[Jeff]

What is a gel 2 battery?

[Greg]

My house is a 12/24 system like the chassis and with conventional batteries an equalizer maintained the charge to the 12V side.

Originally the LiFePo4 batteries were 12V and were cabled together in a 12/24 manner because I was assured by the marketing man for Relion that they indeed were a “drop in” replacement for my AGM batteries.

In an unrelated conversation with a Relion engineer we touched on parallel and series cabling and he expressed concerns that the battery systems (BMS) do not do well with that set up. It was Relion that made the decision a set of 24V batteries in parallel with 24 to 12V reducers would be the best way to set them up. He was right which I found out because prior to the switch my 12V side had lost power due to battery shut down.

Since using all 24V batteries with the three reducers the batteries and house electrical system has been flawless and I have an abundance of power compared to AGM.

[Roscoeapproved]

Tom

the Freedom 458 has four protocols for charging one for LA, one for AGM and two for Gel cell batteries.

Jon

I was wondering if you could use a Vanner equalizer to supply 12v to your house needs nstead of the dc to dc reducers.

---

Jeff and Lindsay

91 Marathon XL

[Bill]

Jon, a curious question. As you have said previously elsewhere, like we do, run the generator boondocking from the time the Series 60 is switched off, until we start it up next day.
Why go to the expense of switching your house to Lithium, considering how fussy they seem, and all the add-ons you must use for them to function

we have friends, who tore out their AGM system in a brand new coach. Added a multitude of LifePO4 batteries (12), covered the roof with solar panels, changed inverters etc etc etc. only to boondock in Quartzsite for two days in January. What are we missing

[Rudy]

Just to be clear, when we made the switch to Li nothing changed in how we operate and manage power. The only change to the coach to accomodae Li was to seal them in a compartment to keep them above cool temps (40F is the point at which the heater comes on)

When we are done driving and not going to be plugged in, we start the generator. When we go to bed we turn it off unless we need heat or A/C. We start the generator when we get up unless we are driving right away.

I cannot speak about other coaches or inverters but my Li batteries do not get a full charge from the alternator, and if we have been on shore or generator power for an extended period our inverters (Outback) are set to go to silent mode. They will fully charge the batteries and the when they go into float the inverters go “silent” meaning they stop applying any charge current until the batteries drop to 12.6 (25.2) then they are charged to the float voltage and power is again withdrawn.

I am Fully charging the batteries by running generator at the end of the day, something I always did for the AGM so we have the maximum available power through the night.

[Jerry]

Gotcha. We run genset all night long. 10 gallons a night fuel consumption is whole lot cheaper than lithium battery change out. We watched Mr Mark’s Liberty go full “tizzy” at Jeff’s place, and resulting fussiness to restart the lithiums

[Greg]

changing to Li batteries is easy, not fussy and very cost effective over both short and long terms. It may seem a bit fussy in forums like this where there are many different configurations to consider since some have 12vdc house and 24vdc chassis systems, some have 24vdc house and chassis systems. Some have one and some have two inverter/chargers, some have one and some two engine driven alternators, etc. some live/drive in really cold climates, some stay mainly where it is warm, some install the Li batteries inside the living space, some want to keep them in their weather exposed battery bays. Some want to also add solar charging, some don’t.

in a forum discussion there simply is no way to make simplifying generalizations that fit all these different circumstances. Given each one of us is going to convert only our own bus, the task is greatly simplified and quite say to accomplish with a little bit of thought. My two cents, anyway.

Jerry

[Bill]

From the questions coming from my readers, there seems to be much confusion about using Li batteries in cold weather. Most modern Li battery BMSs now have low temperature shut off functions that will not allow the battery to recharge if the cell temperature is below about 28 F. They will continue to discharge properly at temps well below zero where lead acid batteries barely function at all. And, Li batteries have very low self discharge rates.

‘this means you can put your bus to sleep in the fall without any special regard for the Li batteries. No need to be plugged in since in the spring the Li batteries will have almost the same charge they did when you put them to bed no matter how cold it got in between.

It also means you can use your bus in really cold temps. The BMS will prevent charge current from reaching the Li batteries once cell temp,is below the low temp shut off point and will automatically allow charge current to reach them once the cell temp rises above the low temp cut off point without you being involved or even knowing that is happening. Start up and while driving the hydronic heating system in most of our busses will use the engine cooling loop to warm the bays up to where the BMS will start charging your Li batteries. If you are parked in really cold weather, whatever you do to keep,yourself warm will likely also keep the cells in your Li batteries above the low temp cut off point so they will continue to charge as normal.

years ago when early Li battery BMSs had no low temp cut off functions, low temps were a problem for Li battery charging, but not now.

Jerry

[Jerry]

Some conversions will not have the natural ability to keep LI’s warm enough during very cold temps such as both my H Marathons with house batteries in an open area above the drive tires. If you’re going to be camping in a fixed spot where it’s very cold, you definitely have a problem without heat when the BMS shuts down the charging. So no doubt some conversions will have to have a heat source.

[gary]

In a case like that I recommend installing the new Li batteries inside the living area, like under the bed. If you are warm enough to be in the bus to use the batteries, the Li batteries are warm enough to charge. If that is not possible, then external heat may be the only option.

jerry

[Archived]

One thing I recently learn while talking to a xantrex rep was that that you should disconnect the battery temp sensors. I was ever seeing the 14.4 volts from the inverter to charge the batts and that was because the sensors were regulating the charge current. LFP don’t need this function .

[Dave]

I need some help here. I have a 96 H3-41 and I can’t find the ddec circuit breakers, cb19, 20 etc. they’re not in the three locations I know of. Any help here on where they are?

[DON]

I don’t know squat about an H, but on my 96 XL they are in the electrical compartment above the engine, the first two “15amp” circuit breakers on the left side of the row of breakers.