At last - I’ve upgraded to Lithium

[BillandHelen]

I’ve been planning to switch to lithium for about 2 years now and I’m hugely grateful to members here who have so freely given their advice and answered my (sometimes stupid) questions, thank you funflair! We picked up our new Wildax Elara in the middle of April and decided to get the upgrade done at the beginning, unfortunately the manufacturer didn’t offer a lithium upgrade when we ordered.

The original spec of the Elara was pretty good, Votronic 30amp b2b with lithium setting, NDS MPPT solar regulator with lithium setting, CBE 516 charger with no lithium setting (shame) and 2 difficult to access, near impossible to move or maintain Banner 110 amp batteries. All very neatly installed.

We decided to use Roadpro, they supply Wildax with all batteries/chargers etc including the lithium batteries for their new Volt package.

We went for 2 x 100amp NDS lithium, both with 150amp bms’s to ensure enough power for induction hob, microwave, coffee maker, straighteners etc (one at a time obviously!). We also fitted a 2000w inverter, wired to all the sockets for ease of use and with automatic switching and remote control. We had a 2nd Votronic 30amp b2b, so 60amp total, all monitored through a shunt and a Votronic monitor and Bluetooth phone app.

Quality of the install was first class, Damien the fitter was professional and answered all my newbie questions. They also provided a loan car and let you stay overnight on their premises, my install took about a day and a half.

So far all seems good, though very early days, didn’t use the mains charger yesterday at all, battery went down to 94%, when I started the engine 42amps were pumped in! Am at SAP today to get levellers fitted, Mick was delayed on a job, so I boiled a kettle for a cup of tea on the induction hob, 142 amps out, took about 2 mins, down to 96%, I could get used to this!!

Some pictures of the install.

 

[poppycamper]

You won't regret it... best mod I ever made.

 

[funflair]

Just had another 160ah fitted today so that’s 3 now Should be enough

 

[TheAleMan]

Lithium all the way, they’re just grrreat !!!

 

[CazPaul]

Have to say Damien the Polish guy at Roadpro is really excellent, a nice guy and extremely knowledgeable, he’s been there many years.

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[R RV]

Not to want to put a dampener on matters but I upgraded to lithium recently and I’m now waiting for a forensic investigation on how my RV was totally destroyed in a fire Just a few weeks after installation.

To be fair I had a huge amount of work done so at the moment it could be anything that caused the fire. But hopefully we’ll find out friday

 

[fesuvious]

Any ideas on the weight saving?

 

[Googlebot]

Any ideas on the weight saving?

Mine were 13KG each compared to 26KG for the lead acid.

 

[Swifter]

Great job

 

[Scotch mist]

Mine were 13KG each compared to 26KG for the lead acid.

Like for like amp hour ?

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[Googlebot]

Like for like amp hour ?

Yes.

 

[Two on Tour]

Like for like amp hour ?

Sort of, but in reality better as you can only run a lead acid down to 50% Ah capacity where as lithium can be run down to 10% Ah capacity, so half the weight and nearly twice the usable Ah, what's not to like.

 

[jongood]

Looks a nice job but I've been wondering whats going on with Roadpro?
They're phone is constantly straight to voicemail with no alternative number given so the only option is to message them. Their website suggests that they still do supply items but you can't consult with them?

 

[BillandHelen]

They still seem to be operating on their restricted COVID procedures, staff were all back in, think there are only about 6 of them, they are not a large operation. Order book seemed to be full, they only do one van at a time, they also supply Wildax with all their electrical kit etc. I’ve found that Allen responds to emails or returns a requested call very quickly.

 

[Garry - June]

Sort of, but in reality better as you can only run a lead acid down to 50% Ah capacity where as lithium can be run down to 10% Ah capacity, so half the weight and nearly twice the usable Ah, what's not to like.

Not sure who's giving you this information but if you regularly run a Lithium down below 20% you will be seriously impacting on its lifespan..

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[Two on Tour]

Not sure who's giving you this information but if you regularly run a Lithium down below 20% you will be seriously impacting on its lifespan..

It's common knowledge that lithium can be discharged down to 10%, but who does, I certainly do not, nor do I take mine to 100% charge which will also very much shorten the lifespan of lithium.

A difference between can and should.

 

[Hayesdec]

Hi
Was it expensive to have lithium batteries installed?

 

[BillandHelen]

Hi
Was it expensive to have lithium batteries installed?

It depends on what all you need to upgrade/add and the number and specification of the batteries. All the prices are on the Roadpro website. Installation takes about a day to a day and a half so add about £600/£1000.
There are many cheaper options available, drop in replacements etc, and if you can install yourself much cheaper.

 

[Hagstrom]

Allen at Roadpro has been very diligent with my enquiries during Covid.

 

[138go]

My husband swapped us over to Lithium, recently. He said it was an easy job.

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[Pausim]

nor do I take mine to 100% charge which will also very much shorten the lifespan of lithium

As long as you follow the manufacturers guidelines you are not going to cause damage, the BMS should protect the battery from any serious over voltage charging.

 

[Two on Tour]

As long as you follow the manufacturers guidelines you are not going to cause damage, the BMS should protect the battery from any serious over voltage charging.

I was not talking about 100% charge damaging a Lifepo4 battery, I was referring to the expected charge cycles reduction bought on by charging to 100% rather than say 90% charge, as I said shortening the lifespan of Lifepo4.

 

[cmcardle75]

As long as you follow the manufacturers guidelines you are not going to cause damage, the BMS should protect the battery from any serious over voltage charging.

Not damage from a broken charger. Lithium batteries last longest around the 50% mark. You'll get longest life by charging up to 70% and discharging to 30%. However, even going 10% to 100%, you'll still get a multiple of the number of cycles you'd get from lead acid doing 50% to 100%.

 

[68c]

How do you limit the charge to 90 percent? Do you need a special charger?

 

[Jim]

Not to want to put a dampener on matters but I upgraded to lithium recently and I’m now waiting for a forensic investigation on how my RV was totally destroyed in a fire Just a few weeks after installation.

The wiring might be the culprit, but it wont be the batteries themselves

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[Two on Tour]

How do you limit the charge to 90 percent? Do you need a special charger?

In my case my Victron gear allows my to change the charging profiles to suit my requirements.

 

[cmcardle75]

How do you limit the charge to 90 percent? Do you need a special charger?

Closest I've seen is the Victron. You can effectively disable absorbtion phase. Once bulk finishes, you can drop the voltage right down so it will barely charge.

 

[Wissel]

How do you limit the charge to 90 percent? Do you need a special charger?

Like others have said, most Victron chargers can do a great job with LiFePO4. My B2B is a Votronic, and although not as adaptable as my Victron MPPT & EHU charger, the profile I have it set to works great and never over charges.

Also, some BMS's can be set to lower the battery capacity, as well as switch charging/loads off at programable voltages.

I have my setup set very conservatively, with my battery capacity set at 80% and final charge voltage set on the low side (float voltage at 13.6v/3.4v per cell). My cells are set to balance at 3.4v.

On the low end, my BMS will switch off loads if any cell goes down to 2.98v (this works great under the loads I use).

 

[R RV]

Wow that was interesting- I had new Trojan engine batteries (flooded) I might check out fire from flooded ! Thanks

 

[R RV]

Like others have said, most Victron chargers can do a great job with LiFePO4. My B2B is a Votronic, and although not as adaptable as my Victron MPPT & EHU charger, the profile I have it set to works great and never over charges.

Also, some BMS's can be set to lower the battery capacity, as well as switch charging/loads off at programable voltages.

I have my setup set very conservatively, with my battery capacity set at 80% and final charge voltage set on the low side (float voltage at 13.6v/3.4v per cell). My cells are set to balance at 3.4v.

On the low end, my BMS will switch off loads if any cell goes down to 2.98v (this works great under the loads I use).

This is what concerns me as right from the beginning the setup was wrong . They asked me to change some settings - even the basic settings were wrong - ie system was set for 1x100amp/h but I had 4 !
Then there were my 3 emails asking how on earth we were using 7-10kwh per day when everything was off!!! Got a reply but no explanation

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