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Lithium Batteries

T

tkfonzie

New member
Hi All,

Just picked up our new Valor on Saturday. Looking forward to on first adventure. We have had several rv's over the years and are excited to be a part of the Alliance family. Quick question about batteries. Our new Valor came with a Rich Solar lithium (12V, 100 AH). We have had lithiums in the past. We were able to keep our two Lion Energy lithiums (UT 1300, 12 V, 105 AH) from our former RV. I was hoping to run all three batteries in parallel to increase capacity (AH). I read in a few places that I can do that as long as the voltage and AH are similar. However, I have also read not to mix br
ands. I'm not an electrical expert. Has anyone had experience with this or could offer a little advice?
 
BryanValRox

BryanValRox

Elite Member
tkfonzie said:
Hi All,

Just picked up our new Valor on Saturday. Looking forward to on first adventure. We have had several rv's over the years and are excited to be a part of the Alliance family. Quick question about batteries. Our new Valor came with a Rich Solar lithium (12V, 100 AH). We have had lithiums in the past. We were able to keep our two Lion Energy lithiums (UT 1300, 12 V, 105 AH) from our former RV. I was hoping to run all three batteries in parallel to increase capacity (AH). I read in a few places that I can do that as long as the voltage and AH are similar. However, I have also read not to mix br
ands. I'm not an electrical expert. Has anyone had experience with this or could offer a little advice?
Click to expand...
Only offering a personal opinion.
I would not be comfortable intermixing different brands of Lithium Batteries . My feeling is that units with internal BMS systems may take different strategy and could cause issues.
Only my opinion, not direct experience . But hey, I don’t even intermix different brands of disposable batteries, must be my OCD😂
 
L

Long Islander

Active member
Honestly, if it were me I'd use all three and see how it goes. I wouldn't worry about the BMS's battling each other until it actually happens. At this point, you own all three, so all you need to buy is cable. Truthfully, what is the worse that can happen? One of the battery BMSs shuts down a battery and you are down to two or possibly one battery. Obviously, you should test it all out before you leave on trip.

I do agree with what the others have said or implied, that the BMSs used in these LiFePO4 batteries can be sometime difficult to deal with. I have two exactly the same 100 AH Litime batteries in our trailer and one of them has a flakey BMS in it. Every once in while for some unknown reason that one batteries just shuts down. When that happens, I disconnect the offending battery, wake it up (usually by connecting a 12V load to it, like the air pump and the cell springs to life) and then I reconnect it. After that it will work perfectly for months, then out of the blue it does it again. Yes, this is a bit of a pain in neck, but not enough for me to replace the battery.

If after you've tried and tested using all three batteries and you aren't happy with how they work, you could at that point just sell all three, as Jim suggested above. However, instead of buying a single 300 AH battery, I'd suggest for reliability reasons that you buy two 200 AH batteries.
 
Jwtsg

Jwtsg

Well-known member
Long Islander said:
Honestly, if it were me I'd use all three and see how it goes. I wouldn't worry about the BMS's battling each other until it actually happens. At this point, you own all three, so all you need to buy is cable. Truthfully, what is the worse that can happen? One of the battery BMSs shuts down a battery and you are down to two or possibly one battery. Obviously, you should test it all out before you leave on trip.

I do agree with what the others have said or implied, that the BMSs used in these LiFePO4 batteries can be sometime difficult to deal with. I have two exactly the same 100 AH Litime batteries in our trailer and one of them has a flakey BMS in it. Every once in while for some unknown reason that one batteries just shuts down. When that happens, I disconnect the offending battery, wake it up (usually by connecting a 12V load to it, like the air pump and the cell springs to life) and then I reconnect it. After that it will work perfectly for months, then out of the blue it does it again. Yes, this is a bit of a pain in neck, but not enough for me to replace the battery.

If after you've tried and tested using all three batteries and you aren't happy with how they work, you could at that point just sell all three, as Jim suggested above. However, instead of buying a single 300 AH battery, I'd suggest for reliability reasons that you buy two 200 AH batteries.
Click to expand...
Don’t forget spatial considerations in your decision making,,,,,
 
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