What You NEED to Know About Adding Lithium Batteries to Your RV

This is a follow up video to the Vatrer LiFePO4 460Ah battery that I just installed in my motorhome and it might be a be unpopular. There are many comments from that video asking about converters, inverters, and the alternator upgrades for such an upgrade so I thought I would put this video together to help explain. There are 4 areas of concerns when doing this upgrade on motorhomes and not everyone covers them but also most of the solar, battery, off-grid- RV- channels either do not explain or cover them or make it seem so complicated I thought I would try my best to explain what needs to be done.

Like always, I will differ to the manufacturers of the batteries and this video DOES NOT apply to DIY homebrew battery builds but modern LiFePO4 batteries with BMS built for the RV application.

Thanks for watching!

[TheKargs]

Out of all the you tube channels that I've watched on upgrading to lithium batteries you are the first person to address the problem of compatibility between coach and motor batteries. This was a real concern of mine. Thank you for sharing your solutions to this problem.

[liamgray]

Thank you for this - People tend to really overthink the switch to Lithium and many folks think they're a safety issue when they absolutely are not. I've worked in the UPS industry for over 22 years now. 19 of those years were spent handling escalated customer issues at APC/Schneider Electric (who are the biggest manufacturer in that industry). I have dealt with hundreds (if not thousands) of potential safety issues with lead acid batteries. Explosions, fire, leaks, venting/swelling, you name it. With LiFePO4 I have dealt with exactly zero. Not one, not ever. They are fantastic. From a vendor perspective I have seen the failure rates and they are pretty much zero. When they do fail, it's typically more common to see a BMS failing, or maybe a physical connection like a bad screw terminal or something to that effect. The actual batteries are insanely good and rarely fail. Its great great stuff.

[daviddevoucoux]

James, congrats! You covered the main points perfectly. I live in southern Az and have a trailer. I installed a lithium in my trailer and it works and charges perfectly.
The only suggestion is I did change over the main board of my WFCO converter/charger. Cost under $150 and was a 5 wire install! Took 10 minutes.
Again, thanks for the clarification. Lithium is an easy install for trailers. Motor homes and vans do have the alternator issue that must be addressed.
Lastly, When my truck battery died on the road, I sat for an hour allowing my trailer lithium to charge my truck battery through the 7pin connection. It worked. High voltage always flows to low voltage. I was able to start the truck and get to the dealer for a new truck battery!
Thanks again.
David

[don_sharon]

James - I have the same Magnum Energy MS2812 as you have in your motorhome. They absolutely do work on lithium batteries as I did this conversion about 5 months ago (4x230Ah). I changed out the board and the remote (less than 30 min job) on the MS2812 and it now has the Li battery profile. I did not need to do this as the original board and remote would allow me to customize the charge - as you showed - to CC/CV (constant current/constant voltage). I did not have to really change anything on my 2014 Dutch Star to handle Li batteries. However, I did elect NOT to charge my Li batteries using the 250 amp alternator from the engine. If I want to juice the batteries, I simply start my 10kw generator and within an hour, the batteries are topped off. The chassis batteries are still being charged by the alternator. With a 10kw generator, there is no need for expensive solar stuff. With our setup, we can be off grid for about 5 days (920 Ah) and with a genset, we are only limited by the black/grey tank capacity. Great videos.

[ryanmoore]

Even at 80-90% charge on the lithium, you still get more than twice the ah usage as a comparable lead acid battery. I have had many clients who finally upgraded after I told them this and they are all extatic with the results. Fore those that have 120v fridges I installed two LiFePo4 batteries. For any of them with solar installed, they never run out of juice. The isolator, I did not know about. I will be installing these from now on. Also, installing larger current alternators is usually easy. Thanks for making this more public! Good for business. Ryan at Glenwood RV Repair in Colorado.
Ps. Love your videos! They have made me a better rv tech.

[AlexanderOrtiz-mk]

Thank you for creating such a clear and practical guide on lithium battery upgrades. You've outdone others who've tackled this subject and provided all the necessary information without trying to sell anything. Bravo!

[fredklapetzky]

Yes you helped someone. I need to replace my coach batteries anyway so moving to LiFEPO4 is making a lot of sense. My coach is a 2001 Monaco Dynasty and the expense and effort to replace all the inverters, charge controllers, etc. was keeping me from jumping to the new batteries. Finally someone explained how to do this and removed my fear. Thank you. Now to buy the right equipment!

[jkkus]

The best video on doing the important things when upgrading to LiFePO4 batteries.

[danielayala]

Great job. Thanks for show how simple it can be. It takes the fear factor out of installing lithium battery's.

[batillipes]

I have a 24 year old Georgie Boy 26 ft class A motorhome. I have been doing a major renovation and used AZ Expert's videos extensively when I completely replaced the roof two years ago. For the past few months I've been working on the electrical system. I kept the original house battery and engine battery but disconnected the house battery from the 12 volt house circuits and removed the original charger/inverter. This original house battery now serves only as a backup to the engine battery. Both of these are charged by the engine's alternator. To manage house power needs, I installed an independent 48v EG4 LiFE house battery that is charged via a Growatt 3 kw charger/inverter. Through the Growatt, the EG4 battery can be charged by shore power, by the generator, or with 800 watts of solar panels on the roof but not by the engine alternator. So when I am hooked up to shore power or running the generator, the 120v feeds through the automatic transfer switch to the Growatt charger/inverter. The Growatt unit normally routes the 120v directly to my 120v AC breaker panel. The Growatt also charges the 48v battery. If there is no incoming 120v, the Growatt automatically inverts 48v DC from the battery to 120v AC and feeds it to the 120v AC breaker panel. The 48v DC runs through a 48 to 12 volt DC converter, and is distributed to the eight 12 volt DC circuits in my motorhome. When I started the project, I expected it to be very complicated but was amazed at all the things the Growatt can do, and how much simpler it was than I expected. I'm not pushing Growatt over other manufacturers, it just happens to be the one I got, after seeing it on the Will Prowse channel and I'm sure others operate similarly. As AZ Expert mentioned, the electrical equipment available for RVs are getting smarter and thus easier to use.

Jim

[petitchenil]

You confirmed my hunch about using PV to top off the batteries as a more cost effect way on an older rig than changing out the perfectly good inverter/charger. I like the solution for the charging off the alternator. I might jump in now.

[vibrolax]

I used the Li-BIM without trouble for 3 years, but switched to a Renogy DC-DC+MPPT this year. When the LiFePO4 batteries got almost completely discharged, they pulled >100A from the alternator/chassis battery. This tripped the 100A breaker I put between the Li-BIM and the chassis battery, so I could only charge from the AC-DC converter.

The Renogy DC - DC converter does 50A Max, and can be adjusted downward in 10A increments. It still charges the coach batteries faster than the Li-BIM, because of the on-off duty cycle of the Li-BIM.

The DC-DC charger products have improved a lot in the last 3 years. I don't regret buying the Li-BIM, but better options exist now.

[tkilg]

Glad I came across this channel, and I like the shelter setup....with the shipping containers and hoop canvas.

[hrMrLocksmith]

Excellent video!

Answered all my concerns about replacing my Lead Acid batteries.

Thanks!

[kellyboyfive]

You can re purpose your battery isolator to charge your chassis battery with the solar and never need to lock down the boost switch again I know you took out the jumper relay its just in case your new relay leaves the chat your solar will charge the chassis batterys. Just put the wire from the house batteries to the alt side of the isolator and number one to the chassis battery, it works great on my Monico. Keep it going. We all Love your work.

[daverohn]

I built a LiFePo4 battery using prismatic cells from EVE and a Daly BMS. I've used it in my Class A for a year now, with zero problems. This battery connected to an EG4, 48 volt input, 120VAC output, 3K watt Inverter powers everything in my RV except the AC. i also have two converter taps off the battery bank to run 12V and 24V systems in the RV. Factory built Lithium batteries are easier to purchase and install, but my system is FAR less expensive, per watt-hour, and is constructed the same way the factory builds are, using very similar components. The only difference between my battery and yours is the size. Mine's larger, with a higher capacity.
The downside to using the system I built is that you need some electrical knowledge and how to construct battery systems. Outside of that, both our systems are bulletproof. Will Prowse, here on YouTube, has a lot information on how to build a LiFePo4 system.
I love your videos and have benefitted from them. Keep up the great work!

[lynbarnel]

Excellent! This is the information I've been waiting for. Thought I would have to change / upgrade the alternator in my 2000 Beaver. Thanks James! You rock, buddy!

[anthonyb]

Excellent video. I think you have discussed all the important points. I have a 2022 class A on the F53 chassis. When I upgraded to lithium I spoke to Lion Energy and Battle Born techs and well as Victron. I changed out the converter, added a Victron DC-DC charger and changed my ZAMP solar controller setting to lithium.
Because I’m always concerned with electrical connections and shorts I paid a local repair shop here to check and confirm everything was good.
16 months later and everything still working great.

I truly appreciate your videos. Thank you

[PhilipZurcher]

James, great video on this much debated subject. Very clearly outlined as usual and simple enough for me to understand the steps and reasons for the choices. Thanks, PZ

[filmwestukltd]

You have answered many of my questions concerning the lipo4 batteries. I have opted to keep them on a Seperate Circuit. I can top them out with an eu2200i and ac-dc charger or solar power.
The Lithium circuit charges the Chassis battery via a trickle charger/maintainer.
This keeps them isolated from one another. Also have a 700w inverter on Chassis side for power on the Move which can also run the Ac/Dc charger for the Lithium bank so on arrival the Lithium is topped off with little to no strain on the Alternator.