LiTime sent me one of these lithium chargers for free.. Never used it yet.. I think it's the 40a model. Why free you might be asking.. because I bought Four of the 400a lithiums ($4800) for my Rv solar system.. yep.. 1600Ah.. Each one is 83 lbs. Got them here inside my trailer. Gonna be taking one of them with me in my cabover down to my property down in AZ soon and live the offgrid life. Gotta go get the land setup with a pad for this. Lack of sun hours is why I'm happy with the 30a shore power. 2400w here but have almost 6k watts of panels. I love the RV life too.
That’s going to be a great set up. LiTime has been great to work with. Nice jester sending the 40A. Will be a good backup with a generator for those extended bad weather days.
I have used the 60 amp Litime charger for at least 5 months on the road. We had 3 100 amp hour batteries. Worked great, then got 710 watts of solar. So not so much on the charger now. But together we could do about anything full time off grid for ever, well if we could get gas.
Will a little red Honda 2200i generator run this charger? I believe I have 120V 20A to work with. This would solve a lot of my problems. Thanks!! Subscribed!
The 2200i has a constant 1800 watt output. The unit required 14A at 120V. That should b 1680 watts. You’ll be near the top end of the inverter, but should be able to handle the load.
I have one of them EU2000i Hondas.. it's max output is 11A.. or 1120 watts. So yes, it'll charge it. It'll just take longer.. 1/2 or 3/4 of a gallon of gas.. is cheap.
Thanks a lot for the awesome video and detailed review! It’s really cleared up a lot of my confusion. With so many lithium battery brands out there, it’s been tough to know which one to choose. Your video has definitely boosted my confidence in LiTime batteries. However, I’m still curious about how the LiTime 12V 140Ah Dual Purpose Starting battery performs. Do you plan to review this battery in any future videos? That would really help me make a better decision. Thanks again!
For lithium batteries rule of thumb is a lower amperage charge will increase and prolong the battery life, unless really needed 80amps for myself is excessive.
I disagree. The manufacturer of the battery recommends charging amps. These larger batteries max charge capacity substantially higher than 80 amps. The LiTime 300 specs state charging up to 200 amps.
@@iLoveRVlife You must be in a hurry, remember these are chemical batteries not led acid, an 80amp hour charge to me is excessive, but your battery not mine. Hopefully you will not have combustion.
While the temperature of the case and the cables is good to know I believe you should also check the temperature of any connections, such as the Anderson connector and the terminals on the battery. I would also check check each plug on the AC cord, where it plugs into the wall and where it plugs into the charger it's self. I had an AC power cord that melted at the end where it plugs into the wall. The cord was nice and cool but there must have been a manufacturing fault connecting the wire of the cord to the prongs that plug into the wall. I now check the temperature anywhere there is a connection of one conductor to another.
All good points. Not shown in the video, but all were checked. Plugs and connectors were slightly cooler, and and post on the battery was around 90. I’ve been using for a couple weeks on 300 and 460 Ah batteries. Performance has been similar in all cases.
Thank you for being one of the few who tells the power draw of the LIFEPO4 chargers. Do you have the equipment to check the power factor or calculate the true volt-amps? Many battery chargers have very poor power factors so there is a big difference between the watts and volt amps on a meter. Generators although rated in watts really produce power in volt-amps. If a small generator is rated for 1000 watts but the battery charger input meter shows 900 watts and the power factor is really .5 the generator will stall or shut off because it cannot produce the 1800 volt-amps needed. A T Burke
I don’t have a meter for volt amps. Just Ohms Law of volts X amps = watts. 120V AC X 14A (tested at the plug as shown 7 minutes in video) = 1680 watts. A 2000 watt generator or larger should do the trick.
Hey Jerry. I do have a question and hopefully I use the right words and don’t confuse you. Haha. I just installed a 300 amp hour lithium battery in our 2017 camper and the converter in the camper was only for lead acid. It was a 55 amp charge converter. I bought a new lithium 55 amp converter and installed it and have experienced exactly what you said. If the battery is down to 50% it takes about 15 hours or so to charge it to 100%. That’s too long to run a generator just to charge up the battery, eh? lol. From what I understand in your video here, I could simply use this 80 amp charger as a separate unit? Could I just plug it into a generator and then attach the leads with alligator clips to the battery? If so that’s awesome! Then I could just use the 55 amp converter I installed in the camper as a float charger when plugged into shore power. I just wanted to get your take on that since I’m not even close to an expert on this stuff. I know I’m probably missing something here. lol.
Sorry, I’ll try again. No problem using with alligator clips when plugged into a generator. Using the existing charger that is for lead acid would not bring the battery to full charge. It will charge the battery, but lessen life over time. You could installed the charger as an option, leave plugged in, and leave the existing charge operating. It would supplement the current charger and keep the battery fully charged.
I have a 3000 watt all in one inverter that has a 60 amps 24 volt battery charger built in. I paid 399 for the inverter. It's not even that big I use it in RV.
I bet this reply is going to generate a bunch of comments. The rule of thumb is you shouldn’t. I’ve tested and haven’t had any issues, but not something I’ve posted on TH-cam. The issue deals with the different BMS. The batteries will discharge at different values based on size. You may have balance issues charging and you shouldn’t exceed the max amps for the battery with the least maximum output. Another option would be to use a 3 position battery switch. Put the 300 on one leg and parallel the 2 - 200s on the other. You can run the 300 till it gets low, switch to the 200s and charge the 300, then reverse the process. Would eliminate the mixed BMS issues and still give you a substantial amount of power. Just use a shunt on the main negative feed to monitor.
I like big batteries, I can not lie.
Me too!
I have 2, 300 ah batteries in transit to me now here in Alaska and this video answers many questions I have had being off grid. Thank you.
Good to hear you found the video helpful.
Be sure and MAX out the solar.
LiTime sent me one of these lithium chargers for free.. Never used it yet.. I think it's the 40a model. Why free you might be asking.. because I bought Four of the 400a lithiums ($4800) for my Rv solar system.. yep.. 1600Ah.. Each one is 83 lbs. Got them here inside my trailer. Gonna be taking one of them with me in my cabover down to my property down in AZ soon and live the offgrid life. Gotta go get the land setup with a pad for this. Lack of sun hours is why I'm happy with the 30a shore power. 2400w here but have almost 6k watts of panels. I love the RV life too.
That’s going to be a great set up. LiTime has been great to work with. Nice jester sending the 40A. Will be a good backup with a generator for those extended bad weather days.
I have used the 60 amp Litime charger for at least 5 months on the road. We had 3 100 amp hour batteries. Worked great, then got 710 watts of solar. So not so much on the charger now. But together we could do about anything full time off grid for ever, well if we could get gas.
Hope we don’t see it come to the latter. Good to hear the 60A charge worked well.
You really got me looking at the 300amp hr. Battery and charger.
Reasonably priced and a strong set up.
Will a little red Honda 2200i generator run this charger? I believe I have 120V 20A to work with. This would solve a lot of my problems. Thanks!! Subscribed!
The 2200i has a constant 1800 watt output. The unit required 14A at 120V. That should b 1680 watts. You’ll be near the top end of the inverter, but should be able to handle the load.
I have one of them EU2000i Hondas.. it's max output is 11A.. or 1120 watts. So yes, it'll charge it. It'll just take longer.. 1/2 or 3/4 of a gallon of gas.. is cheap.
I would prefer an adjustable amp output...
Prices so cheap on lifeP04 batteries. I bought a 100 amp hour lifeP04 battery for $149. The lead acid starter battery on my truck was $239.00
I know. Pricing is great now.
Thanks a lot for the awesome video and detailed review! It’s really cleared up a lot of my confusion. With so many lithium battery brands out there, it’s been tough to know which one to choose. Your video has definitely boosted my confidence in LiTime batteries. However, I’m still curious about how the LiTime 12V 140Ah Dual Purpose Starting battery performs. Do you plan to review this battery in any future videos? That would really help me make a better decision. Thanks again!
Glad to hear the video was helpful. Unfortunately I don’t have access to the 140Ah battery.
For lithium batteries rule of thumb is a lower amperage charge will increase and prolong the battery life, unless really needed 80amps for myself is excessive.
I disagree. The manufacturer of the battery recommends charging amps. These larger batteries max charge capacity substantially higher than 80 amps. The LiTime 300 specs state charging up to 200 amps.
@@iLoveRVlife You must be in a hurry, remember these are chemical batteries not led acid, an 80amp hour charge to me is excessive, but your battery not mine. Hopefully you will not have combustion.
Great video thanks you God Bless
Thanks Ray
While the temperature of the case and the cables is good to know I believe you should also check the temperature of any connections, such as the Anderson connector and the terminals on the battery. I would also check check each plug on the AC cord, where it plugs into the wall and where it plugs into the charger it's self. I had an AC power cord that melted at the end where it plugs into the wall. The cord was nice and cool but there must have been a manufacturing fault connecting the wire of the cord to the prongs that plug into the wall. I now check the temperature anywhere there is a connection of one conductor to another.
All good points. Not shown in the video, but all were checked. Plugs and connectors were slightly cooler, and and post on the battery was around 90. I’ve been using for a couple weeks on 300 and 460 Ah batteries. Performance has been similar in all cases.
Agreed they get hot at 80 amps
Thank you for being one of the few who tells the power draw of the LIFEPO4 chargers. Do you have the equipment to check the power factor or calculate the true volt-amps? Many battery chargers have very poor power factors so there is a big difference between the watts and volt amps on a meter. Generators although rated in watts really produce power in volt-amps. If a small generator is rated for 1000 watts but the battery charger input meter shows 900 watts and the power factor is really .5 the generator will stall or shut off because it cannot produce the 1800 volt-amps needed.
A T Burke
I don’t have a meter for volt amps. Just Ohms Law of volts X amps = watts. 120V AC X 14A (tested at the plug as shown 7 minutes in video) = 1680 watts. A 2000 watt generator or larger should do the trick.
I just looked up the price 239 , not bad. For the amount of power.
I thought so and good safety features too.
Hey Jerry. I do have a question and hopefully I use the right words and don’t confuse you. Haha. I just installed a 300 amp hour lithium battery in our 2017 camper and the converter in the camper was only for lead acid. It was a 55 amp charge converter. I bought a new lithium 55 amp converter and installed it and have experienced exactly what you said. If the battery is down to 50% it takes about 15 hours or so to charge it to 100%. That’s too long to run a generator just to charge up the battery, eh? lol. From what I understand in your video here, I could simply use this 80 amp charger as a separate unit? Could I just plug it into a generator and then attach the leads with alligator clips to the battery? If so that’s awesome! Then I could just use the 55 amp converter I installed in the camper as a float charger when plugged into shore power. I just wanted to get your take on that since I’m not even close to an expert on this stuff. I know I’m probably missing something here. lol.
LifeP04 batteries have a BMS battery monitoring system which hopefully will protect your battery system from high amperage and voltage overloads.
@@wrxs1781ok thanks, but that doesn’t answer my question. lol.
Good question and yes to all. Make sure heavy duty alligator clips are use. With this much amperage, loose connections would get very hot.
All of the batteries I’ve reviewed have over load and over temp protection during charging and use.
Sorry, I’ll try again. No problem using with alligator clips when plugged into a generator. Using the existing charger that is for lead acid would not bring the battery to full charge. It will charge the battery, but lessen life over time. You could installed the charger as an option, leave plugged in, and leave the existing charge operating. It would supplement the current charger and keep the battery fully charged.
I have a 3000 watt all in one inverter that has a 60 amps 24 volt battery charger built in. I paid 399 for the inverter. It's not even that big I use it in RV.
That’s a good value.
What is the charge profile? Bulk 14.6V. What is the float voltage?
I have Four of their 400Ah batteries and like most other good quality lithiums.. float at 14.2, and rest at 13.6
@ I got that. The question was more what the charger does?
Nothing shown in the specs. Testing showed 13.5V at rest.
Question if I already have two, 200 amp lithium batteries, the same brand at your looking at can you mix a 300 amp with those two 200 A
I bet this reply is going to generate a bunch of comments. The rule of thumb is you shouldn’t. I’ve tested and haven’t had any issues, but not something I’ve posted on TH-cam. The issue deals with the different BMS. The batteries will discharge at different values based on size. You may have balance issues charging and you shouldn’t exceed the max amps for the battery with the least maximum output. Another option would be to use a 3 position battery switch. Put the 300 on one leg and parallel the 2 - 200s on the other. You can run the 300 till it gets low, switch to the 200s and charge the 300, then reverse the process. Would eliminate the mixed BMS issues and still give you a substantial amount of power. Just use a shunt on the main negative feed to monitor.
So how big of a generator is required to operate it?
Our tests showed 1640 watts or 14A of AC power during charging. A 2k generator or larger should work well.
I hope you're a GT fan
They had a great game today. Big upset. Will be going to the Bulldog vs Tech game and will be red and black shooting Go Dawgs!