2025 Transcend One - lithium Battery

Jsuders04

Member
Joined
Aug 24, 2024
Messages
12
If I put a lithium battery in, do I need to do anything else? I searched the forms found a few things about some older campers potentially needing an upgraded inverter. I’m not really clear on what’s needed for the 2025 transcend one. In lieu of a lithium battery I am considering a solar generator

BLUETTI AC200L Portable Power Station with 2 200W Solar Panels​


Any thoughts or ideas out there?
 
Inverter? I can see a converter upgrade, but not inverter.

If you look into a different converter, I would find something that can charge the battery faster. These lithium batteries can really suck the electrons much faster than any LA/AGM battery. You might as well take advantage of that.

If you have a budget, use the converter you got and next year, upgrade the converter.

I've never understood the reason for a portable battery. I guess I am too close to the RV.
 
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As already mentioned, I think you are referring to the converter and not inverter. And also agree that you can just run as is for a while to see whether you really need to upgrade it or not. It will charge your LFP battery to about 80%. It will be as slow to charge as the lead acid battery was, but you'll still have more capacity at a more consistent higher voltage than a lead acid battery. Once you know what you need, you can upgrade accordingly. I ran mine off the OEM converter for 1.5 years while we assessed our usage, how we liked to camp, whether or not we would really like boondocking, and after realizing we really wanted to be able to run A/C off-grid researched to understand what that would require. There's no rush.

Regarding the power station, again it depends on what you need or trying to accomplish. You can spend a couple thousand on that, or after you research you may decide you could spend a couple thousand on a much more robust system. Again, it really comes down to what you are trying to accomplish.
 
If it's just for the RV...you're wasting money.
If you also want to take it with you to a remote cabin, or whatever I guess it's not bad.
It’s for power at camp grounds in the ADK where they dont have electric. Do you have a recommendation for another off grid option?
 
As already mentioned, I think you are referring to the converter and not inverter. And also agree that you can just run as is for a while to see whether you really need to upgrade it or not. It will charge your LFP battery to about 80%. It will be as slow to charge as the lead acid battery was, but you'll still have more capacity at a more consistent higher voltage than a lead acid battery. Once you know what you need, you can upgrade accordingly. I ran mine off the OEM converter for 1.5 years while we assessed our usage, how we liked to camp, whether or not we would really like boondocking, and after realizing we really wanted to be able to run A/C off-grid researched to understand what that would require. There's no rush.

Regarding the power station, again it depends on what you need or trying to accomplish. You can spend a couple thousand on that, or after you research you may decide you could spend a couple thousand on a much more robust system. Again, it really comes down to what you are trying to accomplish.
I need power my camper to simply run the refrigerator lights water pump. I go to the Adirondacks a lot and use harvest host and they don’t have electric. So the idea is to use it for my transcend one which doesn’t offer a lot of roof space for solar panels. Additionally, I typically park under trees and heavy cover so the idea would be that the solar generator would offer more options in terms of moving the panels around to get them into the light. The other issue is that the camper packed up is within 200 pounds of its max so I can’t really add a big battery bank to the camper, but the solar generator would fit in the back of the truck. I’m really interested in any thoughts you might have on this.
 
I need power my camper to simply run the refrigerator lights water pump. I go to the Adirondacks a lot and use harvest host and they don’t have electric. So the idea is to use it for my transcend one which doesn’t offer a lot of roof space for solar panels. Additionally, I typically park under trees and heavy cover so the idea would be that the solar generator would offer more options in terms of moving the panels around to get them into the light. The other issue is that the camper packed up is within 200 pounds of its max so I can’t really add a big battery bank to the camper, but the solar generator would fit in the back of the truck. I’m really interested in any thoughts you might have on this.
Will your fridge run on propane, or is it only 12V?
 
It’s a 12v.
Okay, the best first step would be to see how many watts you use per day (24 hour period). You might assume that the fridge is going to use about 1,200 watts per day. Lights and water pump will be fairly nominal; but depends on how much you manage usage. If you need heat, the furnace will use some capacity and depends greatly on temps of course. I assume your RV came with a solar panel for the fridge and likely a shunt/battery monitor? If so, you can use that to turn devices on and see how much power they are consuming and estimate daily needs. All of that will help you figure out approximately how big of a battery bank you might want.

Regarding the Bluetti...there is absolutely nothing wrong with a system like that. It's convenient, plug and play, everything is put together for you, it's expandable if you decide you need more capacity, etc. Some people don't like them because dollar for dollar, you can usually get more capacity, higher output current, a solution tailored for your specific needs, and often better components, if you put together your own system. But that requires you to either spend the time to research, buy the components, and build and install the system, or pay someone to do it for you.

For what you need now, and assuming you don't really want to build your own at this time, it looks like an off the shelf solution would work well for you. If you did want to start with a simple build your own, I would say buy a couple of portable solar panels and charge controller (if the panels don't already have them built in). Wire the charge controller to a port you install on the camper. Get long cables for the panels with a connector to plug into the port and start with that. If you decide you need more capacity down the road, add another battery.

If you decide to go that route vs the Bluetti, you might consider replacing your lead acid with a larger LFP battery vs a 100AH. For the same weight or less, you can get one in the 200AH range. If you decide to add another down the road, you can double that capacity and still only add about 50# to the RV.

Apologies for the book...
 
No solar on the trailer. It’s “solar ready” but that really means nothing. I’ll look into your recommendations. Thanks for the detailed reply!
 
No solar on the trailer. It’s “solar ready” but that really means nothing. I’ll look into your recommendations. Thanks for the detailed reply!
Got it. Good luck with your decision and have fun camping!
 
It’s for power at camp grounds in the ADK where they dont have electric. Do you have a recommendation for another off grid option?
Don't know your exact situation, but I would be looking at replacing your dealer supplied battery with 2 or 3 lifepo4 100ah batteries and they will weigh close to the same as your current fla battery. Then install one or two 200w panels on the roof..whatever fits and use one or two 200w panels as portables.
 
Okay, the best first step would be to see how many watts you use per day (24 hour period). You might assume that the fridge is going to use about 1,200 watts per day. Lights and water pump will be fairly nominal; but depends on how much you manage usage. If you need heat, the furnace will use some capacity and depends greatly on temps of course. I assume your RV came with a solar panel for the fridge and likely a shunt/battery monitor? If so, you can use that to turn devices on and see how much power they are consuming and estimate daily needs. All of that will help you figure out approximately how big of a battery bank you might want.

Regarding the Bluetti...there is absolutely nothing wrong with a system like that. It's convenient, plug and play, everything is put together for you, it's expandable if you decide you need more capacity, etc. Some people don't like them because dollar for dollar, you can usually get more capacity, higher output current, a solution tailored for your specific needs, and often better components, if you put together your own system. But that requires you to either spend the time to research, buy the components, and build and install the system, or pay someone to do it for you.

For what you need now, and assuming you don't really want to build your own at this time, it looks like an off the shelf solution would work well for you. If you did want to start with a simple build your own, I would say buy a couple of portable solar panels and charge controller (if the panels don't already have them built in). Wire the charge controller to a port you install on the camper. Get long cables for the panels with a connector to plug into the port and start with that. If you decide you need more capacity down the road, add another battery.

If you decide to go that route vs the Bluetti, you might consider replacing your lead acid with a larger LFP battery vs a 100AH. For the same weight or less, you can get one in the 200AH range. If you decide to add another down the road, you can double that capacity and still only add about 50# to the RV.

Apologies for the book...
Umm, what is an LFP battery?
 

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