RV Life - Lithium Battery Upgrade, Unexpected Expenses

Great explanation Matt! Thanks for the update.

Great video Matt, we have our eyes on those batteries in the next couple of months before we go full time. :).

Thanks for sharing. It will be interesting to hear how you feel after you have had them for a year and have a better sense of how they are preforming for your RV. Happy trails.

excellent explanation matt.... cheers x

Nice Job explaining the little things. I agree a Victron battery monitor would be a must. And I agree Kenny and Sabrina are great people. Stay safe and happy travels, Lou

Great video Matt! Good info to know. Thumbs up given.

Thanks for giving......the rest of the story on lithium batts!

Great video! lithium is still very confusing and misunderstood by many folks, it's like Black Magic or something. This video helps people wrap their heads around what to prepare for and better understand the workings of this lithium sorcery lol.

Great advise for anyone interested in purchasing drop-in lithium batteries!

I’ve recently been considering BB lithium’s. Had no idea they kept such a high voltage until almost completely dead. Great info to know. Thank you

Great update Matt, While talking to the executives from Battle Born when I was at NomadFEST, a battery monitor (Victron BMV-712) is a must for anyone taking that leap to (BB) Lithium's. Awesome explanation!

Thank you for the information.

Noticed your hat. Thanks for your service. I have one with the same patch from Camp Casey Korea in the 70's. The duce is loose!

You also need a Li-Bim 225 to protect the alternator on your motor home.

Great video Matt! This is off topic, but I had a little accident when I got home, and it never pays to panic. I went through the gate, stopped and locked it. I have a sewer dump out back, pulled up to it, hooked the hose up, pulled the black water valve and the hose came off. I was drenched with black water. Ran to the garden hose, no water (I turn the water off at the meter when I'm gone, the meter is on the next road over). Ran to the gate, I left my keys in the RV, ran back and got them, ran to the meter, turned the water on, ran back to the house, jumped in the shower then realized, I was at the RV when it happened. There's a shower and change of clothes inside. I laugh now, but believe me at the time it happened it was not funny at all.

I did the 'drop in' with Battle Born's 2 months ago, on my '08 Tiffin motorhome, and bought the Victron BMV-712 with bluetooth at the same time. I installed 3 of the Lithium batteries, with room for more if the need arises. We do have a residential fridge, so adding at least one more is probably a good guess! I have the OEM Xantrex Inverter/converter charger, and it's doing it's thing, keeping my batteries at about 13.7 volts most of the time, as we're currently at home with the coach plugged into 30A here at home. Not mentioned in this particular video, is any information on how much 'more' the Lithium batteries can pull in via solar, generator or shore power! With my Onan generator, my BB batteries will pull 100 amps of power, so they charge quite quickly! Watching my Victron monitor, the volts climb fairly quickly resulting in a speedy 'charge up' compared to the slow charging of lead/acid batteries. It's important to remember another tidbit of information as a side note....since Lithium will take so many amps at a time, when driving, it's apparently hard on your Alternator putting out full amperage constantly until full charge too, so I'm installing a new 'Battery Isolator' BIM 225 Isolator (Google it if you wish) which will help your alternator by only allowing the full power output to 15 minutes I believe it is, and then it will give your alternator a rest, before once again allowing it to charge up the batteries. Now, as an addition, this particular battery isolator also charges your chassis batteries fully (depending on the length of trip and how long your driving of course). Battle Born sells this battery Isolator, and they're also sold on Amazon. As for 'cold weather' explained in this video, some are adding warming blankets that fit around the batteries, and others are insulating their storage cabinets (probably both are good ideas) of which I'll need to do. The batteries will drain down some in keeping themselves warm, so you have to keep that in consideration as well. I love the Victron monitor, as it shows the exact amps, volts and watts, and shows how many 'amp hours' are being used presently! So far, loving the upgrade! If others have any other tips on running with Lithium, please feel free to add it as a comment! I don't have solar as of yet, but that's another option at some point! Let's not forget as well, BB batteries are 1/3 the weight of lead/acid.

Hey Matt, thank you for the kind words and for letting Sabrina's secret out lol. She comes up with some doozies😂🤣 Excellent video on what to expect with the lithium batteries and how you may spend a little more than what one would first calculate. I would also like to add something about the Victron battery monitor system. The ability to check the status on the phones have made us both addicted to see what the batteries are doing at all times, especially since we have now added two 100 watt solar panels to do more boondocking. Who knew it is was so fun to watch the amps come in from the solar panels and see our batteries refill lol. We always have a good time while hanging out with you guys and look forward to seeing you again😁

Good explanation. The battery monitor should be the first upgrade to any electrical system whether you plan on upgrading or not. Even with flooded batteries, knowing your state of charge as a percentage as well as knowing what your consumption numbers are is important and will probably extend the useful life of any battery bank. I use the Bogart Engineering one as it was cheaper than the Victron one (no BT). Great video!

Wow Great Info mate 👍👍👍 Been looking into buying a lithium 12v camping setup and I had no idea about the ambient temperature affecting charging abilities on the lithium batteries. Cheers mate and Happy Travels

Thank you for this information. We are also doing the slow move to lithium but were aware of both of these concerns. I can see where most people would not know about this.