Considering Lithium

[Country Campers]

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.

A converter will power the light circuits in the RV without a battery attached. It will not power slide outs, jacks, furnace, these items draw more amps than the converter produces. I do not recommend powering any 12 v dc circuits in the RV without a battery attached.

Brian

[bilco82]

A converter will power the light circuits in the RV without a battery attached. It will not power slide outs, jacks, furnace, these items draw more amps than the converter produces. I do not recommend powering any 12 v dc circuits in the RV without a battery attached.

Brian

Thanks, Brian. So, there's really no reason to leave it plugged in for the winter.

[Country Campers]

Thanks, Brian. So, there's really no reason to leave it plugged in for the winter.

If you pull the battery for winter storage I see no need to keep power to the RV.

Brian

[Jlawles2]

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.

As mentioned the installed converter will power the unit. If you need lights and such (no functions other than lights though) you may consider a small 12v battery such as https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and a https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (temp hook up and insulate the plug) so that you can quicky attach and detach the battery as needed to power the lights. This will also keep you from needing to plug in the unit during inspections and such while in storage. That little battery is lightweight and easily transported around, plus can be charged with your standard battery maintainer or charger.

[bilco82]

Okay, confused here. I have two Li Time 100AH batteries. Li Time recommends 20A charge current but says it can handle 100A continous charge/discharge current. What amp converter do I want to get for these batteries? Do I think of this as charging 200AH of batteries or 100AH of battteries?

[howson]

Okay, cunfused here. I have two Li Time 100AH batteries. Li Time recommends 20A charge current but says it can handle 100A continous charge/discharge current. What amp converter do I want to get for these batteries? Do I think of this as charging 200AH of batteries or 100AH of battteries?

200aH, since (I assume) the batteries are in parallel, thus 20 amps to each battery. 20x2=40 (Opinion: 20 amps sure seems like a low number for a lithium battery.)

[bilco82]

200aH, since (I assume) the batteries are in parallel, thus 20 amps to each battery. 20x2=40 (Opinion: 20 amps sure seems like a low number for a lithium battery.)

howson, that's what I was thinking.So, maybe I'll go with a 100aH converter, that equals 50 per battery and is still acceptable according to the battery manufacture, or should I go a little higher?. Any thoughts? I attached Li Time charging specs.

[ncitro]

bilco82 Your call on that, they are probably quoting the .2C rate to ensure long life of the batteries. Most I have seen recommend .5C. Honestly the batteries are likely to outlast the rig, so I would think you are okay at .5C, but that needs to be up to you.

[acoleman43]

bilco82 Your call on that, they are probably quoting the .2C rate to ensure long life of the batteries. Most I have seen recommend .5C. Honestly the batteries are likely to outlast the rig, so I would think you are okay at .5C, but that needs to be up to you.

bilco82 I agree with Neil. Basically a lithium battery should give you at least 3000 charging cycles. If you baby the batteries (.2C charging rate, keep battery SOC at around 70%) you may get up to 7000 or 8000 charging cycles.

But let's say your batteries go through 1 charging cycle every day and you get 3000 charging cycles. That equals almost 10 years of life from your batteries. If you baby them you're talking 20+ years.

I would do what works best for you. If you need the quick charging to keep up with energy usage, go with a 100a+ charger. If you want to baby the batteries and you don't need quick charging, go with a 40a charger.

In 10 years technology will be completely different and you may want to change/sell your trailer or change out batteries anyway.

Whatever you do, make sure to size wires appropriately and have good, protected connections.

[bilco82]

ncitro & acoleman43, thank you both very much! Now I just to decide which brand converter to use. Any recommendations?

[ncitro]

I personally am a fan of the PowerMax. Assuming your batteries want a fixed voltage like my Lion Energy batteries, you do not need multi stage charging or bells and whistles. The PowerMax has a toggle switch to put it into fixed voltage mode, you set it for the voltage you want and forget about it. The BMS in the battery allows current to charge the battery if it needs it, otherwise it does not allow current to flow.

https://www.amazon.com/Powermax-PM3-...2-63e904010ad0

I have also heard good things about Progessive Dynamics but have never used one.

[acoleman43]

ncitro & acoleman43, thank you both very much! Now I just to decide which brand converter to use. Any recommendations?

I would go with Neils suggestion. Making it simple is desirable.

[bilco82]

Simple is a requirement for me
ncitro I need a 100 ah charger to be at 0.5C, don't I? I'll have two 100ah batteries connected in parallel.
This is the one I'm looking at.
https://www.donrowe.com/powermax-pm3.../pm3-100lk.htm
https://powermaxconverters.com/produ...e_pa_size=100a

[bilco82]

Hello, hopefully this post will still be noticed. I purchased the Progressive Dynamics 9360C converter and I'm finally attemping my conversion to lithium. I plan to mount my batteries in the space behind the basement wall (see photos). Is this acceptable? My original converter is already there, so I'll put the new converter there, as well. My original converter is the PD9260C. Will I need to change the wire? The converter currently has 6 guage wire.

[ncitro]

Hello, hopefully this post will still be noticed. I purchased the Progressive Dynamics 9360C converter and I'm finally attemping my conversion to lithium. I plan to mount my batteries in the space behind the basement wall (see photos). Is this acceptable? My original converter is already there, so I'll put the new converter there, as well. My original converter is the PD9260C. Will I need to change the wire? The converter currently has 6 guage wire.

It seems like that should work fine. If its also a 60A converter (I assume so based on the model number) then the same wire size should be fine. Verify that with the converter owners manual.