Upgraded 2017 Sport 22 stock battery to 100 AH BattleBorn lithium

[Jhess]

Just wanted to post some pics of my upgrade. The Sport 22 had a single lead acid battery in the usual outside location on the frame. Based on advice from others here I decided to put the 100 AH Battleborn lithium inside the trailer, under the bed in my case. Turns out we still have room for all 4 original storage bins under there!

I ordered a locking battery box for the outside where the old battery was and will be using it for additional outside storage. I also put a disconnect switch on the side of that box so I can turn off anything and everything outside in front (power jack, future 12V port, etc).

Inside I put the lithium in a group 27 plastic battery box and put the battery cables inside a conduit along the aluminum body. Also added a Victron battery monitor and replaced the stock converter charger with. PD4655L with lithium jumper.

For the outside battery/storage box I had to add a couple of pieces of angle aluminum to the frame.

After we get a couple of trips done we’ll decide if we can take advantage of having a 2nd lithium to add in parallel. For this one I included a disaster fuse and the temperature sensor for the monitor.





















Feel free to ask any questions or comment. This took a lot of effort on my part because I tend to do various steps wrong the first time and then do them over again the right way. Maybe it will help someone else with a lithium upgrade on their Sport 22.

Thanks

[pteck]

That's a pretty cool storage box added to the front. Got a link to it for anyone else that is looking to do the same?

May want to pay attention to ensure there's enough tongue weight for stability, especially if you have for example, a bike rack mounted to the rear. I'm sure once you take advantage of that nice new storage box, balance will be fine.

[Jhess]

Originally Posted by pteck

That's a pretty cool storage box added to the front. Got a link to it for anyone else that is looking to do the same?

May want to pay attention to ensure there's enough tongue weight for stability, especially if you have for example, a bike rack mounted to the rear. I'm sure once you take advantage of that nice new storage box, balance will be fine.

Battery Box used for outside storage:

https://www.etrailer.com/Battery-Box.../TLA7708R.html

Right now I have no means of mounting a bike rack to the Sport 22, so we’re not rear-heavy. But yes I’ll be putting some weight in that box soon.

[jftompkins]

Very nice modification, setting up for simple install if you need that 2nd battery. We use about 30-40 Ah/day (supplemented w/120W Zamp portable solar) with demand use of just the basics on a ‘17 FC23FB...

[68 Overlander]

Nice work Jhess. Just noticed you are in Dothan. We are in Enterprise.

[Jhess]

Originally Posted by 68 Overlander

Nice work Jhess. Just noticed you are in Dothan. We are in Enterprise.

Thanks.

I use to live in Dothan a long time ago. Need to update my profile. I’m in Georgia now. Been to Enterprise many times in the past.

[Jhess]

Originally Posted by jftompkins

Very nice modification, setting up for simple install if you need that 2nd battery. We use about 30-40 Ah/day (supplemented w/120W Zamp portable solar) with demand use of just the basics on a ‘17 FC23FB...

Good info to know. Is the 30-40 ah/day including or excluding the portable solar? In other words, if your use was the same but you had no solar, are you really using 30-40 or is it some higher amount that’s not being counted due to solar doing some charging? I hope that makes sense. I’m new to the Victron monitor so I’m not sure if it is counting Ah used or just net Ah used (out minus in).

[TouringDan]

Very nice work, a neat and tidy installation. Very professional.

Dan

[jftompkins]

Originally Posted by Jhess

Good info to know. Is the 30-40 ah/day including or excluding the portable solar? In other words, if your use was the same but you had no solar, are you really using 30-40 or is it some higher amount that’s not being counted due to solar doing some charging? I hope that makes sense. I’m new to the Victron monitor so I’m not sure if it is counting Ah used or just net Ah used (out minus in).

30-40 Ah is what we seem to use....and hopefully get 40-45 Ah back on a sunny day thru the panel to “fill it back up” with charge. Did a spreadsheet on loads and checks out. The refrigerator electronics, propane detector, other parasitic loads, water pump on only when when we need it; LED lights; furnace fan only to warm up trailer in AM, ...just not much there on basic loads. We have 2 6V AGM batteries in series for about 120 Ah useful capacity.... which gets us 3 to 4 days without any solar gain.... I do like the portable panel so I can orient to the path of the sun for efficiency... but might have gone with the larger panel 160W just to build in some more margin for cloudy days.

[Jhess]

Originally Posted by TouringDan

Very nice work, a neat and tidy installation. Very professional.



Dan

Thank you Dan. With you being a trailer inspector, that compliment means a bit more. The tidy install is more due to me being a perfectionist and stubborn than than having a lot of experience. Hopefully with more experience I’ll have less steps to redo!

[Jhess]

Originally Posted by jftompkins

30-40 Ah is what we seem to use....and hopefully get 40-45 Ah back on a sunny day thru the panel to “fill it back up” with charge. Did a spreadsheet on loads and checks out. The refrigerator electronics, propane detector, other parasitic loads, water pump on only when when we need it; LED lights; furnace fan only to warm up trailer in AM, ...just not much there on basic loads. We have 2 6V AGM batteries in series for about 120 Ah useful capacity.... which gets us 3 to 4 days without any solar gain.... I do like the portable panel so I can orient to the path of the sun for efficiency... but might have gone with the larger panel 160W just to build in some more margin for cloudy days.

Thanks for the follow-up details. After we get some experience with boondocking we may introduce a portable panel but then again I’m not keen on having another item to lug around and get out and put away on those trips, so I might do roof panels instead.

[jftompkins]

Originally Posted by Jhess

Thanks for the follow-up details. After we get some experience with boondocking we may introduce a portable panel but then again I’m not keen on having another item to lug around and get out and put away on those trips, so I might do roof panels instead.

Our panel came with a case and easy to store/setup. The one consideration is that in partially shaded sites you can park the TT in optimum location and independently move the panel to sol path....ideal is 90 degF into panel surface. When in storage have a 5W panel mounted on propane lid. The roof does give the advantage of panel security....and no setup.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Great looking install!! 👍
I see you have the temp sensor, what readings are you getting? I didn't get the sensor and wondering if that may be a mistake.

We did similar with our Classic, 'cept two batts in separate compartments made the wiring a bit of a pain.

Noticed your monitor was set on volts.
I thought that was a good way to keep track also.
I watched the monitor for two days at high draw with very little drop...then I did the research, 😂, and switched to %, it read 40%.
Time to charge. When finished charging the monitor read 75%.
I had to re-calibrate.
I set the Peukert to 1.05 and charge efficiency to 99%. Now reading 100% at full charge.

Bob
🇺🇸

[Jhess]

Thanks Bob. Thus far I'm getting a temp reading between mid 70s and low 80s. In the photo the monitor was just randomly sitting on the voltage display, but yes I plan to mostly leave it on the SOC % reading except when I want to briefly see the # of watts being drawn. Also I like seeing the various stats on the phone app all on one screen.

I made the same settings changes as yourself, plus I saw where you should set the battery capacity to 99 Ah for a 100 Ah lithium so I did that as well. I have not gone thorough a calibration as yet, but it seems to be fine without it as far as I can tell. It got to 100% SOC, and I let it discharge to about 3% (should've stopped it earlier I know) one time so far.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by Jhess

Thanks Bob. Thus far I'm getting a temp reading between mid 70s and low 80s. In the photo the monitor was just randomly sitting on the voltage display, but yes I plan to mostly leave it on the SOC % reading except when I want to briefly see the # of watts being drawn. Also I like seeing the various stats on the phone app all on one screen.

I made the same settings changes as yourself, plus I saw where you should set the battery capacity to 99 Ah for a 100 Ah lithium so I did that as well. I have not gone thorough a calibration as yet, but it seems to be fine without it as far as I can tell. It got to 100% SOC, and I let it discharge to about 3% (should've stopped it earlier I know) one time so far.

I think you got the same result by dropping the listed AH to 99.
I did leave ours at 200ah. All appears good, probably will know more after several recharge cycles.

My 'smart' phone is still in the third semester of second grade so I don't have the doo-dad to hook it up.😂

Bob
🇺🇸

[Jhess]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

I think you got the same result by dropping the listed AH to 99.

I did leave ours at 200ah. All appears good, probably will know more after several recharge cycles.



My 'smart' phone is still in the third semester of second grade so I don't have the doo-dad to hook it up.[emoji23]



Bob

[emoji631]

Also forgot to mention I set the “charged voltage” to 14.4 on the monitor.

[Kristof]

The entire load per day needs t be balanced with the storage and generation. The key to an energy budget is to use worse case scenario - colder, wetter and more arid than expected. Forced air heaters are the biggest draw at 7AH or so. Having to use them frequently (I live in Canada) can be a big draw down on your energy stockpile. Fridges can use a lot (5AH) on DC alone - so keeping your propane in the equation is also important. When planning your solar use realistic numbers based on worse case - one day of full sun in three - as well as only a 2/3 gain from the panel for 8 hours per day. My numbers can be as high as 70-80AH per day and about .5 to 1 lb of propane per day. You altitude is also important (angle to the sun) and the climate area (elevation). I have about 1KW of solar and when it rains for a week I need my generator to keep things from going below the red line. For my purposes about 400W of solar for the west coast highway works fine and you can refill propane every now and then.

As for the battery what was the cost of BB 100AH? For me it is about weight versus cost versus AH. I have not seen a lithium get close to 2 X 6V at 240AH and 65lbs each and $150USD each.

[ROBERT CROSS]

...Now it reads on the MacBook sitting in the living room. 👍😂

Bob
🇺🇸

[Tony Lee]

Would be a bit/lot concerned if the battery management system was truly allowing you to take it to 3% because lithiums aren't going to accept that treatment too many times

[Jhess]

I believe BB has said that the 100AH rating is actually lower than the actual capacity, so 3% SOC reading from monitor is probably lower than reality. BB has also said that the BMS will prevent depletion below safe levels, so I’m not too worried especially since the warranty is now 10 years. I plan to add a 2nd BB partly so that I can more easily avoid getting below 10%.

The price of the BB 100AH was $950 U.S. with free shipping.

On our first trip using the battery I found that our Dometic fridge uses about 140W running on battery so that is by far the biggest drain so we only do that while towing and use LP otherwise because it seems to barely use LP. Unfortunately my 2016 Ford F-150 has a design flaw in the trailer plug charging circuit because it only provides about 17W so this hardly offsets the fridge drain at all. Maybe one day I’ll have that circuit rebuilt.

In our test I found that when running the fridge on LP and only needing moderate use of the furnace overnight we averaged about 1.2AH per hour over a 27 hour period.