New Battery

Zamp replied to my info request on the Zamp ZS 30A that supports LiFePO4 batteries:

"Yes sir it should switch over easily. Do check with the battery manufacturer that you decide to go with that their battery management system does work well with solar controllers. Battle Born is a great company to check out."

The LifeBlue batteries sound very interesting. If I use the Zamp controller, I'll need to check with the manufacturer's.
 
Here is another possible choice, it contains internal Bluetooth. “Assembled” likely in China, not assembled in the USA, 5 year warranty. I think pretty much all cells, everywhere, originate from China. Quality internal BMS is an important import from China as well. I would love to know if that is not accurate ...
https://www.amazon.com/Torque-Power-100Ah-Lithium-Battery/dp/B07QSXTV44/ref=sr_1_5?crid=K7FZTQCTSL5I&keywords=12v+100ah+lifepo4+battery+torque+power&qid=1566255250&s=gateway&sprefix=Torque+lifepo4%2Caps%2C199&sr=8-5
Battleborn below ... best warranty out there for sure. I would suggest though that 10 years is a long time to be in business for a LiFePo4 dealer.
https://www.amazon.com/LiFePO4-Volt-Deep-Cycle-Battery/dp/B06XX197GJ/ref=sr_1_3?crid=30M0V8V3AZ0GL&keywords=battleborn+lithium+battery+100ah&qid=1566255446&s=gateway&sprefix=battleborn+li%2Caps%2C199&sr=8-3
Here is the Victron Voltage/Temperature sensor, preferred 10 meter model, this would solve low temp issues
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RTYGMBD/ref=twister_B07VRF1LLW?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Torque Power seems to share the same configuration, & components, as my StarkPower Battery, which has been excellent so far. The Stark owner was a lithium pioneer. His former tech guy now works for Torque. Their Batteries are new to the market but I’m comfortable with my purchase. I try to learn all I can about keeping my investment safe & healthy. Value was important to me as I need Batteries for both Camper & Canoe. Bluetooth was also a key component for me. Here is a friends & family discount coupon offered to me by the tech. “SAVE10” It still works. See below ...
https://buylithium.com/all-batteries/
Battleborn & LifeBlue (I have talked to the owner from LifeBlue, a solid guy) are safe bets
PS ... as I stated in an earlier post, this new battery can not be used in parallel with my other battery long term. It can be used in a pinch but not long term.
 
LiFePo4 is definitely the way to go if you can foot the upfront cost for both the battery and getting both chargers inline. Sounds like you have the solar controller situation handled. Do you charge off of the truck as well? If so, you'll have to figure that setup out. Most battery isolators won't work, because they read the lithium battery as a charging voltage and stay open. The Sterling chargers are great, but pricey. Stay away from Renogy.

Battleborn and AIMS are making great LiFePo4 batteries.
 
ClimberRob said:
LiFePo4 is definitely the way to go if you can foot the upfront cost for both the battery and getting both chargers inline. Sounds like you have the solar controller situation handled. Do you charge off of the truck as well? If so, you'll have to figure that setup out. Most battery isolators won't work, because they read the lithium battery as a charging voltage and stay open. The Sterling chargers are great, but pricey. Stay away from Renogy.

Battleborn and AIMS are making great LiFePo4 batteries.
Why stay away from Renogy? I haven't had a chance to test mine yet, but there is a 40A Renogy DC-DC charger in my setup.
 
I don't think the lithium vs lead debate is all that clear cut - which is best for you definitely depends on your usage.

Lithium has a huge advantage when it comes to weight - a LiFePO4 pack weighs about 1/3 what a lead equivalent would. But the OP has a huge diesel truck, so weight is probably not an issue.

Lithium has an advantage with cycle life - theoretically you can get 5 - 10x more cycles out of an LiFePO4 than a lead acid, but in practice this remains to be seen, and often batteries are killed by abuse, not old age. Whether this advantage is worth it to the OP depends on their usage scenario. If you use the camper 5-6 weekends and a week or two a year, it will take a lot of years for a lead acid to succumb to cycle life, and an almost infinite number of years for a lithium to run out of cycles. In this scenario, lead acid likely makes more sense. On the other hand if you are using the camper for months straight and will for years, then cycle life begins to matter.

Lead acid has the advantage in cost and compatibility - you current chargers and isolators were designed to work with Lead Acid, so no changes were needed. If you have a vented battery compartment, buying commodity flooded lead acid batteries and using the snot out or them (80% DOD) then replacing them when they die or when the cost of lithium has dropped further may make the most sense. Unless you plan on using the camper a lot and keeping it for a long time, LiFePO4 will likely not work out from an economic perspective. However, campers in general don't make economic sense, so maybe that is not a real concern.

This is all coming from some one with a 150Ah LiFePO4 battery - in my particular case, I am weight limited and enjoy tinkering, so a low cost DIY LiFePO4 pack has worked out well for me.
 
rando,

Did you ever find a battery isolator that had an adjustable set point so that the high LiFePO4 resting voltage didn't keep the truck and camper batteries always connected?

Since tthat resting voltage is near lead acid float voltage, it probably doesn't matter but just curious.

Paul
 
PaulT said:
rando,

Did you ever find a battery isolator that had an adjustable set point so that the high LiFePO4 resting voltage didn't keep the truck and camper batteries always connected?

Since tthat resting voltage is near lead acid float voltage, it probably doesn't matter but just curious.

Paul

I did find one:
http://www.intervolt.com/product/voltage-sensing-relays/

But it is hard to find in the US and likely overkill.

As you note, leaving the batteries connected is not a big deal as you just end up float charging your starting battery, so I mostly gave up on my search. The blue sea ACR does actually disconnect once the battery is around 50% SOC and there is any significant load.
 
Vic Harder said:
Why stay away from Renogy? I haven't had a chance to test mine yet, but there is a 40A Renogy DC-DC charger in my setup.
Both of the Renogy DC-DC chargers I had would continuously and randomly shut off when trying to charge Lithium batteries. Renogy customer service is terrible. You wait on hold for a long time and just talk to some kid who has no idea what they are talking about and reads back a script from a computer screen.

The Renogy DC-DC chargers seemed to work fine with AGM and Gel.

I would recommend charging straight off of the alternator/starting battery via a BlueSea relay, or go with a Sterling unit.
 
Note that, as mentioned above, the BlueSea relays will not disconnect the batteries until the Lithium is fairly low, dropping below 13.0V.
 
I have a Renogy 50AH LifeP04, a PWM 30A charger and a couple flex 50watt panels. I have not had any issues yet but it is all pretty new stuff. They were good about replacing the earlier flex panels that weren't working well (I was not involved with that) so I would not just write them off so quickly..... YMMV
 
My .02 would be to use Sterling/Solar or just Solar. After having several chats (Sterling, Stark, Relion, LifeBlue, Torque, Bioenno, BlueSea) all the Battery boys were queasy with a DC-DC Truck-Camper connection. Sterling, with his explanation, simplified a bit, impressed me. Noted, I do not have deep electrical knowledge, but I did pick up the concerns on what seemed problematic.
Sterling seemed pricey as an accessory. So, I went strictly with Solar & put my budget into more battery storage. Added a (close out) 50 to my 100. Also added another flex (120Wx2) roof panel and a portable plug/play (100W) flex panel w/50ft cable. Commodity panels, but it all works Good, so far.
 
I’m not trying to be cute, but a Honda 1000 generator sounds like a better and cheaper solution all the time, but where to put it! Lots of good Lithium batt info.
 
I saw a lot of questions that can be answered by viewing this website: mobile-solarpower.com The guys name is Will Prowse. He reviews panels, batteries, wiring, etc. He is brilliant. Enjoy!
 

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