Ski RV's, who's sleeping in parking lots?

[Hopeless Sinner]

I overlooked that, can you use the jackery as a jump pack? May still be better to have something removed from the system completely though.

The diesel heater is not connected to the vehicle engine. The jackery and diesel heater is a completely independent system as it is. (I'm guessing by "the system" you mean the vehicle engine and starting battery.)

[snowaddict91]

The diesel heater is not connected to the vehicle engine. The jackery and diesel heater is a completely independent system as it is. (I'm guessing by "the system" you mean the vehicle engine and starting battery.)

Yeah, what I meant by "the system" as the stuff you'd depend on. I know they are independent but if the diesel heater regularly drains the jackery, probably want another independent jump pack.

[Conundrum]

Optimas used to be awesome. Changed factories and QC a long time ago and now they are expensive and average. I'd look at a couple 6V AGMs for house. I replaced 2 4D AGMs which were huge, heavy, and expensive with 4 6Vs when I did solar and have have way more amp hours. I also have motor batteries so a different setup than you're looking at.

[Hopeless Sinner]

Yeah, what I meant by "the system" as the stuff you'd depend on. I know they are independent but if the diesel heater regularly drains the jackery, probably want another independent jump pack.

Or a single jackery w a larger capacity.

[b0ardski]

have any mags out there sprung for lithium drop in replacements; battleborn has great warranty, but spendy.
I like the idea of thousands of deep discharge cycles, the convenience of AGM mounting anywhere, need a solar controller with lithium mode though. want a setup separate from the class c house wiring which leaches my cheap AGMs to death in time for the 12mo free replacement.

[CascadeLuke]

have any mags out there sprung for lithium drop in replacements; battleborn has great warranty, but spendy.
I like the idea of thousands of deep discharge cycles, the convenience of AGM mounting anywhere, need a solar controller with lithium mode though. want a setup separate from the class c house wiring which leaches my cheap AGMs to death in time for the 12mo free replacement.

Have a battleborn in my trailer. It’s been solid. I looked around and there may have been options a few hundred cheaper but it was mostly direct from overseas and I questioned longevity. Lithium and Battleborn 10 yr warranty is the kind of brainlessness I want on a rv that sits until in service. I noticed pretty quickly the fast power up is neat compared to others regen time.

[Hopeless Sinner]

have any mags out there sprung for lithium drop in replacements; battleborn has great warranty, but spendy.
I like the idea of thousands of deep discharge cycles, the convenience of AGM mounting anywhere, need a solar controller with lithium mode though. want a setup separate from the class c house wiring which leaches my cheap AGMs to death in time for the 12mo free replacement.

Really not clear on what you intend to power w the Lithium so it's hard to get an idea if they might be worthy of buying. To end tedious battery swapping perhaps a switch to isolate your batteries would eliminate the drain or add a built in battery charger or tender to keep them charged. I would think that should be done before buying lithiums.

You mention the 1000's of recharges, and they're significantly lighter, but another important difference is you get ~90% of the Ah out of it at a steady discharge rate. Lead acid batteries have a declining output.

I have been researching truck campers and lithium batteries for over a year and have the Battleborns spec'd on my build. Battleborn sells returned and rebuilt batteries on their webpage which can save you a few $$.

[Huskier]

have any mags out there sprung for lithium drop in replacements; battleborn has great warranty, but spendy.
I like the idea of thousands of deep discharge cycles, the convenience of AGM mounting anywhere, need a solar controller with lithium mode though. want a setup separate from the class c house wiring which leaches my cheap AGMs to death in time for the 12mo free replacement.

I went with a set of Lion LiFePO4, 100ah. I wired them in parallel but for some reason only one battery would charge / discharge. The other would lose potential across the terminals. I can't figure out why, whether it's faulty batteries or faulty wiring. If faulty wiring, I'm having difficulty understanding how it could totally ruin the battery like that. It's happened twice so far, but I got both batteries as a pair, so maybe they just had a bad batch or something...

[b0ardski]

thanks I was leaning towards splurging on the Battleborn for all those reasons plus you know,,,murica

plan to have 2-100w panels on the rv and 2 100ah batts in a case w/prosine 2000w inverter built in for a portable solar generator to charge onewheels and ebikes. then I can always jack into the rv house system if necessary. Haven't looked into a lithium charge controller yet may just get it from battleborn.

[b0ardski]

I went with a set of Lion LiFePO4, 100ah. I wired them in parallel but for some reason only one battery would charge / discharge. The other would lose potential across the terminals. I can't figure out why, whether it's faulty batteries or faulty wiring. If faulty wiring, I'm having difficulty understanding how it could totally ruin the battery like that. It's happened twice so far, but I got both batteries as a pair, so maybe they just had a bad batch or something...

maybe an issue w/built in BMS?

[powdrhound]

BattleBorn, with the interior heater, for solar charging below 27*.
Yes.

[detrusor]

Would love to have the built in battery heater. When my batteries die I’m in.


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[Kootenai]

Thanks again for the input. Yes my diesel heater/Jackery is an independent system. And it's actually an Audew, not a Jackery (but I didn't want to get in the weeds with details.) The Audew has jumpers on them and exceeds the normal 10A limit that most solar gens have. That was crucial for powering the diesel heater. Perhaps I would still have some juice left to jump start if needed. I am just looking for fail safes on a not totally ideal DC setup. So check me on this: Dual purpose batteries will have the same juice for either slow drain or CCA. The advantage is that if you drain to 50% of the batteries power, you wont do damage to the unit. Whereas, the normal starter battery will suffer damage with repeated drains and recharges. Yes? So, if I were to drain the dual battery 50% or more using my lights/ usb, I may not have the juice to start the truck, but I will not have done damage to the battery once it is recharged? I'm always amazed at the collective knowledge and experience on these forums....

[altasnob]

So, if I were to drain the dual battery 50% or more using my lights/ usb, I may not have the juice to start the truck, but I will not have done damage to the battery once it is recharged?

A general rule of thumb for any AGM or lead acid battery is to never consume more than 50% of the total amp hours the battery is rated for. So for a 100 amp hour battery, you never want to use more than 50 amp hours without recharging. If you do so repeatedly, it will shorten the life span of the battery dramatically. One advantage of LiFePO4 (lithium) is that that 50% rule doesn't apply and it is more like 90%.

[altasnob]

I went with a set of Lion LiFePO4, 100ah. I wired them in parallel but for some reason only one battery would charge / discharge. The other would lose potential across the terminals. I can't figure out why, whether it's faulty batteries or faulty wiring. If faulty wiring, I'm having difficulty understanding how it could totally ruin the battery like that. It's happened twice so far, but I got both batteries as a pair, so maybe they just had a bad batch or something...

Have you checked every step of the system with a multi meter? What readings do you get?

[altasnob]

Haven't looked into a lithium charge controller yet may just get it from battleborn.

Most modern solar charge controllers would have a lithium setting. I have a Victron SmartSolar Bluetooth MPPT Solar Charge Controller. Not the cheapest, but the bluetooth controls are slick and makes any trouble shooting easier. Victron makes a good battery monitor too, but expensive for what it is. Cheapo option is the AiLi Voltmeter Ammeter Voltage Current Meter. For ultimate lithium setup you would charge both from solar and get a dc to dc charger, which most have a lithium setting built in.

[powdork]

A general rule of thumb for any AGM or lead acid battery is to never consume more than 50% of the total amp hours the battery is rated for. So for a 100 amp hour battery, you never want to use more than 50 amp hours without recharging. If you do so repeatedly, it will shorten the life span of the battery dramatically. One advantage of LiFePO4 (lithium) is that that 50% rule doesn't apply and it is more like 90%.

Here's a decent comparison from someone that sells both
https://gpelectric.com/choosing-batteries-for-rv/

[Hopeless Sinner]

Thanks again for the input. Yes my diesel heater/Jackery is an independent system. And it's actually an Audew, not a Jackery (but I didn't want to get in the weeds with details.) The Audew has jumpers on them and exceeds the normal 10A limit that most solar gens have. That was crucial for powering the diesel heater. Perhaps I would still have some juice left to jump start if needed. I am just looking for fail safes on a not totally ideal DC setup. So check me on this: Dual purpose batteries will have the same juice for either slow drain or CCA. The advantage is that if you drain to 50% of the batteries power, you wont do damage to the unit. Whereas, the normal starter battery will suffer damage with repeated drains and recharges. Yes? So, if I were to drain the dual battery 50% or more using my lights/ usb, I may not have the juice to start the truck, but I will not have done damage to the battery once it is recharged? I'm always amazed at the collective knowledge and experience on these forums....

Yes you're correct the dual use will withstand repeated deep discharges and continue to function as a starting battery once it's fully recharged. You should also be aware that the alternator will slowly recharge a drained battery, but it's best for the battery(no matter if it's a starting, dual use or deep cycle) to be recharged as quickly as possible.

You could plug in your devices with your existing setup and measure the drain overnight being prepared to recharge asap to give you an idea if possibly using a bigger than stock starting battery would work. Hopefully you have access to a 12v charger and a voltmeter. It really doesn't sound like you'd be pulling a lot of amps from your description.

[Conundrum]

Speaking of batteries, just picked up a Fiamma awning with 12v motor for my van on craigslist for $500. The lady was going to throw it away because they don't have a camper anymore and it was in the rafters in the garage. Her dad put it on CL.

[goldenboy]

74 Tradesman just listed in Crested Butte, only 47k miles. Plus you can look like Uncle Rico.

[byates1]

[powdork]

damn that's a hard 47k miles.

[apex dave]

Had a '78 Dodge campervan just like that. We called it the 'Shit Brown Van'. Lots of great trips out the logging roads to windsurf to Nitnat on the west side of Vancouver Island. It ended up a portable surf shack on the beaches of Haida Gwaii.
The convection heaters in those old vans were not efficient but they required no electricity and did the job. I wish there was a modern equivalent.


[/QUOTE]

[powdork]

what i wanna know is


unless that's just a seat

[HighWest]

Battleborn sells returned and rebuilt batteries on their webpage which can save you a few $$.

I’m unable to find these on their website, do you have a link?