Replace OEM PD9260C with 80amp PD9180ALV?

[Mike & Rebecca]

Trying to keep my lithium battery install project as simple as possible since 95% of the time I'm in a park with full hookups.

Was looking to replace the OEM 60amp Progressive converter to the 60amp lithium model from Progressive to go along with a new 206Ah lithium battery. It looks like the converter swap is pretty simple and within my limited willingness to perform my own work.

But then I was thinking about the future and possibly adding a second 206Ah lithium in 2-3 years. It looks like the SOK 206Ah battery has a recommended charge current of 40amps. Does recommended 40amp charge current X 2 batteries mean an 80amp converter would be required to charge 2 batteries? Will the 60amp converter be adequate to charge the 2 batteries (albeit at a slower pace) or will that have unexpected consequences, and I'll end up replacing the converter a second time? My concern here is will the 60amp converter somehow damage the two batteries or just not work at all?

I'm weighing that against the concern that according to eTrailer reps I would need to wire the 80amp converter to a 20-amp service instead of whatever service the current 60amp converter is connected to. Based upon the info from eTrailer I'm assuming the 60amp converter is probably serviced by something less than 20amp. So that means I would need to figure out how and where to connect the new converter. Or I may just pay my favorite RV shop to install it for me.

Then weighing that install issue against the fact that it's entirely possible I never upgrade to a second battery. If the 206Ah has the capacity to run the 12v fridge, a couple of lights, and the water pump for 24 hours (then I can run the generator) I'll probably just run with the one battery. In my 18 years of using the old 5th wheel off grid for 3-4 days max at a time, and with a horribly maintained lead acid battery, I know how to conserve energy use. I basically use the trailer as a very nice tent. But the new 12v fridge sounds like it's a pretty significant drain and there's no way around that. So I'll need to be able to power that for enough time to not be running the generator all day long.

[Guest]

Mike,

Does your rig have a factory supplied solar panel? If so, installing the 60 amp converter and starting with a single battery would be worth a try. There are other brands of batteries that will accept up to a100amp charge where the general rule is 50% of the battery capacity or 0.5C for maximum longevity. For instance a 100ah battery should generally be charged at 50 amps.

Jim

[Mike & Rebecca]

Mike,

Does your rig have a factory supplied solar panel? If so, installing the 60 amp converter and starting with a single battery would be worth a try. There are other brands of batteries that will accept up to a100amp charge where the general rule is 50% of the battery capacity or 0.5C for maximum longevity. For instance a 100ah battery should generally be charged at 50 amps.

Jim

Jim, we have a 165W factory supplied solar panel and the 50amp Furrion MPPT solar charger. I got my recommended charging figures from SOK's website. Seems the "recommended" is 40amps and the maximum is anywhere from 50 to 70 depending upon the model. Obviously, I like the idea of just going with 1 battery and the 60 amp as that appears to be a very simple install.

[Jlawles2]

I thought the slower you charged a battery the better as it helps minimize heat generation. I know LiPO are different and can take a higher rate of charge.

Now I would not expect to try and charge batteries at 5 amps, but it should not be impossible.

[Country Campers]

Sounds like you are flirting with the "rabbit hole" that I and others try to avoid. If you go with the easy swap out you can always sell the 60 amp charger and then upgrade to a larger one if you add more batteries. If you are doing a 60 amp to 60 amp swap you should be ok with the wiring, if you go bigger like 100 amps then you will need to change the wiring, if you put the converter/charger in the stock location.

As I have went down this road recently I would recommend that you do what you will use now and then change in the future if needed. When I did mine it started with the simple battery install, 2 batteries actually, then solar and then I was thinking Victron Multiplus , remember the rabbit hole I mentioned earlier. I stopped at the Multiplus because we just won't use it , for now at least. It is in the future for sure which may be a year or 2 down the road. My intentions is to broaden the capabilities of the rig which in turn will allow us to do different things and go different places.

It may cost a little extra down the road but the simple plan now and then see how it goes, you can always add on but if you have a bunch of stuff and do not use it, well that is just silly.

Just my 2 cents, payable in peanuts.

Brian

[ncitro]

I agree with Brian, the 60 amp won't hurt anything, it'll just charge slower. If you upgraded to a larger converter you'd not only have to possibly upgrade the supply circuit to 20A but the output wires off the converter would need to be upgraded. Those factory wires are I believe 6AWG, and would not handle 80A. You'd want to go to 4AWG or even 2AWG. At that point you'd probably want to look at moving the converter closer to the batteries to reduce the length of that large copper wire (another part of the rabbit hole Brian mentioned).

[Mike & Rebecca]

Thanks ncitro and Country Campers - I'll keep it simple. I don't get the trailer back from the dealer until 3 days before the next trip so I'll probably be mid-March before I can work on my install. I appreciate the insight.