diy solar

diy solar

(1) 200AH battery vs (2) 100AH

johnpitts01

New Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2019
Messages
31
Early stage planning of solar upgrade for my truck camper.
Curious to hear the collected wisdom of the forum on using (1) 200AH battery vs (2) 100AH batteries.
If there are no clear advantages for (2) batteries a single battery makes my install a bit simpler. Currently my camper has (2) 12V Flooded lead acid batteries. If I pul the 2 LA batteries and replace with a single 200AH from LifeBlue there is enough space left in the storage compartment to mount the Renogy DC to DC charge controller. Makes my install alot easier.

Any and all comments are welcome
 
I like simple.... and 1 is simpler than 2..... Go with 1.

The only advantage I can think of for 2 is that if one goes out you still have the other. However, if you have 2, it is twice the components that can fail so you have increased the likelihood one will go out.

I started to say that you would be able to get a higher current draw on 2.... but that may not be true.... it depends on the specs of the 100A vs the 200A. Furthermore, if the 200A can handle your max load, being able to draw more is not an advantage.
 
I'm in the middle of upgrading my TC. I opted for 4 3.2V 271Ah prismatic lithium batteries. For me it's all about putting the densest energy storage in a fixed space.

I originally upgraded my FLAs to Lifeline AGMs (2 x 100ah each) but after a month of geographic distancing with the two of us working online every day it became obvious that we need more panels and more storage.

I also bought two 150 watt solar panels to replace my single 90 watt panel.

What kind of camper do you have?
 
We have a Lance 1172 Truck camper. Currently have 270 W of solar on the roof.
We have a Lance 992, 2014. We bought it with the solar package installed. Did you get yours with the solar installed or did you do it yourself?

Last weekend I was about to take the PWM controller out of the panel it was installed in and just before I put the screwdriver to the screw the screen went blank. It actually died right in front of me so I started my upgrade a little early by adding a Victron MPPT. I'm not happy about the placement but it works like a champ.

270 W ? Is that 3 90 watt panels?
 
I bought my Lance with the Solar factory installed. came with (1) 100W panel. My dealer added a second panel 170W. Unfortunately the dealer didnt know what they were doing. The panels are a bit mismatched so there is some reduction in efficiency. We can drain the (2) flooded lead acid batteries overnight with temps in the low 20s just running the furnace. Understood cold temps have an adverse effect on battery performance. But we need to be able to go more than one night.. Need to increase the battery storage and output over what we have currently. Need Lithium
 
I bought my Lance with the Solar factory installed. came with (1) 100W panel. My dealer added a second panel 170W. Unfortunately the dealer didnt know what they were doing. The panels are a bit mismatched so there is some reduction in efficiency. We can drain the (2) flooded lead acid batteries overnight with temps in the low 20s just running the furnace. Understood cold temps have an adverse effect on battery performance. But we need to be able to go more than one night.. Need to increase the battery storage and output over what we have currently. Need Lithium

We have experienced the same issue with our Lance which is what pushed me to the Lifeline AGMs

Have you done the umbilical modification for your truck using the proprietary cable Lance uses? It's worth using 8 gauge wire but the plugs suck. With the higher gauge wire I can charge the batteries and run the fridge while driving.

I ended up redoing that mod so the plug wouldn't slip out. I'm very happy with the way that modification turned out. Having that plug slip out while driving was terrifying.


 
so much easier to move two 100 pound battery than one 200 pound battery. also somebody said if one battery fails, you have the other.
 
so much easier to move two 100 pound battery than one 200 pound battery. also somebody said if one battery fails, you have the other.
Yep. The 100 AH batteries are heavy enough to move around. I wouldn't think about having to move a 200 AH one around. I have four 100 AH batteries in my setup.
 
Back
Top