How to Charge a Lithium LiFePO4 Battery
Going lithium is a very worthwhile investment, but only for those who camp extensively off-grid. If your truck camping experience involves hopping from one RV resort to another, then going lithium would be a total waste of money. You’ll be ****ter off getting a couple of lead-acid AGM batteries to keep the lights on in ****ween stops. However, if boondocking is your modis operandi then going lithium makes a lot of sense. But as we’ve just explained in this article, there are several things to know before you make the investment; otherwise, you may eliminate many of the benefits that the lithium battery provides. As always, consult manufacturer’s directions that came with your battery if you still have any questions or concerns.

So can you wire a 90 amp hour 12 volt batteries https://uk.renogy.com/12v-170a....h-lithium-iron-phosp with, say, a 160 amp hour lithium battery made by another manufacturer? You can, but not if they’re different chemistries, meaning you can’t connect a 12 volt LiFePO4 battery with a 24 volt LiMn2O4 battery. Parallel connecting two different size batteries of the same chemistry is fine, however, each will contribute proportionally—not equally—to the load, meaning the 90 amp hour battery will contribute 36 percent of the amperage, while the 160 amp hour battery will contribute 64 percent.

Of course, a good battery monitoring system is a must for anyone who likes to boondock. This is the only way to determine the SOC of your lithium battery. In addition to the SOC, a good battery monitor will also display the battery’s current voltage and the amount of amps being used at present. We use Expion360’s battery meter to monitor the state of our battery, but any battery monitor, like those made by Xantrex, Victron, or Bayite, will do the trick. All of these high-end monitors employ a shunt, a device that measures amperage flowing in and out on the negative side of the battery. The device works to report things in real time, which is what you want when you’re camping off-grid.

Unfortunately, there are some negatives associated with the lithium ion battery. First, never charge a lithium battery below 32F. Doing so can irreparably damage it. Yes, you can use a lithium battery below 32F you just can’t charge it below this temperature. Fortunately, most of the lithium batteries being built today have a BMS built-in to prevent charging below freezing. This is also why many lithium battery owners like to keep their lithium batteries stored inside the camper and not in an compartment outside where they can be exposed to much colder temperatures. Second, the cost for a lithium battery is higher than lead-acid with the cost for a LiFePO4 group-27 ranging anywhere ****ween $700 and $1,000. Even though this price includes the required BMS, it’s still seven to nine times more than a standard wet cell lead-acid battery. Not only that, this higher cost doesn’t take into account the charging devices needed to properly charge a lithium battery, which will add even more up front cost (more about this later).

Fortunately, the high, upfront cost to go lithium can be mitigated by building your own lithium battery bank using 24 volt electric vehicle (EV) lithium oxide manganese (LiMn2O4) battery cells. Steve Hericks did just that in an article we featured recently here on Truck Camper Adventure. Steve’s DIY camper, called Maximus, features a massive electrical system centered around a 24 volt, 1,100 amp hour lithium battery bank and a buck converter that converts the 24 volts to 12 volts for some of his loads. He charges this battery with a 950 watt of solar power system and a robust DC-DC alternator charging system. You won’t find a generator anywhere near Steve’s camper. That’s because Steve’s battery, coupled with a 4,000 watt pure sine wave inverter, is large enough to run an air conditioner, a convection microwave, and an induction cooktop.