Lithium Battery Charging System
It is time for a new battery in my '04 Lance 921. I am looking at an Interstate battery they sell up the road. But through my research into charging systems/problems, I got to thinking about Lithium...
Forum Discussion
CYCLEPATH wrote:
Thank you guys for the replies. I went with the Interstate SRM31 battery. We're thinking of getting a fifth wheel here in the not too distant future (and of course keep the Lance). If we do that, I will go the Lithium route with fifth wheel. I need a whole lot of YouTube time before I consider tackling a job like this. Safe camping.
Good choice. If you aren't boondocking a single basic lead-acid is a good choice. You never really need to store that much power as you are either tied to grid power or to the truck alternator. Used in this way, you can expect several years out of a single $100 battery. The small weight savings aren't really worth bothering with. There is pretty much nothing to gain from going lithium.
Where lithium comes into their own is when you want to go off grid and need to store a lot of power.
- A big lead-acid battery bank can weight hundreds of pounds, so trimming 40-50% of the weight can be noticeable.
- Generally lead-acid batteries are limited to around 50% of the rated power before you start damaging them (assuming you start from 100% full). Lithium, you can use around 80%.
- At around 80% full, lead-acid batteries start slowing down in terms of charging. In practice, most people only get them up to 80-90% full when off grid (which is bad for them). Getting to 100% takes many hours. Lithium, you can dump lots of power into them up till nearly full, so fully charging while off grid is much more practical, meaning you have even more available power.
