Battery Connection

[Hans627]

I have a new GT on order and, for several reasons, was curious which type of battery connection it will have.

Are ring terminals or post clamps used with the Interstate batteries on new AS?

I am not close enough to a dealer to take a look see for myself.

Thanks!

[vintagemotor]

If it has Solar and AGM's then it will be a combo of the ring and batt. terminals, the posts on the AGM's are threaded to accept both terminals (batt. around the post, ring on top) and without Solar is the same way they been doin' it, batt. term for the red and black lines and ring term for the parallel crossovers.

[Hans627]

Originally Posted by vintagemotor

If it has Solar and AGM's then it will be a combo of the ring and batt. terminals, the posts on the AGM's are threaded to accept both terminals (batt. around the post, ring on top) and without Solar is the same way they been doin' it, batt. term for the red and black lines and ring term for the parallel crossovers.

It does not have the solar package.

I am planning to replace the Interstate batteries. The replacement batteries are lithium and requires the ring terminals. Is there a way to go from clamps to the ring terminals without cutting off the clamps (an adapter of some type)? The battery change over will be done at the dealership by their employees when I pick up the GT. I'm concerned they will not have the proper ring terminals, etc. Yes, maybe I'm a bit paranoid! And I'm ultimately going to add a disconnect switch.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

[Paprika]

"Is there a way to go from clamps to the ring terminals without cutting off the clamps (an adapter of some type)?"

Probably, but that's just adding a potential failure point. I wouldn't do it. I'd get a good crimper and heavy-duty FTZ power lugs and re-terminate the clamp-ended wires.

For what it's worth, my 2017 International (with no solar package) came with two Interstate 12 V marine/RV batteries that had both automotive-style lead/clamp terminals and threaded posts for ring terminals. Connections were made to both the lead posts and the threaded posts.

"The replacement batteries are lithium... The battery change over will be done at the dealership by their employees..."

Lithium batteries have quite different charging requirements from lead-acid batteries, and improper charging can damage them in short order. Some questions you might want to ask, if you haven't already: Will the dealership reprogram or replace the stock converter to properly charge the batteries? (Is the stock converter even compatible with lithium batteries?) What battery management system (BMS) will be installed to protect the batteries? If the temperature drops below freezing, what will prevent the batteries from being ruined by charging? And so on.

[Protagonist]

The dealer will do the modifications? In that case, absolutely do NOT trust the dealer to get it all correct. If you asked for lithium batteries to be installed, did you specify LiFePO4 batteries, or some other lithium battery chemistry— or did you just say "Lithium"? Did you specify a particular size/capacity of battery? Did you specify how many batteries? Did you specify a compatible charge controller and multi-stage charger? Did you specify battery heaters for cold-weather use? Did you specify that the work be performed by an RVIA-certified electrical or master technician?

It would be different if you were going to a specialist such as Lew Farber, AKA Lewster, who is actually in the business of making that type of modifications. He— or someone like him— could tell you exactly what you need and how much it costs, and you could trust that it's done right, in a reasonable time, and at the quoted cost.

But in a dealer's service department, you're unlikely to find a specialist who does this type of conversion for a living, and so you have to provide them with detailed specifications in order to get what you want, at a price you can afford, with a reasonable expectation that it will work as desired so that you don't have to take it somewhere else later to have a specialist straighten out the mess.

[Hans627]

Thanks guys!

A little clarification. I already have the lithium battery and have been using it in my current 25’ International. It is Battleborn LiFePO4 battery with a built in battery management system. I have checked with Battleborn and the charger/converter in the new GT is compatable with this battery. Since lithium batteries are expensive I want to transfer it from my current AS to my new one at trade in. The dealer said they will make the switch.

But I don’t have confidence that they will have the proper terminals and crimper, etc. Maybe I’ll be surprised but I’d rather be prepared and have something that can be used temporarily, if necessary. That's why I was curious as to the type of connector used from the factory.

I will later get a good crimper, and the right sized wire and terminals, when I install a switch to turn off the power completely.

I hope this makes some sense. And as always input is appreciated!

[SilverHouseDreams]

While the existing converter/charger in the GT may be "compatible" with the BattleBorn, it doesn't mean you will ever get full capacity from the batteries. Factory chargers are optimized for lead acid, and the new multi-stage systems are better for lead acid and worse for Lithium...as you will never get 100% full charge. At least with the old single-stage lead acid boiler you could get 100% capacity given enough time, the fact is that a multi-stage charger that is designed for lead acid will likely _never_ give you 100% charge when you expect it.

It is a simple fact of voltage profiles and requirements, the peak "charge" voltage for lead acid does not equate to 100% charge on a BattleBorn battery. You can find a few threads on this subject here. You will need to replace the converter/charger on any OEM provided power panel to support lithium, that is just the cold hard truth...or you are going to sacrifice predictability. With the lead acid optimized multi-stage charger you will never know if you are at 70%, 80%, or 99% state of charge (SOC). You can only be confident that you will never have 100%, and the true reality is that if you cannot guarantee high enough voltage to reach 100%, at least occasionally, that you will eventually compromise the durability of the $1000b battery due to imbalance of the internal cells.

Your first step should be to replace the factory converter/charger with a Li compatible unite that provides at least 14.4V continuous output, and not something that falls back to a "float" voltage of 13.2V.

[PKI]

Hans

There are battery post connections available.

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/battery-post-terminal

Several on this site are not what you want, so look for part # 586 or similar. These parts are posts and intended to bolt to the side mount style battery connections so a post style battery cable can be used. You can mount these to a buss bar, a ring connector cable or similar connection that works with your battery.

Best is to get properly swaged ring lugs on your cables as you have intended to do. If the existing cables are not correct size or length, they need to be replaced.

If you are not happy with the above approach, you could just get a pair of Walmart batteries for the trip over and back. That requires you to exchange the current battery bank, but may be less of a problem than arranging for the swaging if your access to technical resources is limited.

Good luck on your purchase. Pat

Edit - the posts are a ways down and not on first page - hit the show all and keep moving down the page. Most adapters go the other way. Few are posts.

Pico 0893PT side mount battery posts are here https://www.amazon.com/Pico-0893PT-B.../dp/B00030CPC8