Glad it was helpful! Later caravans with AGM batteries fitted from new may very well have the electrics to suit Lithium batteries. Ours was just prior to this period and what we were told didn't work out.
Excellent videos guys keep them coming. I’m sure this has already been said but don’t worry about that spark. You are just energizing the capacitors in your inverter. It would’ve done it on any battery system it makes zero difference. You can pre-charge the inverter if you would like with a small light bulb or resistor to a rest of the spark. That said as you are probably aware with us we do lithium upgrades on a daily basis so feel free to check out some of our videos and in regards to charging lithium batteries. It doesn’t matter what the manufacturer states the fact is lithium does require a dedicated lithium charger to get the best out of the lithium battery. All three charge sources in my opinion needs to be addressed. This is DC to DC for vehicle charging. This is your solar controller. This is your mains battery charger. If all of these are changed to a lithium charge profile if you overdose charge your batteries to the point of shut down they can wake up your batteries without a problem. Also it will bring your battery to 100% state of charge unlike your AGM Charging set up. They look at voltage only so with the lithium at 13.2 you could be at 20% state of charge or 100% state of charge. The AGM charger looks at the voltage and charges based on that. For an AGM battery 13.2 is well above full. So the charges will not kick in until a lower state of charge.
Thankyou for taking us through the Lithium setup this has just enhanced the amazing set up with all your additional improvements you and Sally have made to your van, don’t be concerned about price as it has been professionally fitted and it will pay back many times over, thankyou for sharing Mick , safe travels 👍
We are very happy with the price as it compares well to other set ups that we have seen on RUclips. What concerned me was the fact that the buyer is lead to believe that the batteries are a simple drop in which they are not. Up and onward from here Darrel is the way to look at it.
Struth Mick..what a coincidence, as I am away with bride and van over on Eyre. One of my old ordinary batteries I believe has turned up it's toes and dragging the other down, wants to go to recyclers. Now still travelling, but paying for Park power and been seriously deep in thought of a Lithium Conversion. Crikies ! You almost scared me britches off. So reckon I'll stay with an update of ole batteries, and this time bit of roof solar. I have had great dealings with Matt in the past, a super efficient bloke with van electrics, but my old mans pension almost burst into flames this evening with your coverage of Lithium and needed accessories, which I do thank you heaps. Thanks Mick, so save me a seat on the road train..yeah, I can still handle a heavy and stick shift..LOL..............Thanks Mate
I had lithium batteries now for some 8 years and very happy with them. To protect the battery management system within the batteries I had a 12v cutout fitted, it turns everything 12v off when batteries get low. However I kept the 1200w victron inverter and 60amp victron charger. I ran the batteries down to 12v several times now but the recharge is very quick. I also have a 40amp DC-DC charger fitted for the solar panels. I reduced the battery weight from 110kg to 38kg and ah from 300 to 360ah.
gday mick matt is the only person who iwill let touch my car and my jayco hawk, i too have an aging agm battery but i think i will stay with agm as we are planning to upgrade to larger van,glad that you got it sorted but 6k ouch at least you know it has been done correctly
Good information, I did all own 12v system in my caravan I built, no problems , sadly people that are dealing in these new systems not all are qualified. You hear so many horror stories from caravan owners ,with systems that don't work , only buy off known companies . If you don't know ask around. 😀🇦🇺
Yes it's a good point. Lithium batteries definitely need lithium charge profiles for optional performance and life. They are expensive to purchase so risking the investment by using lead-acid charge profiles (if that even works for your equipment) is not the best idea. However lead acid IS now obsolete with lithium being so much superior, and lithium ownership/operation over the battery lifetime is very much cheaper than lead acid (AGM).. The hidden fault with all the lead acid capacity usage claims, is that in practice you do NOT get 50% of their total rated capacity for general usage without vastly reducing their longevity. In practice in order to not unduly shorten their lives you need to discharge lead acid to only 60% full or even higher. This notably changes the comparison with lithium. E.g. For lithium you can use 95%-100% of rated storage capacity, for lead acid you can only use 30%-40% of rated capacity. Lead acid is too expensive to own and operate, too dangerous with toxic fumes and fire risk, and far too heavy. But also beware of some Chinese lithium batteries, their quality can be questionable. For one brand I now avoid, when buying four 150Ah 12V batteries I had two fail on arrival - getting hot and emitting smoke and fumes. It was dodgy cheap battery management systems (BMS) inside the battery cases and/or bad internal layout/design, though they blamed "freight damage". They replaced them both but only after I contacted the seller about the problem, and with zero warranty paperwork supplied. Another problem with those batteries was that they claimed 100A continuous discharge but in practice they could only maintain around the 50A mark. That can be a big problem for you system design depending on your inverter choice. I now choose a different brand which does as claimed maintain up to 100A discharge, and from which I've seen zero other problems. The problem with using big brand lithium batteries is only the expense. If you can afford it, do that. If not go the Chinese route (as I have) but do your homework thoroughly first for the selection. (I've been building my own semi off-grid solar systems for many years now. Am currently running two 7680Wh 24V battery banks with all Victron equipment including several inverters and a hand full of solar controllers. I have about 3500W of solar panels charging the banks. The house has a separate 3500W grid connect solar system fitted. Most of the house equipment is running off the inverters (2400W & 1600W). It's work in progress, ever upgrading as money and time is available.)
useful. I have an old system (not on a van) I'm thinking about new batteries and have thought that i may as well go the whole hog and have a complete new system that can work beside the old one. (beside the old one) no one outlet would be connected to both systems.
@@man.i.literally.failed6772 from time to time I hear or see tradies that I hadn't known existed before. It was much better when there was the old yellow pages.
Good info Mick, thanks mate. $6K is a big price to pay. If you had "had it done properly" to being with, I suppose the cost would have been $5K (minus the cost of the inverter)?
@@justcruisinwithmicksally837 , yeah a guy in adelaide quoted that, hes unidated with off grid installs with rich baby boomers, getting to carried away
When are these battery suppliers going to stop lying to customers about "drop in" lithium batteries, I would take Solar king to court to get reembursed, their product is not fit for purpose!
I am no expert on this but I think Solarking are no different to a lot of other manufactures with what they are claiming their inbuilt battery management systems will do. A very fine play of words comes to mind.
Many videos out on RUclips on this topic which come in a lot higher in cost than mine. The video was published to high light awareness to anyone who may consider fitting Lithium as a replacement to AGM.
Hope to see a 12 month review on differences/improvements on the agms when the time comes around 👍
The weight gain speaks for itself, the system has been faultless in operation.
So glad I watched this. I live in my caravan full time and live in New Zealand. Thanks for sharing this info.
Glad it was helpful! Later caravans with AGM batteries fitted from new may very well have the electrics to suit Lithium batteries. Ours was just prior to this period and what we were told didn't work out.
Matt wired up our caravan. Brilliant just brilliant work.
We only ever hear good reports on Matt's work, that says it all.
Excellent videos guys keep them coming. I’m sure this has already been said but don’t worry about that spark. You are just energizing the capacitors in your inverter. It would’ve done it on any battery system it makes zero difference. You can pre-charge the inverter if you would like with a small light bulb or resistor to a rest of the spark. That said as you are probably aware with us we do lithium upgrades on a daily basis so feel free to check out some of our videos and in regards to charging lithium batteries. It doesn’t matter what the manufacturer states the fact is lithium does require a dedicated lithium charger to get the best out of the lithium battery. All three charge sources in my opinion needs to be addressed. This is DC to DC for vehicle charging. This is your solar controller. This is your mains battery charger. If all of these are changed to a lithium charge profile if you overdose charge your batteries to the point of shut down they can wake up your batteries without a problem. Also it will bring your battery to 100% state of charge unlike your AGM Charging set up. They look at voltage only so with the lithium at 13.2 you could be at 20% state of charge or 100% state of charge. The AGM charger looks at the voltage and charges based on that. For an AGM battery 13.2 is well above full. So the charges will not kick in until a lower state of charge.
It certainly was a learning curve for me Matt.
Thankyou for taking us through the Lithium setup this has just enhanced the amazing set up with all your additional improvements you and Sally have made to your van, don’t be concerned about price as it has been professionally fitted and it will pay back many times over, thankyou for sharing Mick , safe travels 👍
We are very happy with the price as it compares well to other set ups that we have seen on RUclips. What concerned me was the fact that the buyer is lead to believe that the batteries are a simple drop in which they are not. Up and onward from here Darrel is the way to look at it.
Thanks Mick. We will look into this again when it comes time. Thanks for the heads up
All food for thought Jill.
Always buy a lithium converter charger to replace your AGM converter/charger when going to lithium batteries.
That's a good idea!
Struth Mick..what a coincidence, as I am away with bride and van over on Eyre. One of my old ordinary batteries I believe has turned up it's toes and dragging the other down, wants to go to recyclers.
Now still travelling, but paying for Park power and been seriously deep in thought of a Lithium Conversion.
Crikies ! You almost scared me britches off. So reckon I'll stay with an update of ole batteries, and this time bit of roof solar.
I have had great dealings with Matt in the past, a super efficient bloke with van electrics, but my old mans pension almost burst into flames this evening with your coverage of Lithium and needed accessories, which I do thank you heaps. Thanks Mick, so save me a seat on the road train..yeah, I can still handle a heavy and stick shift..LOL..............Thanks Mate
Good luck with the batteries Dennis.
Excellent information here. Keep the videos coming 👍👍👍
Thank you Matt, we missed your talk at Waikerie by 30 minutes the other week. Was looking forward to the Lithium discussion there.
I had lithium batteries now for some 8 years and very happy with them. To protect the battery management system within the batteries I had a 12v cutout fitted, it turns everything 12v off when batteries get low. However I kept the 1200w victron inverter and 60amp victron charger. I ran the batteries down to 12v several times now but the recharge is very quick. I also have a 40amp DC-DC charger fitted for the solar panels. I reduced the battery weight from 110kg to 38kg and ah from 300 to 360ah.
Lithium certainly do offer a huge weight reduction.
gday mick matt is the only person who iwill let touch my car and my jayco hawk, i too have an aging agm battery but i think i will stay with agm as we are planning to upgrade to larger van,glad that you got it sorted but 6k ouch at least you know it has been done correctly
Yes done correctly with top shelf parts that will last.
Mick very informative vid were now just about to change over to lithium
so your video couldn't have come at at a better time..👍🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺
All for awareness.
Good information, I did all own 12v system in my caravan I built, no problems , sadly people that are dealing in these new systems not all are qualified. You hear so many horror stories from caravan owners ,with systems that don't work , only buy off known companies . If you don't know ask around. 😀🇦🇺
Right on
Very interesting I was told the thing as you were told I didn’t believe that and haven’t changed my batteries yet
It may work ok for you Patrick, it didn't for me. We need to be prepared with a plan "B" if it doesn't work.
Yes it's a good point. Lithium batteries definitely need lithium charge profiles for optional performance and life. They are expensive to purchase so risking the investment by using lead-acid charge profiles (if that even works for your equipment) is not the best idea. However lead acid IS now obsolete with lithium being so much superior, and lithium ownership/operation over the battery lifetime is very much cheaper than lead acid (AGM)..
The hidden fault with all the lead acid capacity usage claims, is that in practice you do NOT get 50% of their total rated capacity for general usage without vastly reducing their longevity. In practice in order to not unduly shorten their lives you need to discharge lead acid to only 60% full or even higher. This notably changes the comparison with lithium. E.g. For lithium you can use 95%-100% of rated storage capacity, for lead acid you can only use 30%-40% of rated capacity.
Lead acid is too expensive to own and operate, too dangerous with toxic fumes and fire risk, and far too heavy.
But also beware of some Chinese lithium batteries, their quality can be questionable. For one brand I now avoid, when buying four 150Ah 12V batteries I had two fail on arrival - getting hot and emitting smoke and fumes. It was dodgy cheap battery management systems (BMS) inside the battery cases and/or bad internal layout/design, though they blamed "freight damage". They replaced them both but only after I contacted the seller about the problem, and with zero warranty paperwork supplied. Another problem with those batteries was that they claimed 100A continuous discharge but in practice they could only maintain around the 50A mark. That can be a big problem for you system design depending on your inverter choice.
I now choose a different brand which does as claimed maintain up to 100A discharge, and from which I've seen zero other problems. The problem with using big brand lithium batteries is only the expense. If you can afford it, do that. If not go the Chinese route (as I have) but do your homework thoroughly first for the selection.
(I've been building my own semi off-grid solar systems for many years now. Am currently running two 7680Wh 24V battery banks with all Victron equipment including several inverters and a hand full of solar controllers. I have about 3500W of solar panels charging the banks. The house has a separate 3500W grid connect solar system fitted. Most of the house equipment is running off the inverters (2400W & 1600W). It's work in progress, ever upgrading as money and time is available.)
You have shared some excellent advise there, thank you for sharing that with us.
the sparkingwhen the battery is connected is likely the capacitors in the inverter charging
Could be John although they couldn't get it to do it so it all had me stumped.
useful. I have an old system (not on a van) I'm thinking about new batteries and have thought that i may as well go the whole hog and have a complete new system that can work beside the old one. (beside the old one) no one outlet would be connected to both systems.
Hope it all worked out well for you.
Very informative Mick.
On a totally different subject....did you retrofit your venetian blinds? If so, from where? ...cheers.
The blinds were a factory build fitment. We have had blinds made to our size requirements and that can be done by any blind manufacturer.
@@justcruisinwithmicksally837 Cheers
Very informative
Thank you.
Why are people installing inverters / inverter chargers without a DC isolator / service disconnect?
You are asking the wrong person here, sorry.
Gotta love adelaide, only 2 people to do something you want only for them to be either to expensive or busy for 2 year
I think there are now more than two, it is just a matter of finding them and knowing that they are good at the job.
@@justcruisinwithmicksally837 being sacastic, but being adelaide we dont have alot of good trades
@@man.i.literally.failed6772 from time to time I hear or see tradies that I hadn't known existed before. It was much better when there was the old yellow pages.
@@justcruisinwithmicksally837 couldnt agree more
Good info Mick, thanks mate. $6K is a big price to pay. If you had "had it done properly" to being with, I suppose the cost would have been $5K (minus the cost of the inverter)?
Minus the inverter, you are correct.
For $6000 i can live off grid with 400+ amps , that why im gonna do my own , had a qoute for $17500.
$17500 is a bit over the top for the average person to be able to justify.
@@justcruisinwithmicksally837 , yeah a guy in adelaide quoted that, hes unidated with off grid installs with rich baby boomers, getting to carried away
@@man.i.literally.failed6772 their choice in the end but not for me.
Hey Mick who sold you the Batteries was it A1 Caravans Elizabeth or Home of 12volt
Why do you ask? I would rather not say as the seller hasn't done anything wrong by the sale.
@@justcruisinwithmicksally837 Just looking for some myself and seeing who had the best deal
They all spark
That they do
When are these battery suppliers going to stop lying to customers about "drop in" lithium batteries, I would take Solar king to court to get reembursed, their product is not fit for purpose!
I am no expert on this but I think Solarking are no different to a lot of other manufactures with what they are claiming their inbuilt battery management systems will do. A very fine play of words comes to mind.
Geez one thumbs down
Info for those who have pre Lithium systems.
I,am sorry mate you got ripped of 6 grand is way too much ,lots of people know nothing about battery systems absolute BS .
Many videos out on RUclips on this topic which come in a lot higher in cost than mine. The video was published to high light awareness to anyone who may consider fitting Lithium as a replacement to AGM.