Bounder: AGM or Lithium batteries.

[440scout]

Originally Posted by Our05Winneba

Go with Lithium batteries.

But for all your electrical devices you are trying to power would also add more solar.

You did not specify the capacity of your inverter, but assume you want to run the microwave through it. Therefore - you should have at least a 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter, and I would recommend at least 400Ah of Lithium batteries along with at least 500 watts rooftop solar. More is better as you will find yourself having to park under tress and find out that the sun does not always shine!

The above recommendations is an excellent setup and is very similar to what I have on my 5th wheel. I recently switched to lithium batteries and was pleasantly surprised at how quickly they recharge, about half the time as lead acid batteries. They are Global Power from ebay. They have a builtin low temp cuttof. I connected the solar panels in parallel because of the builtin blocking diodes most solar panels have (safety feature). I prefer to connect the panels in parallel because if one panel is shaded, the rest of the panels will continue to charge your batteries. Connecting in series will give more voltage to recharge but if if one of the panels is shaded, it will stop power from that panel on down to your charge controller. I'm using five 200 watt solar panels and a 60 amp Epever mppt charge controller with remote display panel mounted inside the camper. The inverter/charger is a Go-Power 3000 watt pure sign wave with "load assist" that powers up the entire breaker panel so theoretically everything can be powered on. But, of course not everything at the same time. It probably could run one a/c unit for an hour but I'm not even gonna try that. That's what the generator is for. Good luck with your choices.

[navyjoe]

Originally Posted by BCam

What capacity are your two 12V AGM batteries?

Unless they are very large, it seems like you took a 50% reduction in amp hours. The typical size for both 6v and 12V batteries is about 200Ah. Eight 200Ah 6V AGM batteries = 800Ah total capacity. Two 200Ah 12V AGM batteries = 400Ah.

Bcam, I believe they are the same. Not considering the possible pros/cons of golf cart batteries vs marine batteries. Just sticking with the math of 200AH


1 amp an hour x 6 volts = 6 watt-hours. 6v x 200A = 1200 watt-hours
Now put two 6 volt batteries in series

1 amp an hour x 12 volts = 12 watt-hours. 12V x 200A = 2400 watt-hours

Now, One 12 volt battery @ 200 AH


1A x 12V = 12watts. 12V x 200 A x = 2400 watt-hours

So power wise two 6 volt 200AH batteries same energy as one 12 battery with rated at 200AH.

Practical case in real life. Most diesel trucks use two 12 batteries in parallel vs two 6volt batteries in series. Why? More power. In our case two 200AH batteries in parallel gives 400AH

[BCam]

Navyjoe- Your calculations are correct but I was responding to a post by Cat320 who said he was moving from eight 6V batteries to two 12V batteries. Eight 6v 200Ah batteries will put out 200AH X 4 = 800Ah. He'd need two 400Ah 12V batteries to achieve the same Ah, hence my comment about his 12V batteries having to be very large. Two 200Ah 12V batteries would represent a 50% reduction in Ah.

[Winemaker2]

Originally Posted by navyjoe

Bcam, I believe they are the same. Not considering the possible pros/cons of golf cart batteries vs marine batteries. Just sticking with the math of 200AH


1 amp an hour x 6 volts = 6 watt-hours. 6v x 200A = 1200 watt-hours
Now put two 6 volt batteries in series

1 amp an hour x 12 volts = 12 watt-hours. 12V x 200A = 2400 watt-hours

Now, One 12 volt battery @ 200 AH


1A x 12V = 12watts. 12V x 200 A x = 2400 watt-hours

So power wise two 6 volt 200AH batteries same energy as one 12 battery with rated at 200AH.

Practical case in real life. Most diesel trucks use two 12 batteries in parallel vs two 6volt batteries in series. Why? More power. In our case two 200AH batteries in parallel gives 400AH

The calculation is correct but most 12V battys are around 100 AH so you need 2 to roughly equal the 2 6V at 200 AH There is no free lunch so you either need multiple battys or very large ones to significantly increase AH

Originally Posted by BCam

Navyjoe- Your calculations are correct but I was responding to a post by Cat320 who said he was moving from eight 6V batteries to two 12V batteries. Eight 6v 200Ah batteries will put out 200AH X 4 = 800Ah. He'd need two 400Ah 12V batteries to achieve the same Ah, hence my comment about his 12V batteries having to be very large. Two 200Ah 12V batteries would represent a 50% reduction in Ah.

As above most 12V are 100 AH range which makes it even worse... or essentially the same # as 6V

[BigEvi]

Big AH (200ah) 12v batteries are easy to find in the 300-400$ range. But they are huge and very heavy. I'm not sure 2 would even fit in the space of 4 6v.

A better choice might be 1 300ah lithium...which would have more power capacity than 2 200ah SLAs. Sure...It's almost double the price...but it's half the weight and half the size and will charge in half the time and will last at least 3 times as long as SLA. You do lose redundancy if you install just 1 battery. That is really the only downside. Even the price isn't a downside when you consider at least 2 sets of SLAs and the charge time on a generator, which I do often while boondocking.

Just the charge time is enough for me to stick with lithium and never go back to lead acid.

[EBS64]

Originally Posted by ChadBounder

Thanks for all the inputs, I appreciate it. I will check with Fleetwood or Southwire who is the maker of the charge controller in the rig to see if I need to add a DC-DC converter. Right now, I have 4 6V deep cycle and am thinking of going to 4 12V Lithium. Would be lighter height and way more power.

Thanks again.

Did you add the lithium batteries? If you did can you share what you did.
Thanks

[computerguy]

Originally Posted by EBS64

Did you add the lithium batteries? If you did can you share what you did.
Thanks

Did you see my thread on this?
https://www.irv2.com/forums/f107/16-...de-323250.html

[VentanaOdyssey]

Originally Posted by EBS64

Did you add the lithium batteries? If you did can you share what you did.
Thanks

No, I went with the AGM batteries. I talked for some time with Battle Born and based on the amount of dry camping we do we would never really "exercise" the batteries as they should be. Even with the AGM's I have 300AH of battery that is usable which is plenty.

If we did much more dry camping the lithium would have been the way to go.

[EBS64]

Originally Posted by computerguy

Did you see my thread on this?
https://www.irv2.com/forums/f107/16-...de-323250.html

Thanks

[EBS64]

Originally Posted by ChadBounder

No, I went with the AGM batteries. I talked for some time with Battle Born and based on the amount of dry camping we do we would never really "exercise" the batteries as they should be. Even with the AGM's I have 300AH of battery that is usable which is plenty.

If we did much more dry camping the lithium would have been the way to go.

Thanks I just picked up a 2021 33c and ready to upgrade a few things.
Trac bar and batteries doing shocks later on.

[VentanaOdyssey]

Originally Posted by EBS64

Thanks I just picked up a 2021 33c and ready to upgrade a few things.
Trac bar and batteries doing shocks later on.

Also add a steering stabilizer and Roadmaster rear auxiliary sway bar. Will make a huge difference.

[EBS64]

Can someone help me figure out how to wire a Victron dc to dc charger? BCC has me confused. I'm switching over to lithium batteries. 2021 Fleetwood Bounder 33c
Thanks