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Lithium Ion Batteries for My RV


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On 8/21/2017 at 5:40 PM, reed and elaine said:

Two Manzanita Micro LFP batteries of 180 amp (12 V nominal) each in parallel for approximately 4.5 kW-hrs storage

Reed - 

HEY you two!! Welcome back! Glad to hear you survived each other and I appreciate the update and the link.

Sounds like those Manzanita's did you right. Did you run in to any over temp issues? That was really smart to run through your bank and an excellent tip for anyone in a questionable power supply situation. Your battery bank is much more forgiving after charger "conditioning" than your electronics would be.

Hot skins are no fun, eh!? ;) Just an antecdote, but for some uncertain reason, when I used to stay in CG's it was always a favorite pastime on my evening walks to go around with a non-contact current light and walk by rigs to see just how many were hot skinned. You would be suprised!

That's really cool you folks were finally able to get back into some of those areas you've been wanting to see the past few years. Takes a brave soul to temporarily "downsize" to that extent just to get your boondock on.

I'll expect pictures the next campfire. :D  

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Yarome - thanks for kind letter.

The Manzanitas (merely very well packaged CALB cells with excellent BMS - for the electric vehicle market) are four years old and not noticeable reduction in energy capacity. We could do a full discharge to check but probably will not. As you intimated, heat is a major cause of LFP damage. Cris of Technomadia has written about this. They had their battery bank in a non-ventilated box, parked on tarmac, in summer, and in Phoenix. Cris's writings have been of great help both in their innovations and their mistakes.

We do leave a remote thermometer ($10 or at hardware store) in the front bay where the batteries are in the 5th wheel. We do leave the bay doors open when using the a/c since the 4.5 kW PSWI can give off heat. We also have 12 V outlets for fans if it were to get above ambient. It never has. The inverse is true for winter. We have 30 W lamps which keep the bay warm. 30 W is probably less than parasitic draw

Do the same with the Roadtrek. Son in design and fabrication installed a blower fan that will replace volume of area under bed once a minute. We have been awakened by this in colder weather. As in "what?,awhat? O yeh!" and back to sleep. t was 18 F at Balmorhea state park on way down to Yucatan last year.

We were in Yucatan a few years ago and we were using the line power for a/c on the 5th wheel and the surge protector was going on/off and we were worried about damaging the a/c. I told Cary about this (the son in alternative energy) so he brought down 1.5 kW in battery chargers plus peripherals when he and family flew down for a week with us on beach. It has worked extremely well since. I forget the full details but he said it should work between 60 V and 180 V (or something like that). So when he designed and fabricated the Roadtrek system, he set it up in much the same manner. May have mentioned earlier that friends we met in Yucatan and then again at San Miguel del Allende who plugged into a pedestal somewhere to the west of San Miguel that was supposed to 120 V but was 240 V. That was the end of almost all their electronics. They continued another two months in Mexico.

My adaption to your "God gave us shin bones so we could find trailer hitches in the dark." is "God have us heads to find the kingpin and slideouts  n the dark"

Smaller is better in a lot of journeys. This was true in Labrador/Newfoundland as well as in Mexico.

Reed and Elaine

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4 minutes ago, rbertalotto said:

I still don't understand why we are not using the giant LI battery bank in a hibrid toad to power the MH.

Some people do. I'm working on a project right now where we will be doing that, and it has been done by the DIY crowd since the packs hit the market. You just have to do it all yourself.

Jack & Danielle Mayer #60376 Lifetime Member
Living on the road since 2000

PLEASE no PM's. Email me. jackdanmayer AT gmail
2016 DRV Houston 44' 5er (we still have it)
2022 New Horizons 43' 5er
2016 Itasca 27N 28' motorhome 
2019 Volvo 860, D13 455/1850, 236" wb, I-Shift, battery-based APU
No truck at the moment - we use one of our demo units
2016 smart Passion, piggyback on the truck
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
See our website for info on New Horizons 5th wheels, HDTs as tow vehicles, communications on the road, and use of solar power
www.jackdanmayer.com
Principal in RVH Lifestyles. RVH-Lifestyles.com

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I'm not suggesting removing a battery pack from a hybrid. I'm suggesting towing a hybrid and using its battery when parked. During the day, sightseeing you could be recharging the battery and maybe while towing regenative braking could help charge the battery. This would be a specialized vehicle. Not something currently on the market.

RoyB

South of Boston

2021 Dodge 2500 - 6.4L

Forest River 19RR Toy Hauler

Roofnest Falcon Rooftop Tent

www.rvbprecision.com

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