Change from Acid Battery to Lithium Battery HELP!!!

[goodoz]

Thanks for the information!
But is there a way to find out from Grand Design if their inverter does charge a Lithium Battery or not?
The Sales people on the lot don't really know.
Also how about when I'm driving, will my F-150 be able to fully charge the Lithium Battery like it would for a normal Acid battery?
I know this is alot to question but I'm really stuck on this one.

When I picked up my 297TSTS, the dealer left a huge packet of owner's manuals for just about every component on the TT. If you received this, you should have a manual in there. Otherwise, if you know where your converter is (mine is directly behind my electrical service panel and can be accessed by taking off the louvered panel for the credenza cabinet) just have a look at the make/model number for yours. Although, as others have stated, I'm pretty sure it's set up for LAcid, AGM and GEL.

[Extreme]

"Most", I don't know of "any", converters in our trailers are just standard lead acid battery chargers that have a charge voltage output of 13.6VDC. Converters designed for Lithium Ion have an output voltage of 14.6VDC. Alternators in trucks usually have an output voltage of around 14.2VDC

Full charge on a lead acid battery is 13.6
Full charge on a Lithium Ion battery is 14.4

But the charging METHOD of lead acid and Lithium are different, so the voltage charging difference isn't the only difference.
You can read A LOT and get very detailed information here: https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/..._ion_batteries

A 60amp Lithium converter from Progressive Industries (PD9160ALV) runs around $220. Their website can give you the Lithium Converter equivalent to your lead acid converter.

Your truck WILL charge your lithium battery, but not to the full voltage that it can take. I'm sure your main concern is, will it keep it somewhat charged while I'm driving to my next location. Will I be able to put my slides out and put my leveling jacks down? Yes. Even if your lithium battery only stays charged to 13.5 volts while driving, your new lithium converter will top off the battery after you plug in.

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Okay so lets say we have 2 acid 12v batteries fully charged while dry camping.
Regardless if they are charged that day with a Solar set up or a handy Generator
If I connect the TV to a seperate small inverter (next to the aTV) and have the inverter pull power directly from the rig via plug outlet.
The question is how long could someone watch TV in this manner?
How do I figure this out?
How would this "watch time" compare to 2 full charged 12v 100 Amp Lithium batteries?
What small inverter would you recommend?

Thank you in advance.
Ultra Newbie

[Lampton]

The WFCO model charger for a Lithium battery is WF-9850L2. That is the one I installed when I installed my Lithium battery. Look at your owners manual to see which battery charger you have. Check out WFCO web site. Again also look into a battery monitor. Those four lights GD gives you are for Christmas decorations.

[rootusrootus]

The question is how long could someone watch TV in this manner?
How do I figure this out?

Need to know the consumption of the TV in question. Let's say it's a typical 32 inch LCD, consuming 70 watts. So, call that 70/12=6 amps. This is very rough math, mind you. So you would consume 6 Ah every hour you watched. If your hypothetical lead acid batteries are 100 Ah (adjust the math if you're thinking of something bigger or smaller), then you could watch TV for roughly 9 hours. Lead acid batteries are done when you get to 50% of rated capacity.

How would this "watch time" compare to 2 full charged 12v 100 Amp Lithium batteries?

Changing nothing but the batteries in the above, double it. So, 18 hours. You can use (for all practical purposes) 100% of a lithium battery, so the rated capacity of the battery is real.

[Extreme]

Outstanding!

[taco60]

I've been doing some research on jumping to LFP batteries, too. I noticed that on the bioennopower dot com web site, they sell a charger with battery for an extra 20 bucks. I'd assume it must be plugged to grid power, however, there has to be convertors/inverters and the like to do the job. I'm planning to give them a call soon. You might consider looking for companies like this who have RV specialists, too. The link is to their RV products pages.

[rootusrootus]

I've been doing some research on jumping to LFP batteries, too. I noticed that on the bioennopower dot com web site, they sell a charger with battery for an extra 20 bucks. I'd assume it must be plugged to grid power, however, there has to be convertors/inverters and the like to do the job. I'm planning to give them a call soon. You might consider looking for companies like this who have RV specialists, too. The link is to their RV products pages.

$360 for 40Ah is the same marginal cost as a Battle Born. I'd rather have the BB. It's easy to find cheapo chargers like that, too, Amazon has them in the 20-40 range.

[USA in a Chevrolet]

Just a few points for clarification. I am not an expert but do have a BS in electronic engineering and have done extensive testing on my solar inverter charger installation checking voltage and current under a wide variety of conditions.

1. Yes, I highly recommend the Victron 712 battery monitor.

2. The late model factory Fords change at about 7 amps with the factory 5th wheel plug which is very slow even for a small lead acid battery. Think about it. It would take about 7 hours to change a single 100 ah battery to 50%.

3. The lower charge voltage put out by your tow vehicle or Wifco charger would not fully charge your lithium batteries but would not damage them either. Lithium batteries are very happy working from 20% to 80%.

4. The Wifco charger uses a lead acid charge profile which is very slow compared to the ability of a lithium battery to accept a charge so way less than ideal.

5. To take full advantage of your lithium investment I highly recommend a lithium charge profile.

Brian

I’m going to ask you a question based on the info in your post. With my 2020 Chevy 3500 can I safely use lithium batteries in my fifth wheel without damaging the truck alternator? I am having 4 200 watt solar panels installed but my concern is I have read that vehicle alternators will be destroyed by the high draw the alternator is using to charge the lithium batteries through the seven way trailer connection. The dealer installing the system says a LIBIM is not needed to protect the alternator as the truck alternator is protected by the low output though the seven way cord. What is your opinion. Thanks

[JKellerJr]

I’m going to ask you a question based on the info in your post. With my 2020 Chevy 3500 can I safely use lithium batteries in my fifth wheel without damaging the truck alternator? I am having 4 200 watt solar panels installed but my concern is I have read that vehicle alternators will be destroyed by the high draw the alternator is using to charge the lithium batteries through the seven way trailer connection. The dealer installing the system says a LIBIM is not needed to protect the alternator as the truck alternator is protected by the low output though the seven way cord. What is your opinion. Thanks

I'm no expert but using the 7 pin will not cause alt. issues with lithium's. They are able to be charged quickly with high amperage but they don't require it and wont pull it out of the alt. If the alternator tried to push anywhere near max amps though the 7 pin, it would melt down the wiring in the truck long before it ever hurt the alt. Now if you bypassed the stock system and ran a heavy gauge wire from the alternator to the batteries without something to regulate the charge I could definitely see a potential issue.

My 2017 GMC has been running with lithium's on the stock charging system for 4 years without issue.

[mikewb]

I’m going to ask you a question based on the info in your post. With my 2020 Chevy 3500 can I safely use lithium batteries in my fifth wheel without damaging the truck alternator? I am having 4 200 watt solar panels installed but my concern is I have read that vehicle alternators will be destroyed by the high draw the alternator is using to charge the lithium batteries through the seven way trailer connection. The dealer installing the system says a LIBIM is not needed to protect the alternator as the truck alternator is protected by the low output though the seven way cord. What is your opinion. Thanks

When the solar system was installed in my Reflection 303RLS I decided to disconnect the truck alternator charging wire to avoid potential problems. The alternator charging wire that ran from the 7 pin connector to the front storage bay was disconnected at the panel in the storage bay. The Victron solar charge controller charges the lithium batteries at the correct voltage as we drive.

Mike