Changing house battery to Lithium.

[RollingManCave]

Hi Folks,
Any Help is appreciated!!

2022 Coachman Freelander 22- E350 class C with 4000-watt genset, roof a/c,12 volt fridge/freezer.

Goal 1:
Change House Battery to Lithium 2OO amp hour.

Goal 2:
Add Soler panels and more batteries.

My research so far:

Some motorhomes have the built in capacity for Lithium and some don't.
You can fry your battery, Alternator or have problems with the Genset if you don't have the Lithium capacity built in.
I have little knowledge on DC to DC but his looks like for RV's without a House battery?

Victron Energy SmartShunt Looks like it might protect alternator?​

Lithium Battery Isolation Manager li-bim 225. Looks like it protects Alternator and genset overcharge and you use this to replace factory BIM???


Anybody know if I have this capacity built in and can just swap out old battery with Latium? (My unit came "solar ready" but this just looks like for a portable solar unit that is just hooked straight to the battery with no controller).
Any insights on next steps?
Thanks for any insight you can offer!!!

 

[newmarokie]

The smart shunt will not protect your battery. It's purpose is to be for a lack of a better phrase, your systems "fuel gauge". It measures current in and out to let you know how much power you have left. You mention a Li-Bim. If you have that installed, that is what protects your battery. You will have to research your inverter charger and see if it has settings compatible with Lithium. If you add enough solar you will need a solar controller. Most people will say that would need to be a MPPT controller suitable for the amps/volts that your panels will put out.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

First of all welcome!

I might suggest you install the shunt first! You could install any battery monitor,and that would work!

Keep track of hours you use the generator, most have hour meters,if yours doesn't,put one in.
Keep track of the actual wattage used per day! I use kilowatt devices for this. As well as a clamp meter.

Just because your rig manufacturer says solar ready, this in My opinion is deceptive in the true sense of the meaning. Plan on looking at the job as "there may be a stub out of to small wire size for a practical install".

All this advice is not to discourage you! It is the Time and effort nessisary to avoid disappointment!!! Take the time to assess your expectations and needs.

Things to consider:

Many people consider lithium as an end all event! However All one needs to do is search YouTube on EVs to find disillusioned owners that expected longer battery life!

If battery life is what you are expecting you might consider LTO batteries. They are larger per capacity than LiFePo4, but they have a life expectancy that may outlive your children. They are as close to indestructible as is available on the market today!

RVs don't have space on the roof to run the AC for any length of time off solar. The battery bank would need to take all the weight capacity to reach a capacity large enough to run on stored energy for a decent time!

Disclaimer:

I am a realest. I am not an advocate of lithium, this can be seen here by searching My posts on this forum.

I do have time in on this topic, and will offer my advice on the subject!

 

[RollingManCave]

First of all welcome!

I might suggest you install the shunt first! You could install any battery monitor,and that would work!

Keep track of hours you use the generator, most have hour meters,if yours doesn't,put one in.
Keep track of the actual wattage used per day! I use kilowatt devices for this. As well as a clamp meter.

Just because your rig manufacturer says solar ready, this in My opinion is deceptive in the true sense of the meaning. Plan on looking at the job as "there may be a stub out of to small wire size for a practical install".

All this advice is not to discourage you! It is the Time and effort nessisary to avoid disappointment!!! Take the time to assess your expectations and needs.

Things to consider:

Many people consider lithium as an end all event! However All one needs to do is search YouTube on EVs to find disillusioned owners that expected longer battery life!

If battery life is what you are expecting you might consider LTO batteries. They are larger per capacity than LiFePo4, but they have a life expectancy that may outlive your children. They are as close to indestructible as is available on the market today!

RVs don't have space on the roof to run the AC for any length of time off solar. The battery bank would need to take all the weight capacity to reach a capacity large enough to run on stored energy for a decent time!

Disclaimer:

I am a realest. I am not an advocate of lithium, this can be seen here by searching My posts on this forum.

I do have time in on this topic, and will offer my advice on the subjec

 

[RollingManCave]

First of all welcome!

I might suggest you install the shunt first! You could install any battery monitor,and that would work!

Keep track of hours you use the generator, most have hour meters,if yours doesn't,put one in.
Keep track of the actual wattage used per day! I use kilowatt devices for this. As well as a clamp meter.

Just because your rig manufacturer says solar ready, this in My opinion is deceptive in the true sense of the meaning. Plan on looking at the job as "there may be a stub out of to small wire size for a practical install".

All this advice is not to discourage you! It is the Time and effort nessisary to avoid disappointment!!! Take the time to assess your expectations and needs.

Things to consider:

Many people consider lithium as an end all event! However All one needs to do is search YouTube on EVs to find disillusioned owners that expected longer battery life!

If battery life is what you are expecting you might consider LTO batteries. They are larger per capacity than LiFePo4, but they have a life expectancy that may outlive your children. They are as close to indestructible as is available on the market today!

RVs don't have space on the roof to run the AC for any length of time off solar. The battery bank would need to take all the weight capacity to reach a capacity large enough to run on stored energy for a decent time!

Disclaimer:

I am a realest. I am not an advocate of lithium, this can be seen here by searching My posts on this forum.

I do have time in on this topic, and will offer my advice on the subject!

Thank you for your insight. Excuse my ignorance but what does LTO stand for?

 

[RollingManCave]

The smart shunt will not protect your battery. It's purpose is to be for a lack of a better phrase, your systems "fuel gauge". It measures current in and out to let you know how much power you have left. You mention a Li-Bim. If you have that installed, that is what protects your battery. You will have to research your inverter charger and see if it has settings compatible with Lithium. If you add enough solar you will need a solar controller. Most people will say that would need to be a MPPT controller suitable for the amps/volts that your panels will put out.

Thank you for confirming the Li-Bim and educating me on the shunt. I am traveling outside of country and was hoping someone might know the inverter/charger solar ability so I could plan out the system and put a parts list together.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

Thank you for your insight. Excuse my ignorance but what does LTO stand for?

Lithium tantalum oxide

 

[John Burke]

Do not know if this will help you or not. I have a 2022 Jayco Eagle HT. It came with 380 watts of solar on the roof and a12-volt compressor fridge. I removed the lead acid battery and put in two 200-amp Lithium batteries with a built in BMS. They need to be kept above 32 degrees to charge. So, I built an insulated wood box, put in two RV water tank thermostatically controlled heaters hooking the heaters to the battery they are under, put the box in the front closet. You can buy batteries with built in heaters, but in North Dakota I doubt they would keep up with -30 temps when out front above the hitch. Plus, it was a lot more cost. I was able to tie into camper battery wiring by the master on/off switch. To control the charging the RV convertor has a small, very small, switch on the front of it. It can be changed between Lithium (LI) and lead acid (LA) the switch is small enough that you need a pick or toothpick to switch it. Moving it to LI will allow shore power or generator to properly charge a Lithium battery. I would suspect yours has the same set-up being that new. My solar controller is managed thru the control panel in the camper. It has settings for LA, LI and AGM. setting it to LI lets you set the charge voltage, mine is at the recommended 14.6 volts. When you add solar get a good MPPT controller that lets you select the type of battery. Get one that has a higher amp rating then you are going to use, that way you can add more solar if you want to. I have a 12-gauge charge line run from my tow vehicle to the camper and have had no alt. problems. It is not on the camper that long. Now I have 400 amp hours of Lithium battery, temp protected, charged from solar, generator and shore power powering my camper. Just for reference, last summer I left the fridge on for 3 months and batteries did not go below 13.2 volts. Last winter I left the furnace set at 65 degrees, fridge on, TV on for about 10 hours at a time, and 3 lights on. just to see how well things worked. At night the outside temp got to 5 degrees and warmed up to 15 during the day. I did this for 5 days using 3 30-pound propane bottles (about 4 gallons a day). Everything worked great. I would rather find flaws at home than on the road. Just a side note, this summer I went tent camping. Took my van, put a small dorm fridge in, two 100-watt solar panels on the roof and one of my 200-amp hour Lithium batteries. The fridge ran for 16 days with a mix of sun, clouds and smoke from Canadas wildfires. I know this got long and I hope it helps you out.

 

[RollingManCave]

Lithium tantalum oxide

Thank you! I will check it out.

 

[RollingManCave]

Do not know if this will help you or not. I have a 2022 Jayco Eagle HT. It came with 380 watts of solar on the roof and a12-volt compressor fridge. I removed the lead acid battery and put in two 200-amp Lithium batteries with a built in BMS. They need to be kept above 32 degrees to charge. So, I built an insulated wood box, put in two RV water tank thermostatically controlled heaters hooking the heaters to the battery they are under, put the box in the front closet. You can buy batteries with built in heaters, but in North Dakota I doubt they would keep up with -30 temps when out front above the hitch. Plus, it was a lot more cost. I was able to tie into camper battery wiring by the master on/off switch. To control the charging the RV convertor has a small, very small, switch on the front of it. It can be changed between Lithium (LI) and lead acid (LA) the switch is small enough that you need a pick or toothpick to switch it. Moving it to LI will allow shore power or generator to properly charge a Lithium battery. I would suspect yours has the same set-up being that new. My solar controller is managed thru the control panel in the camper. It has settings for LA, LI and AGM. setting it to LI lets you set the charge voltage, mine is at the recommended 14.6 volts. When you add solar get a good MPPT controller that lets you select the type of battery. Get one that has a higher amp rating then you are going to use, that way you can add more solar if you want to. I have a 12-gauge charge line run from my tow vehicle to the camper and have had no alt. problems. It is not on the camper that long. Now I have 400 amp hours of Lithium battery, temp protected, charged from solar, generator and shore power powering my camper. Just for reference, last summer I left the fridge on for 3 months and batteries did not go below 13.2 volts. Last winter I left the furnace set at 65 degrees, fridge on, TV on for about 10 hours at a time, and 3 lights on. just to see how well things worked. At night the outside temp got to 5 degrees and warmed up to 15 during the day. I did this for 5 days using 3 30-pound propane bottles (about 4 gallons a day). Everything worked great. I would rather find flaws at home than on the road. Just a side note, this summer I went tent camping. Took my van, put a small dorm fridge in, two 100-watt solar panels on the roof and one of my 200-amp hour Lithium batteries. The fridge ran for 16 days with a mix of sun, clouds and smoke from Canadas wildfires. I know this got long and I hope it helps you out.

I keep reading about a switch but don't remember seeing any. I did find a converter upgrade that can be done that has battery auto sensing, but some said they preferred the switch because solar charger was causing problems with the auto sensing type. Is yours a

WFCO WF-8955. Do you have a picture of the Switch?​

Thank you for the Information!!!