LiFePO4 upgrade

tagurit

Took advantage of a Renogy sale, sent them my stimulus check and now have a 100 ah Smart Battery, a Smart Battery monitoring screen, and a 50 amp DC to DC charger with MPPT. Now to figure the best way to stick it in the T@G. The charger will work off the vehicle alternator or solar or both and has a lithium charging profile. I have a question pending with Renogy if I can bypass the battery circuits in the WFCO and run the charger off the straight DC from the converter when hooked up to shore power but haven't heard back. They said I can charge the battery from the WFCO but it is not optimum for charge level or battery life, really don't want to have to buy an AC lithium charger if I don't have to and don't want to have to always depend on the tow vehicle or solar. Next I need to steal some of the wife's stimulus money to get wire, connectors and fuses! DIY Solar has some installation schematics but they all have an inverter which I don't plan to have so if anyone has any installation hints or ideas would be glad to hear them.

tagurit

Lithium up and running, undecided on how to finish the cabinet and mount the monitor. Still have to run the 4 AWG from the battery in the Countryman to the Anderson plug behind the bumper, not looking forward to it.

JamesDow

Tagurit;
I am investigating purchasing the Renogy 100Ah Smart battery and the monitor screen. Was planning on just pulling my wet cell (24 group) and dropping into my battery box the Lithium. Change setting on my solar controller from wet to lithium and running with it. I know I may not get 100% full battery charge using the T@G only, but it will be close.
What is your experience since May 2020?
Any suggestions or lessons learned?
.

SueBHunny

@JamesDow said:
Tagurit;
I am investigating purchasing the Renogy 100Ah Smart battery and the monitor screen. Was planning on just pulling my wet cell (24 group) and dropping into my battery box the Lithium. Change setting on my solar controller from wet to lithium and running with it. I know I may not get 100% full battery charge using the T@G only, but it will be close.
What is your experience since May 2020?
Any suggestions or lessons learned?
.

I also very much want to know the answer to this. I'm seriously thinking about about jumping on the Renogy sale. Is it possible to just swap out my wet battery with the lithium? Do I need to change anything else?

MrGGBrown

I'm sure you'll get some more detailed answers, but the first problem you'll have is the Renogy LiFePo battery won't fit in the group 24 battery box. It would require you to install a larger battery box, which has a couple minor challenges. That's likely part of the reason this DIY has it installed in a non-standard location.
As an alternative, you could look at the Lion Energy LiFePo battery, which will fit. It doesn't provide the direct monitor screen connection however. If you're interested, here's my DIY post for a Lion Energy battery.
https://teardrop-trailers.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/1369/lion-energy-ut-1300-lifepo-battery-install#latest

SueBHunny

I'm pretty sure Renogy has managed to change their lithium batteries to fit standard battery boxes. And I think the built-in bluetooth battery monitor will give me everything else I need. I think. I hope. I just pulled the trigger and ordered it.

JamesDow

Installation of Renogy 100Ah Smart battery.

Search "changing to lithium"