Thread: Recommended papers/pdf's/websites on charging Lithium Batteries?

I’ll have a crack...

Re: new fridge - 10ah/hr constant or only while cycling. Grab 2 x cans off XXXX each time you open the fridge and you will save some power.

I follow a page on Facebook that’s seem pretty good, it more aligned to building your own with separate BMS.

Given your happy with current amount of capacity and solar....looks like you only need to take into account the new fridge usage. Going to lithium isn’t any different to selecting AGM. You need storage (to match you usage) , a means to charge (alternator, 240v and solar)

Going to lithium will be influenced by budget....big capital outlay at the front end but once installed it set and forget.......

your current setup as 150-200 usable amps and you’re getting by fine

Re: battery - 1 x 300 lithium or 2 x 200’s

Solar - The good olde internet bashes on that you need to double your storage AH in solar panel watts......depending on roof design on caravan this could be a challenge. Install as much solar as you can fit.

DC-DC, solar controller, a shunt, maybe an inverter are all pretty straight forward.

Enderdrive are doing some nice pre-assembled units, you just need to select battery size, all plug and play, including the 240 Side for the caravan builder. I found Enerdrive product support amd engineers easy to chat to.

It might be worth reaching out to Jason @ Off Road Living, I found these guys very helpful.

Caravan manufacturers should be across it by now......although some research in the bag is handy when chatting to them

Good time to ditch gas as well

Need to readup on Lithium charging... the only 240V we use ATM is Di's CPAP,


Have heard good things about Enerdrive,

ditch gas?!?! are you bonkers??? I'd be divorced quick smart! Diane does bang on a lot about cooking with gas,, but not as much as she bangs on about NOT cooking with gas

What do you cook on if you ditch gas and want to be stand alone? Induction? Always seems such a waste having to over spec the entire system - inverter, batteries, cables, etc to use electric for cooking off grid when gas is so available anywhere and if you’re only running a cooktop a 9kg bottle lasts ages. Want to simmer a stew for a couple of hours - forget it on induction and batteries.

To answer your questions from where I see them Pedro.

Fridges - yes, most caravan full sized fridges use a wad load of power when running on 12 volt - they're only designed to run off 12 volt from the tow vehicle and be used when in motion - the rest of the time it's gas or 240 volt. If I was doing something from scratch, I'd use 2 x 90 litre Engels - 1 fridge, 1 freezer - power draw from the pair will be around 3.5 amps with both running and easy to keep up with off batteries and solar with a stand alone system.

I keep my 90 litre Engel in the van off 550 watts of solar and 1 x 100Ah hour lithium, using Victron solar controller and battery monitor - see pic below Lithium battery is from Drivesafe - very happy with it. The solar controller has a lithium setting so that looks after the charge profile. You'll need a battery management system that can keep track of what goes in compared to what comes out as the voltage on a Lithium stays almost the same right until the end, so using a standard voltmeter like you would for AGM won't work. The other think I like about the Victron units is they Bluetooth to your phone so setting them and keeping an eye on things if you want to is very easy although it was a set and forget type of thing for me - once I knew how quickly it charged each day, I never really bothered to check it again.

I've actually just removed all of this from the van and will be fitting it to the motorhome instead as the van will be up for sale at some point and I wouldn't get my money back on this stuff and it's proved brilliant. I will be adding a second lithium battery into my new system and using around the same solar - I've found that even on overcast Victorian days, the battery was full by lunch time even if I'd been running the TV, heater, etc along with the fridge. I will be adding a large inverter to Stan - only to run the coffee machine once a day, but I think 600 odd watts of solar would still take carer of that no dramas.

Other thing I'll add to Stan is a 240 volt charger that has a lithium profile so I can charge it when it's plugged in - we do use caravan parks with it as well, so might as well take advantage of that - I won't be hooking the lithium up the vehicle to charge - that would required yet another device and it really won't need it once the panels are on the roof shortly. I never charged the caravans system from the vehicle either - never needed to with this system.

Originally Posted by Pedro_The_Swift

Need to readup on Lithium charging... the only 240V we use ATM is Di's CPAP,


Have heard good things about Enerdrive,

ditch gas?!?! are you bonkers??? I'd be divorced quick smart! Diane does bang on a lot about cooking with gas,, but not as much as she bangs on about NOT cooking with gas

Charging lithium is not a lot different than how your charging your existing AGM.....all decent brands of 240v chargers and solar regulators have a lithium setting/profile...set and forget.

Yeah ditching gas isn’t for everybody especially when you’re towing.....we’re not towing so induction and 12v oven covers all our cooking needs.

What size inverter does a CPAP need.....?

So was just looking at freezer draws so I could run a small freezer under the 90 litre engel in Stan and found these - Bushman 190L 12V Caravan Fridge | Free Shipping & Bushman 285L 12V Caravan Fridge | Free Shipping

Runs a proper 12 volt compressor system so light on the power draw unlike the 3 way units that are mostly for sale - cheaper than 2 x 90 litre Engels too. Now I'm thinking of a revamp of the fridge area for Stan...

Originally Posted by Homestar

What do you cook on if you ditch gas and want to be stand alone? Induction? Always seems such a waste having to over spec the entire system - inverter, batteries, cables, etc to use electric for cooking off grid when gas is so available anywhere and if you’re only running a cooktop a 9kg bottle lasts ages. Want to simmer a stew for a couple of hours - forget it on induction and batteries.

Diesel.

Originally Posted by Homestar

So was just looking at freezer draws so I could run a small freezer under the 90 litre engel in Stan and found these - Bushman 190L 12V Caravan Fridge | Free Shipping & Bushman 285L 12V Caravan Fridge | Free Shipping

Runs a proper 12 volt compressor system so light on the power draw unlike the 3 way units that are mostly for sale - cheaper than 2 x 90 litre Engels too. Now I'm thinking of a revamp of the fridge area for Stan...

I’m a fan of the draw fridges.
You can install multiple units, have a decent capacity if needed and only run those you do when you don’t need the others.

3 will give 120l capacity - 80l fridge, 40l freezer or any combo.