I finally got around to updating my two 6-volt batteries to one 12-volt lithium battery. This would have been their fifth season and last year I noted that they were losing some capacity. I chose the Eco Worthy 12.8 V 280 Ah with Bluetooth model. No real experience with that battery yet since I just finished the installation yesterday and won’t really be using it for a couple of weeks.
I will say that it seems a bit nerd-like and overly techy, but I like the Bluetooth feature of the battery. One of the things I learned is that I have a 1.1 Amp discharge while the trailer is sitting doing “nothing”. The Eco Worthy App is very basic and fairly pathetic, so I am using the Over Kill App since it is compatible with the BMS, it has a bunch more info about the battery. That could be a discussion for another day.
The battery is much larger than the previous two in size and weighs 62 pounds, about the same as only one of the Trojan-T-105’s, so I reduced my tongue weight by 60+ pounds.
I obviously needed a new battery box. There were only two companies that I found (there may be others) that had boxes that would fit: NOCO and Quick Cable. I bought the NOCO HM 408 (thanks Chuckster57). The box exterior is about 24 L x 13 W x 14 H and would not fit in between the existing battery rails.
One drawback of the that box is the battery rocks back and forth, front to back so I had to fix that.
I built up the existing rails with 1.5 x 2 aluminum angle stock to make a platform for the new box. Drilled and bolted through both. I then bolted the plastic box to the new platform. There was not much room to spare in either direction.
I got lucky as I can just barely move the battery in and out of the box after it was bolted down. At 62 pounds that was awkward and took two people.
I was also lucky, in that I could use the existing wires. I just had to move the ground from the left side of the tongue to the right side. That kept me from having to buy new 2/0 cables, which are a bit spendy. I’m not 100% happy with the way the wires fit in the box, and I may upgrade them soon. I think I’ll add a 250 Amp circuit breaker instead of the 250 A fuse.
This project took about two ½ days with help from a friend but, if I had to, I could have done it myself (other than lifting the battery into place).
As far as cost, the Battery was about $425, and the box was $125. I have a buddy who is a machinist, and I got the aluminum for free (gotta’ love that price). Misc nuts, bolts, washers etc. pretty much all came out of that coffee can of stuff in the garage. I lined the bottom of the box with some rubber work mat I had, again no cost there. I think the circuit breaker will be about $30 and I’ll need about 12 inches of 2/0 battery cable, probably $15.
Here are a few pics, I wish I would have taken more...
