li Time 100Ah batteries in his 150 Series 280RS. He went with the 60 amp Progressive Dynamics (as did I). So far he has been very happy with the combo.

[howson]

Well, change of plans. Will posted an updated video 4 months ago and the Weize battery quality has declined tremendously in the last 18 months. I"m now looking at the Li Time. Will did a review 3 weeks ago and checked quite will. And, I"ve been steered to an IOTA converter and advised to charge 50% of the aH of the battery. Apparently, charging too fast is not good for these batteries.

Charging at 1/2 of the "C" rate is typical in my limited experience. That's what Battle Born recommends for their batteries. Since I have four in parallel theoretically I could supply up to 200A and each of the four batteries will charge at .5C. Usually the charge rate is much less since I let the solar panels do the charging when necessary.

[bilco82]

I helped my brother in-law install a couple of Li Time 100Ah batteries in his 150 Series 280RS. He went with the 60 amp Progressive Dynamics (as did I). So far he has been very happy with the combo.

How long ago did you and your brother in law add these batteries

[Scott'n'Wendy]

I have a single LiTime 100ah battery with a PM3-60 charger/converter. No complaints about either. The PM3 lets you adjust charging levels to your preference.

[Jomani]

How long ago did you and your brother in law add these batteries

Just a couple months ago.

[TravelHabit]

I went with the Lion Safari UT 1300. Costco had a two pack of these on sale. I don't recall what I paid for them. I ended up with four and am very happy with them. The Furrion battery monitor I have does not work correctly with Li so check on this. Lead Acid had a very different discharge voltage relationship than Li. I went with the Victron BVM-712 monitor. Notice in the photo below I cover up the Furrion battery level indicators to avoid confusion. I also went with a Victron multi control (just above the monitor) so I could switch the inverter on or off easily from the kitchen. I tried the Bluetooth control but did’t like it as there is no visual confirmation.



The battery bank is the core of many future upgrades. 😀 I like the Victron Multiplus 3000VA inverter. Victron is very big in the industry and makes outstanding products that are integrated to work well together. As with other options it will not only provide AC current (microwave and such — I’ve even run my Air Conditioner off mine) but it will also charge your battery when plugged into shore power. After that I added a 50A DC-DC converter so I could charge the batteries while driving. This uses the car’s alternator for power. Then of course there is solar…

I’m extremely happy with my setup. It all fits within a very limited space. Note the 2/0 and 4/0 wiring. This is important since an item at120V (say a microwave oven pulling 10 Amp) will draw ten times more current from a battery at 12V (i.e. the battery sends 100A to the inverter).

[bilco82]

I have a single LiTime 100ah battery with a PM3-60 charger/converter. No complaints about either. The PM3 lets you adjust charging levels to your preference.

Scott'n'Wendy do you have a factory installed Furrion battery monitor? If so, does it work with your lithuim batteries?

[Scott'n'Wendy]

Scott'n'Wendy do you have a factory installed Furrion battery monitor? If so, does it work with your lithuim batteries?

No I don't have a factory installed furrion battery monitor.

[Jlawles2]

After changing to Li from FLA, you may need to reset the parameters of the monitor. I know my cheap amazon one measures voltage, but percentage of battery is based on Max available amps and amps used.

With the FLA in our unit, it says 100 aH capacity (this typically means 50 aH usable). Thus I set the monitor at 50 amps and it displays percentage based on usage from the 50 not the battery voltage.

[bilco82]

Jlawles2 I was thinking this was the case. Thanks for the follow up!

[bilco82]

Is there a converter/charger that will power the RV on shore power with no batteries? I'm asking for storage reasons. I keep my RV plugged into 50 amp service when it's parked at home. I feel I need to remove the lithium batteries and bring them inside for the winter.