Electronically Inept Li, Solar, Inverter Questions

[Ret.LEO]

Hi, please excuse my totally inept understanding of solar, Li Batteries, Inverters
stc, etc.
Wife and I are looking at either a Win. Minnie Plus or a Grand Design Imagine TT when she retires so we can finally do some travelling. Both models are 50 amp service, both have huge front pass through compartments.
We want to boondock almost exclusively. I want to add a pair of Battleborn Li batteries to accomplish this. My goal is to have any outlet powered from the Li's. I know I can't run the AC's off the batteries. I'm thinking of either a Champion 3150 watt inverter/generator or a pair of 2000 watt inverter/generators for the AC's and to recharge the Li's and run the AC's. Possibly w/out solar, just the gen. to recharge the Li's.
Questions:
1. Thinking of the Victron 3000 Multiplus inverter to power the 50 amp service. Good choice ?
2. Will the truck's alternator recharge the Li's on the days that we are traveling?
3. When we are hooked up to shore power will it recharge the Li's?. If we would go solar I am looking at Battleborns bundle https://battlebornbatteries.com/shop...ithium-bundle/
If we go this way does the solar panels charge the Li's while we're travelling? Does the truck's alternator still add charge at the same time?
4. If we go the above solar system when the batteries are low can we use both the solar panel input along with a inverter/generator imput to charge the batteries at the same time?
Sorry for all the questions. I admit to being the dumbest pup in the litter when it comes to these things. Trying to learn and how to do it as safe as possible.
Thanks for your help

[Davidrvr]

I have the victron 3000 and it works flawless .. I have 1200w solar and I think I could use more. The alternator will need a go between or it will charge the batteries until it basically burns up. You want lifepo4 lithium. Lithium’s will take all the charge you throw at them and love it. They can charge off shore or generator through the inverter/charger or some coaches come with stand alone charger. Every time you have either charger on it will charge typically. All components will work in tandem. Hope this helps

I have 1200ah lifepo4 . They are awesome. I don’t worry about what’s on or off .. I turned a lot of stuff on and let it run over night and had plenty for another 1.5 days. Once set up it all works great!!

[learntorv]

2. Will the truck's alternator recharge the Li's on the days that we are traveling?

Not really. I have BB lithium batteries installed and I rarely see much more than a trickle charge to the batteries. The various 12v items running (fridge running on propane, WiFiRanger, etc) tend to negate it.

[Davidrvr]

Guess it would depend on the size of alternator . Mine is 160 amp I believe. It will do more charging in a couple hours than solar can in a couple days

[Ret.LEO]

Originally Posted by Davidrvr

I have the victron 3000 and it works flawless .. I have 1200w solar and I think I could use more. The alternator will need a go between or it will charge the batteries until it basically burns up. ........

So if I understand right the alternator will burn up trying to charge the Li batteries?
If we go solar I will probably start out in aprox. 500 watts in roof panels...........maybe add more later if needed.
So much of this is above my head (old guy)
On top of not much natural understanding of electric I'm disabled and a solar instal. would be hired out. Battleborn told me a have a list of professional installers across the Country.
Might start out with the Li's, Victron 3000 with a gen to keep them charged up and then step up to the solar.
Will shore power charge the Li's when hooked?
Thanks

[Davidrvr]

My shore power runs through the inverter for charging. Guess it would depend on how your wired. Check what you have because lithium needs certain charging perimeters for proper charging

[yowmemperor]

To add to what David said, yes, in general your Li batteries would charge on shore power. However, he is correct, you need to match the batteries charging style to the converters charge style. Worst case, you might need a new converter so you dont screw up the Li batts. Battleborn 'should' be able to tell you what you need to know here.


I personally wouldn't mess with trying to charge your batteries with the alternator. It's most likely more trouble than its worth. Especially if you have frequent shore power, plus the genset and solar options.

[learntorv]

Originally Posted by Davidrvr

Guess it would depend on the size of alternator . Mine is 160 amp I believe. It will do more charging in a couple hours than solar can in a couple days

I have dual alternators @ 440amps in my truck. I think the real issue is trying to push that much electric through the teeny-tiny 7-pin connector to the trailer. If you plan on it recharging the batteries while driving, you'll need to have separate wiring.

[unyalli]

Originally Posted by Ret.LEO

Will shore power charge the Li's when hooked?
Thanks

Your Champion generator is shore power so yes your inverter/charger will charge the batt's on shore. There is no difference between the power post at a RV park and your generator except a neutral ground bond.


Your 50amp RV is actually 100amp. You have two 50amp "legs" of power feeding your power center. Open your power panel and in the center of your AC breakers will be two 50amp breakers with a combiner bar connecting them together so you have to throw both on/off.


The Victron or Magnum 3000 watt inverter/chargers won't power all of this.


100 posts from now (not being mean here, thank you for your service) you will have a sub panel that is powered by the inverter and your "converter" will be disabled.


- Jeff

[creativepart]

Your plans don't sound too bad to me. BUT, I'd suggest another route.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket up front. Get the RV. Live with it. Do some long trips. Even boondock with it. READ, READ, READ and LEARN, LEARN LEARN some more. You're going to reach a point then where you can really wrap your head around all of this and make decisions out of real experience. As it is now, you're planning a really expensive upgrade based on the posts on various forums and YouTube videos.

The funny thing about real life experience is that it's soooo much more valuable than internet-based opinions.

If you buy a Class A motorhome you can charge the Battleborn batteries while you drive. But Travel Trailers and 5th Wheels don't work the same way.

You sound like you're on the right track, but I'd say you're excited and rushing a bit. No judgements, just pointing it out.

[Itinerant1]

Ret.LEO, 2 BB is only 200ah with having a 3000w inverter that should charge at 125a depending on size of generator.
When I use my 2000 Honda generator to put a hold over charge into my lfp bank it will charge at 100ah so in 2 hours I put 200ah back in my 500ah bank or in other words 40% of the bank has been replenished.
500w of solar is not bad at charging because lfps will take what ever you through at them and if they don't get completely full no biggie.
As of today I'm going on 833 days of continuous boondocking living of of 500ah Lifepo4, 1,280w solar, Magnum 3000w hybrid inverter, everthing in the 5th wheel except the water heater is run through a sub panel for the inverter. We live like being hooked up to a power pole on lfp not like Amish folk by the candles at night or fretting if something can be turned on. Even make 12 cup coffee in the morning and use the microwave with only 30% (150ah) showing on the display.
Don't forget if you do upgrade do it all at once with the solar so if the 30% tax credit is still in effect you can claim the entire system. Good luck

[Rvlegaleagle]

If you have the room up top and really want an efficient solar system you might want to watch this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMym...uzwyjpw03c010c

and the first part too

[Catalina240]

Originally Posted by Davidrvr

Guess it would depend on the size of alternator . Mine is 160 amp I believe. It will do more charging in a couple hours than solar can in a couple days

Doesnt matter how big an alternator is, different battery types vary in how stubborn they are with resistance to charging current. A flooded wet cell will take far less than lithium for example.

[Davidrvr]

Thought the discussion was about lithium?