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My RV house battery is done. I will be installing solar and LiFePo4 batteries later this year. Can I install a LiFePo4 as my house battery NOW? S

bcolins

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I am just getting educated about Solar and batteries etc. I have a Sprinter based Gulf Stream Vista Cruiser. The prior owner installed a standard automotive starting battery as the house battery,....and it has now passed on to greener pastures. I intend to install 2 200 watt panels on my roof sometime this year,..(.thats all I have room for) and had been thinking of one or two Battle Born batteries or something comparable.

My question is this: Currently my house battery is only charged by my vehicle alternator and I am thinking that the charging profile from my alternator may not be good for a Lithium Iron Phosphate battery. The Alternator is probably the original alternator for the Sprinter.

Can I just drop the Battle Born in as my new house battery,....or,......Having just watched Will's tutorial on the Renogy DC/DC charge controller that will manage and distribute charging from Solar and the Vehicle Alternator to both the vehicle starting battery and the RV house battery,....would I need to integrate something like the Renogy unit,.......or is this just a bad idea all around?

Brian Collins
San Antonio, TX
 
Do not quote me as I am not totally familiar with Sprinters but I believe they have a Smart alternator (depending on year). From what I am reading and have learned here and on Will's YouTube, the Renogy DC to DC Charger w/ MPPT would likely be the smart way to go. It has a hookup to work with Smart alts and will manage the Battle Borne batteries well. At least that's what I have read and likely do in your situation.
 
Drop in a group 31 150Ah from ohmmu with built in BMS. Ohmmu.com
Talk to Shawn. He’s awesome.
 
Do not quote me as I am not totally familiar with Sprinters but I believe they have a Smart alternator (depending on year). From what I am reading and have learned here and on Will's YouTube, the Renogy DC to DC Charger w/ MPPT would likely be the smart way to go. It has a hookup to work with Smart alts and will manage the Battle Borne batteries well. At least that's what I have read and likely do in your situation.
Chevymike,.....I have a 2004 Sprinter van RV,....they might have a smart alternator today,....but I would be surprised if my 2004 had one.
 
Drop in a group 31 150Ah from ohmmu with built in BMS. Ohmmu.com
Talk to Shawn. He’s awesome.
77953823619
Ironladd, Thanks for the suggestion, but Battle Born does have that 10 year warranty for $949, yeah,...only 100 amp hour. Dont know how to compare.
 
77953823619
Ironladd, Thanks for the suggestion, but Battle Born does have that 10 year warranty for $949, yeah,...only 100 amp hour. Dont know how to compare.
You can upgrade the ohmmu warranty to 10 year and the total cost on a 150Ah drop in is $1,049. So, for a $100 more you get 50% more capacity.
 
You can upgrade the ohmmu warranty to 10 year and the total cost on a 150Ah drop in is $1,049. So, for a $100 more you get 50% more capacity.
Sounds good, but keep in mind, battleborn 100Ah battery is actually a 120Ah, with 100Ah configuration for extreme long life, and has amazing build quality.

I dont know anything about ohmmu, maybe will has done a tear down on one, but of all the drop ins out there he has done a tear down on that I have seen... only battleborn has top notch parts.
 
I have $ 64,000 worth of Battleborn running my house.
(Actually, I use used BYD's) same AH though. :ROFLMAO: 1 BYD = 4 Battleborns

I can get easily 24 hours of normal use for my entire house. That's with zero rechargings during that cycle. I have ~ 3 kWp of solar panels in the mail that I'm going to connect to my MPPSolar to pump some juice into the batteries while they power my house.

 
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Sounds good, but keep in mind, battleborn 100Ah battery is actually a 120Ah, with 100Ah configuration for extreme long life, and has amazing build quality.

I dont know anything about ohmmu, maybe will has done a tear down on one, but of all the drop ins out there he has done a tear down on that I have seen... only battleborn has top notch parts.
Understood. If you’re good spending that much more, go for it. I found that ohmmu offers a better deal, so that’s what I went with. Ohmmu has been providing batteries to Tesla owners for years and is considered a high end product with exceptional reliability. Also an AZ based company. Any reputable LiFePO4 has extra capacity and usable capacity. The ‘usable’ capacity in the ohmmu is 150Ah for $950 and a 4 year warranty, or $1,050 with a 10 year warranty.
 
You should isolate charging of your Sprinter cab battery from your house. The Sprinter is limited to 40 amps of secondary charging with the 220 amp alternator . Best to set up a 24 volt house system inverter and charger and use a Victron Orion TR smart 12/24 15 amp DC to DC charger. The Renology DC/MPPT is only a 12 volt to 12 volt charger. The Victron is fully programmable for all battery types and also has a remote switch to connect to BMS systems , but you may be using Battle Born with iintegrated bms.
 
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