Switching to lithium

[Drover]

oil's ain't oils Sol. So I guess you get what you pay for if you go that way.

Actually meaning not all lithiums are the same ...... simple as that, in battery composition and management system....... Lithium is just an all over term.

 

[garfield28]

Definitely some extra cost but mine overall is pretty tiny compared to the YouTubers. The new solar lithium controller is $100, and the 240v battery charger which is 22amps is costing me $200. I'd rather the money in my pocket but not absolutely rediculas either mate.


Haha cooked my fair share of toast over a stove or a fire, and plenty of fire boiled water for a cuppa too.


Yep studying up on the setups etc as much as I can.

I've given up the idea of trying to use a induction cooker as I believe they draw way too much power and not really matched well with my setup. I'm happy with the kettle, toaster and the milk frother.

Thanks for the info though

 

[garfield28]

All fair comment @garfield28 , but it is YOUR call. By the way, what sort of system do you have to charge from your tug?? You seem to have covered all the other issues pretty well especially a $100.00 price for a solar controller suitable for a Lithium battery capable of handling a high charge from solar panels..

At the moment I haven't got a charger from the car but I know looking at it I'm up for about $500-ish for a DC to DC charger.

 

[garfield28]

I had toyed with the idea of upgrading to Lithium as well, but I would need to also replace the current BMS unit to a Lithium compatible. The weight saving alone is extremely attractive. The cost to covert my system would be around $2550.00 and that would only be with around 300 amps of Lithium batteries including the new BMS...plus the cost of a decent inverter.
If i did the sums as to what each amp would cost me for the time actually utilised the cost would not be considered economical at all.

i think I'll wait until the AGM's fail me...Lithium batteries, if they can still mine the precious metals needed to produce them, might even be a bit cheaper by then. Meanwhile I'll just need to fire up the generator if I desperately need 240v to run something...

I should have mentioned also, that I'm only upgrading now because I cooked my AGM a few months ago and need a new battery to start with. I definitely wouldn't be removing a perfectly good battery to make this switch.

 

[Drover]

I should have mentioned also, that I'm only upgrading now because I cooked my AGM a few months ago and need a new battery to start with. I definitely wouldn't be removing a perfectly good battery to make this switch.

Understandable, an expensive replacement then if you have to replace everything, I see my prefered DC-DC charger the Cetek D250SE which is lithium capable, is in the $500 plus range, I think that money would be better spent upgrading the van solar if needed where it would be better value than something that gets used for a few hours when you move camp ..

It should be noted that Big Mal is set up to be independant of external power sources, its very 21st century compared to the 20th century set ups , when I get my F150 Lightning or the RAM equivelant Big Mal will be okay no need to suck precious fuel from the tug and will probably be able to recharge it while in camp.. no need for shore power at all......... bit like having a fully off grid house.... and with an EV capable of towing certainly be a lot of camping with little distance travelled.

 

[Drover]

Well weve bashed that around enough I reckon, has anyone mentioned the size of the gear needed to run this stuff, I have forgotton ................... Me myself would have a 3000w pure sine wave invertor sucking on about 350ah minimum of usable storage , so certainly LiPo4, 105kgs or more of AGM be a bit much, Big Mals roof panels probably be enough but would chuck another 100w up there to be sure ................... that would cover the toaster for brekky along with 3 hits of the coffee machine, go for 3000w as leaves elbow room in the power dept while 350ah of storage or more their use would be hardly noticed, 2 or 3 LiPo4 jobs so there is redundancy as I think they would be the weak link.

 

[jazzeddie1234]

I'm sticking with my lead acid charger profiles (mppt controllers, dc dc chargers, caravan setec) for now given their voltages are close enough to my battery specs and I don't see the point of upgrading them just yet. I would rather spend the money on a couple of cheap new lithium batteries for the back of the ute - yes they may fail in rough service but I have the expertise to jerry rig my setup if necessary and crack open a battery to see what needs replacing.

BTW: renogy au are still running their cyber monday sale. I grabbed their pretty decent 20A dc dc (non solar) with 20% off