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  1. #1
    Setting Up Camp
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    LifeBlue lithium battery feedback, positive and negative

    I am considering replacing my existing four 6 volt Trojan wet cell batteries with two 12 volt 200 ah LifeBlue low temperature batteries, and I would like some feedback from those who already have the LifeBlue batteries.

    Naturally I understand the main negative is the initial cost, so we don’t need to cover this part of the topic.

    My existing inverter/charger will work with the LifeBlue batteries, and same for my existing solar charge controller.

    I like the low temp charging that is offered by LifeBlue and its only about $100 more per battery.

    Thanks in advance for your feedback, both pro and con.
    Harold & Susie
    2019 344GK

  2. #2
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    I also have 4 6-volt AGM batteries. I'll be going with 2 300 amp hour Life blue batteries. I also want to switch out the frig to a residential. These batteries also have bluetooth for monitoring.

    Red
    Location - Wherever the road takes us...Full-timers
    2015 Momentum 380
    2019 Ram Dually

  3. #3
    Setting Up Camp
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    Red, our previous 5th wheel had a residential refer and even though we loved it, due to size, no propane, and not having to worry about freezer being to cold, it was a power hog! In that rig, we had eight 6 volt batteries, and still needed to watch voltage level in batteries while boondocking. Our current 5th wheel has the normal rv refer. There’s a trade off between the two refers.
    Harold & Susie
    2019 344GK

  4. #4
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    Harold, it's my understanding the residential will pull 100 watts per hour, opposed to the elec/propane frig we have now pulls 600 watts per hour. Both frig's will be 18 cu ft.
    Location - Wherever the road takes us...Full-timers
    2015 Momentum 380
    2019 Ram Dually

  5. #5
    Setting Up Camp
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    Red, wow based on these numbers, you’re right the only way to go is residential. It’s 100 watts per hour is less than 1 amp per hour. I am guessing the 600 watts per hour on the RV (electric/propane) is about 5 amps per hour. That’s a lot! That’s assuming the 600 watts is when on electric. I wonder how many watts is used when on propane, granted that would be based on 12 volts DC. I think our previous 5th wheels residential refer was 24 cubic ft, but I don’t remember it’s power usage.
    Harold & Susie
    2019 344GK

  6. #6
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    Yes the 600 watts is on electric. Never measured the DC side (propane).
    Location - Wherever the road takes us...Full-timers
    2015 Momentum 380
    2019 Ram Dually

  7. #7
    Setting Up Camp
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    Red, My wife and I were talking about when we had a residential refer, and she reminded me that we used more power when the defrost cycle was on. And we had no way to control when that happened. It seemed to fall during the nighttime, so we had no way to recharge the batteries via solar and/or generator while boondocking. Also, was that 100 watts measured when the compressor was running? Either or both of the above would result in a higher reading. When we boondocked with our normal rv refer, we always used propane. Just something else to think about.
    Harold & Susie
    2019 344GK

  8. #8
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    The 100 watts came from specs and verbal info from the solar installer. I've been tossing back and forth the battery size for the new Life Blues I want 200 or 300 amp hours, now I think I'll go 300 amp hour batteries.

    As a side note, when we travel we use solar to run the frig. I have 1120 watts of panels on the roof. After traveling last June I checked the history on the bluetooth and to my surprise I had a max input of 1103 watts from the panels. This tells me 2 things, 1 the panels were very efficient that day and 2 the frig was really taking the juice out of the batteries. The watts would never go that high without room for the energy in the batteries.

    P.S. I had cold beer when we parked that night.

    Red
    Location - Wherever the road takes us...Full-timers
    2015 Momentum 380
    2019 Ram Dually

  9. #9
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    Red, You have a lot more solar than we do. We only have 560 watts of solar via 4 panels. With our existing four 6 volts, we are getting by, so we are hoping/thinking that two of the 200 ah batteries would meet our needs. And if we need/want more ah, then we can add another 200 ah battery. Price wise, I think three 200 ah is just about the same as two 300 ah batteries. Really, the price of two 300ah is about $164 less than three 200 ah batteries. But, we are willing to go with $4,000 versus $5,836 and if needed then we can add another $2,000. I don’t think we can mix the ah (100/200/300) sizes, so we will go with the 200ah size. We are working with Discount Solar in Quartzsite for the batteries and installation.
    Last edited by Hpangle; 10-18-2020 at 09:23 AM.
    Harold & Susie
    2019 344GK

  10. #10
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    LifeBlue lithium battery feedback, positive and negative

    Quote Originally Posted by Hpangle View Post
    Red, You have a lot more solar than we do. We only have 560 watts of solar via 4 panels. With our existing four 6 volts, we are getting by, so we are hoping/thinking that two of the 200 ah batteries would meet our needs. And if we need/want more ah, then we can add another 200 ah battery. Price wise, I think three 200 ah is just about the same as two 300 ah batteries. Really, the price of two 300ah is about $164 less than three 200 ah batteries. But, we are willing to go with $4,000 versus $5,836 and if needed then we can add another $2,000. I don’t think we can mix the ah (100/200/300) sizes, so we will go with the 200ah size. We are working with Discount Solar in Quartzsite for the batteries and installation.
    I've spoken to the Lifeblue folks about mixing battery amperage. Answer was there is no issue. Should you draw down the 200Ah batteries the 300Ah batteries would deliver power to your system as well as charge the 200Ah batteries. This would reduce the overall output power capacity available since part of the 300Ah current goes to replenish the 200Ah batteries.

    Batteries all need to be withing a close voltage reading before hooking them together or you will suffer a massive current drain from the higher charged battery heating both units.

    I have 1600W of solar and 3 x 200Ah Lifeblue batteries, 3000W inverter/charger. I've found that while boondocking in Quartzsite I need to switch the refrig over to propane late afternoon to stop it from draining the batteries. Once the sun is up around 8am or 9am I can switch beck to electric power for the refrig and still get the batteries fully charged by noon. Leave the Refrig on electric and it takes my batteries down to 5% to 0% at times. (Leaving on the TV, Refrig, IQ Air air cleaner, Fans, 3 computers, charging iPads and iPhones) No refrig electric during the night and I hit the 30% - 40% SOC mark.

    I've worked up a BLE monitor to control a Sonoff relay that connects to the Refrig electric AC power. This way one can monitor the battery voltage, SOC and current direction on the batteries allowing an automated switching of the refrig electric power taking into consideration the remaining sun time, SOC % and current direction. You control the refrig electric AC power and still have enough power to get to the next solar charging cycle. Beats having to remember to cycle the RV Refrig power settings. I've "forgotton" several times to switch to propane or turn the thing off completely while traveling and the batteries have gone to ZERO (10 hr road trip on a cloudy rainy day). Now I can leave it on electric while traveling and if we hit cloudy skies the batteries don't get drained leaving us enough power to get through the night.

    As for the Lifeblue batteries hitting ZERO several times... no issues or noticeable degradation of performance after 2.5 years of usage.

    Yes, Discount Solar is great. They did my install. Not a single issue with the system.
    Last edited by Cyberstar; 10-21-2020 at 03:23 PM.

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