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Lippert Auto Level Control Pad Low Voltage

George

Prominent Member
yeah I'm starting to shop now for a couple of the 200 amp hour. lithiums, I can put in there. I really appreciate everybody's help

I didn't see whether you had an inverter. If you don't then 400aH of LFP battery is going to last a pretty long time boondocking when sunny enough. I didn't do any math on it, that's just my seat of the pants experience. I think @Oregon_Camper has some numbers.
Unless you boondock that much may be overkill. Unless you're future-proofing. Unless, etc. 😜
I feel I have plenty of capacity with my one 165aH LiTime. Now you're $0.02 richer. 🙃
 

7426TRISS

Well-known member
Not sure where this is going, a battery problem, low voltage, what?

If you added that much water, get a new battery. Start there first.

The battery should provide all the needed power to operate the slides and leveling Jack's, without shore power or plugged in to truck.
 

Oregon_Camper

Forum Admin
Staff member
I didn't see whether you had an inverter. If you don't then 400aH of LFP battery is going to last a pretty long time boondocking when sunny enough. I didn't do any math on it, that's just my seat of the pants experience. I think @Oregon_Camper has some numbers.
Quick summary....
I was a bit surprising to see the Norcold frig used over 113.4Ah in 25.5 hours…and then almost 163Ah after 36hrs. Test done on 810Ah of Lithium batteries from 4 year old Battle Born batteries. Of note...there are tiny vampire DC draws that I did not turn off…stuff like LED on radio, Co2 detector, etc

The entire test results...with images...can be found here.
 

M and E

Prominent Member
Adding that much water, its time to consider replacement or upgrade. You will alway be at risk or worry that they will be dead and cause you an issue. Just my opinion of course.
I would go one step farther and say unquestionably the battery should be replaced. I know you are aware, but for others, dry cells warp when charged (more often than not). Capacity may look perfect unloaded and loaded, but can fail quickly under load unexpectedly. If battery goes dry, it's time to trade it out.

If anyone is interested, the military has completed so much research into batteries and their maintenance, and can easily be found through google. DOE has also. If anyone is into that kind of stuff, it is very interesting and absolutely informative. I know that the military studies of FLA batteries with cells that were dry showed it must be removed and recycled. What I cannot recall if it was viewed through the "mission critical" lens. Anyhow, it's out there in the cyber space.
 
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M and E

Prominent Member
so glad somebody posted this as I was going to do it. we have a 2024 Avenue 32 RLS and last week when we started to set up at our campsite my lippert auto level system was showing low voltage and would not level out my rig. we plugged into the 50 amp charging and turned off the Auto level then turned it back on and it worked fine. when we moved a week later this past Monday and came back to our home base, we have the same problem. I literally just checked my batteries in the front as I have lead acid batteries and upon checking the water level in them, 10 of the 12 cells had no water in them. I added a gallon and a half to both batteries. now we'll see if they hold a charge or if they have been damaged by being so low.
They've been damaged in one way or another. If nothing else, they are going to absolutely be sulfated which can rarely be improved when the sulfation occurred in dry cells (with the pulse desulfation devices that a lot of us have). If you load test that battery, you'll see voltage drop fast almost guaranteed.
 

Oregon_Camper

Forum Admin
Staff member
yeah I'm starting to shop now for a couple of the 200 amp hour. lithiums, I can put in there. I really appreciate everybody's help
I am in the process of replacing my 3 Battle Born batteries (270Ahr) with 3 Wattcycle batteries (314Ahr). If you have read about Will Prowse findings with BB, you'll know why I have pulled them out of our RV. Here is a picture of my install. While not done yet (still have some clean up and secure POS wire) you can see the footprint difference and I have 132 more amp hours. Got them for $499 plus 8% discount. I got the discount via email by leaving them in my cart for 2 weeks. I wasn't trying anything fancy, I simply put them in there and was trying to align their shipment times with my arrival home after our 4 month RV trip. You'll see in the image, I could have put a 4th one in the same amount of horizontal space as the 3x BB's were taking up.

1778255833573.png
 
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Flyer32RLS

Well-known member
All great, but what about boondocking? Your battery bank needs to be able to bring slides in/out and operate landing gear....all without being connected to shore power.
Jim, you have a valid point, if I was boondocking. but I am not. I did not infer from the OP that he was either. The OP stated when connected to shore power or truck it worked. Tends to lead one to the fact that without being connected as stated, the batteries would not carry the load. I have found this out for myself. First time out with our RV, auto-level would not work. Call tech, told me to connect, then lower all legs about 6-8 inches, then manually retract. Then try auto-level. That worked. Seems that with low battery voltage, some of the legs went down and some did not and that threw a fault into the auto-level. Been working ever since. Oh, BTW, the battery was brand new but had not had a full charge put on it.
If the battery is weak or does not have a full charge, auto-level might not work, That's all I'm saying.

If boondocking, I would hope the battery bank is sufficient and charged to full before you try boondocking. Kinda of self induced failure if not.
 
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Flyer32RLS

Well-known member
I am in the process of replacing my 3 Battle Born batteries (270Ahr) with 3 Wattcycle batteries (314Ahr). If you have read about Will Prowse findings with BB, you'll know why I have pulled them out of our RV. Here is a picture of my install. While not done yet (still have some clean up and secure POS wire) you can see the footprint difference and I have 132 more amp hours. Got them for $499 plus 8% discount. I got the discount via email by leaving them in my cart for 2 weeks. I wasn't trying anything fancy, I simply put them in there and was trying to align their shipment times with my arrival home after our 4 month RV trip. You'll see in the image, I could have put a 4th one in the same amount of horizontal space as the 3x BB's were taking up.

View attachment 5105
You have y attention, not that I have BB but just curious. What went wrong with your BB? Surely you are not buying just to go from
270 to 314 AH? And is that 31`4 each or together? Just an unusal number 314 AH.
 

Oregon_Camper

Forum Admin
Staff member
@Flyer32RLS
I am replacing to protect my family. Click here to see one of the 3 or 4 video's Will has made on this issue, and BB will not accepting the problem. Will is by FAR the leading resource for battery tech. I would pay $1500 over and over to ensure my family (and pets) are safe. Could my BB's have been ok...sure, but I tend to error on the side of safety vs saving a few $$$.

Yes...the new batteries from WattCycle (Will's #1 recommendation) are 314 amp hours each, giving me 942 amp hours now. Comes in very handy when we're camping for a week on BLM land, just 5 mins from Vally of Fire. Boondocking isn't for everyone, but 7 nights for FREE with this view is exactly what my wife and I love to do.

1778275812921.png

1778275969460.png
 

SKYSKIOC

Well-known member
well I finally was able to check the batteries and put a load on them and my batteries are toast ! soon as I disconnected from shore power, the batteries were full and went right to empty within a minute and a half. looks like I'll be upgrading to lithium pretty quick
 

M and E

Prominent Member
@Flyer32RLS
I am replacing to protect my family. Click here to see one of the 3 or 4 video's Will has made on this issue, and BB will not accepting the problem. Will is by FAR the leading resource for battery tech. I would pay $1500 over and over to ensure my family (and pets) are safe. Could my BB's have been ok...sure, but I tend to error on the side of safety vs saving a few $$$.

Yes...the new batteries from WattCycle (Will's #1 recommendation) are 314 amp hours each, giving me 942 amp hours now. Comes in very handy when we're camping for a week on BLM land, just 5 mins from Vally of Fire. Boondocking isn't for everyone, but 7 nights for FREE with this view is exactly what my wife and I love to do.

View attachment 5108

View attachment 5109
I really appreciate your familiarity with these systems and also sharing that video. I don't have Battleborn but i do have a relatively inexpensive lithium battery. I am going to start digging into if I need to replace it. If I made a mistake, and bought the wrong battery, off to the recycle center. I'm with you on the don't care what it cost if it keeps my family safe. My brother passed as a result of a fire that began with an electrical issue. I see there is a class action against BattleBorn under consideration.

Sounds like BB is circling the wagons. If they don't have the right insurance policy, they're not going to withstand this litigation. If it goes mass litigation instead of class action, they're done.

Any recommendations for a brand? I do not boondock. Thinking i might just go with Interstate if they have the battery I need
 
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Oregon_Camper

Forum Admin
Staff member
Any recommendations for a brand? I do not boondock. Thinking i might just go with Interstate if they have the battery I need
Happy to talk batteries all day long :cool: Will need more info. What is your usage plan? You said you won't boondock, but what about a night at a harvest host location? Do you plan on never camping ithout shore power? Those are big diffences that would lead the conversation on what you NEED vs what a battery marketing team will tell you. Know this, I would never recommend anything other than lithium at this point. The performance, weight and now even cost are far superiour to AGM/Flooded batteries. If you are indeed planning to only camp with shore power, I would still push you toward at least a 200 amp hour battery to cover your needs in case the RV park looses power and you need your frig to work for ~24hrs and/or have power to get slides to work.
 

RockDr896

Well-known member
@Flyer32RLS
I am replacing to protect my family. Click here to see one of the 3 or 4 video's Will has made on this issue, and BB will not accepting the problem. Will is by FAR the leading resource for battery tech. I would pay $1500 over and over to ensure my family (and pets) are safe. Could my BB's have been ok...sure, but I tend to error on the side of safety vs saving a few $$$.

Yes...the new batteries from WattCycle (Will's #1 recommendation) are 314 amp hours each, giving me 942 amp hours now. Comes in very handy when we're camping for a week on BLM land, just 5 mins from Vally of Fire. Boondocking isn't for everyone, but 7 nights for FREE with this view is exactly what my wife and I love to do.
WOW....Battle Born is toast. Would anybody trust their solution, when engineering missed the mark at such a basic level? I know I wouldn't give them a second chance.

Here is the CEO, trying to set the record straight....they are digging in to blame the installation method...classic errors and omissions insurance play

 

M and E

Prominent Member
What is your usage plan?

Just opening and closing slides, raising lowering jacks for now.
You said you won't boondock, but what about a night at a harvest host location?

Interesting you say that...I have not but certainly might in the near future. Love to have a conversation about that person to person if you don't mind.

This is the battery I have currently.

PowerUrus 12V 100Ah Self Heating LiFePO4 Lithium Battery, Upgraded 100A BMS, Max. 1280Wh Energy

They got good reviews, and i bought off of reviews and the fact it was on sale, but so did battleborn. I'd take whatever feedback anyone has on the battery, if it is good, if it is a BattleBorn waiting to happen, etc.
 
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