Lithium batterys

[KJRitchie]

Found this plug and play installation similar to what I posted above.

Wincrasher's Travels: Smart Battery Lithium Ion Battery Project

Kelvin

[BoldAdventure]

Originally Posted by KJRitchie

Found this plug and play installation similar to what I posted above.

Wincrasher's Travels: Smart Battery Lithium Ion Battery Project

Kelvin

At the top of the page he has a notice

ATTENTION READERS! I NO LONGER ENDORSE OR RECOMMEND THE SMART BATTERY.

Also he wrote a follow-up

http://wincrasher.blogspot.com/2015/...follow-up.html

[Brightonsub]

This is aimed more for Lew or Bold, as they appear to have the most information, but as always I invite others to join in.

I just purchased second hand 4 brand new GPS 100ah batteries-with balance boards- for what I feel was a great price. I also a month prior to this purchase, bought and installed a PD 4645V as I wanted to upgrade from the factory P7300 inverter/charger ongoing with new AGMs.
I plan on installing a low & high voltage trip for my Intellitec relay for obvious reasons. On thinking about this situation would it be better to get something like the EMS-CPU Management System with (or without) the video monitor for the tripping, or would a simple adjustable high low trip module be fine enough?

I read in one other thread that Lew had mentioned about the PD4600 vs the P7300 that we would want to retain the 7300 charger/inverter in going to Lithiums instead of an 'upgrade to the PD4600'. I do have the factory Solar pack on the coach if that needs to be factored in.

Lastly one of the pictures above showed above, with the same 16 cells I have, the assembly was made up for a single output battery--instead of four individual batteries of 4 cells each. Which assembly might be considered the better of the two?

I may know BES electricity, but you guys seem to know batteries. Thanks

[pattonsr]

Lew,

I noticed that AM Solar has a new web site look. The lithium offerings now appear to be from Victron. I saw a Victron battery monitor and color display monitor along with the Victron 200ah batteries in the 600 and higher offerings.

Is AM Solar switching to a complete system involving Victron?

Barry

[lewster]

Originally Posted by pattonsr

Lew,

I noticed that AM Solar has a new web site look. The lithium offerings now appear to be from Victron. I saw a Victron battery monitor and color display monitor along with the Victron 200ah batteries in the 600 and higher offerings.

Is AM Solar switching to a complete system involving Victron?

Barry

Barry,

Good observation! Victron is a well known manufacturer of quality components and has very deep market penetration in the marine industry. AM Solar has been 'looking' at their offerings for over a year and testing them as well. Victron's components will provide AM Solar with another source for cutting edge components along with their existing offerings, and will also help Victron's visibility in the RV field.

Their lithium system is fully transportable and can be drop-shipped directly from Victron USA. Their monitors work extremely well, and offer you the ability to keep tabs on all of the Victron components in a system; batteries, inverter, solar charge controller, etc…..even by cell phone app.

The component style lithiums we have been using were not able to be shipped as fully charged, complete batteries and required quite a bit of on-site wiring and were not particularly suited for DIY use. Cell availability in the quantities we have been using were getting more difficult to obtain, and the prices are increasing as well. The seamless integration of Victron's lithium batteries into their systems should be relatively simple.

I have a full system in transit that will consist of the color monitor, 2000 watt hybrid inverter/charger, 100/50 solar charge controller and 200 A/H lithium cell. I will begin field testing in my Sprinter service van as soon as the shipment arrives.

Looks like great stuff, and I will report back on the operation of same as soon as it's operational.

[pattonsr]

Lew,

Is there any reason to use the Victron Hybrid Inverter/Charger in place of the Magnum Hybrid Inverter/Charger if one is using the Victron Lithium batteries?

[KJRitchie]

Wow, $4000 for the 180ah system. Sounds like it comes from the marine marketplace.

Kelvin

[lewster]

Originally Posted by pattonsr

Lew,

Is there any reason to use the Victron Hybrid Inverter/Charger in place of the Magnum Hybrid Inverter/Charger if one is using the Victron Lithium batteries?

Fully integrated monitoring and control thru a single remote panel. Victron's is color OLED and will provide information and control of every one of their devices connected to it.

As for the actual inverter………..both are excellent!

[Tincampers]

Originally Posted by KJRitchie

Wow, $4000 for the 180ah system. Sounds like it comes from the marine marketplace.

Kelvin

Yep, I was shocked. Priced me right out of that ballpark.

[BoldAdventure]

Wow, okie dokie then. Interesting decision.

Victron is really great, have a friend going that route. Now that I know more about them, wish I could replace my components. Not my batteries though. Really surprised at this sales decision.

[NWGetaways]

Originally Posted by BoldAdventure

Wow, okie dokie then. Interesting decision.

Victron is really great, have a friend going that route. Now that I know more about them, wish I could replace my components. Not my batteries though. Really surprised at this sales decision.

You lost me there. Why surprised?

[pattonsr]

Lew,

I have read everything on the components of the Victron Lithium system. The color monitor is very impressive-a Linux computer that controls everything. I hope it is easy to change things like lowering shore power to 20 amps when running on a small generator. Unlike Magnum documentation which is outstanding, Victron manuals (and Outback) are not fun to read.

Advanced RV uses an Outback inverter/charger but with their Silverleaf monitor, one can ignore reading the Outback documentation. I hope the same can be said for the Victron color monitor.

Are you also testing the battery monitor (BMV)?

Barry

[lewster]

Hey Barry,

I have the full package in transit which will hopefully arrive before the end of this week so I can have time to install it.

I'll do a full user report as soon as I have some experience with the new system.

I fully agree with your assessment of Outback and Silver Leaf. Whenever I encountered problems with either system used in large motorhomes, the tech answer was always to send the unit back.

Magnum is quite the opposite. I have read the Victron manuals and they are definitely a handful. Hopefully things will clarify with installation and use.


Lew Farber
RVIA/RVDA Nationally Certified Master Tech
ABYC Certified Master Marine Electrician
Master Tech Energy Systems, Inc.
AM Solar Certified Installation Center*AMS Lithium Batteries
Lifeline AGM Batteries**Magnum Inverters***Victron Energy Components
541-490-6357

[Rocinante]

Same here. I like Victron and would love to put their stuff in our RV, but at that price for Lithium I would have to look elsewhere for the batteries

[pattonsr]

Lew,

How is your Victron lithium testing coming along?

[lewster]

Got slammed with work and haven't finished the install yet. Hope to get it done over this weekend.


Lew Farber
RVIA/RVDA Nationally Certified Master Tech
ABYC Certified Master Marine Electrician
Master Tech Energy Systems, Inc.
AM Solar Certified Installation Center*AMS Lithium Batteries
Lifeline AGM Batteries**Magnum Inverters***Victron Energy Components
541-490-6357