Twin Battery Installation in 2018 22’ Sports

[HankStarr]

I finished my lift, installed an additional solar panel and a bumper kit and now that we are back from this year’s travels, I’m going to switch out the AGM battery to two 100 AH Battleborn lithium batteries. I believe I now have the correct charger and solar controller to make the switch. I’d like to put both batteries under the bed. Has anyone figured out how to do this with two batteries and maintain enough room for the 4 full size storage boxes? I’d rather not try to jamb one in the compartment on the driver’s side where the buss bar is. Seems awfully tight. Or has anyone put one on the tongue an the other under the bed? Or perhaps there is a way to keep three full size storage containers and purchase a slightly smaller one. I’d love to hear how others placed their dual lithium’s.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

There's only just so much room ...

There are other threads from folks fabricating boxes to put batteries out on the A frame.

Bob

[Prettygood]

Yes, a slightly narrower box is the key. You can put both next to the front panel and have room for a 4th storage box. I only had 1 battery, so didn’t need to orient that way

[Kanusport]

I’m in the process of putting my twin lifepo4 setup on the tongue in a battery box. Not sure how you’d fit two under the bed without loosing at least one space for the bins. It could be done i bet.

https://www.airforums.com/forums/f37...ce-228151.html

[waninae39]

we placed out BB lion under the bed after removing the old LA battery from the outside frame

i made a board and wired up all the connections for the monitoring devices and placed it under the bed in the front road side area. empty wasted space is now well utilized

[patzele]

I also put my 2 BB GC2s in the roadside niche in front of water heater. A little rewiring of bus bars to adjacent locations in same area. I also moved the solar controller (for roof) to the inside of front storage area (under bed) on left side , an additional charger for Zamp port (suitcase) and a DC-DC charger, too. Everything nicely in the roadside void area (bus bar area) and on left inside wall under bed. No problem at all fitting all bins still.

[jmickow]

Easy peasy....I also put both my Battleborn batteries in the area in front of the water heater, but stacked on their sides in a partial wooden frame. I checked out the approach with BB before proceeding. The 2000W inverter went on the bin side of the forward bulkhead where there was some additional width in the bin compartment, and the solar charge controller and bus bars in the forward corner compartment with the original wiring connections. Everything fits with the original bins, although I did end up adding a rail to the floor to keep the bin from bumping the inverter.

To complete the installation I also reinforced the flimsy bed support frame and added a lift supports for the bed platform, which my 2016 model did not have.

[HankStarr]

Nice job. Shows me that I can fit a battery in front of the WH pretty easily. I’ll put one there and the other where you put your inverter as I have no need for that. I like your plywood battery boxes and the fact that you removed the top to do the work although I don’t think I’ll need to do the rebuilding you did. And (small detail) I like the Reflectix that you put on the bed platform when you were done - it gets chilly under there in the Fall.

[LowOnCash]

I would recommend to refrain from mounting lithium batteries on the hitch exposed to cold weather. Lithium offers much higher capacity when kept closer to 65-75 degrees. In addition most lithium batteries will no longer accept a charge once they reach 32 degrees.

Mike

[ZeGermans]

Originally Posted by LowOnCash

I would recommend to refrain from mounting lithium batteries on the hitch exposed to cold weather. Lithium offers much higher capacity when kept closer to 65-75 degrees. In addition most lithium batteries will no longer accept a charge once they reach 32 degrees.

Mike

correct... and best is to insulate / heat them... its worse, they will "accept" charge but it will damage the cells... unless you have a BMS with low temp cutoff
Also if you are handy enough to rewire the batteries into the trailer, id ditch the overpriced Battleborns and buy some LiFePo4 cells directly in China or from US stock. Plenty of reliable sources here No Battleborn Battery cells are not made in the US they just put them in boxes and label them but they also come out of China...

I built 15000Vah for around 2000$ thats what? 2 100Ah Battleborns?

[patzele]

I have a 2016 Sport 22’ and placed one BB GC2 in the roadside compartment and another in the front of the curbside compartment.

I rewired existing bus, and a new Victron bus bar, then added a Battery Switch, DC-DC charger, 2-Victron Mppts (main and aux port) and the Victron Shunt to the sides (both inside and outside of the left bed support plywood. I only have the battery cables across the very front of the floor under the bed from L-R between batteries impinging a minimum of space.

I thought this would provide me better weight balance across the space.

[LowOnCash]

I might add that while battery heaters are great news since it allows the battery to be charged at low temperatures - Running heaters in cold weather quickly depletes the battery, especially during winter when battery capacity is severely reduced. Lithium batteries enemy is cold weather!

For these reasons, every lithium system I designed for RV's, the inverter is placed adjacent the lithium batteries in the same compartment to benefit from "Free Heat" generated from the inverter in winter. Note on the images below the inverter is purposely located just inches away from the battery modules in the same compartment. I have never witnessed the battery heaters running as long as the system was up and running.

Regards - Mike

[potoole]

[QUOTE=HankStarr;2547792]I finished my lift, installed an additional solar panel and a bumper kit and now that we are back from this year’s travels, .../QUOTE]

HankStarr Do you have any links to that bumper kit?

[HankStarr]

[QUOTE=potoole;2645659]

Originally Posted by HankStarr

I finished my lift, installed an additional solar panel and a bumper kit and now that we are back from this year’s travels, .../QUOTE]



HankStarr Do you have any links to that bumper kit?

I just called up Colonial Airstream and gave them the make and model of my trailer (which they sold me) and they shipped me the kit. The price was competitive. There are some “how to” submissions on Airforums - they are not bad. The directions that come with the kit are somewhat obscure. If you message me before you start I can give you a couple of tips.

[PB_NB]

I lost space up front and only have 3 containers now. I have a Gopower 250ah battery centered up against the forward wall. I am planning a second 250ah battery so I will put them side by side along the front wall. Still should have room for 3 containers.

The wooden box looks like a good solution. There is wasted space near the hot water tank that is just begging to be used.