VehicleTrader94 wrote:
toddb: I'm about $850 for 250a/h of AGM Lifeline 31XT batteries. Where are you pricing the $950 lithium and what are the a/h and size?
I will study the Victron Energy website.
The biggest problem I see for lithium batteries is that are killed if they freeze. Do they freeze at 32 degrees like a conventional battery? We often use the camper throughout the winter as we are TX based. Driving through 15-20 degree weather seems like it would potentially freeze & kill them. In storage at the house we can see several days in a row with lows in the low 20s. It is likely I will forget to take them out or be traveling when a front comes through and won't be able to remove them. That's a huge plus for solar on the roof is that I will not kill batteries when not in use as they always get charged.
So 250A/h that you can draw down to 60% correct? 250x.4=100ah of usable battery. Taking them lower can damage them or reduce the number of cycles. 1 battle born 100a/h battery has 99A/h of capacity. They also generate more power when warmer, and they don't die below freezing. All batteries suffer from extreme cold, I grew up in ND and we had block and battery heaters. So they wont charge below ~25 but you can discharge them below 0. Some have heaters built in if its of great concern. Keeping them warm in a tc seems pretty easy to me. You also store them at 40-60%, no floating them, just disconnect. If you wish to remove them they are 30lbs so that makes it easier.
They have come a long way as far as safety, most have a bms to protect against shorting and temp control. So crow baring a lithium is safer than a flooded.
You'll need some sort of battery monitor, it's an additional expense since you can go by voltage to determine battery state.
