Want to replace lead acid with lithium.

[Travelar]

We have had the Tiny house for 6 years we move every 6 months for work. We built it ourselves and have had to replace the battery bank once already after 3 years and looks like we will need to replace it soon again. We would like to know what lithium battery system…. if any... we could get to fit our current solar system and battery space that would give us more usable power and last longer and weigh less. Can't seem to get a straight answer from our local pros to our simple question "exactly what product will work"..Thanks for your help.
Solar system
4 Star Solar MS4448PAE Single Magnum w/ PT-100 Power Center
9 Suniva 285 watt Module Mono Silver OPT285-60-4-100 - solar panels ME-AGS-N generator start module
Battery bank (8) Crown 430AH 48VDC 20,640 watt hrs lead acid.
Champion 8500 watt Stand by generator.

Would this work?

EG4 Powerpro: 14.3kWh LiFePO4​

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Oof... by putting the #4 instead of Four, I thought you had four of those...

Pretty much any 48V (51.2V) LFP battery is fine. SOK, Trophy, EG4.

Your usable flooded capacity is 50%, so anything over 10kWh of LFP is a capacity upgrade.

Have ZERO understanding/knowledge of whether they would communicate with your system like they do Victron or other Voltronics-type systems (EG4, MPP solar, Growatt).

Will the Powerpro you mentioned work? Yes.

Whatever you get will likely arrive imbalanced. You'll want to sneak up on peak charge voltage by starting at 55.2V bulk/absorption and 54V float.

 

[Travelar]

Wow thanks for your advice! "You'll want to sneak up on peak charge voltage by starting at 55.2V bulk/absorption and 54V float". So you mean change this in my charge settings?

 

[Travelar]

That would be great as it will also reduce my battery weight by 700 lbs.

 

[BentleyJ]

Wow thanks for your advice! "You'll want to sneak up on peak charge voltage by starting at 55.2V bulk/absorption and 54V float". So you mean change this in my charge settings?

Yes, Li chemistry is completely different. Each cell has to be monitored and keep balanced by the Battery Management System. Lowering charge voltage allows the BMS more time to do its job.

 

[featherlite]

had to replace the battery bank once already after 3 years

That short useful life makes me question whether the batteries have been charged and maintained properly and/or whether the batteries have been operating in high temperatures. Sometimes the latter is unavoidable.

 

[sunshine_eggo]

That short useful life makes me question whether the batteries have been charged and maintained properly and/or whether the batteries have been operating in high temperatures. Sometimes the latter is unavoidable.

Crown are good batteries, but they seem more sensitive to proper charging and maintenance than other higher-end brands. Near OCD-like behavior is required to properly maintain FLA batteries.

 

[GuyG]

What are the dimensions of your battery box? The PowerPro does not look like it will fit.

Here are a few options, depending on the size you have to play with:

48V 100Ah LiFePO4 Battery - Heated & Bluetooth

Discover the 48V 100Ah LiFePO4 Battery with internal heating, Bluetooth compatibility, and IP67 rating. Perfect for deep cycle applications in marine, fishing, and mobile power. 11-year manufacturer warranty.

www.epochbatteries.com

EG4 WP Waterproof Lithium Battery | 48V 100AH | Bluetooth | 200A Output

golf cart lithium battery

signaturesolar.com

You’d need two of these lithium batteries to effectively replace the capacity you have now.

Or, you could think about building your own DIY battery for about $2,000 or so, that would increase your capacity to 15kwh of usable capacity, a 50% gain over what you have now. And, you could make it fit better.

 

[Travelar]

That short useful life makes me question whether the batteries have been charged and maintained properly and/or whether the batteries have been operating in high temperatures. Sometimes the latter is unavoidable.

Have maintained normally adding water ect and charging per recommendations, they do weep battery acid on tops which has to be cleaned.Known problem. The first set were replaced under warrenty as one battery went bad and compromised the rest. It would cost just as much to replace them again as it would be to get the eg4 power pro and much less weight.

 

[Travelar]

What are the dimensions of your battery box? The PowerPro does not look like it will fit.

Here are a few options, depending on the size you have to play with:

48V 100Ah LiFePO4 Battery - Heated & Bluetooth

Discover the 48V 100Ah LiFePO4 Battery with internal heating, Bluetooth compatibility, and IP67 rating. Perfect for deep cycle applications in marine, fishing, and mobile power. 11-year manufacturer warranty.

www.epochbatteries.com

EG4 WP Waterproof Lithium Battery | 48V 100AH | Bluetooth | 200A Output

golf cart lithium battery

signaturesolar.com

You’d need two of these lithium batteries to effectively replace the capacity you have now.

Or, you could think about building your own DIY battery for about $2,000 or so, that would increase your capacity to 15kwh of usable capacity, a 50% gain over what you have now. And, you could make it fit better.

What are the dimensions of your battery box? The PowerPro does not look like it will fit.

Here are a few options, depending on the size you have to play with:

48V 100Ah LiFePO4 Battery - Heated & Bluetooth

Discover the 48V 100Ah LiFePO4 Battery with internal heating, Bluetooth compatibility, and IP67 rating. Perfect for deep cycle applications in marine, fishing, and mobile power. 11-year manufacturer warranty.

www.epochbatteries.com

EG4 WP Waterproof Lithium Battery | 48V 100AH | Bluetooth | 200A Output

golf cart lithium battery

signaturesolar.com

You’d need two of these lithium batteries to effectively replace the capacity you have now.

Or, you could think about building your own DIY battery for about $2,000 or so, that would increase your capacity to 15kwh of usable capacity, a 50% gain over what you have now. And, you could make it fit better.

Thank you I will check them out! I think even 25% more would be nice 50% is great we might not have to run the generator at all. The space in the middle is big enough if i move one cable to fit the 24"L x 10"D x 35.5 EG4 PowerPro
The entire area is 7'L x 13"D x 33H". The first battery will not fit but the EG4 WP Waterproof Lithium Battery would fit.

 

[Travelar]

W

Thank you I will check them out! I think even 25% more would be nice 50% is great we might not have to run the generator at all. The space in the middle is big enough if i move one cable to fit the 24"L x 10"D x 35.5 EG4 PowerPro
The entire area is 7'L x 13"D x 33H". The first battery will not fit but the EG4 WP Waterproof Lithium Battery would fit.

How much power would 2-EG4 WP Waterproof Lithium Battery be over my current system? Would I just attach the two in series like the 6v I have now?​

 

[SparkyJJO]

No they're already 48V, so you'd put them in parallel.

 

[Travelar]

No they're already 48V, so you'd put them in parallel.

So dum question if I have two cables coming from the system (Red and Black and two batt?

 

[Travelar]

So dum question if I have two cables coming from the system (Red and Black and two batt?

Oh just red to red and black to black.....

 

[GuyG]

I just looked at that “waterproof” battery more closely. Doesn’t appear to be UL listed, if that matters. And its spec sheet is silent on whether parallel is supported, tho I can’t imagine why it wouldn’t. And there’s prolly a reason why it’s marked down so low. Does it do any balancing? Anyone know?

 

[Tomthumb62]

That short useful life makes me question whether the batteries have been charged and maintained properly and/or whether the batteries have been operating in high temperatures. Sometimes the latter is unavoidable.

The good news is LFP is much more forgiving in how it’s charged than lead acid.