Battle Born Lithium

Thank you Pianotuna it has been a set it and forget it system so far with only one little hickup last Nov after 3+ years. Easy fix.

With so many folks now going 24v or 48v the bugs and homework is now out there fairly easy to find to see what is needed.

2oldman wrote:
Hard to find anything about that.. link?

No link... it's not on the site... the tech who assisted me with my purchase was quite affable, and easy to engage in the "What's New?" approach... so, he told me what they were working on...

Lwiddis wrote:
Hopefully it’s dimensions will fit my TT tongue. 250 AHs with 200 + or - usable is more than enough for our needs

LiFeBlue Lithium's measure 19 1/16" X 6 5/8" X 9 1/2"...

Go Power's 250 Ah measures 20.5" X 9.5" X 8.8"...

Others are likely similar in size...

Given that the typical Lithium battery can't be recharged below 32F, I did some digging around and found this

Has adhesive so it sticks to whatever you put it on; On/Off switch you turn/switch on when it nears freezing, and it has a thermostat that, when powered up, comes on at 45F, and shuts off at 68F.

It looks as if a couple of pads, wrapped around the sides of the batteries, would do the trick...

These were initially designed to adhere to fresh water tanks of 50 gallons, with more pads for larger tanks...

These days, however, I'm not sure if mine rig, or any others out there, already have a system where pipes and tanks were kept warm enough using the RV's power so you wouldn't have to be concerned about pipes, etc. freezing...

Thoughts?

Michael,

Your link is not working--there is no url.

There are a few truly 4 season RV's out there.

For example, my 1987 Citation Supreme had a full heated basement.

You may wish to look at "Thermo Cubes" which are a temperature controlled switch.

https://www.briskheat.com/thermo-cube-temperature-controlled-outlet-adapter.html?gclid=CjwKCAjw2dD7BRASEiwAWCtCb0CwQQqPEBuS7w07TXl2p2BuCjoByD-h32AOfNpx7PRn1Fk3iYeoixoC43gQAvD_BwE (scroll down)

Also look at the winter camping thread in the full timers forum.

As Pianotuna mentioned if you have a heated basement and you mount the batteries there you'll probably be ok.

My lfp's are in the front compartment that I added foam insulation cut to fit everywhere between the frame structure on the walls, insulated as best as possible. I did tap into the heat duct run but it's closed right now. Right now outside temp is 24f, compartment temp is 48f and individual cell temps 45-46f. This is the normal I've seen at these temps over the past years.

If you add the 12v heat pad make sure you have it tapped into a source that sees the consumption it's using or you'll get a false SOC.

Linky Fixed

Also, I wouldn't stick directly to batteries, if it had to be replaced in the future it might leave a mess behind.

I had a unused 4” knockout port on my furnace plenum, so I just added a 4” duct with a manual butterfly control valve to drop down into the basement - at the time my goal was primarily to keep the water tanks and dump valves from freezing shut...

3 tons

Itinerant1 wrote:
Also, I wouldn't stick directly to batteries, if it had to be replaced in the future it might leave a mess behind.

May not be much of an issue... them batteries are projected to have a 10 year lifespan, perhaps more... by that time, I expect to be in something different... and someone else will own them...