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  1. #11
    Setting Up Camp
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    Quote Originally Posted by FT4NOW View Post
    Those batteries have a lot of great reviews and the pricing matches. Do you have any experience with these? You could get 2 for less than one of main lithium company equivalents. Is it a case of you get what you pay for or am I missing something?
    There is a DIY Solar Power Youtuber out there that has a lot of followers and this brand battery is his "Best Budget Battery". Scroll down a bit to see it.
    He has done extensive testing on all sorts of batteries. And lots of good stuff.
    2022 Reflection 340rds
    Full time, 9/2021

  2. #12
    Seasoned Camper
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    After a little more thinking, I think I will just hold off on this. My batteries will be 4 years old next year and give me a year to do some research.

    Right now it seems my best option would be to slap 2 100AH LION batteries in and call it a day. The extra run time + substantially quicker recharge time will likely suffice for my uses.

    I just need to figure out if my converter will work with LIO. I have a WFCO WF-9855 https://wfcoelectronics.com/product/wf-9855-55-amp/


    If the output current reaches its maximum (normally caused by a discharged battery), this will cause the converter to go into Bulk Mode, which means the target output voltage will change to 14.4 volts and a timer will start. Although the converter is outputting 14.4 volts, you will not be able to read that on a voltmeter due to the voltage-current relationship. From the paragraph above, as load current increases, output voltage decreases. The actual output voltage will not rise
    until the load is reduced, which happens naturally as the battery charges or if 12-volt appliances are turned off.
    Bulk Mode will be maintained until the current draw drops to approximately five amps, or until the timer reaches four hours (whichever happens first). Then the target output voltage is changed back to 13.6 volts for Absorption Mode. Lights that are powered from the output may change brightness slightly at that time.
    After the output has been maintained at 13.6 volts (Absorption Mode) for 44 hours, the converter will change to Float Mode with an output of 13.2 volts. This output may then reset to Absorption Mode (13.6 volts) if power is interrupted, or to Bulk Mode (14.4 volts) if the output
    current limit is reached.


    My understanding is the LIO needs a higher voltage at the end to top it off where this charger drops to 13.6 after a period of 4 hours? Not sure.

    Based on 100AH x 2 of current batteries, it seems that my current 55A charger would take approx 4-6 hours to charge them up from their depleted state. I guess the 1 hour of run time to charge them up each day wasn't quite a enough and explains why they were basically dead by the last night.
    2020 GD 320G
    2021 Ram 3500 H.O. SRW.

  3. #13
    Site Team Soundsailor's Avatar
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    Hey @RoyBell, the WFCO WF-9855 will not fully charge lithium batteries. It will probably also charge at a low rate. I have the WFCO WF-9855-AD which is supposed to auto-detect (the AD part) lithium batteries but doesn't do it well in practice. If you're going to update, the newer WFCO WF-9855-LIS has a switch that lets you manually choose the lithium profile.
    Stephen and Judy
    2022 Reflection 150 Series 260RD (Stella)
    2017 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD (Blue)
    Traded - 2018 Forest River Rockwood Minilite 2104S

  4. #14
    Seasoned Camper
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    Quote Originally Posted by Soundsailor View Post
    Hey @RoyBell, the WFCO WF-9855 will not fully charge lithium batteries. It will probably also charge at a low rate. I have the WFCO WF-9855-AD which is supposed to auto-detect (the AD part) lithium batteries but doesn't do it well in practice. If you're going to update, the newer WFCO WF-9855-LIS has a switch that lets you manually choose the lithium profile.
    Kind of what I figured. Luckily looks like an easy swap.

    Have you looked at the WF-9850L2? It's only $160 and designed only for Lithium. I suppose a dual charger might be better though. Just in case the Lithium's blow up and I need to run to local store to grab standard AGM battery.

    Should I be looking at a higher amperage with 2 batteries? Or is 50-55 enough?
    2020 GD 320G
    2021 Ram 3500 H.O. SRW.

  5. #15
    Site Team Soundsailor's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RoyBell View Post
    Should I be looking at a higher amperage with 2 batteries? Or is 50-55 enough?
    If you go to a higher amperage, you may need to upgrade the wiring in the coach. While 55 amps are clearly not enough for my 800 Ah battery bank, I went with a 55 amp charger for now until I have the time and inclination to upgrade the wiring. At that point, I may just do a major upgrade and go with something like the Victron Multiplus.
    Stephen and Judy
    2022 Reflection 150 Series 260RD (Stella)
    2017 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD (Blue)
    Traded - 2018 Forest River Rockwood Minilite 2104S

  6. #16
    Seasoned Camper
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    Quote Originally Posted by Soundsailor View Post
    Hey @RoyBell, the WFCO WF-9855 will not fully charge lithium batteries. It will probably also charge at a low rate. I have the WFCO WF-9855-AD which is supposed to auto-detect (the AD part) lithium batteries but doesn't do it well in practice. If you're going to update, the newer WFCO WF-9855-LIS has a switch that lets you manually choose the lithium profile.
    The -AD converter needs to do a charge cycle from a discharged Lithium battery. PIA, it's the only way the converter will recognize a lithium battery. It's a one time only, it has to be done.

    I did it & now the converter works as described.
    2022 Solitude 310GK, Factory option Include, Dual Pane Winders, Slide Toppers, Solar pacakge, Gen Prep, Pull Out Kitchen & Heat Pump
    Cheaters list so far Includes, Snap Pads, 2ea 200ah Smart Heated Lithium Batteries
    2014 Sierra 3500HD Duramax LWB SRW

  7. #17
    Site Team Soundsailor's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dale B View Post
    The -AD converter needs to do a charge cycle from a discharged Lithium battery. PIA, it's the only way the converter will recognize a lithium battery. It's a one time only, it has to be done.

    I did it & now the converter works as described.
    Thanks, yes, I did a charge cycle from a completely discharged battery. It doesn't seem to have taken but I haven't done much charging recently.
    Stephen and Judy
    2022 Reflection 150 Series 260RD (Stella)
    2017 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD (Blue)
    Traded - 2018 Forest River Rockwood Minilite 2104S

  8. #18
    Seasoned Camper
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    Last week was Amazon business week and they had some of these battery stations on sale. I picked up a 600W battery power system for tent camping. I stuck with a smaller easily portable one. They advertise 720Wh @ 28.8V.. I ran the battery in the camper down a little and plugged the 120V cord in to see what it would do. Initial draw was 300W. After a couple minutes it dropped to 150W. After 1.5 hours it was at 100W. Fully charged the trickle charge is drawing 40 watts. I have the fridge off so I am not sure what that thing draws (I hear it's a lot).

    55A charger @ 12volts= 660W. Initial draw was half so it must not had gone into high charge state.

    I could see a portable solar panel working well to keep the battery topped off in conjunction with this portable power station (for our uses). We have a trip planned in a couple weeks. May experiment with it to see what the actual loads are while camping in normal conditions. We do have a generator and rarely boondock so this is more for fun than actual off-grid living.
    2020 GD 320G
    2021 Ram 3500 H.O. SRW.

  9. #19
    Seasoned Camper
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    When I upgraded to lithium, I also upgraded my converter. As far as I'm concerned, the bigger the better. Lithium batteries can take current much more than the lead acid/AGM batteries.

    IF you are going to change out the converter, why not spend a few dollars more to allow those batteries to charge much faster? I have 600ah of batteries and in simple terms, it would take 6 hours to fully charge them. It would take almost 12 hours if I used the stock converter.

    GD originally installed a 55a and I swapped it out to a 100a. The electrical connector where the converter plugs into is rated at 20A and is directly routed to the 15A circuit breaker. I did change my circuit breaker to a 20a version because intermittently, the 15a breaker would trip. I did not measure the current but I bet I was slightly over the stock 15a rating of the breaker. Never had a problem after that. Since the entire length of the wiring and receptacle is inches away from the breaker, no wiring was changed since it's rated for 20a.

    As for upgrading the 12v side of the system, I used the same wire from the converter to the electrical box. The loads on 12v circuit did not change and therefore, there is no reason to increase that gauge. The 12v cables from the converter to the batteries did get swapped out to 2ga. I removed the battery in the stock front location and installed the DIY 304a [x2] in the same general area where the stock converter was. Lots of money and time was saved moving the batteries next to the converter.

    So, there was very little to do with the factory wiring. Matter of fact, I removed more wiring than I installed since all the components are a few inches of each other and the battery buss bar is less than 1 foot of the batteries.
    Last edited by Butcher; 09-25-2022 at 10:11 AM.

  10. #20
    Seasoned Camper
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    Quote Originally Posted by RoyBell View Post
    After a little more thinking, I think I will just hold off on this. My batteries will be 4 years old next year and give me a year to do some research.
    Smart, very smart.

    All too often we do not spend enough time to think things out and I know for me, that costs me more money. Keep reading and you will find so many different ideas for the same problem. At some point, you will be beating a dead horse and that is when you will have the right answer for you.

    If you are handy, you may want to pull some of the storage panels and see if you can locate the batteries there. There is no reason why you cannot install them in the stock location, but you may have to enlarge the cables due to the charging capabilities of the lithium batteries.

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