Yes, I have a single 200a/hr LiFePo4 battery installed in my 2009 Eagle Cap...I’ve also retained the OEM Progressive Dynamics 9245 converter-charger...Also, determining SOC (state of charge) with lithium can be a bit problematic (due to a nearly flat voltage discharge profile), so I solved this malady with Victron BMV 712 SOC meter (lithium capable), which also has a uber detailed smart phone bluetooth display...
For details on charging, my camper has a few parasitical drains, even when the master switch is turned off...Add to this that my truck doesn’t have a battery isolation switch, so over a time (shore power off to avoid unnecessary charging) the LiFePo4 battery’s SOC would very slowly drift down...
With wet cells this scenario would never present a problem because storage is with shore power, and the converter-charger would simply maintain the battery in a 13.6v float condition, no matter...However, with LiFePo4, storing a RV in continuous float mode is detrimental to longevity, thus not a good option...
My solution was to simply ‘isolate the battery’ when camper is in storage because of Li’s uber low naturally occurring voltage loss, and because theres no need to equalize Li (an OEM conventional charger algorithm) ...Because I have 440w of solar, and because Li recharges fairly fast, I have no real need to be connected to the vehicle’s charging system...So to isolate the battery I simply disconnected the charging circuit wire from the vehicle, and added a basic knob-type disconnect switch (ebay) atop the battery’s *positive post (*as recommended per Victron BMV 712 manual) - Battery isolated!
Now, when I store the camper (in my RV garage) I FIRST deplete the battery to about the 50% SOC range, then isolate the battery via this disconnect switch...In this way, shore power still operates the camper’s OEM on-board converter-charger, which provides both 120v and 12v to the camper for lighting, etc...
When isolated in this fashion, the Li battery will hibernate at about this SOC mid-point (ions equally distributed between anode and cathode) for an extremely long period of time...
Feel free to PM me if you have other questions regarding actual experience...
3 tons
