SOK Lithium ion 12V 206AH Battery install

[jimmysrv]

I have a 2014 44B Enterga anthem that I installed 2ea SOK Lithium battery’s for my 2800 inverter and 3 ea SOK battery’s for my 2000 inverter. I also installed the Aili voltmeter/ ammeter to monitor ea bank of battery’s. Every thing works good except my Eng alternator now will not charge the inverter battery’s, (it worked fine with the AGM battery’s, it will still charge the eng battery.) I also worry about the amount of draw my alternator will have on it when it is charging the inverter battery’s. Everything works good while plugged into shore power or running the generator. Has anyone else replaced there AGM battery’s for Lithium?

[Turbojack]

Don't know any of the answers to your questions but was wondering why you went with this brand?

Why did you set up two different banks instead of putting them all in one?

[jimmysrv]

Originally Posted by Turbojack

Don't know any of the answers to your questions but was wondering why you went with this brand?

Why did you set up two different banks instead of putting them all in one?

SOK is 206 AH per battery.

[jimmysrv]

Originally Posted by jimmysrv

SOK is 206 AH per battery.

I Wired it just like the factory install.

[ECVB]

I was thinking of going the same route of the SOK as it very tempting due to the price point for lithium and low and high temp cut off and high reviews of the product and seems to be well built .... just decided to go the route of lifeline which i will be installing this weekend. I just didn't want to have issues pop up with charging and incompatibility with the inverters and alternator etc.. good luck

[DavidEM]

It may be a good thing that your chassis engine alternator is not charging your new batteries. If I understand it correctly, you have one bank of 412 amp hours (two SOKs) and another of 618 amp hours (three SOKs). That would be a huge potential load on your engine's alternator if it were working like the old lead acid batteries.

Lithium batteries can pull huge amounts of current while charging, enough to fry your alternator. This is all anecdotal but posted by smart people on various forums, so I have to mostly believe it:

200 Ahs Li, 40 amps battery draw, ok
400 Ahs LI, 60 amps battery draw, probably ok
600 Ahs Li, 80 amps battery draw, not ok, will ultimately kill the alternator
1000 Ahs Li, wow, a bunch, definitely not ok

So my feeling (and here we go again, nothing concrete) is that a typical truck alternator in a motorhome can deliver 60 Amp hours continuously without damage, but 80+ will damage it ultimately.

Do you have the Li-BIM 225? At least it cycles off and on every 15 minutes or so which should effectively cut the current in half. But at 1,000 amp hours of battery capacity, that is probably not enough. A DC to DC charger is the only sure way to limit the amount of current. And installing one pretty well makes the BIM redundant as a DC to DC charger is not bi directional.

David

[jimmysrv]

Originally Posted by DavidEM

It may be a good thing that your chassis engine alternator is not charging your new batteries. If I understand it correctly, you have one bank of 412 amp hours (two SOKs) and another of 618 amp hours (three SOKs). That would be a huge potential load on your engine's alternator if it were working like the old lead acid batteries.

Lithium batteries can pull huge amounts of current while charging, enough to fry your alternator. This is all anecdotal but posted by smart people on various forums, so I have to mostly believe it:

200 Ahs Li, 40 amps battery draw, ok
400 Ahs LI, 60 amps battery draw, probably ok
600 Ahs Li, 80 amps battery draw, not ok, will ultimately kill the alternator
1000 Ahs Li, wow, a bunch, definitely not ok

So my feeling (and here we go again, nothing concrete) is that a typical truck alternator in a motorhome can deliver 60 Amp hours continuously without damage, but 80+ will damage it ultimately.

Do you have the Li-BIM 225? At least it cycles off and on every 15 minutes or so which should effectively cut the current in half. But at 1,000 amp hours of battery capacity, that is probably not enough. A DC to DC charger is the only sure way to limit the amount of current. And installing one pretty well makes the BIM redundant as a DC to DC charger is not bi directional.

David

Thanks David for the info, yes I checked to make sure my alt was not taking the full load, which DC to DC charger would you recommend?

[757driver]

Originally Posted by jimmysrv

I Wired it just like the factory install.

Jimmy,

The Entegra factory install has both the top and bottom trays wired together at the right side of the inverters catastrophe fuses which are on the back wall behind the house batteries. Unless of course you removed that jumper wire.

[757driver]

Originally Posted by jimmysrv

I have a 2014 44B Enterga anthem that I installed 2ea SOK Lithium battery’s for my 2800 inverter and 3 ea SOK battery’s for my 2000 inverter. I also installed the Aili voltmeter/ ammeter to monitor ea bank of battery’s. Every thing works good except my Eng alternator now will not charge the inverter battery’s, (it worked fine with the AGM battery’s, it will still charge the eng battery.) I also worry about the amount of draw my alternator will have on it when it is charging the inverter battery’s. Everything works good while plugged into shore power or running the generator. Has anyone else replaced there AGM battery’s for Lithium?

Jimmy,

The problem you are running into is normal with the model of Precision Circuits BIM that came standard with your coach. The lithium batteries never get low enough (in voltage) to trigger a charge from the alternator.

This can be solved with the Precision Circuits Li BIM which is a direct swap out for your present BIM. Cap off the generator wire that your present BIM has as it is not required with the new BIM.

Don’t worry about excessive charge from the alternator to the house batteries as mine shows a net gain of about 30-40 amps for the 15min the alternator is charging the house bank then it is off for 20 minutes.

The other choice is to add a DC to DC charger.

[jimmysrv]

Originally Posted by 757driver

Jimmy,



The problem you are running into is normal with the model of Precision Circuits BIM that came standard with your coach. The lithium batteries never get low enough (in voltage) to trigger a charge from the alternator.



This can be solved with the Precision Circuits Li BIM which is a direct swap out for your present BIM. Cap off the generator wire that your present BIM has as it is not required with the new BIM.



Don’t worry about excessive charge from the alternator to the house batteries as mine shows a net gain of about 30-40 amps for the 15min the alternator is charging the house bank then it is off for 20 minutes.



The other choice is to add a DC to DC charger.

Do I need to remove the factory wire that connects both banks together, I have tried both ways and it didn’t seam to matter.
I think I need to buy a new precision circuit Li Bim.

[757driver]

Originally Posted by jimmysrv

Do I need to remove the factory wire that connects both banks together, I have tried both ways and it didn’t seam to matter.
I think I need to buy a new precision circuit Li Bim.

Jimmy,

I would leave it in place and treat it as one large house bank.

[jimmysrv]

Originally Posted by 757driver

Jimmy,



I would leave it in place and treat it as one large house bank.

Where can I buy the Li-BIM?

[757driver]

Originally Posted by jimmysrv

Where can I buy the Li-BIM?

Best price I found was here:

https://battlebornbatteries.com/prod...ation-manager/

[DavidEM]

Originally Posted by jimmysrv

Thanks David for the info, yes I checked to make sure my alt was not taking the full load, which DC to DC charger would you recommend?

I would remove the Precision Circuits BIM and replace it with a 40 amp DC to DC charger. Renogy and maybe others make them. You will lose the aux start capability and the ability to charge your chassis batteries from your coach's DC system. These capabilities can be restored with a manual switch.

David