Are lithium batteries worth the cost?
I can carry two group 29s in my AF1150. Are they worth it?
Forum Discussion
I just finished converting to lithium. Two 100 AH battle borns moved to the basement storage in our Bigfoot. I also put a 40 amp Renogy DC to DC charger to charge off the truck. Monitoring is with a Victron 702. Also a Progressive Dynamics 55 amp lower power center conversion to a lithium compatible charger. All new 4 GA cables. I used a hybrid vehicle high amp connector to penetrate the camper hull. Over kill yes but the lack of resistance and the smaller hole to drill made it worth the extra costs. It was an expensive conversion. I could not keep our wet cell deep cycles charged. We only boon dock. No hook ups for us. I only need to run the 4 GA from the truck battery to the fuse, relay and back to the bed to the pollack 200 amp bed side connector. That is all that is left to do. We will head out soon after. Was it worth it? Absolutely it was. No longer will I be carrying a fluke meter around while I should be relaxing by the fire.
My old batteries were a pain.
I also found some issues while studying all this.
The Renogy will pull up to 60 amps while making 40 amps to charge your batteries. Even with the current limiting switch activated for the 20 amp, the unit will still draw up to 60 amps. More expensive DC to DC chargers don't draw so much to create the power they are rated for.
Not putting a DC to DC charger in the system carries the risk of two things. Discharged lithiums can pull max current from your (non smart) alternator which will burn it up and possibly cause a fire. Ending up on the side of the road is a big possibility.
Also the nature of lithium power and wet cell batteries in your truck, leaving home with charged up lithiums has the potential to back drain into your trucks battery system. Either through the 7 way plug or if directly hooked to the charging system. I am disconnecting the power lead in the 7 way plug. Smart alternators will back off the charge current and lithiums loose energy to the truck system. This is not discussed much but it can be found if you search long enough. It provided interesting reading. I also discovered using 4GA battery cables from batterycables.com meant getting very high quality high purity copper cables.... but, trying to run heavy jacket cables in the power converter compartment was difficult. Using regular sheathed 4GA would be less of a wrestling match. Using the battery cables to run down the dodge frame and also on the entire wiring system of the renogy DC to DC system was fine. I had hoped to post several pictures. But I am having issues with a new security feature the site has that stalls out while I am trying to post. EDIT: just posted a pic with no issues. I will try to post up some of the lithium upgrade. Anyway..
I can't wait to hit the trail. I don't wonder if it will be worth it. I already know it totally is.
My old batteries were a pain.
I also found some issues while studying all this.
The Renogy will pull up to 60 amps while making 40 amps to charge your batteries. Even with the current limiting switch activated for the 20 amp, the unit will still draw up to 60 amps. More expensive DC to DC chargers don't draw so much to create the power they are rated for.
Not putting a DC to DC charger in the system carries the risk of two things. Discharged lithiums can pull max current from your (non smart) alternator which will burn it up and possibly cause a fire. Ending up on the side of the road is a big possibility.
Also the nature of lithium power and wet cell batteries in your truck, leaving home with charged up lithiums has the potential to back drain into your trucks battery system. Either through the 7 way plug or if directly hooked to the charging system. I am disconnecting the power lead in the 7 way plug. Smart alternators will back off the charge current and lithiums loose energy to the truck system. This is not discussed much but it can be found if you search long enough. It provided interesting reading. I also discovered using 4GA battery cables from batterycables.com meant getting very high quality high purity copper cables.... but, trying to run heavy jacket cables in the power converter compartment was difficult. Using regular sheathed 4GA would be less of a wrestling match. Using the battery cables to run down the dodge frame and also on the entire wiring system of the renogy DC to DC system was fine. I had hoped to post several pictures. But I am having issues with a new security feature the site has that stalls out while I am trying to post. EDIT: just posted a pic with no issues. I will try to post up some of the lithium upgrade. Anyway..
I can't wait to hit the trail. I don't wonder if it will be worth it. I already know it totally is.
