Battery upgrade

[Jeepster1]

Would like to upgrade to Lithium or AGM.. I've read you cannot charge a Lithium with a regular charger, it would require a converter upgrade. Not sure if my solar panels would charge one or not.

The AGM seems to require battery acid to fill instead of water. Not sure if my 390 watt Go Power solar or wfcoPECB converter would charge this one either.

I've always had flooded batteries but they are bad again and would like an upgrade.

Any information would be appreciated. Thanks

[DavidEM]

AGMs would require no change to the converter and they are totally sealed so no water or acid addition required. Your solar panels should work fine with them as well.

David

[RizeMaster]

Your solar controller may have a Lithium profile, and your converter may be OK yo charge Lithium batteries, just not ideal.
However, there are many other considerations before deciding to go down the Lithium path.
Some that come to mind are alternator charging (may need a Li-specific BIM), temperature ranges (too cold may destroy the cells, too warm may reduce lifespan), SOC/voltage (don't like to be always full or too empty), LiFePO4 BMS taking them offline while being charged from solar leading to voltage spikes, etc etc.
AGM is definitely easier for a drop-in conversion. They are fully sealed and maintenance free, but are also as big and heavy as regular lead acid batteries.

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by Jeepster1

Would like to upgrade to Lithium or AGM.. I've read you cannot charge a Lithium with a regular charger, it would require a converter upgrade. Not sure if my solar panels would charge one or not.

The AGM seems to require battery acid to fill instead of water. Not sure if my 390 watt Go Power solar or wfcoPECB converter would charge this one either.

I've always had flooded batteries but they are bad again and would like an upgrade.

Any information would be appreciated. Thanks

Hare's the opening of the rabbit hole for the last few threads on LiFePO4 upgrade/replacement:

https://www.thorforums.com/forums/f4...ing-35578.html

[Chateau_Nomad]

The rabbit hole should be covered with a locked gate requiring several hours (possibly days or more) of research (Google is your friend). Only after doing that required "research" should the gate open.

There are simply too many "if thens" to provide a canned one size fits all answer.

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by Chateau_Nomad

The rabbit hole should be covered with a locked gate requiring several hours (possibly days or more) of research (Google is your friend). Only after doing that required "research" should the gate open.

There are simply too many "if thens" to provide a canned one size fits all answer.

The rabbit hole is just the beginning of their research. It starts to let them know how much they don't know.

[XG32owner]

I have a 2020 XG-32 OMNI. Can I use 2 6 volt sealed Mighty Max flooded batteries on the charge control that came on the motorhome. I do not dry dock at all, so I only need the batteries on the road.

[DavidEM]

Yes you can use the converter/charger with those batteries. But if the batteries are under the steps, I doubt if two GC batteries will fit there.

But if you don’t dry camp, almost any battery, even a single will work.

David

[Jeepster1]

Originally Posted by 16ACE27

The rabbit hole is just the beginning of their research. It starts to let them know how much they don't know.

Maybe we should close the forum and use only Google. Lol
I did Google but got some weird answers so I thought I’d ask someone who may have actually done it. Thanks for your input

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by Jeepster1

Maybe we should close the forum and use only Google. Lol
I did Google but got some weird answers so I thought I’d ask someone who may have actually done it. Thanks for your input

Well, like anything else on the interwebs, you have to consider your source and attempt to separate the BS from the facts. Sometimes it's just a matter of separating opinions from facts.

[Chateau_Nomad]

Originally Posted by Jeepster1

Maybe we should close the forum and use only Google. Lol
I did Google but got some weird answers so I thought I’d ask someone who may have actually done it. Thanks for your input

Don't get all sore... a lot of "tongue in cheek" here sprinkled with a grain of salt!

Your success with ANY self-installed RV project is directly proportional to your research effort. A start is determining how many watt-hours you need for a given period. You may not need six 100Ah lithium batteries... which could be very expensive for something you won't even use.

I'd recommend starting with that calculation... then ask on the forum about how to accomplish that.

[howzball]

Originally Posted by Jeepster1

Would like to upgrade to Lithium or AGM.. I've read you cannot charge a Lithium with a regular charger, it would require a converter upgrade. Not sure if my solar panels would charge one or not.

The AGM seems to require battery acid to fill instead of water. Not sure if my 390 watt Go Power solar or wfcoPECB converter would charge this one either.

I've always had flooded batteries but they are bad again and would like an upgrade.

Any information would be appreciated. Thanks

The Magnum ME2012 charger in our 2015 unit did Not have a lithium charge profile but it did have a User option which allowed us to get close to the required settings for lithium batteries. I got the information directly from Magnum as to what settings needed to be changed.
Between the magnum unit and the solar panels and solar charge controller we're able to top up to full charge. Your solar controller/charger will almost certainly have a lithium battery setting.
I was able to get to about 85-90% fully charged with the built in magnum unit which was fine for me. When parked or in full sun the solar does the rest.
Up to this point it was basically just swap battery types and reset the charge controller....

You likely Will need the Lithium BIM device though to protect your alternator. There's a little more to that but it's not difficult. Here's a photo of what that looks like.

[Jeepster1]

Thanks Howzball, good info. I found out I would have to upgrade my converter for lithium and wasn't able to find lithium batteries less than 9 1/4" high. I finally went with 2 6 volt AGM batteries and installed a 2- 195 watt solar panels on the roof.
Appreciate your input.

[kcmesquite@gmail.com]

If you want to know how lithium might work with your system and what you need I would contact battle born batteries. I have their lithium and love it.

[BASSMAN]

Switching to Lithium requires some changes, if you have a solar package and your controller is not lithium compatible you will need to replace it, if you have a inverter/charger that is not lithium compatible then you will need to replace it and the alternator on your engine will probably require you to install a DC to DC charger, also if your shore power/generator charger if its separate from the inverter will also need to be changed, lots of people will tell you none of this is necessary, good lithium batteries with a 10/11 year warranty will cost you around $800.00 each, just spend some time researching sites like Renogy and contact their customer support, I have talked to people in campgrounds who just went out and bought the lithium batteries and never considered what it takes to get them to do what you paid for

[Lt Keefer]

AGM is a direct replacement and no nonsense way to go. I rarely spend a night not hooked up to power and IMO the convenience of practically ignoring my batteries can't be beat.

[Lake Ready]

Has anyone upgraded to the Trojan T-105-AES? Manufacturer says you can run these down to 20% discharge over the 50% on the AGM or Flooded and they are a sealed AGM Style. This gets you kinda close to the Lithium Ion i believe without the cost of converting to make Lithium Ion work. $355 a piece, 6 Volt, 200 AH.