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23/8/2022 at 2:33pm
Location: Bristol Uk
Outfit: 2012 Outwell Trout Lake 4 & Tarp
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Quote: Originally posted by nesty on 19/8/2022
Hi
Has anyone dabbled in a Lithium battery for a leisure battery for a small campervan, I have been considering getting one, as going to keep my campervan for a while and noticed this one.
https://uk.renogy.com/12v-100ah-lithium-iron-phosphate-battery-w-bluetooth/?gclid=CjwKCAjw6fyXBhBgEiwAhhiZsuR4CFwxi6-OFFoenV-ZbTuQzqCjkfhtQtS6RkWkZo9Q3UGJCiqnURoCNfgQAvD_BwE
We have two of exactly that battery. The prices have come down a lot over the past few years and though they seem expensive, they're not really unless you are only planning on using a lead acid battery for a few short years.
We have lived on 2 x 120ah AGM batteries that cost us about £300 six years ago but are now nearer to £400. They are still working but not like they did and I got the feeling that they are heading to the point that they will start to let us down.
LifePo4 batteries are probably the safest battery you can use at this point in time and are non-flammable. The main real danger is puncturing them as any battery of that size holds a lot of power. The other positives is that you can run them down to 20% or even 0% if need be though both of those options do have an effect on battery life if you're being really fussy and especially 0% which is not recommended on a regular basis, mainly an emergency I think. That said, if you ran them to 20-30% every time then you have literally thousands of cycles available before they are giving a noticeable amount less battery capacity. They are also better for sustained high loads due to their ability to provide a more constant voltage than other batteries (if you're technically minded then look up the Peukert effect). Those batteries allow a 50amp charging current and 100amp discharge current which is over 1300watts sustain which is impressive. A lot of people run 3000watt inverters from batteries when they are not aware of the constant current draw which is usually quite low in lead acid batteries requiring multi batteries to reach that current draw. The other thing is that people are told not to run their lead acid batteries down past 50% but nobody really knows when they are at 50% and even when you take a more scientific approach to this then running down past 70% is recommended if you want your batteries to last more than a couple of years. This means someone with a basic lead acid battery from somewhere like Halfords only really has 30-50ah to play with which is not really very much at all.
One of the main things that people are usually not aware of is how to work out the state of charge (or SOC) of their batteries. Lead acid tend to have a much wider range of voltages across their discharge cycle and it's very hard to work out how much energy is left in your batteries based on voltage readings in circuit. People always quote charts that they have found on the internet and although this is understandable, they are generally based on when the batteries have rested and are not connected to even a parasitic load
These Renogy batteries have a BMS with Bluetooth that you can either connect to with an app or with a battery monitor via an ethernet cable. This will give you a much more accurate idea of your SOC and even how long you have left with the current load. This to me makes them 'almost' worth the price increase on its own. We have ours connected to our solar panels and if we are supplying more from them than we are using, the monitor quotes that we can do that indefinitely which is very handy for planning sun down. The drop in weight is also a bonus if you're weight conscious.
The only negative that is worth a mention is that if you decide to leave your battery for a few weeks or a few months, then you would ideally do so when at a 40-50% SOC. For people used to having solar panels constantly trickle charging their batteries when not in use, then this is a bit of a pain. All you need to do though is monitor the batteries after you plan to abandon them and give them a current draw until they say they are at 40% SOC then you can put them in shelf mode. This is done with these particular batteries by using a little blue cable with a button that you get with them. You can also buy the battery monitor for around £35 that you can hold a button on there and it will shelf mode them. They claim they will lose about 3% or charge per year in shelf mode but I haven't had them long enough to know how true that is. If you buy more than one then you can connect them with an ethernet cable and they report as a 200ah battery which is how we have ours set up.
If you do pull the trigger, I have two battery monitors and only use one. The other one is brand new and i'd be willing to send you it if you purchase for £20 inc delivery. Not trying to profit out of this but it's just going to sit in the loft for years doing nothing so I thought i’d mention it. Personally I think the outlay is worth it when you size up the cost of lead acid over time.
p.s. The other negative is that you cannot charge them below zero degrees C but it's going to be rare when the battery compartment in your vehicle manages to get the battery that cold and if it doesn't, then the BMS will not allow a charge as it has a temperature sensor. They can though discharge down to, I think,-20c so that may warm them enough to allow charging again. I don't feel this is something that effects most people in the Uk but it's worth a mention.
Post last edited on 23/08/2022 14:38:08
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