Lithium Battery

[Flyer32RLS]

With the market being flooded with Lithium batteries, all made in China from what I can ascertain, how does one pick?
I have a pretty new (5 mo) LA battery. I would like to upgrade to lithium but really can't decide. Yes money is a factor as I can't see spending
big bucks on something that I will not use that often. Just want one that will run the fridge and some lights for boondocking on occasion.
I saw a YouTube from one that is always trying new products and reporting on them. He mentioned that the Redodo is very reliable and he would recommend it.
Its $219 for 100Ah with BT, and low temp protection cutoff.
Anyone have any thoughts on this brand? The other that I was looking at was the LiTime 100Ah. It is a little more expensive but not bad.

Fire away!!

 

[JeffS]

I have LiTime and haven't had any issues. Everyone says to see Will Prowse videos, but my takeaway is that most of the sold brands are good until they are not. I've read good things about redodo recently, but wow, that name does not inspire confidence!

 

[Oregon_Camper]

buddy of mine has 3x LiTime and they have been working great for him.

 

[2 Allies]

We went with a 300 ah Epoch at the time and have been very satisfied. Really pondered the LiTime though, great price point. You can watch a few of Will Prouse's videos and get a pretty good idea about price/value.
Good luck,

 

[Flyer32RLS]

Thanks for all the relies.
Still not sure I can pull the trigger and upgrade.
Not only the cost of the battery, my converter is switchable from LA to Lithium but then there is the fix of the truck alternator fix.
I have the 240A alternator on the truck but that from what I have read can be fixed with a DC-DC charge.
MORE hassle! Like I said, would not be boondocking that much so thing I will just stay with the LA but upgrade to a at least a 100AH Deep Cycle and let it go at that. Jusgt can't justify improving something that will not be used that much.
Thanks tyo everyone!
Happy Glamping!!

 

[Oregon_Camper]

Thanks for all the relies.
Still not sure I can pull the trigger and upgrade.
Not only the cost of the battery, my converter is switchable from LA to Lithium but then there is the fix of the truck alternator fix.
I have the 240A alternator on the truck but that from what I have read can be fixed with a DC-DC charge.
MORE hassle! Like I said, would not be boondocking that much so thing I will just stay with the LA but upgrade to a at least a 100AH Deep Cycle and let it go at that. Jusgt can't justify improving something that will not be used that much.

I am not in the camp that there will be damage to the truck, without DC-to-DC charging. This is an issue in motorhomes, but not trucks as the 7 pin gets disconnected.

If you are still worried about it, a simple...NO cost solution would be to simply remove the 12v connection in the box on the king pin that connects the 12v POS wire (off 7 pin cable) to the RV. Would take you about 5 mins to do this.

 

[Ox262]

I've been using a Redodo 140 amp/hr lithium battery for over a year and it's still working fine. We rarely boondock so 140amp/hr is more than enough for us.

 

[2 Allies]

Flyer,
When I upgraded to the lithium, all I did was flip the switch on the converter and changed the profile on yhe solar controller. We been running it for 2 years without issue and get most of the full AH use of the battery. Lithium is the way to go.

Good luck,

 

[Flyer32RLS]

Flyer,
When I upgraded to the lithium, all I did was flip the switch on the converter and changed the profile on yhe solar controller. We been running it for 2 years without issue and get most of the full AH use of the battery. Lithium is the way to go.

Good luck,

Thanks. Are you using the tow vehicle to charge the batteries while driving? Everything I have read is that you CAN damage your alternator in the truck. Mine is a heavy duty 240A alternator. For sure do not want to damage that!!

 

[Flyer32RLS]

I am not in the camp that there will be damage to the truck, without DC-to-DC charging. This is an issue in motorhomes, but not trucks as the 7 pin gets disconnected.

If you are still worried about it, a simple...NO cost solution would be to simply remove the 12v connection in the box on the king pin that connects the 12v POS wire (off 7 pin cable) to the RV. Would take you about 5 mins to do this.

Yes that would eliminate the concern of damage to the truck alternator but defeats the purpose of insuring on cloudy days that my battery if fully charged. Not sure I understand your comment about "the 7 pin gets disconnected." It would be connected while driving and that is my concern that the 240A alternator charging lithium batteries without DC-DC charger in between would damage the alternator.

 

[Oregon_Camper]

Yes that would eliminate the concern of damage to the truck alternator but defeats the purpose of insuring on cloudy days that my battery if fully charged. Not sure I understand your comment about "the 7 pin gets disconnected." It would be connected while driving and that is my concern that the 240A alternator charging lithium batteries without DC-DC charger in between would damage the alternator.

You can move to Lithium without hurting your alternator and making NO changes other than converter and solar controller moved to lithium profile.

Todd explains this better in this video, than I have in words....LOL

 

[Flyer32RLS]

You can move to Lithium without hurting your alternator and making NO changes other than converter and solar controller moved to lithium profile.

Todd explains this better in this video, than I have in words....LOL

THANKS Jim, that is about as simple as it can be. That takes all the worry away as my converter and solar controller is switchable. So now for the battery!
Thanks Again!!

 

[Long Islander]

We use two Litime 100 AH batteries in our 292RL (they were originally installed in our Imagine 2670MK). At first, I too was l leery out buying Chinese batteries and I have to say they have been great. I received the batteries in late fall and didn't get a chance to install them until spring, so they sat in my basement over the winter. During that time I should have checked the voltage, but didn't. I know very dumb. Well the voltage in one cell dropped too low and the internal BMS completely shut the battery down. In the spring I couldn't get that one battery to function properly, so I reached out (sent an email) to LiTimes tech support. I got their response the very next morning. They gave me a couple things to try to wake up the battery. I tried them and emailed them back that I still couldn't wake the battery up. Again, the very next morning I received an email telling me to hit the battery with a higher DC voltage (more than 12V). I had a DC 20V power supply, so I tried it. Unfortunately it didn't work and emailed them stating so. In the morning I received an email from LiTime with instructions on how to return the battery. That day friend gave me a higher DV voltage power supply (I think it was 24V or higher.....I don't remember) to try. Well it woke the battery up, so I emailed LiTime about my success and didn't bother returning it. Well both batteries have worked perfectly for the past 4 years. I was very impressed with LiTimes's tech support and I would not hesitate to buy from them again. You just need to remember that they are in China, so it takes a bit longer to correspond with them

 

[Midnight Rider]

THANKS Jim, that is about as simple as it can be. That takes all the worry away as my converter and solar controller is switchable. So now for the battery!
Thanks Again!!

What battery have you decided on if you don’t mind me asking? I’m in the market.
noticed prices have gone up last week or so. At least on Li Time?

 

[Midnight Rider]

We use two Litime 100 AH batteries in our 292RL (they were originally installed in our Imagine 2670MK). At first, I too was l leery out buying Chinese batteries and I have to say they have been great. I received the batteries in late fall and didn't get a chance to install them until spring, so they sat in my basement over the winter. During that time I should have checked the voltage, but didn't. I know very dumb. Well the voltage in one cell dropped too low and the internal BMS completely shut the battery down. In the spring I couldn't get that one battery to function properly, so I reached out (sent an email) to LiTimes tech support. I got their response the very next morning. They gave me a couple things to try to wake up the battery. I tried them and emailed them back that I still couldn't wake the battery up. Again, the very next morning I received an email telling me to hit the battery with a higher DC voltage (more than 12V). I had a DC 20V power supply, so I tried it. Unfortunately it didn't work and emailed them stating so. In tmorning I received an email from LiTime with instructions on how to return the battery. That day friend gave me a higher DV voltage power supply (I think it was 24V or higher.....I don't remember) to try. Well it woke the battery up, so I emailed LiTime about my success and didn't bother returning it. Well both batteries have worked perfectly for the past 4 years. I was very impressed with LiTimes's tech support and I would not hesitate to buy from them again. You just need to remember that they are in China, so it takes a bit longer to correspond with the

Do you get plenty of juice out of those two 100 AH batteries?
No issue running Fridge all day going down the road and also being able to run slides When you get to camp?
Thanks

 

[Long Islander]

First , we aren't big power users and we don't have an inverter. We mainly use the batteries for DC lighting, to run the water pump and refrigerator when we dry camp. According to the specs the frig by itself uses between 80-100 amp-hours of power per day. Our trailer Delta 292RL also has a 400 watt solar panel on the roof, which does an nice recharging out batteries. I sized the batteries to mainly run the camper for a day or two in the shade, meaning minimal solar power. We've yet to dry camp in the shade. The last time we dry camped it was in a field in Durham Maine last fall. We never needed the heat, so running ventilation fan didn't use up any power. According to our Victron shunt the batteries never dropped below 75%-80%. They were fully always charged by 10:30-11:00 AM in the morning. I sized the batteries so we could spend a night or two at Harvest host or camped in a friends field, never longer than that. We also carry a 4000W/3200W dual fuel generator, so we can charge the batteries and run the AC if needed. I've thought about adding a small inverter so we could run the TV or a laptop, but I haven't done anything about it. If I need more battery power I can easily add more batteries if needed. Having said that the two are working just fine for us, but again we only camp "off grid" a day or two at a time. I hope this helps.

Bob

 

[Flyer32RLS]

What battery have you decided on if you don’t mind me asking? I’m in the market.
noticed prices have gone up last week or so. At least on Li Time?

MidNight Rider, I bought the LiTime 100Ah with BT and low temp cut out. Received it yesterday. Haven't had the chance to install it yet. Maybe this weeked. Amazon $299 and was the same on LiTime web site. Think that is all I will need with just running the light and fridge. Haven't had any problem even with this POS 84AH LA that I have now in keeping the fridge cold during day trvel but this should allow me to boon dock for at least a night. I have a 5000W duel fuel generator that I can use if required. All is good and ready to hit the road!
Happy Glamping!!

 

[Midnight Rider]

MidNight Rider, I bought the LiTime 100Ah with BT and low temp cut out. Received it yesterday. Haven't had the chance to install it yet. Maybe this weeked. Amazon $299 and was the same on LiTime web site. Think that is all I will need with just running the light and fridge. Haven't had any problem even with this POS 84AH LA that I have now in keeping the fridge cold during day trvel but this should allow me to boon dock for at least a night. I have a 5000W duel fuel generator that I can use if required. All is good and ready to hit the road!
Happy Glamping!!

I’m getting two of that exact battery. 😂

 

[Meanjean73]

I have been using these with no issues for the past few months. Good reviews and a few reviews on YouTube. For the price it was worth a try. No WiFi but I didn’t want that anyway. Has low temp and hi temp cutoff.

Dumfume Batteries


YouTube review

 

[George]

MidNight Rider, I bought the LiTime 100Ah with BT and low temp cut out. Received it yesterday. Haven't had the chance to install it yet. Maybe this weeked. Amazon $299 and was the same on LiTime web site. Think that is all I will need with just running the light and fridge. Haven't had any problem even with this POS 84AH LA that I have now in keeping the fridge cold during day trvel but this should allow me to boon dock for at least a night. I have a 5000W duel fuel generator that I can use if required. All is good and ready to hit the road!
Happy Glamping!!

I just installed the LiTime 165Ah and needed to cut off the original battery terminals and crimp on some M8 (5/16") Lugs. Just a heads up.
At the time of purchase LiTime had it on sale for $390.
I had 6AWG wire but one day I'd like to upgrade at least the feed from the battery, and cutoff switch to 4AWG.