Battery choice

[camsf]

After much consideration I'm leaning to going with a lithium battery (Renogy is on sale) mostly due to weight issues and number of charges. 28 pounds for 100AH makes more sense in my rig as I purchased this rig with weight in mind. I'll be adding solar as well in a few months and in the meantime it looks like my Tacoma will only charge the battery to roughly 70% at it'll only charge to 13.9 volts (when 14.4 is needed by the battery for a full charge). I'm also reading that a lithium battery can "tax" an alternator as well but not sure if this would be related to the simple use case of charging the battery with my Tacoma alternator.

 

[searching for nowhere]

I have two Trojan T-105 batteries (flooded). Last year I was in some cold weather. I started heating my trailer at 3:00 and kept it at 65 degrees until 9:00 then I turned the heater off. I turned on the heat for about 30 minutes in the middle of the night. The low temperature that night was 20 degrees. At 6:00 I got up and heated the trailer to 65 degrees. At about 9:00 most of the snow was off my solar panels so the batteries started to get charged. I got down to about 60% capacity. Keep in mind that cold temperatures lowers the capacity of flooded battery. I don't know if this happens with other batteries. My batteries are outside on the trailer tongue.

I have a small insulated Bigfoot trailer and use the heater that it came. I use LED lights and a propane refrigerator.

 

[wagoneer]

Not sure how much room you have real estate gets very tight in slide in campers I prefer having 2 x 6 volt true deep cycle golf cart batteries and am willing to make space available, as I travel alone not a big deal.

 

[thedane]

I have a 2017 Tacoma and a 2011 Fleet. Bought camper used, and has original battery that is starting to show it's age. I have a 3 way fridge (will eventually upgrade to 2-way), no solar (for now), and typically stay in each place 1-3 days.

Any reason why I wouldn't change out my single 12v battery with 2 x Fullriver AGM 6V? Should net around about 450 Ah.
Pros/cons?

Thanks in advance, and Happy New Year

 

[PaulT]

I have a 2017 Tacoma and a 2011 Fleet. Bought camper used, and has original battery that is starting to show it's age. I have a 3 way fridge (will eventually upgrade to 2-way), no solar (for now), and typically stay in each place 1-3 days.

Any reason why I wouldn't change out my single 12v battery with 2 x Fullriver AGM 6V? Should net around about 450 Ah.
Pros/cons?

Thanks in advance, and Happy New Year

Keep in mind that for 6v batteries in series, the voltage adds 6+6=12v, but the aH does not add. The capacity will remain that of a single battery.

Paul

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Keep in mind that for 6v batteries in series, the voltage adds 6+6=12v, but the aH does not add. The capacity will remain that of a single battery.

Paul

To add to Paul’s comment. Two 12VDC batteries in parallel still provide just 12VDC, but aH are additive.

 

[Yubaman]

This is my choice: Crown1 6v 220ah dual battery bank. Fits neatly into 2012 Eagle compartment. From Matt at Continuous Resources. 231/ea plus 60 to ship. Great dealer. Shown with Victron shunt.

 

[Lighthawk]

This is my choice: Crown1 6v 220ah dual battery bank. Fits neatly into 2012 Eagle compartment. From Matt at Continuous Resources. 231/ea plus 60 to ship. Great dealer. Shown with Victron shunt.

That's the ticket! We're finding 100ah to be just a bit short, and I was wondering about twin 6v packs that might fit our Hawk group31 compartment without mods.

 

[Yubaman]

The length of the 6CRV220 is 10.25" and width is 7.06" so you need 10.25 by 14.12. I had to take out the plywood box that was for the single battery.

 

[Beach]

Camsf, You mention running the 3way fridge as part of the load on your battery bank. Should consider running the fridge on propane if you haven't considered that option. 3way fridges consume a lot a amps running on 12v.

 

[camsf]

Camsf, You mention running the 3way fridge as part of the load on your battery bank. Should consider running the fridge on propane if you haven't considered that option. 3way fridges consume a lot a amps running on 12v.

Yes definitely will when I'm parked. Just got Renogy LI 100 amp battery and a Victron battery monitor. Going to run any/everything I can think of to test and measure before I order a solar setup. I'm especially curious how much the stock propane heater will draw in low temps (Teens and 20's) both with the top down sleeping as well as up (fully insulated)...shouldn't be much I'd expect.

 

[Vic Harder]

Related, I think. Went winter/snow camping this past weekend and snapped some pics of the power readings:

With TF-130L running and two inside LED lights

With Propex 2200 heater running and two inside LED lights

Startup - in truck readings. Lots of juice going from alternator into camper batteries!

 

[EM4]

Vic how many batteries in your hawk do you have?

 

[Vic Harder]

dual 6v 250AH Rolls AGM deep cycle

 

[Stokeme]

I spent a lot of time looking as I wanted/ needed to be light. My whole rig combo is geared to it. Went with a Shell to be light & to be able to put $$ elsewhere. I chose LiFePo4, with internal Bluetooth. It was pricey but, so far, has been great. With the BT App, on my iPhone, I can monitor detailed Battery info in real time. I can monitor internal cell temp. I have 100Ah & 50Ah batteries run in parallel. 30 & 15 lbs respectfully. They are formatted perpendicular, with a Bluetooth Victron 100/30 mounted, in my Shell cabinet. The 50Ah will sometimes power my canoe where I also needed light weight.
I disconnected my truck to house connection, relying only on solar, to recharge. I am wary of my truck draining my house battery when both are at resting voltage. With 3 power drains, Dometic CFX50, FWC heater & LED lighting, my use has been15 to 25Ah/day? I still need to figure this out. Usually by ~1pm, w/240W roof solar, I am back at full capacity. My whole setup is 12v only. I will be adding a 1.2 gal/min pump for a 7 galllon galley tank. I’ve had mostly fair weather conditions. I realize with extended bad weather my usage could change. To me, these batteries drain slower & charge faster.
Very late Fall, very early Spring, with lows of ~20F, have been my coldest temperatures to date. Specs state LiFePo4 storage & charging is ok between 32F & 104F. Discharge is ok between -4F & 140F. Note, to have a charging issue, the internal Lithium cells would have to reach 32F, resulting from cold temperatures, without Camper heat. So far, only my condensation has frozen to the ceiling. A ceiling which is new to me after only sleeping in a tent. If I was concerned about internal temperature, I could unplug my solar, & postpone charging, until the cells were safe to charge.
Making this Camper my own has been interesting, informative & fun. Thanks to Vic for advice & helpful info on electronics.

 

[EM4]

Yes definitely will when I'm parked. Just got Renogy LI 100 amp battery and a Victron battery monitor. Going to run any/everything I can think of to test and measure before I order a solar setup. I'm especially curious how much the stock propane heater will draw in low temps (Teens and 20's) both with the top down sleeping as well as up (fully insulated)...shouldn't be much I'd expect.

Out of curiosity, why did you pick the Renogy other than its designed for solar charging.
thanks

 

[rando]

I spent a lot of time looking as I wanted/ needed to be light. My whole rig combo is geared to it. Went with a Shell to be light & to be able to put $$ elsewhere. I chose LiFePo4, with internal Bluetooth. It was pricey but, so far, has been great. With the BT App, on my iPhone, I can monitor detailed Battery info in real time. I can monitor internal cell temp. I have 100Ah & 50Ah batteries run in parallel. 30 & 15 lbs respectfully. They are formatted perpendicular, with a Bluetooth Victron 100/30 mounted, in my Shell cabinet. The 50Ah will sometimes power my canoe where I also needed light weight.
I disconnected my truck to house connection, relying only on solar, to recharge. I am wary of my truck draining my house battery when both are at resting voltage. With 3 power drains, Dometic CFX50, FWC heater & LED lighting, my use has been15 to 25Ah/day. Usually by ~1pm, w/240W roof solar, I am back at full capacity. My whole setup is 12v only. I will be adding a 1.2 gal/min pump for a 7 galllon galley tank. I’ve had mostly fair weather conditions. I realize with extended bad weather my usage could change. To me, these batteries drain slower & charge faster.
Very late Fall, very early Spring, with lows of ~20F, have been my coldest temperatures to date. Typical LiFePo4 storage & charging is ok between 32F & 104F. Discharge is ok between -4F & 140F. Note, to have a charging issue, the internal Lithium cells would have to reach 32F, resulting from cold temperatures, without Camper heat. So far, only my condensation has frozen to the ceiling. A ceiling which is new to me after only sleeping in a tent. If I was concerned about internal temperature, I could unplug my solar, & postpone charging, until the cells were safe to charge.
Making this Camper my own has been interesting, informative & fun. Thanks to Vic for advice & helpful info on electronics.

As for the solar charging at low temperatures, Victron has this covered with their new 'Battery Sense':
https://shop.pkys.com/Victron-SBS050100200-Bluetooth-Smart-Battery-Sense_p_7663.html

This is a bluetooth battery voltage/temperature monitor that you mount directly to your lithium battery. You can then pair it wirelessly with the MPPT charger, which adds a charging temperature cutoff to the parameters. I set mine to 3C, which allows me to leave the solar charger on when the camper is parked in the driveway over the winter. It mostly just delays the solar charging to the afternoon once the battery compartment has warmed up in the sun.

 

[Stokeme]

Wow, there you go. I love this Forum. That is very useful Info for me. Thanks Rando, for this & other past replies.