Community Forums

**CountryFit** · 05-24-2015, 08:30 AM

i bought a set of lithium batteries. question - what kind of material is to hold the cells? a box made of metal, plastic or wood?

i need a box of 22 x 19 x 10 inches. spent a few days surfing in hd, lowes, officemax, etc. to get a metal box but to no avail. need recommendations on what and where. thanks.

twinboat · 05-24-2015, 09:07 AM

Check out this site for information on your batteries,

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ad.php?t=65069

LiFePO4 Batteries: Discussion Thread for Those Using Them as House Banks

**CountryFit** · 05-24-2015, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twinboat

Check out this site for information on your batteries,

LiFePO4 Batteries: Discussion Thread for Those Using Them as House Banks - Cruisers & Sailing Forums

LiFePO4 Batteries: Discussion Thread for Those Using Them as House Banks

this is an awesome thread. the guy talking about his system is almost the same as mine. he mentioned he was using sterling power for alternator charge management, that is exactly what's in my mind... thank you much for the link!!

Reed Cundiff · 05-24-2015, 12:30 PM

Our LFP batteries came from Manzanita Micro in aluminum box with Lexan top. The box alone runs $175. We have four of their batteries in series for a 48 V nominal suite (each battery consists of 4 x 3.4 V CALB cells). So I would guess that aluminum is good but I have seen other LFP users utilizing wooden boxes.

Manzanita Micro

Reed and Elaine

**CountryFit** · 05-24-2015, 01:01 PM

thanks reed. yeah aluminum would be ideal, with a clear plastic lid where bms' sit on. i'll contact manzanita to find out more info. enjoy the long weekend.

Reed Cundiff · 05-24-2015, 02:45 PM

We have four of these battery boxes which came with BMS, cells etc. for Manzanita. The BMS monitor is inside the rig. Elaine believes that I am OCD since I will sit down and see how we are doing on charge rates and harvest several times a day.

We have been retired for 8 years and a long weekend means that we do not travel to a new area at such times since everyone else is looking for a nice dispersed camping site on BLM/Forest Service lands.

Reed and Elaine

**CountryFit** · 05-24-2015, 04:43 PM

hi reed, i remember you are using 48v battery and 96v panels (in series). for the battery voltage, i have always been wondering do you use 12v for coach applications? if so how do you convert it into 12v?
in my case i am using 12v batteries since all devices inside house are running on it and the inverter is for 12v to 120v.

twinboat · 05-24-2015, 05:52 PM

He can fill you in, but he uses a voltage reducer.

**CountryFit** · 05-24-2015, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twinboat

He can fill you in, but he uses a voltage reducer.

then how will the alternator and when on shore power the inverter/charger charges the batteries? both of them output 12v.
technically i could set up the li batts in high voltage, but doesn't it create more complications in my case?

Reed Cundiff · 05-24-2015, 11:00 PM

CountryFit
“…then how will the alternator and when on shore power the inverter/charger charges the batteries? both of them output 12v technically i could set up the li batts in high voltage, but doesn't it create more complications in my case…”
Three years ago we were camped on the beach in Yucatan about 50 miles south of Tulum in our old rig which had much less solar and battery storage. The power at the “park” was very “dirty”, varying between 80 and 145 V. We had burned out a micro-wave in Baja and another in Yucatan from this problem. Older son and family came down to spend a week with us on beach and brought down a battery charger. This permitted our using the battery through the 2.5 kW PSWI. Battery charger and battery are not affected rapid fluctuations in voltage. The battery charger charges at 48 V nominal through a 15 amp extension cord. We tossed the 50 amp cable two years ago and have only used the 15 amp cord on the one time we actually tied in to line power.
“…hi reed, i remember you are using 48v battery and 96v panels (in series). for the battery voltage, i have always been wondering do you use 12v for coach applications? if so how do you convert it into 12v?” in my case i am using 12v batteries since all devices inside house are running on it and the inverter is for 12v to 120v…”

As TwinBoat noted, we use a voltage reducer, a Mean Well DC/DC Converter that converts the 48 V to 12 V with a 508 W rating. I can think of no set of 12 V uses that would be more than 508 V. The 4 kW PSW Inverter handles the 120 V AC. We trialed the battery suite/inverter by running the micro-wave and air conditioning simultaneously for 30 minutes. The monitor noted that we were drawing about 3.5 W

Reed and Elaine

**CountryFit** · 05-25-2015, 09:10 AM

hi reed, when on shore power, do you need to dc/dc converter to bring up to 48v so to charge the battery bank? or you don't charge it from shore power at all (similarly from the alternator and genset).

Reed Cundiff · 05-26-2015, 07:42 AM

Countryfit

"...hi reed, when on shore power, do you need to dc/dc converter to bring up to 48v so to charge the battery bank? or you don't charge it from shore power at all (similarly from the alternator and genset)..."

The battery charger is a 48 V charger so we would just plug into shore power or genset with a 15 amp extension/power cord. This charges battery to provide both 120 V AC through the PSW inverter and to the 12 V system via the 48V to 12 V conveter

Our grandson modified the trailer socket so that the socket that would carry 12 V to rig now carries the rear view video information. In other words, we do not use the tow vehicle alternator to charge the RV battery.

Reed and Elaine

Son re-designed the 50 amp 120 V system so that it will only supply power to the 120 V AC circuit. So the shore power does not supply energy to the battery system.

**CountryFit** · 05-26-2015, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reed Cundiff

Countryfit

"...hi reed, when on shore power, do you need to dc/dc converter to bring up to 48v so to charge the battery bank? or you don't charge it from shore power at all (similarly from the alternator and genset)..."

The battery charger is a 48 V charger so we would just plug into shore power or genset with a 15 amp extension/power cord. This charges battery to provide both 120 V AC through the PSW inverter and to the 12 V system via the 48V to 12 V conveter

Our grandson modified the trailer socket so that the socket that would carry 12 V to rig now carries the rear view video information. In other words, we do not use the tow vehicle alternator to charge the RV battery.

Reed and Elaine

Son re-designed the 50 amp 120 V system so that it will only supply power to the 120 V AC circuit. So the shore power does not supply energy to the battery system.

ok, this clears up clouds in my mind... i have a 12v freedom 20d charger/inverter . if i go higher voltage say 48v, i would need to get a 48v compatible charger/inverter. hmmm, that will be an additional cost.

thanks for the info and enjoy your trip!!

Reed Cundiff · 05-26-2015, 10:16 PM

That thread on LFP in Cruiser forum goes on for over 4000 posts. Most of it has to do with a leit motif of bottom balancing versus top balancing versus battery management system.

It may be best to stick with 12 V system (panels, batteries etc) since it gets expensive and complicated. Heck, we have a son who did it for us and he is a well known expert in the solar business. I am happy if I can replace the batteries in a flashlight.

Reed and Elaine