do I need to upgrade controller?

[Mrdavishistory]

I am trying to update my solar battery in my camper van, but want to be sure my controller is up to snuff for lithium battery upgrade. I set this up in 2017, and due to some tertiary stuff, barely used my van. The sealed gel battery I had didn't look great and I just decided to update to lithium. Currently using:

2 X = MOHOO Solar Panel 100W 18V

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071L9NSMB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

SolarEpic MPPT 30A Solar Charge Controller 150V PV Input 12V/24V

https://www.amazon.com/SolarEpic-So...B00ZV3I6OI/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Just bought a LiFePO4 Deep Cycle Battery 12V 100Ah with Built-in BMS

Can I just drop this in my current setup? (I live in a mild climate so no charging in freezing weather)

I run all 12v inside, no inverter. Main power consumption would be my Whynter FM-45G frig, then power to my fan, a few lights, and charging phone and laptop when necessary. Nothing fancy.

Thanks

 

[Bubba1]

I have a similar setup as you. 200w of panels compressor cooler, fan and 12v TV. My system just makes enough. Not an expert on charge controllers but I think you will be ok. Perhaps consider the shunt type battery monitor so you know the status of your battery level. Hopefully an expert will chime in and give you a more informed answer.

 

[MisterSandals]

Just bought a LiFePO4 Deep Cycle Battery 12V 100Ah with Built-in BMS

LiFePO4 Deep Cycle Battery? Gotta link?

 

[MisterSandals]

Main power consumption would be my Whynter FM-45G frig, then power to my fan, a few lights, and charging phone and laptop when necessary.

Can you turn that into a watt hours per day number? Otherwise we can only guess...

 

[Mrdavishistory]

LiFePO4 Deep Cycle Battery? Gotta link?

Sorry, thought I linked it. It's the Ampere time 100 wh

Amazon.com: LiFePO4 Deep Cycle Battery 12V 100Ah with Built-in BMS, Perfect for Replace Most of Backup Power and Off Grid Applications…: Automotive

Buy LiFePO4 Deep Cycle Battery 12V 100Ah with Built-in BMS, Perfect for Replace Most of Backup Power and Off Grid Applications…: Batteries - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

As to the fridge, this camper is essentially a weekend/week long camper, so we use it in spurts about 9 months out of the years. It gets really cloudy here in Washington in the winter with lots of rain, so March through October only. I have an off switch to everything after the battery that I turn off when it's not in use. So, not sure how that translates to watt hours used..?

Amazon.com

 

[Mrdavishistory]

I have a similar setup as you. 200w of panels compressor cooler, fan and 12v TV. My system just makes enough. Not an expert on charge controllers but I think you will be ok. Perhaps consider the shunt type battery monitor so you know the status of your battery level. Hopefully an expert will chime in and give you a more informed answer.

I do have this one:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01JOUZELG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[MisterSandals]

So, not sure how that translates to watt hours used..?

I am talking about any day you are using your RV. How much power do you need and want? The best measure is probably from the appliances and gadgets you use.
Say your laptop uses 80W and you use it for 5 hours. That is 80W x 5h = 400Wh

You would need a 100W solar panel harvesting for 4h to produce this energy.
If you only used your laptop at night, then you would need battery to store this energy:
400Wh / 12.8V = 31.25Ah of battery

So it comes down to the number of watt hours you use that is necessary to create a system that produces that amount of energy and stores the amount of energy you use after the sun goes down.

If you can figure out how much power your things use and how many hours a day you hope to/expect to use them, then a system can be crafted to meet that.

 

[Mrdavishistory]

I am talking about any day you are using your RV. How much power do you need and want? The best measure is probably from the appliances and gadgets you use.
Say your laptop uses 80W and you use it for 5 hours. That is 80W x 5h = 400Wh

You would need a 100W solar panel harvesting for 4h to produce this energy.
If you only used your laptop at night, then you would need battery to store this energy:
400Wh / 12.8V = 31.25Ah of battery

So it comes down to the number of watt hours you use that is necessary to create a system that produces that amount of energy and stores the amount of energy you use after the sun goes down.

If you can figure out how much power your things use and how many hours a day you hope to/expect to use them, then a system can be crafted to meet that.

The system met my needs with the 100 WH AGP battery, so that aspect is fine. I believe I left enough room to add a second battery if necessary down the road. I am just not sure if I need to update my charge controller with my lithium battery upgrade? Or can I just drop it in my existing setup?

 

[PsXtreme]

The system met my needs with the 100 WH AGP battery, so that aspect is fine. I believe I left enough room to add a second battery if necessary down the road. I am just not sure if I need to update my charge controller with my lithium battery upgrade? Or can I just drop it in my existing setup?

Can you change the battery type on the charge controller to lithium? or can you change the charge settings for bulk and float charge? If you can do this then I would say you are fine using the controller you are using. Lithium should be charged up to 14.4-14.8 for bulk charge and float charge should be 14.2. I have a similar set up to yours, 500 watts of solar on a 182Ahr lithium battery bank. I use a 300 watt power inverter though but only need to power a small roku tv, my laptop, a fan, and 1 LED light. I barely get by as is so I will be upgrading my battery bank soon to have a little buffer for cloudy days. You may find in the future you need to add another battery to the system.

 

[Mrdavishistory]

Can you change the battery type on the charge controller to lithium? or can you change the charge settings for bulk and float charge? If you can do this then I would say you are fine using the controller you are using. Lithium should be charged up to 14.4-14.8 for bulk charge and float charge should be 14.2. I have a similar set up to yours, 500 watts of solar on a 182Ahr lithium battery bank. I use a 300 watt power inverter though but only need to power a small roku tv, my laptop, a fan, and 1 LED light. I barely get by as is so I will be upgrading my battery bank soon to have a little buffer for cloudy days. You may find in the future you need to add another battery to the system.

Yeah, I may need to add another battery at some point, but I need to do a lot more traveling and measuring to be sure. I figured out I could manually change the settings for the controller, but lots of people said this was a pain in the ass and it would require the purchase of an MT50 remote meter which was about $30, so I just decided to spend a bit more and get a new controller that had settings for drop in lithium. I don't mind spending the money, but didn't want to be wasteful either. Not sure what I'll do with this old controller. It's a good one overall.

 

[PsXtreme]

Those MT50's will work with multiple types of controllers. It might have been better to buy one of them and then if you ever had to change the settings on a new controller down the road you would already have the device. Hopefully you'll be able to change the settings on this new charge controller. I think they come pre-programmed to work on lead acid so you'll have to go in and manually configure it.

If you used an inverter you could easily buy a watt meter like what Will uses in his videos and plug that into the inverter so you can calculate just how much power you consume in a 24 hour day. Then you could calculate the battery bank bank size and the solar required to charge the battery bank. They might make one for 12 volt systems that you could tie between the battery and the fuse box but I have never looked for one. Good luck!