Pulled the Trigger - Do I Need 2 Batteries

[masterdrago]

Picked up all the manuals this morning. Camper at 3 this afternoon. First thing I looked at was the manual on the solar charge controller and converter. The solar Charge controller has the switch now set (by PDI crew) on Lithium. The converter manual claims auto detect. I asked the guy that did our walk thru how all this works. He indicated that the solar charge controller sends a signal to the converter, commanding it to behave correctly for the Lithium battery. Sounds like gobbledegoop to me. And I know inverter boards, although not pertinent. LOL I tried to ask who wins in a charge fight between the converter, solar charge controller and the truck 7-pin connector when traveling. Just grinned... This 12 volt dc reefer is a bit new and I was going to ask if leaving it running was okay while on long trip. Never got there...

[uwskier]

We have the same trailer with a single lead acid battery. We run our fridge non-stop on long drives up to 10 hours and have never had an issue with it draining the battery. Each time we've done that, the sun has been shining and the solar panel put out more than enough juice to keep the fridge running and battery happy when also hooked up to the 7 pin in the tow vehicle. Your Furrion solar charge controller does have a Lithium profile, so even if your charger does not, the solar will top your lithium battery up to 100% if you have sun (which you probably have plenty of in SE TX). I don't believe there is any communication between the WFCO converter/charger and the solar controller. They each do their own thing independently is my understanding.

[Soundsailor]

Picked up all the manuals this morning. Camper at 3 this afternoon. First thing I looked at was the manual on the solar charge controller and converter. The solar Charge controller has the switch now set (by PDI crew) on Lithium. The converter manual claims auto detect. I asked the guy that did our walk thru how all this works. He indicated that the solar charge controller sends a signal to the converter, commanding it to behave correctly for the Lithium battery. Sounds like gobbledegoop to me. And I know inverter boards, although not pertinent. LOL I tried to ask who wins in a charge fight between the converter, solar charge controller and the truck 7-pin connector when traveling. Just grinned... This 12 volt dc reefer is a bit new and I was going to ask if leaving it running was okay while on long trip. Never got there...

The solar charge controller and your converter/charger are two separate devices that don't need to know anything about what the other one is doing. If you have a lithium battery and the solar charge controller is set to the lithium profile, then assuming you have sun the solar side of things can fully charge your battery. If the converter/charger is lithium aware and has been set to the lithium profile, then it can fully charge your lithium battery when you're connected to shore power. It's OK and fine for them to both be running at the same time, lithium batteries can absorb a lot rapidly. The truck 7 pin connector won't add much, it's fine to have it chipping in when it can.

As far as traveling with the 12-volt refrigerator on, that is what I do. You should have plenty of sun in Texas to keep the battery charged while you're traveling. You could add a DC to DC charger (which runs off of the TV alternator) if you wanted even more charge while on the highway.

[Schiefswret]

Better to have and not need than to need and not have. The first thing I do when getting a new rig is to buy two new batteries (higher quality than the original) and I now use AGM ONLY. I got tired of checking and adding water every 30 days.

[fez111]

...I noticed it comes with a single battery but room for two.... ...Are there any suggestions as to a need for a 2nd battery?

Welcome to the forum. Our new-to-us 2016 Solitude came with one lead-acid Interstate battery when we bought it from a private owner in early 2017. In the summer of 2017 we were at a Michigan state park (30 am service) when a severe thunderstorm knocked out the power. Until that moment we had the fridge and hot water on electric only because it wasn't hot enough to use only one of our AC's. When on 30 amp service we can run only one AC and only one two other high-amp appliance at a time. When the lights went out I put the fridge and water heater on gas, but they still need 12 volts battery power to operate the control circuits, and in the fridge several fans as well.

Using minimal water (pump), minimal lights, and having only the radio on in the evening, we made it about 48 hours before the fridge started complaining about low voltage as we were packing to go home. I had to plug the RV into the truck to get the hydraulic jacks to work.

When we got home I bought a nice-sized utility box at Walmart that is made of heavy plastic and has a beefy latch. I removed the old single battery box and bored a hole in the left side of the new box for the original incoming vent and a hole in the bottom for the original outgoing vent. I drilled a hole for a rubber grommet to hold the wires in place. Self-tapping screws hold the box to the floor. The box is big enough to hold three large batteries but I'm pretty sure our converter might complain about providing the amperage required to recharge them if they are really low. Being an electrician by trade I wanted an excuse to get a hydraulic lug crimping tool anyway so I bought one off Ebay for about $25 including several different-sized dies. Two feet of #6 wire made the jumpers required to connect the two batteries in parallel.

Soapbox: MANY people on here will tell you to spend big bucks and buy lithium, Gas Mat, or anything else but a lead-acid battery. They will have several good reasons. However, after spending almost an entire day researching I realized that for what only one lithium RV battery costs I can go to Walmart and buy FIVE (5) 850 CCA, deep cycle lead-acid batteries with 5 year pro-rated warranties! Two are better than one!