Upgrade to Battle Born Batteries and Solar

[Retire&travel]

After finding out that our power draw was way to much for our lead/acid batteries, I have been in contact with Battle Born Lithum Batteries and am looking to upgrade our Carbon 358. Has anyone ever done this with their Keystone RV? Not sure about where to put batteries and mostly how to wire the batteries in and also use some solar to keep batteries topped off.

[chuckster57]

Welcome to the forum: wlcm:

Do you have room for 2 batteries? If so then you need to know if your going to use a pair of 12V batteries or a pair of 6V batteries.

Wiring is simple:
Two 12V batteries-positive to positive and negative to negative at the batteries, and trailer leads on opposite batteries

Two 6V batteries- positive to negative at the batteries and trailer leads to the other (open) posts on the batteries.

[Frank G]

Originally Posted by Retire&travel

After finding out that our power draw was way to much for our lead/acid batteries, I have been in contact with Battle Born Lithum Batteries and am looking to upgrade our Carbon 358. Has anyone ever done this with their Keystone RV? Not sure about where to put batteries and mostly how to wire the batteries in and also use some solar to keep batteries topped off.

Go Power, www.gpelectric.com has some reasonable solar kits and a boat load of information. Youtube is full of solar installs on RV's. Earlier this morning I stumbled on wiring specifics for Lithium Batteries, I would think Battle Born has some published information.

[Retire&travel]

Thanks for the information, I will look in to some of your information and hopfully report back to the post that all went well. Now just waitning for the snow to melt and the temps to come up from current 25 below to at least someplace in the 50's to 70's.
Thanks again. Be safe out there.

[jasin1]

I think if you join escapees rv club they have a discount on battle born

[chuckster57]

And look at Renology for solar.

[JRTJH]

You said that "right now you're waiting for the snow to melt" so apparently this battery/solar conversion is a future endeavor, not an immediate crisis...

I'd urge you to do a forum search (click on the search button in the black bar on any forum webpage) and do a search for "solar" or "Renology" or "??"

You'll find that you're far from the first to convert to lithium batteries and there's a host of "free reading" encounters, all of which will help you gain information, ideas and sources for your "springtime mods"....

[RBH]

I just received photos from the dealership of our solar install solar install. We opted to have a pair of 100ah lithium batteries and inverter installed under the bed. Lithium does not need to be vented so that opens up all sorts of possibilities for where you can install them. We went with GoPower for all components.

Good luck.
Britt

[jasin1]

Originally Posted by RBH

I just received photos from the dealership of our solar install solar install. We opted to have a pair of 100ah lithium batteries and inverter installed under the bed. Lithium does not need to be vented so that opens up all sorts of possibilities for where you can install them. We went with GoPower for all components.

Good luck.
Britt

It looks great but is that gonna generate heat under the bed? You might have just created a heated bed in the summertime if the inverter has any demand on it all.

[RBH]

Jasin1

Thanks. The inverter is on a remote switch (above solar controller on the left in the picture above) and will be used only as needed. 100% daytime use. No intention of leaving it on overnight.

Britt

[jasin1]

Originally Posted by RBH

Jasin1

Thanks. The inverter is on a remote switch (above solar controller on the left in the picture above) and will be used only as needed. 100% daytime use. No intention of leaving it on overnight.

Britt

Definitely a nice looking system with quality components... my wife’s cousin has a GD momentum with go power for the entire rig and battleborn batteries. I would register that inverter with go power for warranty. They are a great company to deal with as they replaced his inverter that was undersized and they stood behind it and let him upgrade after the first one failed. They even shipped everything to his campsite and he said they were very helpful through the whole process...I think if you develop a relationship with reputable company’s, they are more willing to go out of there way to help when things go wrong whether in or out of warranty.

[RBH]

Funny you should say that . GoPower is now owned as of 2017 by a subsidiary of Valterra but was originally part of Carmanah Technologies headquartered out of Victoria BC (where I live). GoPower is headquartered in Victoria BC still and is a prevalent solar brand with RV dealerships in the area. It was a "buy local" thing for me.

This particular inverter is now in trailer #3 for me so none of the original 2 year warranty left It just works so I keep moving it.

I own a GoPower 80w Suitcase solar panel as well but the roof mount panels/controller/charger and batteries are new to this trailer. As you said, good quality products with excellent support. I used the support to vet this build before I ordered it all from the dealership.

[Supertommy68]

The Battle Bornes will not fit in the stock battery trays, whether the BB GC-2's or the regular ones. I put mine in the front storage where they stay warm. They don't charge well when extreme cold (below freezing), or in extreme heat (+100) so pick an interior spot. They don't off-gas so you can put them just about anywhere- upside down, sideways, it doesn't matter. They give you a true 100-amp hour drain each which is pretty cool.

[Folkie]

You can confirm with BattleBorn but you will likely need to also upgrade the converter in order to properly charge your new batteries. They have chargers programmed to work best with their battery designs.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by Folkie

You can confirm with BattleBorn but you will likely need to also upgrade the converter in order to properly charge your new batteries. They have chargers programmed to work best with their battery designs.

I thought the same thing, but today when I checked the WFCO site to see what their "lithium battery compatible converter/charger" was called, I was surprised to find a new section on the website called, "Lithium Solutions"... https://wfcoelectronics.com/lithium-solutions/

According to WFCO, ALL (every new and every old style) their converter/chargers are compatible with lithium battery technology. On that site, the bottom of the page provides specific WFCO part numbers for "lithium chargers" that they say "provide 100% power for lithium battery charging".

My guess is that any of the WFCO chargers will work (possibly with some inefficiency) but will not damage a lithium battery bank, and that there are "some specific WFCO converter/chargers that work "at an optimum level" with lithium technology.

[Folkie]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

I thought the same thing, but today when I checked the WFCO site to see what their "lithium battery compatible converter/charger" was called, I was surprised to find a new section on the website called, "Lithium Solutions"... https://wfcoelectronics.com/lithium-solutions/

According to WFCO, ALL (every new and every old style) their converter/chargers are compatible with lithium battery technology. On that site, the bottom of the page provides specific WFCO part numbers for "lithium chargers" that they say "provide 100% power for lithium battery charging".

My guess is that any of the WFCO chargers will work (possibly with some inefficiency) but will not damage a lithium battery bank, and that there are "some specific WFCO converter/chargers that work "at an optimum level" with lithium technology.

I have not checked with WFCO specs as I will not be converting my camper in the near future. I did contact BattleBorn recently for a friend who is building a boat. (He was looking at two 12V batteries and a stand alone charger.) I learned that some of the chargers BattleBorn sells need some OEM reprogramming to charge their batteries to optimum levels. They also sell converter upgrades for those who need them. I'm not claiming to be an expert in this area but BattleBorn customer service seems to be outstanding. They spent a lot of time walking me through the options. So you can't go wrong giving them a call. They won't up-sell you if your setup is good as is.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by Folkie

I have not checked with WFCO specs as I will not be converting my camper in the near future. I did contact BattleBorn recently for a friend who is building a boat. (He was looking at two 12V batteries and a stand alone charger.) I learned that some of the chargers BattleBorn sells need some OEM reprogramming to charge their batteries to optimum levels. They also sell converter upgrades for those who need them. I'm not claiming to be an expert in this area but BattleBorn customer service seems to be outstanding. They spent a lot of time walking me through the options. So you can't go wrong giving them a call. They won't up-sell you if your setup is good as is.

I'm far from an expert in lithium battery technology and in BattleBorn products. The only reason I commented was because of the WFCO statements about "all of their converter/chargers being "lithium technology compatible" That is a "significant departure from what was on their website just a couple months ago. It sure took me by surprise to see what WFCO is now claiming. My purpose was not to refute any other product or any other technology, rather I wanted to bring the WFCO claims to the attention of anyone who is considering an upgrade to lithium but balking at the expense of changing out their current converter/charger.... According to WFCO, now they don't have to upgrade their current converter... Surprising, at least to me.....

[Folkie]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

I'm far from an expert in lithium battery technology and in BattleBorn products. The only reason I commented was because of the WFCO statements about "all of their converter/chargers being "lithium technology compatible" That is a "significant departure from what was on their website just a couple months ago. It sure took me by surprise to see what WFCO is now claiming. My purpose was not to refute any other product or any other technology, rather I wanted to bring the WFCO claims to the attention of anyone who is considering an upgrade to lithium but balking at the expense of changing out their current converter/charger.... According to WFCO, now they don't have to upgrade their current converter... Surprising, at least to me.....

Thanks for the info. I need to check it out because my friend with the boat was also interested in using the BattleBorn batteries in his camper when he boondocks, so it could save him a little.

[koda57]

Just installed 2 BattleBorn batteries and replaced the converter in my WIFCO 8955 PEC. I installed a Progressive Dynamic PD4655LIV. This is the response from WIFCO when I asked about compatibility with Lithium.

The converter you have is not an actual lithium converter but will charge to approx.. 85%. We do have a direct replacement converter that is lithium Part# WF-8950L2-MBA. This the lower section of the converter.

[Folkie]

Originally Posted by koda57

Just installed 2 BattleBorn batteries and replaced the converter in my WIFCO 8955 PEC. I installed a Progressive Dynamic PD4655LIV. This is the response from WIFCO when I asked about compatibility with Lithium.

The converter you have is not an actual lithium converter but will charge to approx.. 85%. We do have a direct replacement converter that is lithium Part# WF-8950L2-MBA. This the lower section of the converter.

That's the sense I got from the WFCO site. The 8955 will not harm the Li battery it just will not charge it completely so you will not be getting the full benefit of the Lithium batteries. So if you are upgrading to Li batteries and plan on doing any boon docking then it makes sense to also upgrade the converter. WFCO now also makes converters that can switch back and forth from lead acid to Li charge modes without needing to mod the units to get the best performance from each battery chemistry.