Battery power

[stormvan]

I am purchasing a 2025 transcend one 161bh. I know they give you their standard 100ah battery. We do 2 or 3 day dry camping when plug in not available. No solar yet but do have inverter generator. Would it be a good idea to upgrade the battery right off the bat? One concern is the 12v fridge, since you can’t turn it off it will always have a draw on battery. Just wondering if a battery upgrade would be beneficial? Thank you.

 

[Riverbug]

It really depends on what you want to accomplish. A lead acid battery (flooded or AGM) should not be allowed to draw down too far to avoid degradation - say 50%. Some argue it's lower than that but most say 50%ish. In that case, you have about 50AH available. Naturally, that's going to get used up fairly quickly unless you want to run your generator frequently.

You might consider just replacing the battery with a LiFePO4 to start with. Don't change anything else. Run with that for a while and see how use you the RV, how much capacity you really need, determine whether you want to add solar and how much, etc. You could drop in a 100AH or consider going with a 200AH as you get a similar footprint as the lead acid at less weight and 150AH more useable capacity (depending on if your converter/charger has a lithium charge setting). If not, it will still charge the battery to about 80%, which still gives you much more capacity than the OEM battery. If it doesn't come with a lithium charge option, you can upgrade that later once you have used the RV for a while and decide what you really need/want.

 

[Grandesigner]

Yes, that stock battery is just a 12v source when plugged in. No way 50 Ah will support that 12v fridge, do the math...

 

[stormvan]

Thanks for response. Yeah that was my thinking. Probably upgrade to lithium since sounds like that is way a lot of people are going. At least a good starting point. Always nice to get advice from those that have been where I am. We all start somewhere! Thanks again!

 

[eZAK]

It really depends on what you want to accomplish. A lead acid battery (flooded or AGM) should not be allowed to draw down too far to avoid degradation - say 50%. Some argue it's lower than that but most say 50%ish. In that case, you have about 50AH available. Naturally, that's going to get used up fairly quickly unless you want to run your generator frequently.

According to 'Battery University' The above statement is for standard 'lead acid battery'.
A Deep Cycle battery can be drawn down to 20% or 11.6v

There are factual pros and cons to each type of battery, Lithium or Lead acid.
Do some research, and if you do go with lithium, make sure your charger works with it.

 

[Riverbug]

Thanks. When I said 50%ish I meant it to be broad enough to avoid further debate. There are too many variables and conflicting sources of information on the topic. Discharge at 80% at high current repeatedly and you will not get the maximum life out of the battery. Discharge at 50% with the same current and you will prolong its life. Other factors are temperature, charging, etc. So, in future references I'll just say 50% - 80% depending on how conservative you want to be.

 

[eZAK]

I agree Riverbug, There are a lot of variables and mis-information out there!
But not too many conflicts, as long as you compare apples to apples!

In my experience, When one mentions; FLA (flooded lead acid) battery, they automatically think
car/vehicle battery, mention AGM or Deep Cycle, they think RV/Boat, Lithium - 'Oh, that's for solar'

 

[Riverbug]

In my experience, When one mentions; FLA (flooded lead acid) battery, they automatically think
car/vehicle battery, mention AGM or Deep Cycle, they think RV/Boat, Lithium - 'Oh, that's for solar'

In addition to that, many people do not realize AGM is just another type of lead-acid with very similar attributes to flooded lead acid regarding voltage and capacity. The main benefit being vibration resistance. They are also all sealed, but you can get sealed flooded lead acid as well. Anywho...appreciate the discussion.

 

[Butcher]

My take is you just purchased an RV. What's the first upgrade? Lithium. But I do not boon dock. So, get a lithium. But they are too expensive. Stand on the side of the road with a cardboard sign. Say you want money for a lithium battery. I would give you a couple bucks because at least I know it would go to good use.

Using Lithium terms, you got a 50A battery and that is just not enough to leave my driveway.

That is just me and obviously, I am biased. The best thing I have done to my RV was converting to lithium batteries. It has allowed me to not worry about anything. If you do it right, it will out last your current RV.