Am I Lithium Ready??

[crv0262]

I have seen a number of post related to Solar RV and Camping and have search the forums to help educate myself on these systems. I currently have 2 Flooded 12V Batteries that are around 65 Amp Hour each. My Power Set up on the Camper (Solitude 310GK-R) includes a Jaboni JP-300, 300W Panel, a Jaboni SC-30A-MPPT Solar Charge Controller, a WFCO-9855-AD Converter, and a WFCO WF-5110R 1000W Inverter. I have added both a positive and a negative BUS Bar, and a Renogy 500A Battery Monitor with Shunt.

I will primarily be camping with Shore Power hook up, but because the camper is not at our home, there are times where I will turn on the inverter and the Refrigerator (Residential) a day or so prior to departure to get it cool for traveling. We will then travel a couple times a year overnight without shore power. (Pennsylvania to Florida), etc.

With the Converter and Charge Controller, it seems to me I should be able to add a 200AH Lithium LiFePO4 battery to enable the refrig and a few lights to support us during these couple of trips / Overnight running of the Fridge. Am I missing anything in my set up that would prevent me from switching from Flood to LiFePO4 Batteries @ the 200AH range? I do realize that unless i pick a battery with low temp control and management, that could be an issue with my WFCO and Jaboni set up as neither appears to allow low temp charge management.

Thanks in Advance

[Redapple63]

I do believe you can directly swap your flooded lead acid batteries for Lifepo4. The converter is a WFCO 9855 AD which stands for Auto Detect. Your biggest challenge will be where you want to put them to potentially protect from cold weather.

Bill

[markandkim]

Yea, cold weather would be the issue.

[deeuubee]

The WFCO and Solar shouldn't have anything to do with cold weather charging. It is strictly a LiFePo4 battery issue.
My LiFePo4 batteries are in the outside storage of my 25G. I have had no problems through the Adirondack winter.
Unless you're camping below 32 deg and need to charge, no problem. Just disconnect them like lead acid for the winter storage.
They maintain a charge quite well over the winter.

[Trailmaster]

Definitely sounds like you are ready for Lithium. Just make sure your battery has a BMS that takes care of your cold weather charge concerns.

Initially I added one 200AH LIFEPO4 battery to my front compartment in place of the dealer installed FLA batteries, before adding another 200AH in parallel to support overnight use of a portable A/C in the bedroom. I have the factory 300W solar as well, with a 2000W inverter, and a residential fridge. I added a Victron 12-12-18amp DC to DC charger in the tow vehicle's charge circuit to supplement the solar when we are traveling.

I am curious how you ended up with the 1000W inverter rather than the 2000W? I thought the solar package always triggered the larger inverter.

[huntindog]

I have seen a number of post related to Solar RV and Camping and have search the forums to help educate myself on these systems. I currently have 2 Flooded 12V Batteries that are around 65 Amp Hour each. My Power Set up on the Camper (Solitude 310GK-R) includes a Jaboni JP-300, 300W Panel, a Jaboni SC-30A-MPPT Solar Charge Controller, a WFCO-9855-AD Converter, and a WFCO WF-5110R 1000W Inverter. I have added both a positive and a negative BUS Bar, and a Renogy 500A Battery Monitor with Shunt.

I will primarily be camping with Shore Power hook up, but because the camper is not at our home, there are times where I will turn on the inverter and the Refrigerator (Residential) a day or so prior to departure to get it cool for traveling. We will then travel a couple times a year overnight without shore power. (Pennsylvania to Florida), etc.

With the Converter and Charge Controller, it seems to me I should be able to add a 200AH Lithium LiFePO4 battery to enable the refrig and a few lights to support us during these couple of trips / Overnight running of the Fridge. Am I missing anything in my set up that would prevent me from switching from Flood to LiFePO4 Batteries @ the 200AH range? I do realize that unless i pick a battery with low temp control and management, that could be an issue with my WFCO and Jaboni set up as neither appears to allow low temp charge management.

Thanks in Advance

I recently read of a WFCO AD and Jaboni controller not playing well together. IIRC, the issue was that the WFCO wanted to see a totally depleted battery before it would go into bulk charge mode, and the solar was preventing that from happening. FWIW, WFCOs have a well deserved poor reputation among experienced RVers
And I have had a poor experience with the Jaboni 30 amp MPPT controller I used to have.
I would suggest replacing the WFCO with another brand such as Progressive Dynamics, and hope the Jaboni behaves.

[crv0262]

Definitely sounds like you are ready for Lithium. Just make sure your battery has a BMS that takes care of your cold weather charge concerns.

Initially I added one 200AH LIFEPO4 battery to my front compartment in place of the dealer installed FLA batteries, before adding another 200AH in parallel to support overnight use of a portable A/C in the bedroom. I have the factory 300W solar as well, with a 2000W inverter, and a residential fridge. I added a Victron 12-12-18amp DC to DC charger in the tow vehicle's charge circuit to supplement the solar when we are traveling.

I am curious how you ended up with the 1000W inverter rather than the 2000W? I thought the solar package always triggered the larger inverter.

Yes - Your right, I do have a 2000W WFCO-5220 Inverter.
I need to look into the DC to DC Charger....With significant travel planned, that might be a good add to the system.
Thanks

[crv0262]

I recently read of a WFCO AD and Jaboni controller not playing well together. IIRC, the issue was that the WFCO wanted to see a totally depleted battery before it would go into bulk charge mode, and the solar was preventing that from happening. FWIW, WFCOs have a well deserved poor reputation among experienced RVers
And I have had a poor experience with the Jaboni 30 amp MPPT controller I used to have.
I would suggest replacing the WFCO with another brand such as Progressive Dynamics, and hope the Jaboni behaves.

The WFCO AD and the Jaboni are the factory pieces. I do plan to swap them out over time. I will need to watch the WFCO to assure the charge mode works effeciently. Thanks for sharing these lessons.

[Thorvald]

I recently read of a WFCO AD and Jaboni controller not playing well together. IIRC, the issue was that the WFCO wanted to see a totally depleted battery before it would go into bulk charge mode, and the solar was preventing that from happening. FWIW, WFCOs have a well deserved poor reputation among experienced RVers
And I have had a poor experience with the Jaboni 30 amp MPPT controller I used to have.
I would suggest replacing the WFCO with another brand such as Progressive Dynamics, and hope the Jaboni behaves.

Actually there was a problem recently with the Progressive Dynamics 9160ALV that had that had a similar issue:

Thread is here:

https://www.mygrandrv.com/forum/show...ssues-here-too


In this case it was likely the 8 hour max charge time safety feature they have built in.

"Once the chargingcurrent drops off or a total of 8 hours has transpired, the CW will reduce the output to an idlevoltage of 13.6 VDC"

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I also read through the WFCO 9855-AD manual and it has a similar feature but is a max of 4 hours charging, here is the line from the Lithium section of the manual:

"For an empty battery, the bulk stage has a maximum time requirement of 4 hours. If your application requires longer than 4 hours (such as a larger battery bank > 200 Ahr), a simple cycling of power will reset the timers"

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There was also another charging issues thread:

https://www.mygrandrv.com/forum/show...harging-issues

That one was resolved as "To my surprise... the converter was not plugged into the outlet.".

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Jaboni MPPTs are pretty much bottom of the barrel, the time spent to unscrew it from the wall and toss into the garbage is should be refunded by the manufacturer. It's yet another China mass produced unit that all come from the same factory.

Replace it with something better when you can. There is a reason the higher end RV's and Yacht's come with Victron products (like Bluetooth that actually works all the time).

[ExNihilo]

If you do land in the cold by chance I opted to add tank heaters to my Lithium's on a separate switch. your doing plenty of wiring anyway- its an easy fix. They self regulate temperature when powered.

I believe there are may others far more qualified to opine on your set up it took me a year to sift the information.

I will only offer my idea for the potential cold weather solution.

just my 2 cents.