Battery up grade

[TucsonJim]

reubenray - Another option is to reposition the battery platform over the top of the propane tanks. I've seen people do this for bicycle racks, satellite dishes, etc. Something similar to this:



Jim

[Jlawles2]

For a cool tool box check out the lockable battery boxes.

https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Lock-...5&sr=8-17&th=1

[reubenray]

For a cool tool box check out the lockable battery boxes.

https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Lock-...5&sr=8-17&th=1

I have been looking at these.

[reubenray]

I still shopping for a Li-Time battery, but the sale ends today. Will they have other sales? I am still undecided on what to get. The options are two group 24 100ah, two group 31 100ah or either a single 200ah or a single 230ah battery. I also have to figure out what box I want these put in and the weight of them has to be considered too. LiTime is complicating things with so many different models of their 100ah batteries.

[TedS]

Use their battery comparison chart.
https://www.litime.com/pages/compare-batteries

[BobinICT]

I still shopping for a Li-Time battery, but the sale ends today. Will they have other sales? I am still undecided on what to get. The options are two group 24 100ah, two group 31 100ah or either a single 200ah or a single 230ah battery. I also have to figure out what box I want these put in and the weight of them has to be considered too. LiTime is complicating things with so many different models of their 100ah batteries.

If you are a veteran they will give you an 8% discount. Just go to their explore link and enter your info.

[acoleman43]

I still shopping for a Li-Time battery, but the sale ends today. Will they have other sales? I am still undecided on what to get. The options are two group 24 100ah, two group 31 100ah or either a single 200ah or a single 230ah battery. I also have to figure out what box I want these put in and the weight of them has to be considered too. LiTime is complicating things with so many different models of their 100ah batteries.

If it were me I would try to get group 24 as the battery box selection is greater. I would also get a battery with low temp protection. Battery warmers are a good bonus, but not required in my opinion because you can purchase battery warmers as an aftermarket purchase if wanted..

The LiTime 100AH group 24 Bluetooth battery has the low temp protection is the right size, weighs just 22 pounds, and has bluetooth BMS so you can access your battery from a smartphone app. This would be my recommendation. I would get 2 of these. You can always expand with more in the future if you would like, but this would be a good starting point. They are more expensive than the standard Group 24 battery, but the low temp protection and Bluetooth accessibility is well worth the additional $80 per battery in my opinion.

If you don't mind the group 31 size, there are a few 100AH LiTime batteries that have low temp protection and battery warmers.

In my opinion the advantage of the 100AH batteries are the ease of expansion at a lower per unit cost. You can expand 1 at a time. With the 200AH or 230AH batteries, you can expand, but you would have to expand with a 200AH or 130AH battery. This comes at a higher per unit cost and takes much more space.

That's my opinion. hope it helps.

[reubenray]

I am not sure what the C suffix is, most online seem to be the V. I would verify with Progressive to make sure it is LiFePO4 compatible. Assuming it is, then there is really no limit to the amount of battery you can get. The more battery you have, the longer your system will run off of them. The only difference will be how long it takes to replenish that use from the 60 amp converter, or your solar panel. If you do not boondock, and are just looking for fridge run time while driving or during a power outage, I would just get one or two batteries. I know TucsonJim got the larger LITime batteries (I believe the 230Ah unit) for his rig and seems happy with them. One of those would be the equivalent of probably four flooded lead acid batteries usable power.

I read the Progressive info and it shows how to change the battery type from either FLA, AGM, Lithium or fixed output of 13.6VDC. I just need to locate my converter. The Furrion MPPT 50A right now shows AGM. I would hate to buy a battery today and I can't get to the converter to change the battery type.

Update: Being I have more question than answers plus I have a brand new AGM battery I will put this purchase off until after my trips this year. I will most likely remove the AGM battery this winter and install a lithium battery next spring.

[Yoda]

I read the Progressive info and it shows how to change the battery type from either FLA, AGM, Lithium or fixed output of 13.6VDC. I just need to locate my converter. The Furrion MPPT 50A right now shows AGM. I would hate to buy a battery today and I can't get to the converter to change the battery type.

Update: Being I have more question than answers plus I have a brand new AGM battery I will put this purchase off until after my trips this year. I will most likely remove the AGM battery this winter and install a lithium battery next spring.

As your putting it off watch for future sales in particular Black Friday / Cyber Monday..

[reubenray]

As your putting it off watch for future sales in particular Black Friday / Cyber Monday..

Possibly if there are some sales. The delay will give me time to figure out what type of box I could get or build also. I leave for our first trip in a few weeks and I don't want to be in the middle of a modification right now. Being my trailer is stored being out on trips will give me time to measure in detail what room I do have on the tongue.

[Yoda]

Possibly if there are some sales. The delay will give me time to figure out what type of box I could get or build also. I leave for our first trip in a few weeks and I don't want to be in the middle of a modification right now. Being my trailer is stored being out on trips will give me time to measure in detail what room I do have on the tongue.

Remember unlike flooded batterys the Liyhiun (LiTime can be placed anywhere) including the front pass through as they don need venting. This might give you options for a cool front mounted tool box to store the WHD. I would recommend a locking battery box if going up front. Some folks have used something like this to add more batterys up front too https://www.amazon.com/Stromberg-Car...a-524253905948

Half the fun is searching for ideas and what you want.

Safe travels.

[steveluannj]

If you are not in a rush, don't sweat it. The cost of these components has dropped even since I bought them this winter.

Just so you know, there are a few things you will need to address to use LiFePO4 batteries:

They have a different charging voltage and profile- most modern solar charge controllers have a setting for this, and so do most on board battery chargers. You may need to download manuals or search Youtube to figure out how to adjust this. The good news is, most LiFePO4 batteries can charge up from empty to full in an hour, if your chargers can provide the current- much better than anything else.

It has been stated above, but your usable capacity is 2x what a lead acid battery is, just because they are spec'd to a different standard. This is also in your favor.

The Blinky lights for battery charge in your coach are set up for lead acid battery voltage curves, so you won't get an accurate reading of how much you have left. It will look full until it isn't. You will probably want to add a battery monitor which measures current in and out and keeps track of the charge.

If you have solar, the charger can come on any time, and it is charging below 32 degrees that can damage the battery. LiTIme has a 100 AH and 230 AH model that protect against this. The 100's fit in the same space as your current SLA. The 230 is longer, but still lighter than what you have. My measurements showed that the fridge plus all the other things that draw power used about 5A, so the 100 would last about 20 hours, which is about twice what your current battery can do. ( I have some doubts about my battery shunt meter readings- they seem higher than I expect- still working through that)

Also- if you have solar, you should disconnect the solar from the charge controller before you disconnect the battery. I added a breaker in the circuit to make this easier, and also to protect that circuit from overloads. This is just a side note- it is the same for any battery.

For storage, you may want to remove them more to protect agains theft than to guard against freezing, assuming you have cold temp charge protection.

Good Luck!

[reubenray]

If you are not in a rush, don't sweat it. The cost of these components has dropped even since I bought them this winter.

Just so you know, there are a few things you will need to address to use LiFePO4 batteries:

They have a different charging voltage and profile- most modern solar charge controllers have a setting for this, and so do most on board battery chargers. You may need to download manuals or search Youtube to figure out how to adjust this. The good news is, most LiFePO4 batteries can charge up from empty to full in an hour, if your chargers can provide the current- much better than anything else.

It has been stated above, but your usable capacity is 2x what a lead acid battery is, just because they are spec'd to a different standard. This is also in your favor.

The Blinky lights for battery charge in your coach are set up for lead acid battery voltage curves, so you won't get an accurate reading of how much you have left. It will look full until it isn't. You will probably want to add a battery monitor which measures current in and out and keeps track of the charge.

If you have solar, the charger can come on any time, and it is charging below 32 degrees that can damage the battery. LiTIme has a 100 AH and 230 AH model that protect against this. The 100's fit in the same space as your current SLA. The 230 is longer, but still lighter than what you have. My measurements showed that the fridge plus all the other things that draw power used about 5A, so the 100 would last about 20 hours, which is about twice what your current battery can do. ( I have some doubts about my battery shunt meter readings- they seem higher than I expect- still working through that)

Also- if you have solar, you should disconnect the solar from the charge controller before you disconnect the battery. I added a breaker in the circuit to make this easier, and also to protect that circuit from overloads. This is just a side note- it is the same for any battery.

For storage, you may want to remove them more to protect agains theft than to guard against freezing, assuming you have cold temp charge protection.

Good Luck!

The last statement is why I may get either one 100ah or two 100ah being they will be easier to remove during the winter. The lighter the better for my bad back especially how the current battery box is. It is tucked under the front cap overhang and I have to drag it out. I am wanting to get a battery that has handles or something for picking it up built in.

Would the solar disconnect work to do before I remove the battery?

[acoleman43]

The last statement is why I may get either one 100ah or two 100ah being they will be easier to remove during the winter. The lighter the better for my bad back especially how the current battery box is. It is tucked under the front cap overhang and I have to drag it out. I am wanting to get a battery that has handles or something for picking it up built in.

Would the solar disconnect work to do before I remove the battery?

Yes, you add a disconnect between the solar panels and solar charge controller. You simply flip the switch, then remove your batteries. Super easy. When re-installing your batteries, you install the batteries, then flip the switch back on.

As far as batteries, my opinion for you would be this battery from LiTime (there is a $20 off code with it) https://www.litime.com/products/liti...-1280wh-energy This battery is 100AH, group 24 size with low temp protection and Bluetooth connectivity and weighs just 22 pounds. At $310 (with $20 coupon), it's not a bad deal at all.

[steveluannj]

The last statement is why I may get either one 100ah or two 100ah being they will be easier to remove during the winter. The lighter the better for my bad back especially how the current battery box is. It is tucked under the front cap overhang and I have to drag it out. I am wanting to get a battery that has handles or something for picking it up built in.

Would the solar disconnect work to do before I remove the battery?

Before you put in a disconnect, you would pull a wire from the solar panel to the charge controller before you disconnect the battery. Once you have the panels disconnected, you can splice in the breaker. Then just make sure you have the battery connected before you close the breaker. You can see my breaker to to the right of the charge controller- the small white box.


One reason I went with one large battery is that charging them in parallel you sometimes need to rebalance the 2 cells by charging each one all the way individually. If also saves on those huge expensive copper wires to connect them up. :-)