Are Our Lithium Batteries Failing In Our RV? RV Solar Inverter System Update!
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 29 авг 2024
- Today I wanted to share a benchmark for what to expect with Lithium Batteries Down The road after purchase. We have been using them for over 3 years going on 4 and I wanted to see how they are performing and how much capacity they have at this time. I also needed to update a few things and clean up the install with my new Downloadable Diagram. bit.ly/37abWZh It's the first one on the page.
Use Code "AllAboutRVs5" at RV Solar Connections
Code "allaboutrvs" At Lion Energy to save 5%
Victron Inverter MultiPlus II bit.ly/3t6OOpL
Enduro Power Battery 100AH. bit.ly/3rzX44b
Enduro Power Battery 200 AH(Top Pick). bit.ly/3tqdk8j
Lynx Distributer. bit.ly/3LzE6Sw
Lynx Clean Install Kit (New Spacer Back Plate) Clean Install Spacers bit.ly/3sGXia6
Main Disconnect. bit.ly/3LQzG9q
Smart Shunt. bit.ly/3LSuSQH
Solar MPPT. bit.ly/42lMJ9j
Batteries:
Enduro site. bit.ly/48B1dFs
Lion Energy 1300 (Code ALLABOUTRVS)bit.ly/3ZNaR3J
S.O.K. 100 bit.ly/3LQuXo8
S.O.K. 206 bit.ly/46j9vQZ
Battle Born. bit.ly/3RPCaZf
Other equipment on the list
T Fuse. amzn.to/45qTUgO
Mega Fuses for Lynx. bit.ly/3RSWtFh
Solar Disconnect. bit.ly/3ZLJ8AA
Cerbo GX. bit.ly/3LOGe8g
Bluetooth Smart Dongle. bit.ly/3amtuWE
USB Adapter. bit.ly/3x2JfuF
4/0 Wire. amzn.to/48FuFdr
6/4 soow wire. amzn.to/3POHiu4
Here is our Amazon page for our favorite gear. We will be adding more products as we find more products we use and love. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
www.amazon.com...
NRVTA RV Maintenance and Repair Course:
Learn The Fundamentals for RVS bit.ly/3z6jSbc
Passport America WE USE THIS ALL THE TIME. passportameric...?rfsn=2638351
Lithium Batteries bit.ly/2WZpYr9 Save 15% with code “allaboutrvs”
Need more info? Here is our Website: allaboutrvsinf...
jaredallaboutrvs@gmail.com
Membership link
/ @allaboutrvs
Affiliate links we earn from qualifying purchases.
Jared, thank you for your videos.
I’m not a full timer nor do I do a lot of boondocking but with a 12V fridge lithium was a necessity.
My small class A motorhome came with a minimal solar set up. Lead acid, 100 watt ZAMP solar panel, ZAMP load controller. We upgraded to two battle born batteries , added a DC-DC and for over two years it has been great.
We may be trading in for a class C and will start the lithium conversion again. Simple small system.
Thank you again
Emily and Clark’s adventure channel, he is an engineer and tests lithium batteries extensively. US made batteries are assembled in US but are still Chinese components, mostly, but at $360 you could buy three compared to a battle born. His views on lithium batteries is very worth while.
Jared never disappoints!
I'm still new to full-timing (1yr on the 22nd of this month) and use 2ea SOK 206AH batteries. I made the choice based on a review you did on a previous video comparing them to Battle Born. The footprint, capacity, and angle of the lugs were the deciding factor, especially because I have me batteries, solar, & electrical setup in a small dinette space. Still early but so far, the SOK batteries have been flawless.
The plate for the Lynx is a great idea. Better than some of the DIY things I have seen on YT. I purchased the Lion batteries because of your review (and they were on sale at Costco). Great battery. I also purchased battery heaters made from tank heaters for long cold winters.
Very nice. How have the heaters worked for you?
I also also purchased these batteries on your recommendation almost 2-years ago and have been extremely happy with them. I initially bought two because they could power my Multiplus II 3000, but then when I realized I had room for 3 I purchased another.
you should expand the Lynx distributor and hook each battery to its busbar. This will lower the C rating and prolong your batteries even longer. You are using Daisy Chaining and that is the old way used for lead acid which can handle it better than Lipo4 can. so you should have 3 positive going cables to busbar and 3 negative cables. This is why Lynx distributors are expandable.
Victron does make pretty good stuff. For battery brands, SOK is good. LiTime (previously Ampere Time) is good. EG4 is good. Numerous other brands with staying power have gotten quite good. I think BattleBorn has priced itself completely out of the market. Their value-add is not sufficient to warrant 2.5x the price per watt-hour of storage.
For existing systems, the battery voltage you select depends a lot on just how little or how much gear you want to replace. Often going from 12V to 24V is the easy move if most of your existing gear is already capable of 24V operation.
But when doing a new system from scratch, including DC appliances, or if deciding to go AC for most appliances, going straight to 48V (51.2V nominal, 16s) is really the way to go. Don't stop at 24V (25.6V nominal). 24V is fine, it will have 1/4th the heat in the battery compartment that 12V has. But 48V has 1/16th the heat and you can really go hog-wild on power delivery to the point where the RV might as well (almost) just be a regular home. The flexibility you have with 48V is insane.
For redundancy, having at least three LiFePO4 batteries in parallel is very important and at that point at 48V you just stop worrying about charge and discharge limitations. Four 50Ah 51.2V nominal batteries in parallel nets you 10 kWh of storage and 200A @ 51.2V = 10 kW of continuous capability. Which means that under normal operation, even with everything on and you are pulling 3-4 kW, nothing will even get warm, let alone hot. And three are just about the same just with slightly less storage.
Also consider having more than one inverter, in particular separating any large inductive loads from "the rest of the appliances". Having an inverter dedicated to the kitchen with a remote power switch in the kitchen is awesome because that way the inverter for everything else can be smaller and have a much lower idle draw. Plus if something breaks you have a bit of redundancy to cobble up a quick fix while on the road.... always a problem.
-Matt
I'm am so relieved you didn't mention Dakota Lithium. Worst customer service I have ever dealt with. Plus $1000 lithium starter battery I purchased for my boat didn't even last a year, under ideal conditions!
BUYERS BEWARE!!
That sounds like a terrible experience.
I’m glad you cleaned up the battery labels for me. My OCD was screaming at me. Thanks!😀
👍🏼 I couldn’t handle it either. If it didn’t clean up better I was going to make my own stickers.
I have 900 amp of Enduro batteries and I would go with them over the rest any day, Harrison is awesome at customer support.
Glad to hear they are not failing. We have 4 of Lion Safari 1300's also love them so far 1-2 years. I have a fan blowing in warm air from the living space to the passthrough where they are. We are full time in an ORV Tiranium Blackstone since 2021 and have got down to -22° F.
Thanx!
I've been running a pair of 200ah Enduro Bajas for the past year and half and love 'em. Enduro customer service has been fantastic in helping me setup the charge controller and troubleshooting some items. One of these days I'll clean up the wiring (not Keystone's strong point LOL).
Thanks for another great video, Jared! I have a temp controller that controls heat and cold. I set the parameters. If it dips below 36 it will activate the mini heater. If the temps climb above 100 it will activate the fan. Good to see that your batteries have exceeded expectations!
This sounds cool, what temperature controller do you have in your battery compartment?
@@kateandjosh Ranco ETC-241000-000 Dual temp controller (or equivalent). Mine has a 120v input source (plugged into a standard outlet). It has two 120v outputs. The cold trigger output goes to a small space heater, and the hot trigger goes to a relay that activates a 12v boat bilge fan that sucks hot air out of the compartment.
@@thomaspearce7704 thank you
I went with Battleborn when they first came out. 6 years now and have never had a problem at all. Just did an inspection on all my electrical. Passed 100%.
I installed a very similar system with 3-208 ah SOK batteries, 600w solar about 2 years ago. No problems with any of it. We just completed a 5 week trip to Utah with much dry camping and am very pleased with performance. We never even ran low on power. Our dry camping endurance completely depends on water and gray tank capacity. Generator was never needed.
I put a small ac unit in my compartment …increases the out put by 20%…..now it’s always about 65-68 F. Everything is great…
Look at the Expion 360 cubes. That is 360ah each in a small footprint. Host truck campers use these in their 3 off-grid solar pkg’s. They have the Extreme Plus pkg that uses 3 of these. That’s 1080ah and they put 800 watts of solar up top. You can run the air cond, for up to 5 hrs and still be able to charge your batteries before it gets dark.
I have been really happy with Lion batteries. I have 6 of them. I stayed in Quartzsite for 3 1/2 months and never turned on my generator. I was using electric water heater and charging an electric car. I did have to plan my trips and conserve on hot water.
Thanks... good episode. Link to Lynx Distributor mounting plate please. Also would appreciate more info on diagramming tools.
The back plate is out of stock right now so I don’t have a link but RV Solar connections said they will let everyone know in their news letter when it’s available.
We recommend Enduro Power Batteries also, great product.
👍🏼
I bought Lion Energy batteries and really like them. They are hard to beat on sale and they have the shunt built in and it is all wrapped up in a Lifetime warranty.
Love the long term review! They are far too rare in RVland. Since I have the same batteries of the same age it's extra nice.
I’ve been looking into Epoch batteries. They have some new 300ah batteries for RV’s that have heat. A new version has built in Victron communications.
Jared, I would love to support American but the Redodo mini really has my attention. I’ll check out enduro and see how tgey compare, thanks
I use 2x150ah battery lipo4 .
This are battery from Frans (yes i'm from EU)
I use them in a boat .
Its not connect to be one big bank.
One is for the kitchen and the other for the living room .
Both have own solar panels and own inverter from 1000 watts .
Run now for 2 years and only use 7 full charge .
A lot of my stuf use direct from the solar panels.
Like my 12 volt freezer with compressor base unit .
Car radio
Tv its on 12 volt.
Led light .
Most stuf just run direct from the solar and battery in the night .
We installed two 300Ah Enduropower batteries in our motorhome last year and they have been great. Their small footprint were perfect to fit in an area that had 4 lead acid batteries. And bonus...the black friday price was really really good.
Congrats Jared! You've managed to climb higher on my RV hero list...which you were already at the top of.
Thanks!
WE LIVE FULL TIME IN ARE RV FAMILY OF 5. I DROPPED $10,000 IN THE PHASE 1 OF THE INSTALL OF 400 AMP HOURS BATTLE BORN BATTERYS WITH 10 WARRENTY, AND 5000 WATT VICTRON & solar, etc. (note: all electric class A) THIS WAS WHAT I KNEW THAT WE NEEDED AT A MIN. SECOND PHASE WILL BE ANOTHER 5000 VICTRON WITH ANOTHER 4 BATTERYS. IF YOU ARE PLUGGED IN OVER HALF THE YEAR. YOU CAN EXPECT TO GET 20 YEARS OUT OF THOSE BATTERYS.
Jared, I took the bait!Believing your Lion Energy batteries were falling, I was concerned about my batteries as well. So glad to here they’re performing well. I too have LE batiereis in my 5th wheel. They perform great for me. Also, thank you for always sharing your diagrams. I recently studied and learned all about lithium batteries, inverters and solar, and then built a system using the past diagrams you’ve provided.
Thanks so much, I am now ordering an Enduro. I have learned so much for all of your videos.
I really enjoy these builds, great job. BUT, as i view all these beautiful 5ths and motorhomes with 5-50K solar and battery banks....it seems most these are just a hobby to have a great power room. Most are sitting in beautiful Rv parks with 50amp plugs. Be interested in seeing/hearing from those that take these builds way off the beaten path and thrive in the sticks for a month unplugged. Keep posting, and nice clean work. Looks great.
I went with two of the 206ah SOK batteries last year and have been very happy with them.
Staggering...I have a LOT to learn! Thank you
Very clean setup, Jared! We have a Grand Design 278BH, but you have more room in your front storage compartment than we do. I was able to fit three BB GC3 batteries in there, but it required blocking the bottom half of our Victron Multiplus II. It wasn't ideal, but it works. Just today, I finished wiring in our solar panels, so we have 1,750 watts of those in total, but I doubt that we'll ever actually get more than 1,000 watts of output, partly due to shading on the roof from all the stuff up there.
Thanks. Sounds like a nice setup!
I have 4 SOK batteries so far no issues!
Thanks for another informative video. Your information and tips have helped me better understand, maintain and upgrade my 5th wheel.
Glad to help! Thank you!
I thought you might try a DIY LFP build! Much, much, much smaller footprint but even more importantly, using a self build pack of say 280ah or 320ah Grade A new prismatic cells like an 8S2P bank of 280ah cells would give you a wonderful 24v 560ah bank so equivalent to a 12v 1120ah battery using the much more preferable approach of a single BMS to manage the entire bank, and avoiding the messy issues that can come from multiple BMSs that don't even communicate with each other. No EV would ever be built with multiple batteries connected and managed by separate and non communicating BMSs, for good reasons. Safety and reliability! Anyways I do like that backplate and was hoping you had a link to it as well. Thanks for the video.
My Chins batteries are beasts. Can't beat the prices
That is a tough price to beat and they have improved from what they were.
@@AllAboutRVs I think I paid $530 for 2 100ah.
Seen em on sale for 225-250 lately. Unbeatable for simple 12V's. Can't even DIY that cheap. As soon as you deviate though, DIY is much better. Or if you want active balancing and blutooth monitoring.
Great video again. Maybe, think about “over the border” lithium batteries like Volthium batteries…we have 2 X 300 Amp/hr with a Samlex 3000 inverter/charger, and after our trip in Alaska (this summer), we can’t say more positives than this: we could run our 13500 btu AC for more than 2 hours (lost of fumes from the forest fires…)… have a look, we have the heated/Bluetooth version…and a DC/DC charger on our 1ton diesel… they may be a bit more expensive…but service is excellent! (In french and English or course 😂) Thank Jared! Always on point, always useful information! Remi (Canada)
As always, great video Jared!! Love the channel! Wondering how/where you got the fan for the front battery vent?? I have a similar fifth wheel and put solar in it this summer; wanted to use the same vent but couldn’t figure out the best way….thanks again
I have 3 Owl batteries from Big Battery. They have worked well so far. Also American company.
Great video, always enjoy the information! You mentioned upcoming 24V system, interested in hearing that direction. Also recently saw a few 5th Wheelers taking Victron out and replacing with 58V Volta system, have you looked at the 58v system… the capacity, smaller gauge cabling, and wattage available seems impressive. The 24V system should provide these benefits too.
That back plate is nice. I ended up designing and 3d printing spacers for my shutoff switch, T-fuse holder, Linx Power In and shunt so they would all be at the correct plane to mount up in a very compact way either directly to each other or with copper bar.
Nice. It makes for a clean install keeping everything so tight.
so where does one buy the back plate?
@@AllAboutRVs
@@RVIZHOME here is the link to what was the back plate but is now a spacer kit, It works just as well. Clean Install Spacers bit.ly/3sGXia6
I would say no matter what, a Lithium battery is worth it even if you don't have a inverter/solar setup and just have a simple battery setup from the factory. Lithium is more forgiving because it can handle deep discharges which often occurs when a RV is being stored and you forget to put a charger on it. Do that a few times with a led acid battery and it will damage it.
Heating pads on the battery are useful. The BMS realizes that there is going to be charging of the batteries. If the temp is too low it will turn on the pads until the temperature of the cells reaches 50. At that point the BMS will allow charging to start. Once charging the battery is giving of heat anyways.
Yes it’s nice to have them. I have them on another battery bank I have. My preference is to not have them get cold though because it feels like I’m missing out on the solar yield for it to go to heating instead of storage. Nice to have though when you need it.
Great info!!! Thanks for sharing! We are looking at upgrading soon as our lead acid batteries age and this helps with the planning process.
You can charge a good Lithium battery down to 24 degrees. Colder if you charge them slowly. Lead acid batteries have the same cold weather problems. Don't forget, Lithium batteries can be stacked or placed inside.
I've been using an SOK 206AH for 2 years, no issues yet. I chose SOK because I can service it myself if needed. Some of the sealed case batteries can't be serviced at all. Look for a good battery tear down video before choosing a brand.
It is nice you can open the S.O.K. Case up.
nice vid....thanks for all your content...think this will be helpful to others for their decision on going forward with an install...be well
Guess u didn't look up who owns victron and where made! Have no problem with 1600 ah of batteries from overseas. Have installed tons without one issue.
Good video btw
You always provide great advice and as much objectivity as possible! Thank you!
Thanks
Always look forward to your videos. Especially when they are about RV systems.
Glad you like them! Thanks
Battle Born is the most expensive, but they always answer the phone, or call you back if you leave a message. They also walked me through the inverter charging profile of batteries. They even setup the Victron solar controller I purchased from them for my batteries. If I was starting again, I think I would have setup a 48 volt system for a Victron 5k inverter to run 2 AC units. I can only run one AC unit on my 3k inverter.
I did want to ask, do you have any issues with dirt and dust in your 5th wheel generator compartment? It seems that would be an issue with all your equipment in there. I found an area on the other side of a compartment storage wall that is also has openings to my living area for the heat and cooling and like that a lot. Maybe not as easy to go in and out of all the time like you do, but works for how I use it. I did use magnets to hold the wall in place and that makes for easy access.
Good Question, I haven't had any problems with the front bay getting dirty or dusty. It's stayed relatively clean other than when I put stuff on the ground and then put it in the bay.
RVs equal projects. Thanks for the video.
You bet!
I definitely liked this video, excellent information. Have been doing research for a while now for my 5th wheel trailer
Great Video - Victron and Battleborn make excellent products. I have both in my RV. I am surprised that little fan can move enough air to make a difference :-)
Battleborn is WAY overpriced. I actually thought the op was promoting BB. Was surprised these were another brand.
It helps but I would like it to move a little more. I have some ideas.
You shold look at sunfunkits SFK 300HP its made in the USA and is the cheapest out of the 3 you mentioned.
Jared…very timely video, we just purchased a new Grand Design Reflection 303RLS and I’m just starting to design a solar system. I have two LiTime 230Ah batteries in their new compact form factor, they fit great in the front compartment. I’m looking forward to seeing your design drawing, looks very similar to the system I’m envisioning.
Glad it helped. I’m going to be adding more of the links to the website next to the diagram to make it easy
I thank you again for your videos. Very informative and enjoyable I watch. Sort of like talking to my neighbor
Thanks neighbor!
Love my two Enduro Power 200s and Harrison is awesome!
He is great!
Great video Jarod. And yea I have seen the shamming happen. But by the time I get done with them they kinda change their thinking.
That’s great.
Cells, Battery Management system, case - all made overseas. Label on the outside American made.
Great episode. Is there a link for the board you used for the distributor, shunt, and on/off switch?
The back plate is out of stock right now so I don’t have a link but RV Solar connections said they will let everyone know in their news letter when it’s available.
I love to "Wing It"
Thanks!
Thank you!
Great video on the progress of your solar system. Thanks for sharing.
You bet! Thanks.
Nice Infomercial
First mistake, batteries should be inside where there's a more a temperature controlled environment. Also, charging it to 80-85% will extend its life to 15yrs. Look it up. It works for me. Mine are inside.
Jared, Great video. My wife and I built a 200 Ah system with Renogy components for our small travel trailer. So far it's working great. But one thing has been bugging me. Like you, we have a Renogy DC-DC battery charger for charging from the truck alternator. As you know, the 7-way plug has only one negative connection. Current from the alternator flows via the 7-way's +12 V wire to the DC-DC charger, and returns to the truck through the 7-way negative connection... That's fine. Currents from the truck's taillight, brake light, and electric brake circuits flow from those truck circuits via other 7-way connectons to the lights and brakes in the TT. The return currents from those light and brake circuits flow via the trailer frame. In your system, I think those light and brake return currents will need to flow through the negative side connections of the DC-DC charger to get back to the truck. Is that OK? In our system, I added a "extra" (fused) connection from the 7-way negative connection to the trailer frame so the trailer's light and brake return currents can bypass the negative connections of the DC-DC converter. Do you have any thoughts about whether I should have added that "extra" wire? Thanks! -Doug
Again, LOTS of great information and ideas. Thank u sir!
I'm interested in that fan you used. Is it temperature controlled
Good job! Great presentation!
What’s that fuse block that you have bolted to the end of the lynx? I moved my batteries to the pass through and added 3 more.. going to add the lynx distributor and a Victron DC/DC 30a charger
It is the MRBF Terminal fuse holder. amzn.to/3MMLcms
@@AllAboutRVs . Thank you.!
EXCELLENT install. I better take note and re-do mine! As to your battery choice.. Yes they are very good batteries but also very expensive. I've been running Chins for a year now with great success. At $300 a battery x 2 = $600 vs your recommendation of Lion Energy @ $1680 I'm not sure they are $1080 better (?). SOK has a 280 amp/hr battery with bluetooth & heat element for $1200. More power and less $$$ than the Lion... Just my opinion of a way to save a little $$$ and still have a good bank.
Thank you. Yes my point for the Lion Energy is they have a higher output than most.(150qmp) So for a 3000 watt inverter 2 Lion Energy batteries can run it compared to Chins you would need 3 to have the same amp output or you would need 2 of the 208 S.O.K. . While you would have less capacity with the Lion Energy you would only need 2 which might help some if space is the restriction as well. I hope I explained that a bit better. I do agree with you the price gap definitely could be a little closer. The customer service is great and the lifetime warranty is extremely impressive but it’s still a high price.
👍👌❤️🇨🇦, I have had great success using Power Queen
Great stuff! Thank you for your testing and sharing it with us 🤜🤛 👏
My only question is for the ones of us who don’t full-time. Do you recommend replacing our lead-acid with lithium batteries and if so, how do we make sure they don’t freeze in the winter months when the rv is sitting in a storage lot?
Would they keep themselves from freezing by using a warming cover of some sort?
I'm sure I'll be corrected if wrong. But as long as battery has a charge (60-80%) going below freezing won't damage battery. You cannot charge below freezing.
My understanding is "discharging" below freezing is not the issue, "charging" a Lithium battery below freezing will damage the batteries. That is why you should check the battery specs to make sure the battery BMS has low (as well as high) temperature shutoff functionality.
I really enjoy your videos!
I trust that you know what you are doing/talking about....but that is way over my head. I'm gonna replace my one lead-acid battery with a 100ah lipo battery and my converter. I have a 2013 and my converter will not support the lipo battery.
Should go to SOK batteries. Nice footprint as 100ah for the most part and 208 ah per battery
They do have some nice compact batteries
Thank you!!!
$700 for a 12v 100ah battery?!?! You guys are outta your mind!
Very nice clean layout!
Thank you very much!
Have you considered building your own battery from prismatic cells? We built our own 560ah LiFePo-4 battery bank with a 330-amp (1,200-amp surge) Heltec BMS and a 5a active balancer for under $1,500 a couple years ago. The price of prismatic cells has dropped since then too, as we recently built a 48v battery from 16, 320ah cells that only cost $1,726 from EEL batteries including shipping. We built our 12v battery out of 8 grade "A" 280ah LiFePo-4 prismatic cells having an 8,000-cycle mfg. projected life at 80% DOD or 6,000 cycles at 100% DOD. This means that if we cycled them 100% every single day, 365 days a year, they would last over 16 years! The reason we chose these cells (other than the price savings) is that they fit perfectly under the steps of our Class A motorhome where our old pair of GC-2 golf cart batteries used to reside. Our 12v battery takes up about the same footprint of 2 of those Lion batteries you have (that are also made with Chinese manufactured prismatic cells), though ours has roughly the same capacity as 2 Battleborn Gamechangers.
We insulated the battery compartment, cut a small 1" hole in one of our step risers and installed a tiny computer CPU fan to circulate room temperature air inside the battery compartment, drawing room temperature air from inside our living area. This keeps our battery compartment near room temperature year-round, maximizing battery life and avoiding low temperature charging issues. We mounted a 620w solar array on the side of our MH that virtually lifts itself into place with gas struts.
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for supporting American products.
You bet!
I wish more people would
Assembled in America yet 90% of the battery content comes from overseas. Fancy marketing and misleading spec sheets make you feel like you're doing good. The Victron inverters and the charge controllers also do not come from America!
These are not American companies. They buy overseas and do final assembly here.
Off subject, do you have a video on residency, mail forwarding when living in an RV. Thanks
I’m thinking about installing a Victron MultiPlus-II 2 x120V and I want to follow your install as it is nice and clean. Looking at the diagram the only thing I would want to change is having the solar connected to the lynx distributor. I like the idea but when you turn off the disconnect it stops the solar from charging. I would like the solar maintaining the batteries when the RV is not being used. What would you recommend, putting a buss bar in between the batteries and the disconnect for the solar?
Nice video, and nice sensible system with top shelf stuff.
Thanks!
What sort of ambient temperatures do you see where you use the RV? I understand being stored at full charge in high temps greatly accelerates capacity loss and internal resistance, and most summers hit 110 where I live…
What’s your thought about Big Battery? I like the fact they have a shut off switch built in the battery also a 300 amp fuse built in.
I have an issue and wondering if you’ve encountered. I have 4 of the same Lion Energy UT1300 batteries and an IC3000 GoPower inverter. 3 years old. Battery levels are different as of late. 2 at 50%, one at 75% and one at 100% keeping the other three from charging to 100. All in parallel with 00 cables the same length. Lion E says normal and periodically need to be charged individually. How inconvenient! Have you seen this condition??
Did you top charge/balance the batteries before install? If not, you might have to disconnect them, and charge them individually and let them sit at 100% for several hours. With lifepo4, 3.2V per cell could be 50% capacity or 70%, they have a ridiculously flat discharge curve. Paralleled batteries will always eventually get imbalanced, but properly matched states of charge will prolong that a pretty long time. It is the downside of paralleled batteries that can't communicate with each other.
Even with very heavy cabling, are you staggering the main output? i.e; use battery #1's positive to the inverter, and battery #4's negative to the inverter. Heavy draws will still pull more power from the closest battery to the output even with large buss bars. Staggering will help even that out. It's why it's better to go higher voltage and lower amps to help alleviate that. 12V @ 3000 watts is a lot of amps. 24V is the ideal max for 3000W. If you ever need to upgrade or want solar, I'd suggest getting something like an MPP LV2424 to parallel/series the batteries to bring down those amps, if 2400W is enough output that is. If you have space, 2x LV2424's can be paralleled so you could max out your battery power, and have redundancy. I've been running an MPP unit in my house for a couple years now 24/7. Good units.
Not that it applies to you now, but that's why I like DIY batteries that I can set the parameters of the BMS. To keep paralleled batteries balanced, you can set the BMS high voltage cutoff just a hair below the chargers output so that if one battery gets to 100%, and the other is only at 80%, the 100% battery will disconnect the charging MOSFETs so that charge current can go to the 80% one. Downside is that you have to set the chargers current output lower as if you only had one battery attached in case others start disconnecting.
Packs that can communicate with each other can do that automatically without having to set voltage cutoffs or anything.
The fan can actually make things worse. Batteries are energy storage devices that store electricity AND thermal. That being said it does no good to run air that’s warmer than the batteries/compartment. The best time to run the fan is at night or when the air is cooler than the batteries. The cooler you get them early the longer it takes to heat them. A good differential thermostat would be in order. I would advise a larger fan with a duct directed across the tops since the terminals have the best heat transfer path out of the batteries.
The fan is on a thermostat when the temps rise inside and there is a fan over the inverter where all the heat is coming from blowing it toward the exhaust fan I installed. It works to push the heat out when the temps rise. A larger fan would be nice but then it’s a larger opening for cold in the winter. I might even wire a servo to close this opening when it doesn’t need to exhaust the warm air.
@@AllAboutRVs
Just want to reiterate cool them down to get ahead of the heat. Think of them as ice blocks. Mine are DIY and the fan blows air across the tops from about midnight till 10am. They are cooler then the ambient temperature the rest of the day. The air around them at that point is stagnant and not moving, I don’t want the hot air in. There’s a much as a -20F difference doing this depending on location.
@@SkypowerwithKarl A lot of the heat is likely coming from the inverter. The batteries don't get that warm unless you're really hammering them. Cell temps at ~100F or lower is fine and won't degrade them much if at all. Better solution would be to separate the inverter and battery compartments and keep the inverter side fan cooled. Your strategy is still a good idea and can still be implemented if you plan on heavy use all day or are staying somewhere near 100F during the day. A simple timer switch would make that easy and automated.
Have you looked at SunFunKits batteries?
In the same foot print you would have 900ah and they are a USA company.
At the right-hand side of the Lynx, you have a two-post extender on the positive side. On your diagram, one of these is labeled 30A going to the DC-DC alternator charger controller, the other 50A with nothing shown. However on your video, you have something hooked to that second post (labeled 50A)--what is connected there?
It is going to the original bus bar in this bay that has things like the slides and auto-leveling run off there.
Can I assume that you basically want this system to keep things running while your driving between camp grounds ?
I run 1500ah in my truck and struggle having power for 34 hours running a small fridge, chargers, circulating fans, service battery charger and a 12000btu aircon.
330ah would literally last me 7 to 8 hours at best.
No we use it when off grid but we don’t run the AC for too long. It will do everything else we want and need. If we want AC for a longer time we use the generator.
Hey matr great vid however why dont you go with the Victron batteries?
Great video! Thanks for sharing!😅
Thanks for watching!
Great advice and very impresive install. Do you have a link to that plate that you used under the Lynx. I couldn't find it on the web site.
Great video again
Thanks again!
Nice, GREAT INFO.
Glad it was helpful!
How did you get 4/0 lugs to fit inside the Lynx?! Haven't crimped yet, but that appears to be my first speed bump.
Jared, do you have or could you make a video on calculating battery bank sizing using regular lead acid car batteries? How do you, if you can, calculate amp/watt hours from cranking/CCA battery labels/information? My fiance and I are disabled and on a VERY tight fixed budget as we're starting to tour the country with 4 of our 9 kids, and I'd like to start building a system with the least expensive components I can find. I have a salvage yard nearby where I'm pretty sure I can get a deal on a hodgepodge of used car batteries to get started with. I can always upgrade later as kids move out and we have a little more available funds. Thanks!