New trailer comes with two 200w solar panels. 50 amp trailer. We never boondock. Don't think I need a Lithium but what do I need? 1 or 2 batteries?
Group24? Group 27?. I have nothing so a can buy a box or create a frame to hold anything but need suggestions on what will serve me best.
Thanks
Of all the RV's I've had, I've never had a TT. My FW would get batts charged via the truck when travelling. Isn't that the same with modern TT's? My point, if you are always going to be hooked up to power, why spend extra money for higher end batteries? Is this getting overly complicated? A simple 12v standard battery should work fine, shouldn't it? 2 in parallel should be plenty- even with a day without power provided good energy management.
it isn't. that's still old thinking, the cost of a 100AH Lithium is the same or only slightly more expensive than a ok flooded battery now. and when you figure the life span it is much cheaper than that flooded battery over the long run, even if you only keep that rv 10 years your saving money now. and if you are like me when you trade in that rv on a new one you move the lithium batteries over also the price of "A" grade 100AH cells has dropped so low now, I can probably build a 100amp battery for about 100 bucks if I don't use the expensive BMS brands, so companies are probably doing bulk deals and building them for 50-70 bucks. but the should be going up in price today thanks to teriffs.
the problem is the actual voltage by the time it gets from the alternator all the way back is lacking. I have seen them using the 7 way measuring as low as 10V with load on it, others have said lower but it makes me wonder about their meter haha I don't have power going to either my camper or my 5th wheel from the truck because of this, I use the solar to charge while I am driving. I am adding dc to dc to both for emergency use (its already in the camper, just a 20 amp renogy thing for 100 bucks CDN.)
he could do that if he added a cheep dc to dc it would make up for that low voltage by drawing more current so if he got say a 10 to 20 amp dc to dc that would work fine. he also has 200 watts of solar to help with the driving part. I think between the solar and a small dc to dc he would be covered. even if he is at 60% (60AH) a two hour drive with the DC to DC and the solar should be able to keep up with the fridge and make his battery full when he arrives any thing over that he could turn off the dc to dc and only use it as needed.
Agreed. That's what I was trying to say but you said it better.
If I went with a Group 27 Lithium battery and a stand alone lithium charger what is the charging protocol if the WFCO doesn't charge it correctly?
the 12V fridge makes it tricky, if your going to be plugged in at the campground or at home then you are running the fridge. what I do with my batteries is the day before I go camping I charge them to full by turning off the converter and changing my setpoints on my solar controller to full charge. but for you, well it depends how many amps the standalone charger can put out. you could turn off your converter at the breaker panel and use that to fully charge it, but then all your 12V would be running off the stand alone charger so you have to make sure its a large enough amperage for that.
Ideally you can send your converter in and have it converted by WFCO so you still have warranty, or just get them to send it out if you are conferrable doing it yourself and not worry about the warranty as a new converter is less than 300.00 (for a PD 9360) still that's 300 the average person doesn't want to spend. so if your not leaving right away for camping then send it in, if you are then just try it and see how it does. or make sure you have a large enough stand alone to supply the rv while you are using it.
If you drive less than 2 hours and always have electrical hookup at the campsite: Then pretty much any cheap 12 volt battery will work. Especially if your refrigerator has the option to run on propane. If the refrigerator has a propane option your battery is pretty much just there to power the trailer brakes if the trailer becomes detached from the hitch. True the refrigerator running in gas mode draws a small amount of 12v power. But a standard automotive starting battery will run a propane RV refrigerator for at least a week.
If you go to developed campsites but maybe do not always have electricity for the weekend then you will want 2 batteries. Yes lithium would be nice. But you would need to figure out if the current built in charger has a lithium setting. If not, I would go with two 6 volt batteries instead of two 12 volt batteries.
Just bring an old automotive starting battery, throw it on the tongue and hook it up to power the breaks in an emergency. Tow the trailer home and then worry about what battery or batteries you need.
No propane option for refrigerator. Never had a 12V refrigerator or solar so that's why I'm lost. Also has power stabilizing (BAL 5.3). Has WFCO converter that is not really Lithium ready without a jumper to over-ride but voids warranty if self installed.
did they say how long it takes to send it in and get it back? now you have automatic leveling, so I will add something I would have stated in my first post.
If switching to lithium when you have an automatic leveling system, find out what the max amperage that the leveling system can pull is and buy enough batteries to be able to handle that, let me explain.
So let say for example your jacks are max 50 amps each and can run all 4 at the same time (mine will only run in pairs, fronts, rears or sides). that would be a max draw of 200 amps. so when buying your LiFePO4 batteries you have to see what the manual continuous amperage is and buy it so your not running at the top of that max. so most 100 amp batteries have a 100 amp continuous output. so for 200 amp possibility I would buy three 100 amp batteries. now if the batteries have 150 amp BMS like I used to build mine I would buy 2. you may never need to use that full capacity but for that one time when you need it and don't want to trip the BMS protection because one of your jacks is acting up, its gold.
its hard to say, there are other things to take into consideration, you don't boondock, but do you always get powered campsites? do you drive very long distances and have a 12V only fridge? does it have power jacks. etc..
I don't like the LiFePO4 batteries from the dealership, not because dragonfly is a bad battery but it is severely over priced. even people that wanted lithium I would tell then to take the trailer home with no batteries and order one from some where else.
for you if you always camp with power and so on, the only way I would recommend a lithium battery is if you have a 12V fridge and travel long days to campgrounds. now having said that, if you can work it into the price of the rv, at the last minute after you agreed on the price of the rv with no battery then I say make sure it has a capable converter and get them to throw in the LiFePO4 battery. if you can't no big deal, but a reasonable priced LiFePO4 battery is worth it just in the extra length of time that battery will last you.
now if they won't throw one in, you can get decent 100AH LifePO4 batteries in the US for as low as 150.00 (I think a couple brands might be selling at 130.00) so weight that out with your options, get them to explain your converter to you and if it is Li capable, how to switch it.. if it is a WFCO auto detect, because you have solar it won't work properly with a LiFePO4 battery, there is a fix for it but it involves sending the converter into WFCO for a jumper that puts it permanently into Li mode if you want to keep the warranty, and if not they will send the jumper out. to me that's a bad fix, their jumper cable should have a switch built into it so you can go back and forth easy, but that would cost money and there is a reason WFCO comes in most rv's.
so that's what you have to weight out.. if you don't use the battery its self for camping, and you don't have a 12V fridge which is on for long periods while your driving with out charging then it comes down to how long the battery will last and how long you plan on keeping the rv. a normal neglected battery you could be changing every 2 years, if you take care of it every 5 years.. a deep cycle you can get a few more years out of if you take care of it, but a LiFePO4 should easily last well over 10 years if you take care of it.
there are some other things, they are lighter, smaller and now I'll say cheaper than lead acid for the same working Ah's so if you put two normal group 27's in you would have about 80AH to play with if you wanted it to last more than 2 or 3 years with two 100Ah LiFePO4 that are treated well you have 200AH to play with and they should easily last more than 15 years if you take care of them, so it all boils down to you and how you intend to use them, and how often you want to change them.
Did your Rv come with any house batteries? I would think it did otherwise none of your 12V items would work. If you don't boondock and you already have house batteries, then you don't really need to do anything. But you said you have nothing. Does that mean you bought a TT that does NOT have any batteries? Again, if you never boondock, go on the cheap, and get yourself 2 standard, deep cycle, sealed, group 27 batteries, connect them in parallel and call it a day. Just make sure you set the solar controller to the correct battery type, and you have an in line fuse. If you want to boondock, then you'll need to upgrade.
It's a new trailer that I haven't taken delivery of yet. Dealership is offering different options but I would prefer to purchase my own battery and bring it when I pick up the trailer. Why pay for their junk when I can just buy what I want and really need? Just trying to make sure I get what I need since I have never had solar before. Thanks for your response.
The price of the trailer should include a cheap battery to get you home, you have to have one for the breakaway switch for the brakes.
