How Do You Know if Truck Is Charging Camper Batteries
Going lithium is all the rage for those who like to boondock in their RV. Not only does the lithium battery offer a more usable bombardment capacity at 90 percentage (compared to fifty pct for pb-acid), but it'due south as well 50 percent lighter, provides a higher current and voltage output, and charges faster because it can be "bulk" charged up to 97 percent. Unfortunately, when information technology comes to charging and maintaining a lithium ion battery, there's a lot of misinformation out at that place. Due to the limitations associated with the lead-acid battery, age-old habits accept become ingrained over time. Many assume that charging a lithium battery is the aforementioned equally a lead-acrid bombardment, only this isn't the instance. There are some meaning differences, as we'll explain in this article. Indeed, these differences are so profound that it can exist a detriment to the lithium battery'southward life if non corrected.
All things considered, it's amazing that the lead-acid battery has existed in the RV marketplace for then long. It charges slowly, stores relatively little power, has a relatively short life span, and needs a total charge to prevent sulfation. Information technology'southward also heavier than lithium, is hamstrung by Peukert's Law (meaning as the rate of belch increases, the battery's available capacity decreases), and suffers from voltage sag (at 50 percentage the lead-acid voltage typically drops to 11.9 volts). Due to limited infinite, truck camper battery compartments are typically limited to no more than 2 group-27 lead-acid batteries. Even though the typical group-27 battery is rated at 100 amp hours, you'll demand two to actually get that much usable capacity because only 50 percent of each battery is usable. Still, two batteries isn't plenty for some. For those needing to run a loftier amperage load like a microwave, hair dryer, or an consecration cooktop this ordinarily means i thing—running a generator. Ugh.
Enter the lithium ion battery. Using 1 or more lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries, you can power the aforementioned loads using an appropriately sized inverter—we use a 3,000 watt pure sine wave model in the Roadrunner. When compared to lead-acid, our 12 volt Expion 360 amp hr LiFePO4 battery puts out every bit much power every bit seven 100 amp hour group-27 lead-acrid batteries! It does this weighing one-half as much at only 95 pounds, while taking up merely one-third of the space. It too lasts longer than a standard lead-acrid/AGM battery—between two,000 and 5,000 cycles—and doesn't suffer from voltage sag like lead-acid. Moreover, at a 30 per centum state of charge (SOC), our Expion 360 amp hour lithium battery yet cranks out a whopping 12.9 volts. That'south why the lithium battery, coupled with a capable solar power system, is such a game-changer for those who like to boondock.
Unfortunately, in that location are some negatives associated with the lithium ion bombardment. Showtime, never accuse a lithium battery below 32F. Doing so can irreparably harm it. Yeah, you tin can use a lithium battery beneath 32F y'all just tin't charge it beneath this temperature. Fortunately, nigh of the lithium batteries being built today have a bombardment monitoring system (BMS) built in to forestall charging below freezing. This is also why many lithium battery owners like to continue their lithium batteries stored within the camper and non in an compartment outside where they can exist exposed to much colder temperatures. Second, the toll for a lithium battery is higher than lead-acid with the toll for a LiFePO4 grouping-27 ranging anywhere between $700 and $1,000. Even though this price includes the required BMS, it'southward still seven to nine times more than a standard moisture jail cell atomic number 82-acid bombardment. Not just that, this higher cost doesn't take into account the charging devices needed to properly accuse a lithium battery, which volition add even more than upwards front cost (more about this after).
Fortunately, the high, upfront toll to become lithium tin be mitigated by edifice your own lithium battery bank using 24 volt electric vehicle (EV) lithium oxide manganese (LiMn2O4) battery cells. Swain reader, Steve Hericks, did just that in an article we featured recently here on Truck Camper Adventure. Steve's DIY camper, called Maximus, features a massive electrical system centered around a 24 volt, 1,100 amp hour lithium bombardment banking company and a buck converter that converts the 24 volts to 12 volts for some of his loads. He charges this battery with a 950 watt of solar power organisation and a robust DC-DC alternator charging arrangement. You won't notice a generator anywhere near Steve's camper. That'due south because Steve's battery, coupled with a 4,000 watt pure sine moving ridge inverter, is large plenty to run an air conditioner, a convection microwave, and an induction cooktop.
How to Properly Charge an RV Lithium Battery
Battery charging in a truck camper is typically accomplished using solar power, the truck's alternator, and a 110 volt AC converter-charger powered by either shore ability or past a generator. Unlike atomic number 82-acid, which needs 14.4 volts to charge, lithium requires 14.vi volts. Since the fourth dimension and voltage requirements differ by battery chemistry, it's important to use the correct settings on each charger for the battery type to avoid over-voltage impairment and to attain a proper, full charge. This means all of the battery chargers in your camper should have a LiFePO4 setting or be made specifically for lithium. Another setting simply won't generate the voltage necessary to properly charge the bombardment.
With regard to the charging profile used by lithium, there are some important differences. The pb-acid battery requires iii master charging stages—bulk, absorption, and bladder—to properly charge. An equalization and maintenance phase for pb-acid is used to prevent sulfation besides. Not so with lithium, which requires only two stages, a bulk charge up to 95 to 97 per centum SOC, and a tiny assimilation charge for 10 to 15 minutes for the remaining 3 to v per centum SOC. Because lithium doesn't sulfate the additional bladder and equalization stages aren't needed.
Yet, when it comes to charging, lithium has another of import difference—the do of keeping lithium topped-off or "trickle charged" at 100 per centum SOC. You lot just shouldn't do it. This is because lithium can be "stressed" due to ambient temperature changes while in storage. As a affair of fact, the optimum state of charge (SOC) to store a lithium battery for long-term storage is between 40 to lxxx percent SOC or when the battery'due south open circuit voltage is approximately 13.1 volts. Unlike lead-acid, the monthly self-discharge charge per unit of the lithium battery is a meager 1 to 2 percent and experiences no "health" issues when receiving a fractional accuse or when being stored less than fully charged. So what's the lesser line? If you lot're keeping your lithium battery topped off for long periods of time at domicile or at an RV park—cease doing it—y'all're probably dissentious it.
Similar any rechargeable battery, amperage, or the corporeality of information technology, is an of import factor in how speedily a lithium battery recharges. Like we mentioned earlier, lithium tin be charged at a much higher rate compared to lead-acrid. This is due to the lower internal resistance of lithium. Indeed, lithium can exist "bulk" charged at .8C or eighty percent of the battery chapters (80 amps for a 100 amp 60 minutes battery) as opposed to atomic number 82-acid, which, due to its college internal resistance, is express to a "bulk" charge rate of no more .3C or xxx percent of the battery chapters (xxx amps for a 100 amp hour battery) followed past an absorption phase that can accept fifty-fifty longer. This is ane reason why some lithium battery owners have installed larger, more powerful AC battery chargers like a 60 or eighty amp model. It's besides why so many are covering their roofs with solar panels.
For smart or standard alternator charging, the lithium battery requires a DC-to-DC charger. Aside from isolating the truck battery from the camper house bombardment, the DC-DC charger provides the necessary 14.six volts and charging profile required for LiFePO4 charging. In order to obtain a sufficient charge, however, y'all'll also need heavy-gauge wiring like six AWG or higher. The standard ten-AWG is too pocket-sized to pass a sufficient charging voltage in the lengths found in truck campers and RVs. A two- or three-wire Anderson plug or equivalent will besides be needed to connect/disconnect the camper from the truck. Every bit for the make of the charger, nosotros recommend any good LiFePO4 DC-DC charger like those made by Expion360, Victron, Redarc, and Renogy. Nosotros recommend a minimum charger rating of 25 amps/6 AWG when building your circuit, but higher accuse ratings tin be achieved by using a second alternator. Steve Hericks' article on lithium and alternator charging addresses these any other bug in much greater item.
Other Considerations
So can you lot wire a xc amp 60 minutes lithium battery with, say, a 160 amp hour lithium battery made by another manufacturer? You tin, but non if they're different chemistries, pregnant you can't connect a 12 volt LiFePO4 battery with a 24 volt LiMn2O4 battery. Parallel connecting ii dissimilar size batteries of the same chemical science is fine, however, each volition contribute proportionally—non equally—to the load, meaning the 90 amp hour battery will contribute 36 percent of the amperage, while the 160 amp 60 minutes battery will contribute 64 percentage.
Of class, a good battery monitoring system is a must for anyone who likes to boondock. This is the but way to determine the SOC of your lithium battery. In add-on to the SOC, a practiced battery monitor will also display the battery's current voltage and the amount of amps beingness used at present. We use Expion360's battery meter to monitor the state of our battery, just any battery monitor, like those made past Xantrex, Victron, or Bayite, will do the play a joke on. All of these loftier-cease monitors employ a shunt, a device that measures amperage flowing in and out on the negative side of the battery. The device works to written report things in real fourth dimension, which is what you desire when y'all're camping off-grid.
Last Thoughts
Going lithium is a very worthwhile investment, but only for those who army camp extensively off-grid. If your truck camping feel involves hopping from 1 RV resort to another, then going lithium would be a total waste of money. Y'all'll exist better off getting a couple of lead-acid AGM batteries to keep the lights on in between stops. Still, if boondocking is your modis operandi so going lithium makes a lot of sense. But as we've just explained in this article, there are several things to know before yous make the investment; otherwise, you may eliminate many of the benefits that the lithium battery provides. As always, consult manufacturer's directions that came with your battery if you lot still have whatever questions or concerns.
Source: https://www.truckcamperadventure.com/how-to-properly-charge-an-rv-lithium-battery/
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