Switching From Lead Acid to Lithium RV Battery | Will It Work For You?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ต.ค. 2024
- In Luv Subbin Episode 281, we show you how to convert your RV from flooded lead acid batteries to Battleborn lithium batteries. We discuss the reasons why we chose lithium, why we did not chose AGM, and finally, why we went with Battleborn versus some other options. Then we get into the conversion itself. We show you how we changed over our converter, switched the lug nuts, and entered the new data into our Victron BMV. Finally, we finish with some infrared imaging of our battery set-up.
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Congrats on the battery upgrade. Perhaps someday we will make the leap to lithium, just haven’t seen a need just yet. Safe travels.
Thanks guys! So far so good. We tested it for four days of boondocking and never fell below 69% and that included hooking up Starlink to our inverter and downloading this video.
Your logic was sound going with lithium. Look forward to hearing how it works out on the road. Glad Cindy can turn on lights now. 😊-Jim & Michelle
Thanks guys! Cindy has not been regulated once this trip! We even uploaded this video with Starlink and our inverter running.
Love my new DC/DC charger! This allows me to run fans and 12v fridge while we’re packing for a trip without dragging out the heavy 50a cable. We arrive at the campsite with full batteries.
Thanks for watching! Yes, especially for the folks with the 12V fridge a DC-DC charger makes sense. We're testing things as we speak to see if we need one.
@@LuvSubbin I installed the Victron 12/12 - 18 directly in the power line from the 7-pin. That takes the F150 BMS vagaries out of the equation. I can see solar, shunt, and truck charging on the Victron app while driving. Just another way to ensure sufficient charge, including times when the convertor fails.
@@craigwalker6444 I'm still trying to understand things. With my old lead acids, when I turned the truck on with the 7 pin connected, I saw about a 5 - 6 amp charge flowing into the battery. I repeated this with the Battleborn and got zero charge going in with the truck running. I'm wondering if the battery is shutting off the charge, thus making an argument for a DC - DC charge.
@@LuvSubbin I had the same experience. Now the DC-DC charger has the LiFePO charge profile, something the truck doesn’t understand. Using the wire from the 7-pin made it a straightforward install.
The world needs Amp Man!!!
Thanks for watching! Amp Man is still around, just in a much more sedate temperament - I'm still using my eclipse glasses to align my portable solar panel perfectly.
Amp Man aligns the Sun to suit his solar panels!! Lol 🌞
Congratulations on moving into the modern era! Awesome sauce! Safe travels
Thanks Cotton Tales! Boondocking as we speak at a Vermont State Park and it is performing wonderfully.
Congratulations on the conversion! The channel still needs AmpMan! The mission, should you accept it, is to determine how long the 75 amp Li battery can last while boondocking! The viewers want to know!
Thanks Mike! Many Superhero's come back later so we'll see. So far, we are doing great boondocking and probably could go on as long as our holding tanks don't need emptying...
I found when making connections outside (35yrs in the electric utility business) after crimping the terminal on the wire to heat it and apply solder; that will help stopping the connection from corroding during inclement weather.
Thanks for watching and that's a great tip. I've not done that before but will check out some videos for the proper technique.
One option for you would be to build a "upper loft" for a 2nd battery. I have seen it done with the same "L-channel" steel that holds your current battery but has welded uprights and cross members for a 2nd battery above the current one to achieve the same footprint. Just a thought. Double your amps. ????
Thanks for watching! That's a great idea that I'll keep in my back pocket. Right now we're 3 days into our trip and have never been below 69% - even with hooking up Starlink off the inverter to upload this video...
Dc to dc is a great way to leave the generator at home. Long trips will keep your battery charged as compared to the lower voltage/lower amperage in the 7 way charge pin.
Awesome video👍
Thanks for watching! Yes, we're monitoring the situation closely. Hopefully the generator will only be needed for a little burst or air conditioning on a 100F day (we have an Easy Start).
@@LuvSubbin I ended up with the Renogy 60 amp and we throttled it in half to preserve the alternator. We typically travel 8 hours a day when we travel and we have the compressor refrigerator. My concern was rainy days(solar) and the batteries maintaining the refrigerator.👍
DC to DC : you wouldn’t need to depend on your extra solar panels to charge your battery. Just makes good sense to drive and charge. We would love to get it. 😊
Thanks Tina! My truck will still charge. I'll get some data for the video next week regarding how well it does.
We have Battle Born lithium batteries, too.
Thanks for watching. So far so good on our boondocking test trip.
Wait to see if you have the need and if you do then get the DC2DC charger. I'm sure that is your plan,
Thanks for watching! Yes, that's the plan. Hopefully it won't take 22 years to make such a decision!
I’m buying your arguments on DC2DC. It does pay off when you boondock from one state park to another on a rainy week. But… you already have your trusty Honda when this situation occurs.
Question I had was around 7 pin connection. You now have two different chemistry in parallel with different resistances. To make the matter worse, your Battleborn can self protect and shut itself off at any time which could lead to alternators diode blowing up. Best solution would be to isolate your lithium from your truck. Can this be achieved by removing the 7 pin charging fuse from your F150? Is there a fuse in the Aistream for this? Am I completely off and worry too much?
Thanks for your video. Thanks for your channel.
Thanks for watching and you have given me food for thought. My understanding (a very limited understanding) is that the truck is just sending a "dumb" charge back into the battery bank via the alternator. I do not think they are in parallel with the truck's AGM starter. Lithium requires a special charging algorithm to get the full benefit but a dumb or AGM charge won't hurt it - it just won't be fully charged. Still, I will continue to research so thanks.
@@LuvSubbin I thought that both batteries were in parallel, but I believe you're right, they might be isolated already. When I turn my F-150 off (2023), my Victron shunt is not showing a draw towards my F-150. This tells me they're isolated already - will have to check the Ford truck forums.
With regards to the trickle charge that the alternator provides, while not optimal, it can't hurt. That would be a true statement for LA, GEL or AGM (all dumb) batteries that are always ready to accept a charge with Ohm's law ultimately regulating what that charge should be. But in the case of LiFePO4s, they're not dumb, their BMS are in full control of accepting a charge or not and with the ability to shutdown charge and discharge at any point in time.
It's that aspect that gets me confused and worried - I'm reading that this can result into a Dirac kind of voltage spike that will trip the diode of the alternator. Disconnecting the 7 pin charge wire (fuse 107, the trailer tow battery charge fuse on my F-150) fully isolates the TV alternator from the Lithium battery and therefore protects your TV alternator. Unlike a DC to DC charger or a Solar controller, a truck alternator is not smart (at least I don't believe mine is).
I'll keep digging to find out if my worries are founded or not.
I know you will too... 😆
We have two Lithionics batteries-also made in the U.S.A.
Thanks for watching! Somehow, Lithionics did not show up in my search for Made in USA batteries. Regardless, that's great that there are choices out there.
American made is definitely the way to go! Thank you for all the informative videos, love your channel.
Thanks so much for watching and the super nice comment on our videos. Yes, supporting American workers is important to us. While I was on the phone with them, they invited us to tour their facility so hopefully we can do that (plus, Reno sounds like fun).
How about a blue eddy to help out
Thanks for watching! We're keeping an eye on the Jackery or Bluetti for the future. We can certainly see some uses.
Great video! I hate to ask, but ... what is a DC-to-DC charger?
Thanks for watching! Trucks do not send much charge through the 7 pin connector. If you have a massive battery bank, your truck will barely charge the bank during a typical tow day. Therefore, people install heavy duty dedicated cables right from the truck's alternator directly to the battery. This can provide the juice needed to charge a large bank or a very depleted bank.
Congrats - welcome to the 21st century.
Thanks for watching! I went kicking and screaming but the 21st century is looking pretty good...
Great video- I just realized that somehow I got unsubscribed from your channel- I gotta keep an eye on that 🍻
Thanks for watching and we're glad you liked the video and re-subscribed. Sometimes TH-cam does that for no apparent reason...
Is it enough to turn off battery switch when working on the converter or does the battery need to be disconnected completely? Thx!
Thanks for watching! In my opinion, it is acceptable to turn off the battery disconnect before doing 12V electrical work. Whenever a switch is relied on to disconnect power, I would double check by checking the 12V terminals or, as a minimum, trying to turn on some lights to ensure the switch worked.
@@LuvSubbin Thanks! fellow VT-er here and apprecaite your mentioning campgrounds around the state other than the state parks, although I love the VSP's. Hope to "run into" you somewhere along the way.
If you are going to back to back boondocking sites that don't allow generators then DC to DC charging is great. Otherwise, don't waist your time on it. I just installed one one my truck because we are leaving for a 3 month long trip where we will be doing some boondocking that don't allow generators and they are only an hour apart.
Thanks for watching! Yes, we going to get some real world experience before investing in a DC2DC system.
Well well well.😂😂😂😂
Thanks for watching! Yes, we have entered the modern world...
No first agen
Thanks for watching! It's not always great to be first. I recently saw a quote from Stephen Wright - "The early bird gets the worm but the second mouse gets the cheese".
It's as easy as A-B-C. Anywhere But China! If it's not something we really need, we do without!
Thanks for watching! We're with you. Sometimes it's unavoidable but where we can - especially for big ticket items - we like supporting American workers.
OK for our AirStream🚐 #EscapePodWeHadToDrainOurBattleBornBatteries2TimesBeforeTheConverterWouldExceptThem. Look at you converter if you have a green light or blue light, you need a blue light
Thanks for watching! Very interesting - I'll check that (we're answering comments at a pizzeria so I don't have to hook up Starlink). I do know that it's charging to the lithium algorithm because I was watching the charge profile...