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Good gracious just a few minutes in and you say lead acid full at 13.6v which is totally wrong. You need to get them to 14.4v and hold them there until the current drops to 1.5% ish of capacity and then drop to a float voltage of around 13.6-13.7. Lithium can be got to full at 14v in fact below that but it takes a lot longer. The actual problem you get is the lithium can cause the alternator to overheat as they can absorb so much current due to their low internal resistance. A car alternator typically outputs 14.2-14.4v unless it’s a ‘smart’ one and are simply not suitable for RV use without a dc-dc charger. Taking lithium to 14.6v is not necessary and that is in fact their upper limit and charging with a lower voltage will actually cause them to be overcharged as they won’t cut off. You really need a charging source that will cut off at a lower voltage, this is much easier than boosting the alternator voltage and driving the BMS to disconnect. My lithiums disconnect charging at 14.1v which gives enough time to do some balancing and doesn’t push the upper envelope where they don’t like to be and it only misses out on a fraction of a percent of capacity for a longer life. I would not advocate a lithium battery without a programmable BMS that can be set to suit your use. The ones with non programmable ones are set more as last ditch protection r systems rather than a management system. I’m sorry if you cover this later but this stopped me in my tracks.

The manual for my Jayco travel trailer says to "...install a DC to DC power converter between the tow vehicle battery charge line and the trailer lithium battery(s) to prevent lithium battery damage." Is this the same as the DC to DC charger you recommend?

what does a system like this cost?

So glad I ran across this. My two T105 batteries are at end of life, and I"m going to replace with a 200 ah litime lithium, and add the Victron Smart Shunt. We do mostly off grid camping, and charge with a generator. Will something like the Victron Victron Blue Smart 12V IP65 Battery Charger be my best option if I don't want to bother replacing the converter in my camper? Or can I run off the DC line from my Yamaha generator straight to the lithium batteries?

Thanks for this clear explanation on the compatibility of existing RV systems and tow vehicle alternator charge circuits to lithium batteries. I have an older 5th wheel rv (no solar) and need to replace my worn out lead acid batteries. I was considering switching to lithium but after checking my converter, it has an output rating of only 13.6V. Thanks to your video I will stick with my same lead acid battery arrangement by using two 6V Golf Cart batteries hooked in series to make 12V. It has served me well for the past 5 years.

Great video, very informative and in plain English. excellent.

14.6V does not make sense. Lithium are 4.2V max per cell. 3 cells series are 12.6V, 4 cells series are 16.8V Clearly 14.6V is nonsensical. The only way to make it work is to have a BMS for the cells [3] and a boost converter to create the 14.6V, maybe you could use 4 cells with a BMS along with a buck converter. I don't know how they are getting the 14.6V rating unless it's not Lithium-Ion.

Thanks for explaining the Lithium battery issues to be aware of. It saved me a lot of trouble.

Best plain language explanation I’ve ever heard. 💪👍💯

Its not great to fully charge lithuim batterys to the full voltages consistently as it reduces the battery life ,so if you want a long lasting battery bank for something your better off getting more batterys and reducing the maximum end of charge voltage .

due to the charge curve of LiFePO4 battery's 13.6 is actually almost completely full, about 98% that last 2% is very steep on the curve and does not account for much capacity going any higher than that. just makes it easy for cheap bms systems to balance cells when you try go for 14+ volts at the expense of some cycle life of the battery. I charge my SOK battery to 13.8v and it still charges at 50amps until it hits about 95% then starts to slow down.

13.8 volt will charge 99% on a lipo4. 14.4/6 volt is wat the cell is maximaal can do 3.65 volt . Its not oke to charge to that point . The best is 3.50 volt on a cell. You do not use the bms to shutdown your charger or disconnect the systeem. So you stay under it or above the disconnect from the bms Your relaise will worn down faster . The best is that the charge shutdown on 13.8 volt and go to float to 13.6 volt. If you have a charger and solar charger . This is what i do my self . Charger load the battery to 13.4 volt and float to 13.2 volt . This way i have battery charge from 0-60% by the charger and if the solar charge go on it thake over and shutdown the normal charger . The mmpt from the solar charge charge with 13.8 volt and float to 13.6 volt . The charger will shutdown and stop charging. This is how my boat is connect to solar charger and the wallpower from the port on the main powe line . This way on the day i charge by solar . And in the night i can use lipo4 wat i have charge by solar and if the battry go to low the charger wil hold the battery stabel on that 60% So long i'm on the port with my boat. I only use 40% of my lipo4 . If the power go down on the port i still have 60% so the 2x freezer stay working . And if i go from the port i can use the battery 100% The lipo4 is charge by a dc/dc charger connect on the engine lead battery . Wat is connect on the engine. Renogy dc/dc charger I use model . 12V 20A DC to DC On-Board Battery Charger. It have the lipo4 charger selection on it . And have auto start if the engine run.

Well done.thank you

Brilliant video…! I’ve not seen anyone mention the importance of the voltage limits on circuit current protection devices.

Great video mate. I have one question. I’m installing one in a ford ranger tub. You say nothing else can go on the negative terminal other than the wire from shunt. So does that mean I even take the earth wire off of my battery? Therefore I should earth the shunt? Correct?

super vid

i need to replace our trailer battery, i guess an agm battery would be much simpler than lithium (and far cheaper). do you recommend a particular brand? we are in canada, so some different brands of course

How to incorporate an EcoFlow inverter/generator, solar panel and lithium battery on my 2021 RV trailer?

Well done ! Thank you

Appreciate the advice, thanks so much. I’ve just installed the smart shunt. First step to switching to lithium. Some of us are still running 2 6v. Are the factory settings good for the 6v?

ABC's and ABC's are very important ! Thanks you for your video.

All 12 vdc lithium ion batteries are a LFP also know as lithium iron phosphate chemistry. They all are 4 cells in series with a nominal voltage of 3.3 vdc per cell. Some LFP manufactures claim a 3.2 vdc nominal voltage. There is very little amp hours stored above these nominal voltages. So 14 vdc divided by 4 in series is 3.5 vdc. 13.6 vdc divided by 4= 3.4 vdc. To make your claims you really need to measure the amp hours stored above 3.4 vdc. You will find that that level is insignificant.

i love how the new vicktron charge controllers require you to pry apart the internal inductors and basically snap the board in half if you want to open them up and replace a fuse or solder in a new cap after it drys out and fails in 5-10 years. straight to the landfill.

One very important question is do you know JESUS CHRIST AS YOUR PERSONAL LORD AND SAVIOR?

Excellent! My only nit is that you setup the "Discharge Floor" to 10%...which makes sense to me...but the Victron display (near the end of the video) shows it back up to 50%. We are putting one in next week and your video is a great help. Thanks again!

Fantastico, ottima spiegazione, grazie ancora delle informazioni-

Bellissimo video, davvero molto interessante, ti ringrazio, buona giornata.

Do you recommend putting the thin red wire on the positive battery post or the positive bus bar?

If I have two 100Ah batteries wired in series for 24 V. Would I set my victron smart shunt to 100ah or 200Ah. Thank you this was very helpful

are you going to discuss whether you need internet connection for firmware update and what if you don't have internet connection at site.

Are ip67 connectors the same as MC4 connectors?

Iv'e heard a lot of comments on lithium doesn't like the cold weather.. whats your take on that? Also does lithium need to be vented like the lead acid? I have a camper and was considering making the move but would like to store battery in the camper?? thanks great video..

Brilliant! Thank you very much for sharing. Solved the problem I was having. I'd connected the negative pole of the charger directly to the battery instead of to the system negative, and thiswas mesing up the reading. Now it's working perfectly! Subscribed!

😢 There is plenty space over there, that poor panel could have been serving some small load in a corner, left alone with an ESP32 or something. I see the intend behind the sacrifice, but.. 🙂

Our caravan is lithium and they are certainly not drop in. We have a matched system from Enerdrive of a 200amp lithium battery and dc-dec and ac chargers. The chargers monitor the battery and can shut it down if the voltage goes over 14 volts or below 12.5 volts. The charging system keeps the battery safe. The chargers should be left active all the time, even when the caravan is stored. Each 7 days the Enerdrive system wakes up, tests the battery, charges as necessary and then turns off, but continues to monitor the battery.

you know that breaking the solar panels is extremely toxic right?

Great explanation

VERY informative sir!!! Thank you, Ed.

Will shunt work to monitor state of charge on a Lead Acid batterysystem ?

The other thing people don’t consider is where the battery is stored. LiPo and LiFePo4 are excellent batteries, but need to be kept away from extreme temperatures (hot and cold). Some have built in BMS systems with battery heaters to help in the cold, and also shutdown the battery to avoid a thermal runaway scenario, but generally an engine bay is a bad area for them. Also, a lot of vehicles are now equipped with “smart” alternators that will easily output 14.xx volts depending on the load requirement.

Sure wish you were closer......We LOVE boondocking, and have a pretty good setup right now with lead acid batteries . We built it on a strict budget and bought items when they were on sale ( some items might not be the best quality), but it's working.. We would like to go Lithium, but the cost is kinda frightning. We have 4 - 100W solar panels that work GREAT for us. Maybe when it's time to replace the flooded batteries, we should see what the cost to switch will cost us. THANKS for this video.

At 20:20 it would be great to have a insulating bushing, to prevent road vibration and potentially sharp edges from the drilled hole from shorting the panels over time. Really great video overall though. 👍

Why do I have to start replacing things in my boat. If the outboard doesn't charge the lithium, what's the difference? I'm plugging in my lithium starting battery at the end of the day at the dock and letting the onboard charger do the work.

DVCC on your GX device allows you to reduce the charge rate below the setting in the MP2.

nothing there is correct 13,6v out is just the float voltage all chargers have a at least 3 stage charging curve constant current up to 14,3-14,5V then absorption at that voltage and then moving back down to 13,5-13,8V and that is perfectly ok for a lifpo4 battery. and most alternators will charge 14V+ att anything over idle, the only consideration for alternators is current draw.

A lead acid needs to charge to 14.4 + or - depending on temp. 13.7 is float. 14.4 is a perfect charge voltage for lithium as well.

Great vid thank you

I'm glad I watched your video. I'm getting ready for a cross country trip in our RV. Both of my current lead acid batteries are junk. I was going to replace with Lithium. But after watching your video, I'll stick with the lead acid one's for now. You saved me a lot of grief. Thank you for posting your video!! You explained it very well for the average person to understand.

just keep it simple is the best way

Hello a limthi. Charger well it damage a led battery?