For those who can't afford a 200AH battery, i have started with one LiFePo4 100Ah battery. I will buy three more one at a time as i can afford them until i can have the desired size battery bank to power my house full time off grid. Nice video Jerry! Greetings from Jamaica.
Thank you Jerry! Lots of good information here. I plan to get a 200Ah battery soon. I just ordered a new converter that can charge Lithium batteries, as my current one could not charge them sufficiently.
Great Video Jerry. I was going to ask but you answered below that you bought your rig with 240 watts of solar on the roof. We currently have 200 amps of LiPO4 and am changing from a Norcold fridge to a residential one. I was planning to add more battery but am now questioning whether I would be better to spend the money on a small solar array. Currently you can buy a 280 watt panel for about $175, plus a solar controller and wiring is probably about the same investment. Which do you think would be the better way to go?
Thanks. Great idea on the solar add. There is an issue that we run into from time to time. On very cloudy or rainy tows, there’s very little wattage from solar and can’t replace what’s consumed. That’s where the extra battery capacity is very helpful. Even with 200 amps of lithium, very long tows, and a big 3 door res fridge, we still have plenty of extra capacity for mid stops, plus running sliders and jacks. Just something to think about.
Jerry - I follow all of your adventures, especially those dealing with non-shore power for my camper RV. I looked hard at those portable power generators and now LiFePO batteries are coming into their own. It still seems to be the issue of how to charge that power bank - the portable generator or those new LiFePO batteries. There is the trickle that comes off your alternator and I could do DC/DC but that is a hassle. Have you ever looked at the Car Generator product that can hook up to your truck and plug into the RV? I wonder what a real world test from your viewpoint would reveal for the use of this product.
The chargers are a good option if you don’t have solar. Less expensive, yet reliable. The trickle from the 7 pin provides little amperage to cover use especially with our res fridge and heat from summer travel. The DC/DC chargers do a great job regulating the amperage and minimizing the excessive draw on the alternator. I haven’t used one of the DC/DC chargers since we have solar, but others I spoke with like them. If you go this route, make sure to follow the loss charts for those long cable runs to the camper. Thanks for watching.
Great video! If you said I missed it, did you install extra solar panels other that what came from the factory? The reason I ask is that we are about to purchase a 2023 Solitude and I was wondering if the panel that comes from the factory would be enough to keep this battery topped off as we go down the road. Thank You.
Thanks. I have a 240 watt from the factory. On a day with good sun coverage, it will replace most of what the fridge consumes. I’ve towed for 6 plus hours and on one of those sunny days the battery is over 90% when we arrive at the campground. Good news as shown in the video, if we have a rainy tow, we have plenty of battery to serve the fridge, slide outs and jacks when we leave and arrive at the next destination.
Golde⚡Mate is unique in that they only recommending that you charge your LiFePO4 battery when the temperature it is colder than freezing: "It does not matter how you will charge your battery; we encourage you only to charge when temperatures are below freezing. " They can probably sell more batteries that way. 😂 I live in Florida so I would only have a few hours a year where I could charge their battery.
They also state the battery has low temp protection. If the protection works it would be a mute point. Regardless of the battery manufacturer and what’s shared, it’s a good rule to follow best practices. Agree this isn’t a good statement where ever it exists on their site.
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GREAT VIDEO!
Coming from the pros, thanks a bunch!
great job thank you God Bless
Thanks Ray
Excellent, will take a further look
Thanks Alan.
For those who can't afford a 200AH battery, i have started with one LiFePo4 100Ah battery. I will buy three more one at a time as i can afford them until i can have the desired size battery bank to power my house full time off grid.
Nice video Jerry!
Greetings from Jamaica.
Thanks
Thank you Jerry! Lots of good information here. I plan to get a 200Ah battery soon. I just ordered a new converter that can charge Lithium batteries, as my current one could not charge them sufficiently.
Thanks. Good to hear you found the video helpful.
Great job Jerry. I will be checking out the website links.
Thanks Eric.
Absolutely Great job…
Thanks Charles.
Very good information. Being part time travelers this might just be prefect for us. Thanks Jerry keep up the good work 👍
Thanks for watching.
Quick question, does your house battery not trickle charge from your vehicle while in tow? Mine does.
It does, but very little amperage and not enough to keep up with what’s consumed by the residential fridge.
Great Video Jerry. I was going to ask but you answered below that you bought your rig with 240 watts of solar on the roof. We currently have 200 amps of LiPO4 and am changing from a Norcold fridge to a residential one. I was planning to add more battery but am now questioning whether I would be better to spend the money on a small solar array. Currently you can buy a 280 watt panel for about $175, plus a solar controller and wiring is probably about the same investment. Which do you think would be the better way to go?
Thanks. Great idea on the solar add. There is an issue that we run into from time to time. On very cloudy or rainy tows, there’s very little wattage from solar and can’t replace what’s consumed. That’s where the extra battery capacity is very helpful. Even with 200 amps of lithium, very long tows, and a big 3 door res fridge, we still have plenty of extra capacity for mid stops, plus running sliders and jacks. Just something to think about.
I always connect the ground wire first before the positive so I don't accidently act as a ground.
Good point George.
Jerry - I follow all of your adventures, especially those dealing with non-shore power for my camper RV. I looked hard at those portable power generators and now LiFePO batteries are coming into their own. It still seems to be the issue of how to charge that power bank - the portable generator or those new LiFePO batteries. There is the trickle that comes off your alternator and I could do DC/DC but that is a hassle.
Have you ever looked at the Car Generator product that can hook up to your truck and plug into the RV? I wonder what a real world test from your viewpoint would reveal for the use of this product.
The chargers are a good option if you don’t have solar. Less expensive, yet reliable. The trickle from the 7 pin provides little amperage to cover use especially with our res fridge and heat from summer travel. The DC/DC chargers do a great job regulating the amperage and minimizing the excessive draw on the alternator. I haven’t used one of the DC/DC chargers since we have solar, but others I spoke with like them. If you go this route, make sure to follow the loss charts for those long cable runs to the camper. Thanks for watching.
Great video! If you said I missed it, did you install extra solar panels other that what came from the factory? The reason I ask is that we are about to purchase a 2023 Solitude and I was wondering if the panel that comes from the factory would be enough to keep this battery topped off as we go down the road. Thank You.
Thanks. I have a 240 watt from the factory. On a day with good sun coverage, it will replace most of what the fridge consumes. I’ve towed for 6 plus hours and on one of those sunny days the battery is over 90% when we arrive at the campground. Good news as shown in the video, if we have a rainy tow, we have plenty of battery to serve the fridge, slide outs and jacks when we leave and arrive at the next destination.
Thank you@@iLoveRVlife
@Ilovervlife can I get the link to the warmer with thermomastat?
This is the one I used. amzn.to/48vHw1f
@@iLoveRVlife thanks!!
Golde⚡Mate is unique in that they only recommending that you charge your LiFePO4 battery when the temperature it is colder than freezing:
"It does not matter how you will charge your battery; we encourage you only to charge when temperatures are below freezing. "
They can probably sell more batteries that way. 😂
I live in Florida so I would only have a few hours a year where I could charge their battery.
They also state the battery has low temp protection. If the protection works it would be a mute point. Regardless of the battery manufacturer and what’s shared, it’s a good rule to follow best practices. Agree this isn’t a good statement where ever it exists on their site.
As Of 6-30-2024 They are $387 delivered to door.
You trust a charge controller low temp cut but not a BMS low temp cutoff 🤦🏻♂️
Nope. That’s why I built the cover with thermostat controlled heating pads.
Should have turned everything off after your test and ran the refrigerator only for a time
Could have. But, after 8 hours and the amperage used, it showed the battery had ample energy to support other devices or miles to travel.