Batteries

[allcat]

Has anyone ever built a lifePo4 lithium battery. My motorhome has 2 6 volt golf cart batteries. I went down the Baja for a month this winter and found out I don't have enough battery capacity for that type of boondocking. I have 100 ah of capacity with those batteries, with 50 usable. I looked at getting 2 Battleborn lifePo4 batteries that would have 200 ah capacity, with all 200 usable, but they would cost about 2000. I found where you can buy the cells that would make 2 batteries with 560 ah, all usable for an all in cost of around 1200. Just wondering if anyone has done anything like this, or even what thoughts you have on it.

[RickRund]

Has anyone ever built a lifePo4 lithium battery. My motorhome has 2 6 volt golf cart batteries. I went down the Baja for a month this winter and found out I don't have enough battery capacity for that type of boondocking. I have 100 ah of capacity with those batteries, with 50 usable. I looked at getting 2 Battleborn lifePo4 batteries that would have 200 ah capacity, with all 200 usable, but they would cost about 2000. I found where you can buy the cells that would make 2 batteries with 560 ah, all usable for an all in cost of around 1200. Just wondering if anyone has done anything like this, or even what thoughts you have on it.

I would love to have a couple of those bad boys but wow, the cost scared me away fast... Did I hear that those can be drawn down a bunch more than the normal battery?

[allcat]

Has anyone ever built a lifePo4 lithium battery. My motorhome has 2 6 volt golf cart batteries. I went down the Baja for a month this winter and found out I don't have enough battery capacity for that type of boondocking. I have 100 ah of capacity with those batteries, with 50 usable. I looked at getting 2 Battleborn lifePo4 batteries that would have 200 ah capacity, with all 200 usable, but they would cost about 2000. I found where you can buy the cells that would make 2 batteries with 560 ah, all usable for an all in cost of around 1200. Just wondering if anyone has done anything like this, or even what thoughts you have on it.

I would love to have a couple of those bad boys but wow, the cost scared me away fast... Did I hear that those can be drawn down a bunch more than the normal battery?

Yes they can safely be drawn down to almost zero. The other great thing is the number of charge cycles. A lead acid may be recharged like 500 times. LifePo4 batteries can be charged 5000 times. That means in an rv if you have to replace your batteries every 2-3 years you can go 20 years on the LifePO 4. ultimately much cheaper. The one problem with LifePo4 is cold weather, they cannot be charged below freezing. Unless of course you put a battery blanket on them. I'm trying to go one step further by building my own.

[RickRund]

Has anyone ever built a lifePo4 lithium battery. My motorhome has 2 6 volt golf cart batteries. I went down the Baja for a month this winter and found out I don't have enough battery capacity for that type of boondocking. I have 100 ah of capacity with those batteries, with 50 usable. I looked at getting 2 Battleborn lifePo4 batteries that would have 200 ah capacity, with all 200 usable, but they would cost about 2000. I found where you can buy the cells that would make 2 batteries with 560 ah, all usable for an all in cost of around 1200. Just wondering if anyone has done anything like this, or even what thoughts you have on it.

I would love to have a couple of those bad boys but wow, the cost scared me away fast... Did I hear that those can be drawn down a bunch more than the normal battery?

Yes they can safely be drawn down to almost zero. The other great thing is the number of charge cycles. A lead acid may be recharged like 500 times. LifePo4 batteries can be charged 5000 times. That means in an rv if you have to replace your batteries every 2-3 years you can go 20 years on the LifePO 4. ultimately much cheaper. The one problem with LifePo4 is cold weather, they cannot be charged below freezing. Unless of course you put a battery blanket on them. I'm trying to go one step further by building my own.

I have a small battery tender that mine are on when I put our 5th wheel into storage.

[allcat]

Has anyone ever built a lifePo4 lithium battery. My motorhome has 2 6 volt golf cart batteries. I went down the Baja for a month this winter and found out I don't have enough battery capacity for that type of boondocking. I have 100 ah of capacity with those batteries, with 50 usable. I looked at getting 2 Battleborn lifePo4 batteries that would have 200 ah capacity, with all 200 usable, but they would cost about 2000. I found where you can buy the cells that would make 2 batteries with 560 ah, all usable for an all in cost of around 1200. Just wondering if anyone has done anything like this, or even what thoughts you have on it.

I would love to have a couple of those bad boys but wow, the cost scared me away fast... Did I hear that those can be drawn down a bunch more than the normal battery?

Yes they can safely be drawn down to almost zero. The other great thing is the number of charge cycles. A lead acid may be recharged like 500 times. LifePo4 batteries can be charged 5000 times. That means in an rv if you have to replace your batteries every 2-3 years you can go 20 years on the LifePO 4. ultimately much cheaper. The one problem with LifePo4 is cold weather, they cannot be charged below freezing. Unless of course you put a battery blanket on them. I'm trying to go one step further by building my own.

I have a small battery tender that mine are on when I put our 5th wheel into storage.

If you have like Battleborn it would not matter. They have a built in battery management system that not only balances the cells but also has a low temp shutoff. It will not let them charge unless they are at around 34 degrees. The Battleborn are very good and actually well worth the money. I'm just being a cheapskate and gaining 460 more ah. If I had Battleborn I could probably go almost 5 days on just battery with no recharging. I have a small mh and don't like running the gen set. I'm also looking at installing 200 wats of solar on the roof. One thing to remember is that if the batteries are done as part of the solar system, you would still get I think a 2% federal tax credit. that would mean if you spent 2,000 on batteries and another 2,000 on the solar, you would get back over 1,000 in taxes.