Going to LITHIUM Batteries for your RV? WATCH THIS FIRST! WFCO WF-9850L2 Lithium Converter Install

[@EddieAtLarge]

Check out all the products that we use to upgrade & live Full Time in our RV on our NEW Amazon Page! www.amazon.com/shop/eddieatlarge (Please Note: As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases when you visit our Amazon Home Page)

[@billycordery6479]

This was the clearest and most understandable video (for someone who knows nothing). Excellent!

[@rongray4118]

Thank you so much for posting a LIVE/REAL WORLD installation and operation of your converter and Lithium battery! Excellent Video!

[@EddieAtLarge]

You are very welcome Ron! Thanks for the compliments and glad you enjoyed!

[@sarahk6289]

My favorite converter vid ever. Really interesting and easy to follow

[@EddieAtLarge]

Great to hear Sarah! Glad to know there’s other people out there who loves converters as much as we do! 😉

[@fureveryoungfarm3752]

Finally a basic video that tells me what I need and how to install. Subscribed !

[@EddieAtLarge]

@FurEver Young Farm Great! Thanks for letting us know and glad to have you aboard!

[@patmitskey839]

Partner???? Another well resurched video!!! Learning a Lot!!!

[@WhiTor1]

Thanks!

[@kenmatthews6476]

Man, that was really helpful. I have a path forward and a plan now after watching this video. So much information out there so I’ve been confused as hell. Can’t wait for the follow up video.

[@ianjamiesonmusic]

That is much simpler than I thought it would be. I am going to replace my Hymer B564 lead acid battery with a lithium one! I got a victron charger for it in the end. Thanks for the detailed video

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Ian Jamieson Yes, fairly simple and easy to install/replace. I may go to a Victron Multiplus down the road. Pretty happy with our current setup which is 300AH Lithium, 2000W Inverter & 600W of solar. Maybe do the Multiplus if we buy another camper as they are pretty sweet. Glad you enjoyed the video.

[@ianjamiesonmusic]

@@EddieAtLarge nice. I am hoping that 400W of solar keeps me going as I have gas for heating and also the renogy DCC50S for charging from the solar and alter alternator.

[@EddieAtLarge]

@@ianjamiesonmusic If you have a smaller rig, you should be good. We ran with a 200W solar suitcase for 5 months and did fine with our 25' 5th wheel. We did have the 300AH though that got us through some cloudy days until we could recharge. Good luck and have fun out there!

[@ianjamiesonmusic]

@@EddieAtLarge thank you. Have fun!

[@SEANRMZ]

Good Job!! I went the same route, but I added 1000w of solar and added 600ah of lithium. Now I really don’t need shore power. Happy camping

[@EddieAtLarge]

Oh, nice! We now have 950 Watts and 300 AH. Makes life a lot easier. Haven’t ran the genny in over 2 years now. 👍🏻✌🏻

[@SEANRMZ]

@@EddieAtLarge ohh nice it grows on us hahah happy camping my friend

[@tonyfontana8451]

Getting ready to do the same exact replacement. Just upgraded to two SOK lithium batteries. Thanks for the video!

[@dustytravels9458]

LOL... what are the chances ? Two weeks after submitting a comment, and getting a nice reply... I'm in the same dispersed camping area with Him and His lovely Wife... and Dog! What a Guy!

[@EddieAtLarge]

So glad to have had the pleasure of meeting you Ron! We certainly appreciate the kind words and Salena really appreciated all of your attention.

[@twowander2470]

Great video! Finally found what I was looking for in this great breakdown as I’m about to switch to lithium. Thanks so much for documenting this.

[@EddieAtLarge]

@TwoWander You’re very welcome! Glad it helped you out!

[@vibenailart]

@@EddieAtLarge Hello Sir, That is pretty nice to share us the video. We are a manufacturer of the similar batteries. We can customize the housing color, heating accessory and bluetooth. Hopefully we can send you a sample to evaluate. Our website：www.jstarbattery.com/

[@erickessler6094]

Great education video! Thx, Eric

[@campingalan]

Good afternoon Ed and Ann....I hope you are both doing well! Thank you for sharing this video! Bleh....I am all over the map with regards to what I will do for solar. Well, I will do a full system install (4 panels on the roof, controller, 3k inverter, at least 400ah, etc). But, I don't know if I will have it done or do it myself. I have a few objections-- drilling holes in the roof and running wires down into the rig somehow, hooking wires into the trailers 12v and 120v systems, and running wires externally from the front of the rig to the back left side to bring power from the controller/inverter/battery area in the front to the trailer fuse area in the back left of the rig. I suspect that if I just take my time and do it over a long period, it is doable. And...that would save $4k installation! I also just want to get going with getting some camping in when the rig arrives. I probably could mitigate that delay by just bringing a generator along, in the interim (I'd still always bring a generator along for those treed, national forest spots) to power the rig exclusively. Another factor is winter has arrived to Ouray. So, I'd have to be conscious about the temps when doing the solar panels on the roof and applying the weather proofing. Or....just relocate that weekend further south to the warmer areas hehehehe. Our rig will arrive with an 8 gauge wire that is connected to a 3 port junction box on the roof as it will be "solar ready" to receive hardware. I can fit 4 panels on the roof. So, ignorantly, I assume I'll need to install a 4 port junction box. If that is the case, I may as well run a bigger wire down from the roof so as to have a wire gauge that will be, for sure, good. Our rig also will have an external port on the front right corner that I could plug a portable solar panel (that panel, currently as the solar ready system is, would have to come with a controller on it as it is plugged straight into the acid battery location on the tongue). As I get a complete system installed, I guess that portable panel jack wire, as well as the electric tongue jack wires, would have to be extended and rerun into the trailer to the new lithium battery bank somewhere. Wow...on your system monitoring app, that was really cool! When you initially turned on your system, the "current" data indicated something like 25amps. Did that mean your system was charging at approx 25 amps at that point? Safe travels!

[@EddieAtLarge]

@campingalan Hey Alan! I'll be doing the same thing this winter. Minimum of 400 watts on the roof. Already installed my inverter and 300AH of Lithium. I also installed a dedicated outlet in the middle of the camper and wired it to the inverter. If I want full power to the outlets in the camper, I use a 12 Gauge extension chord and a dog bone to plug in my main camper electric line. When I do that, I shut off all breakers at the panel other than the mains and the "outlet" breakers. It's a workaround in lieu of installing a fancy inverter/charger. I don't really do this much though as we rarely used A/C power when boondocking other than for charging up the computer, cordless vac, etc..., and I can do that all with the dedicated outlet. To answer your question, the charger was charging at 25amps, however, it usually charges at 35 amps even though it is a 50 amp charger. Not 100% sure why this is other than it may be due to the factory wire size of only 6AWG running from the charger to the shutoff and then to the batteries. Kind of a long run with undersized wiring. I may change that out someday to at least 4AWG. $4K is a lot for the install. If you wire in series-parallel and use branch connectors, I believe you should only need 2 ports on the roof and 2 wires running to your solar controller. Also, make sure your solar controller can accept the size wire that you have. I used 10AWG and it barely fit into my Victron MPPT controller terminals. Good luck with your project and happy camping!

[@dougdoris8622]

Thanks for the video. I have just put lithium battery and I also called battleborn and they told me I would be ok as I have the same charger. We are headed out on a trip in two weeks so I’ll be getting a new converter soon. I’m looking forward to your battery monitor installation video.

[@EddieAtLarge]

Hey Doug! I would recommend testing it out before you hit the road. If you have the WF-9855, you will definitely have a hard time getting it to charge the Lithium battery. Hopefully you won't be boondocking on your next trip? I'm putting the finishing touches on the Battery Monitor video and will be releasing it soon. Thanks for watching!

[@rjacj]

Nice that they used 6 AWG on that converter. I was wondering where the other end of that ground wire went, seems like it should have ended at the converter. Good video. Thanks. I put a Victron battery to battery charger in about a year ago. Nice fast charge while you're driving.

[@EddieAtLarge]

Glad you enjoyed our video! The ground wire goes down through the floor and should then be screwed into the steel chassis somewhere on the RV. This would serve to not only ground the converter, but, also ground the power center. I had previously considered installing a DC to DC charger like you did, however, we now have solar on the roof that charges the batteries while we drive so fortunately it's no longer needed. This would only be a problem for us if we would run into a string of cloudy days. Being that we mainly boondock out West though, we've never ran into a problem. It's been almost 2 years now since we last ran our generator. Solar is so awesome! ☀️

[@jandblawncare8570]

I like your videos! They are simplified for us simpletons lol. I just got 2 of 4 Battle Born batteries and the Victron 712 monitor, just waiting for BB to ship the 2 other batteries and the inverter. I'm not good with electric and have very limited time but cant find anyone even within a couple hundred miles to do an install so looks like I'll be DIY'ing it over the next couple months.

[@EddieAtLarge]

@J and B LawnCare Lol. 😂 I’ll soon be putting together my additional BB batteries install and wiring video as well as the solar suitcase and inverter install videos. Thanks for watching. Glad you enjoyed!

[@bngabbott]

Thanks for telling us how it really worked out. Battle Born gets a lot of positive press. You told us to verify. Great work on this vlog. Not too complicated easy to watch. Happy Trails!

[@EddieAtLarge]

Brian Abbott Thanks Brian! So far the Battleborn Battery is doing it's job and I am very impressed with the WFCO Charger. Will work on updates as we go along. Thanks for watching!

[@TheTechPrepper]

Thank you for sharing your experience. I had the same WFCO system in my coach. I actually filmed a series of videos on my installation as well. Great channel!

[@EddieAtLarge]

The Tech Prepper Hey, thanks! Glad you’re enjoying our channel! I just subscribed to your channel as well and will check out some of your videos when we get to better cell service. We’re currently camping out in the mountains of Pennsylvania. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@lonmar44]

nice instalacion I'm glad it's working good for your lithium batteries I'm going to do the same thing in mine

[@EddieAtLarge]

Cool, thanks!!

[@c.s4970]

Best info yet on lithium batt and converter. Thanks

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Christina Simon Thank you, glad to hear that!

[@BigTymer0007]

Very helpful thank you. My lithium battery arrives shortly and I'll be getting a new converter. Now just have to figure out which amperage to buy.

[@EddieAtLarge]

Awesome! Do you know what amperage your original converter is?

[@BigTymer0007]

My original converter was 55amps so I replaced with them same. But progressive dynamics said increasing by 5 amps is acceptable range.

[@EddieAtLarge]

@@BigTymer0007 OK. Just curious. My wiring is 6awg and what I have seen online is that is good for up to 55amps max and that is why I went with the 50amp converter. Thanks for the reply!

[@MRHEAT20]

Great install and review - thanks

[@EddieAtLarge]

Glad it was helpful!

[@meseahunt]

good video thanks... do u have a video for the batt monitor install? 🤠

[@EddieAtLarge]

👍🏻 Sure do. Here’s the link Victron BMV-712 Bluetooth RV Battery Monitor Installation & Review (w/ Battleborn Lithium battery) kzbin.info/www/bejne/qaPYqaumoquXqtU

[@garygoerke7684]

Thanks much for the video, I took your advise and did the same thing. WOW it works GREAT! 😀

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Gary Goerke Great to hear Gary! Glad to hear this helped you out. 👍🏻

[@randystrom2163]

Very good. I too am looking to do this upgrade

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Randy Strom Great to hear! We also recently added 2 more Battleborn batteries, a solar suitcase and an inverter. So glad we went to lithium. It really makes a huge difference.

[@revnkevin1]

I didn't see the question but do you have a on-board generator that I'd started by the battle born battery?

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Rev’n Kevin No on board genny. We have a generator that we keep in the back of the truck. Barely use it though now that we charge with solar. ☀️

[@vinuezaer]

Great editing.

[@rickbraden4272]

Very good video in tight places.

[@EddieAtLarge]

Glad you enjoyed it Rick!

[@michelduhamel136]

nice thank you ,i got on amazon a WFCO WF-8955PEC-B-LIS ,that does the job ,

[@EddieAtLarge]

Awesome! Here is an Amazon link to the WFCO model that is the closest to the one that we have: www.amazon.com/dp/B08KJJF7L8/?ref=idea_dp_ (It appears WFCO does not make our model any longer) This new model is also made for Lithium batteries. The difference is that it can be controlled with a switch to change between lead acid and lithium batteries. To work around this, a jumper wire can be installed in the switch ports that will put the converter in lithium mode. If you type in "jumper" in the search bar under the Customer Questions And Answers you'll find where others have done this in lieu of installing an actual switch. This is in the WFCO-LIS manual: "No Switch Installed: To use the converter in the lead/acid mode only, nothing needs to be done. To use the converter in the lithium mode only, place a jumper wire across the two WAGO connectors on the back of the converter." Hope this helps!

[@calebdurall4771]

Great video. I have been considering going with a similar setup on my fifth wheel. Thank You.

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Caleb Durall Thank you! Glad it was helpful!

[@jeffmarshall911]

Informative. My old trailer (waiting on new one) had the converter in a space with no venting. It was much happier when I made an 8”x8” vent for it. Wondering how much heat is being held into that space? I used a bit of aluminum screen door decorative cover from local hardware store. I also agree that the battery should be closer to the converter.

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Jeff Marshall I do agree that they should have added some venting from the factory. Unfortunately, I don’t have room to add a vent on the inside. Hopefully it will be fine for now. I may be eventually replacing it with a switch box in that location when adding an inverter in my storage bay. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@royharrison8590]

Great job just the video I was looking for I have the same “stuff” to change out

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Roy Harrison Thanks! Good luck on your upgrade!

[@dhincks1]

Hi, great to hear about your installing solar. You shouldn't have to run the generator at all just to charge your battery. My experience is one 100-watt panel for every 100 amp hour battery.

[@EddieAtLarge]

Thanks! We now have 950 watts of solar and 300 AH of Battleborns. Have not ran the genny in over 2 years. Lots of sunshine out West! ☀️

[@clifftatum6148]

Have the same 9855 converter and have been wanting to switch to lithium batteries. Thanks for showing a different option than the expensive progressive dynamics.

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Cliff Tatum No problem 👍 Glad the video helped you out.

[@busdaddy1547]

I'm in exactly the same situation. Outstanding tutorial, well done, and such a great help. Thank you! Tell me, are you using just the single 100AH battery in your system? Have you added more? And how's it all doing so far?

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Bus Daddy Thank you! Glad it was helpful! I am only using a single 100AH battery at this time, however, I had ordered 2 additional that were just delivered today and I'll be installing them soon. I'll do an update video as soon as I get them installed. I still need to order some battery cable from Amazon and I also just ordered an inverter to hook into the system. I did have an issue with this original converter, however, WFCO made it right and sent me a replacement. Here is the video link for that: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bX7XlJ2mZb6Aqas The new converter is actually charging much better and at more amps than the original. It's been working great so far.

[@Barnettdan99]

Nice! Thanks

[@RVWagginTails]

I wonder if you could have simply snipped the ground wire into two pieces and then "spliced" them back together or put both ends into the grounding point. Just a thought.

[@EddieAtLarge]

Possibly, but, I'm not an electrician and I figured they did it that way for a reason. If there's a cheaper, easier way to do something without taking away the integrity of the system, I would expect the manufacturer to go that route, so, that's why I left it that way.

[@vincentrvlife2393]

Nice istall. Thanks for taking the time to make the video. Did you have to upgrade the 12 volt side fuse panel?

[@EddieAtLarge]

Thanks Vincent! There was no need for us to upgrade the fuse panel for our camper. It was a simple swap of converters.

[@davidgroves8049]

Just ran across this. Battle born batteries are rated up to 1C charge aka 100 amps. 30 amps seems kinda slow. If the battery was 100 down (100 amps). That would take over 3 hours plus trickle time. “ numbers are generalized “. My lead acid batteries get 30 amps until 90% full then it slows to 14amps then trickle. When you go solar “depending on size” you will be pumping in a lot more than 30 amps into your batteries. I use 1/0 wireing from my converter charger to my batteries and also to my inverter. Helps with amp loss do to length. Loved your vid. Can’t wait to watch the solar ☝️

[@EddieAtLarge]

David Groves Hey David! Thanks for watching and commenting! I did know that Battleborn batteries are rated to receive the charge up to 100amps and agree that 30amps is a bit of a slow charge rate. My RV has 6AWG wire running from the converter to the battery though and that is only good for up to 55 amps, so, that's why I went with the 50 amp lithium converter. I'll eventually be installing a small 3 battery bank, auto switch and inverter. When I do, I'll be going to 2/0 wire or larger similar to what you have. The solar suitcase that I'll be putting together will only be generating around 15 amps max (i believe). I will say that even though I'm only getting 30 amps out of the converter, I'm pretty happy with that compared to the very low charge rate that I was getting out of the original converter. Did you install/upgrade your own system?

[@davidgroves8049]

Homie At Large yes about installing my own system. I DIY all my stuff . So far been pretty happy with my upgrades. So far I installed it strong arms, max air vent fans and covers the inverter with plug, new converter with lithium jumper option, swooped out all lights with LED, water pump pressure tank to stop water pump chatter and maintain 40 psi , shower head lol, USB ports in vin a few locations . Looking into tank heating pads and sea level sensors for the tanks as the other ones or just plain crappy. My rv is a bunk house and my kids are all grown up and no longer camp with us, so I’m concerting the bunk beds to dressers on a rail system so I can move them back and forth to use the space better. All in all I enjoy the projects. My wife is very helpful and supportive. We just got done upgrading the oil cooler on our truck. That was a fun day😣 . My job lets me telework so we are on the move a lot from place to place exploring. We love dry camping. It just seems to have less crowds and your normally not packed in with your neighbor right next to you. The converter I purchased is a progressive dynamics wildkat version. It’s designed for dry camping to allow rapid charging of batteries from a generator. My old led acid (2 six Volts) would charge at 30 amps with this converter. This would allow me to charge in 3 hours. Lithium will do 50 amps now. So a little over 2 hours. Saves me a ton on fuel and noise. I would go crazy on solar but I park under trees most of the time. Well that’s about it. I’ll be watching your channel. Have a great time.

[@EddieAtLarge]

David Groves Wow! You should start your own channel featuring upgrades. We’ve done a lot as well. Even put in my own 5th wheel prep package which I’ll put a video out on. Glad you’re enjoying the channel. Thanks for the sub as well! Now you’ve got me interested in the tank sensor. Ours area awful too. Never heard of that before.

[@rustusandroid]

Your 6awg 50 amp wire will easily do 55-60 amps. The BMS inside the battle born uses 10awg.

[@EddieAtLarge]

@rustusandroid Very interesting. Thanks for the info!

[@TheGregoYatzee]

I was actually gonna ask why not replace the wire between toe 60amp inverter and the battery.

[@mikeb8542]

Great job. Good information. I have the battery just need the new charger. How much was the WFCO LION charger? Where did you buy it at?

[@EddieAtLarge]

Thank Mike! I ordered this from Amazon, however, this model is no longer available. There is a newer model available though. Here is the link for that one: amzn.to/3OXOeE2 The new version has the ability to change charging modes between lead-acid and lithium batteries. I paid $234 for the original and the new model is $236. If you don't want to install a switch to go between the 2 modes on the new model, you can just install a jumper wire to connect the 2 switch ports and that will put you in Lithium mode. The one guy on Amazon said he just used a short piece of 16 ga wire that he had for the jumper. Hope that helps!

[@704arturo]

Hi A+ explanation, good thing i found video before i Purchasing lithium batterys. I have a question, in the future i want to have a battery bank of about 400AH lithium. Will these charge all batterys? Another question is that i want to add a inverter to have 120v on RV will boondocking. I was looking at the victron multuplus 12/3000/120 -50 120V VE.BUS. the victron says its also a battery charger. I just want to make sure i dont buy both and i only need either the victron or the wfco 9850l2. Can some please advise thank you.

[@EddieAtLarge]

@ARTURO CHIA Thank you! We now have 3 each 100 AH lithium batteries that are being charged by the WF-9850L2 and have had no issues. There should not be any issues charging the 400 AH battery bank with the WF-9850L2. The Victron Multiplus will also charge your batteries and you would not need both the WF-9850L2 and the Victron Multiplus. We installed a separate 2000W inverter that we connected to our 300 AH battery bank and installed a dedicated outlet from the inverter to the center of our trailer. If you want to have A/C power throughout your rig, the Multiplus can do that if you wire it to your main panel. I would recommend checking out the KZbin channel All About RV's with Jared Gillis as he has several videos on the Multiplus. Good luck with your install!

[@704arturo]

@@EddieAtLarge got it thank you for the reply!!

[@idahomountainelk]

This is pretty much exactly what I plan to do to my teardrop this winter. Replace the 88 AH lead acid with a 100 AH battle born, might do 200AH but 100 for now. I have a Progressive Dynamics 45 A converter and will get the 45A lithium version. Other than that, it should work. I also have 100 W solar panel with a zamp 10a controller. Ant thoughts or recommendations?

[@EddieAtLarge]

Cool. We started with one 100AH lithium and ended up adding 2 additional for a total of 300 AH. Been Boondocking 6 months every year and they’ve been working great! Also, started with 200 Watts of solar, the next year added another 400 Watts and will be adding at least 200 more this winter. With your smaller teardrop camper, you probably won’t need much capacity. We got away with 100AH and 200W of solar the 1st 2 years out. Now we’ve added a 3000 W inverter and have some power hogging devices like Starlink, so, that’s why we needed more. Good news is, you can start small and work your way up adding a bit at a time. Per Battleborn, you can add additional batteries as long as it’s within 2 years of the original install, which is what we did. Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any other questions. Have fun and good luck!

[@idahomountainelk]

I camped 59 nights in my teardrop since April. I love how you can add another battery later, power needs change. I only power a small 12 volt fridge, water pump, a light sparingly, and the Propex heater. I also run a fridge in my truck with a Jackery. Plus charging my phone, Garmin, and a handheld ham radio. Idaho has pretty good solar, I think the 100AH will work.

[@mrblueskynm3968]

Excellent video! You have done the exact setup I’m planning to do. I have a WFCO model 8955 in my trailer and the guys at WFCO said it will work with a 12v Battle Born 100 Ah Lithum battery. I was told the same thing by them that it would not charge it 100%, maybe 80%. I also have an option to get an 8950L-MBA lithium ion converter/charger for around $250. I think I’ll do what you did and give my original a test to see how it does. Have you determined if shore power charges the BB battery at the same rate as your generator?

[@EddieAtLarge]

MrBlueSkyNM Awesome! Glad our video helped you out! We do get the same charge rate of around 25amps to 26amps bulk charging with the WF-9850L2 on both generator and shore power. The charge rate will vary depending on the SOC (State of Charge) of the battery. It charges at the max charge rate when the battery has been more deeply depleted. If it is closer to full, it charges at a lower rate and steadily decreases the charge rate until the battery is completely charged.

[@mrblueskynm3968]

@@EddieAtLarge I was wondering which generator you are using. I have a 150lb 3000W Yamaha, but I'm thinking of getting a lighter 2000W for ease of mobility.

[@EddieAtLarge]

We have the Champion 2800W Running / 3100W Peak Gasoline or Propane Fuel Inverter Generator. It is pretty heavy! Like the propane fuel option though. Have not used gas in it yet.

[@mrblueskynm3968]

@@EddieAtLarge Thanks for the replies! A dual fuel generator is a temptation. I'm going to get a call from Battle Born today to discuss my options. They recommend a Progressive Dynamics replacement instead of a WFCO replacement. I've seen a lot of negative comments on WFCO chargers. This sure is an expensive path to go down, but not as much as going solar on the roof. I look forward to seeing how your DIY portable solar panel project comes along. Happy trails!

[@brentmcmahon8188]

You should shut off all breaker switches in box. I learned the hard way so to be safe turn off all breakers and plug your RV in then flip one switch at a time and won’t surge you system and blow fuses in you camper. I just did this and had this camper new in 2000 and this the first time this ever happen and it blew both fuses in the back of my fridge that I didn’t know were even there. So do what you want this might save a ruined vacation.

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Brent McMahon Hi Brent, thanks for sharing your situation and resolution. Sorry to hear you had the issue! Wondering, do you use a surge device on the main line at the power pedestal or one that is hardwired in your camper? We installed one on ours right away and have never had an issue like the one you described. Here’s a link to our install for that device. kzbin.info/www/bejne/o4Onan6GgLN-o5Y

[@brentmcmahon8188]

I have plug in at pedestal.

[@brentmcmahon8188]

I do the same thing at my home when power goes out. I turn off the main switches and then all the breakers. Whe n the power comes back on I do the reverse.

[@seb2549]

Thank you for the video. This is exactly the setup I am looking for. Many of lithium/solar systems we see on the youtube are huge and sometimes sponsored and, although I have nothing against that, it does not represent my expected setup. I just can't afford it. We have 190W solar pannel and are looking at 100AH maybe 200AH of LiFePO4 so very much what you have wrt battery and are planning to add for solar side. Great info on the charge converter, I added this to the list :). Please give us an update on how the battery and solar combination performs in the next few weeks/months. I would love to hear an update on how practical this size setup is going forward. BTW do you have an inverter as part of the system? I think single 100AH lithium limits the size to 600-1000W (depending on battery spec) so I would be interested on what you have on the AC side of the circuit. Thanks! Pozdrowienia :)

[@EddieAtLarge]

Seb NP, You are very welcome! I will be posting some updates as I complete the other videos for the solar suitcase and the battery monitor. So far, the converter is working great! We dry camped again earlier this week for a few nights and the battery dropped down to 52% after a night of running the furnace (ran a lot due to colder temps in the higher elevation). The charger was putting in over 29 amps when I first started the generator. Took about 1 hr 45 min to fully charge. The charger works in bulk charging mode for the majority of the charge then drops down into absorption mode near the end and charges slower until the battery is full. We do not have an inverter (yet). We will be buying one sometime later this year and will also be adding a few more batteries as well as an automatic switch. The solar suitcase we will be doing is 200W (bought all the parts, just need to put it together). Will eventually put around 600W more on the roof, so, total of 800W and I think that will do fine for our needs. So glad this video helped you out! Thanks for watching!

[@seb2549]

@@EddieAtLarge Thank you. It is good to hear some concrete numbers for the power usage. It makes me feel confident my two battery (2x100AH )setup should work to provide power to run the furnace for a few days (especially with some solar top up) before recharging through a generator or going to electrical hookup in RV park.

[@livin._.tokyo18]

Good info learned a lot !!

[@timschlosser2392]

Great video! Have you been happy with you new converter? I love the idea of the simple installation! I’m looking to do exactly what you did. New converter and 1 Battle Born for now. Thanks!

[@EddieAtLarge]

Tim Schlosser Yes, we have been very happy with the new converter. Charges the battery fairly quickly (anywhere from 25amp-30amps charge rate during bulk charge), then tapers down as it gets to a completely full charge. Glad to hear our video has helped you with your decision!

[@edwardf.devarona5066]

Why did you disconnect the ground from the panel and install a new ground wire? I would think that the old wiring would just work so you only have to run the old wires into the new converter.

[@EddieAtLarge]

@@edwardf.devarona5066 Hi Edward, I did not run a new ground wire. The original ground wire was ran up from under the rig where it had been grounded to the chassis under the rig then routed through the terminal on the converter and finally into the back of the panel and terminated at the front of the panel. I only disconnected the wire from the panel to be able to thread it back out of the converter terminal then installed the same wire with the new converter.

[@edwardf.devarona5066]

@@EddieAtLarge Is that because you could not remove it from the converter side because it was too tight to maneuver it out of the converter?

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Edward F. De Varona There was no way to remove it from the converter as it was ran through a closed loop on the side of the converter and I did not want to cut the ground wire. That is why I removed the end at the panel and then backed the wire out through the loop. In hindsight, I probably could have just cut it and spliced it back together.

[@xdmatt1320]

So was that app to see the power from the charger ?

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Grizzly-Outdoors The app does show the voltage and current going into or coming out of our battery as that is from the Victron BMV-712 battery monitor that I had installed in our rig. Here is a link to that install and review video if you would like to see it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qaPYqaumoquXqtU That is showing the power that the charger is putting into the batteries in this video. Thanks for watching and subscribing!

[@laughingram7287]

Another excellent video Ed! Wow! Your replacement converter looked like an exact match!! That makes life much easier. Nice to see the battery monitor working as intended. I just got mine. Now all I need is the time to get up there and install it! You present your tutorials very clear - both visually and audibly. Your safety habits are great as well. 👍🏼 (all that was missing was a LOTO. 😉) Looking forward to the next one. Thanks, Ram

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Laughing Ram Thanks Ram! Yes, the new converter fit perfectly! Glad you’re enjoying the “How To” videos. I have some more that I need to complete. Been busy traveling again and have been working on those videos (3 out & 1 to release today). Let me know when you get that monitor installed and how it works out for you. Take care and stay safe, happy and healthy!

[@Sadie04074]

Great video presentation! I have the stock WFCO8955 system and will be possibly changing the converter to the newer WFCO as you did. One thing I am struggling with is how to protect my Chevy Silveraldo alternator from over heating due to the large draw to the lithium batteries on my travel trailer. Did you setup any system to that end? Once again great presentation.

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Sadie04074 Thank you so much! I did not realize that installing lithium batteries could cause a problem with the vehicle alternator overheating and I have not set any system up to prevent this from happening. I do only have one lithium battery (100 amp hour) installed and to my knowledge, I have not had an issue my alternator. That being said, I will look into this further to see what I can find about any potential issues that could occur. I can let you know if I find out any new info. Thank you for the question and for bringing this to my attention!

[@Sadie04074]

@@EddieAtLarge The original email reply that I got from Battleborn led me to believe that a Dc to DC charger needed to be set up from the starting battery-alternator to the house battery. Apparently, for some reason, the rep was referring to vans, busses, class Cs, etc. I just found this on BB's web page. Sorry for any confusion caused by my original response. "Before discussing this topic please note that when connecting to a towable trailer (such as by a 7-pin connector), you typically get a low amount of charge into your lithium (aux) battery bank and an isolator or current regulating device is usually not necessary."

[@EddieAtLarge]

@@Sadie04074 Thanks for the info Sadie! That makes sense and I'm glad it won't cause any issues for towables! Thanks again for letting me know.

[@SailorGolf]

Where are you getting your Bluetooth info. ?? Battle Born does not have a Bluetooth interface ??

[@EddieAtLarge]

We installed the Victron BMV-712 Battery Monitor. Here is a link to our install video for that device:kzbin.info/www/bejne/qaPYqaumoquXqtU Please feel free to let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks!

[@henryjones8614]

My rv’s battery is also charged from the vehicles alternator when engine is running. The alternator is designed to charge lead acid batteries. Whats missing here?

[@davidpurvis3388]

Well done, I like that you don’t make us watch you screw every screw at regular motion speed, but you made it very clear. I would have considered a splice in my ground, yes I know panel grounds are not supposed to splice, subs different than mains. But looked like a real pain. One thing I look forward to, would you do it again? Meaning the switch from lead acid? The cost worth it? Again good video well put together.

[@EddieAtLarge]

@David Purvis Thank you David! I did consider cutting and splicing, however, decided to take the extra time for the reason that you stated. And yes, I would do it a thousand times over. Lithium has been incredible and so worth the money for what we're using it for. I actually now have 3 Battleborns (300 AH total) as we've been boondocking full time now for the past 4 months and they have been great. We charge them with only 200 Watts of solar every day (plenty of sun out west) with no issues. I have all of the footage to put together videos for the battery bank upgrade, solar, inverter, etc... Just need to get it done. Have been busy creating our travel videos of all of these amazing places we're getting to see. Thanks for watching & commenting!

[@rongray4118]

@@EddieAtLarge definitely just subscribed and following your progress! My wife and I need to have our 40' Jayco Jayflight LOFT supplied with power while we are living in it south of Pyramid Lake/Reno, NV! In process of building an modified Earthship Biotecture off grid home on a mountain. Thanks so much for posting you Life Experience!

[@z50king29]

Thanks for the info. Helpful

[@EddieAtLarge]

@z50king29 You are very welcome. Glad it was helpful!

[@davethai7999]

Very informative video. Thank you. I am looking to upgrade to lithium battery and have the same issue with the WFCO converter/charger on my toyhauler. We are looking to upgrade the lithium battery now with plans for solar in the near future. Do you know if you can bypass upgrading to WFCO lithium converter/charger if you upgrade to a solar controller now with the lithium battery upgrade?

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Dave Thai Glad it was helpful! The converter/charger is only being used while you are plugged into shore power (meaning while plugged into an outlet at a campground, plugged into a generator or other source). You can charge your lithium batteries with only a solar charge controller and solar panels while you are un-plugged from shore power without the need for a converter/charger. That being said, it is convenient to be able to charge with the converter if you don't have good solar such as when you have a run of inclement weather. Here's a good example of what I am referring to: We actually just had another issue with our WFCO lithium converter where it went dead on us and we didn't even know it. We have been out boondocking for the last 4 months and charging via solar only. We went to a campground for a week and plugged in and did not put out our portable solar panels. Our 3 batteries ran down to 10% after 4 days as the converter/charger was dead and not charging the batteries. Fortunately we were able to put out the solar panels and get charged back up, however, it took 3 days to do so. All that being said, I would recommend installing the lithium converter/charger so you can get charged up on shore or generator power when needed. Hope that makes sense. Feel free to let me know if you have any other questions.

[@davethai7999]

@@EddieAtLarge Thanks for the details. I do agree it worthwhile to get it to take full advantage of Lithium.

[@jrsubs]

I don't understand why your old charger only charged to 80%? The WFCO WF-9855 specs say it has a 14.4V bulk charge mode which should be fine for LFP battery, at least to 99% or so even it it doesn't have an 'absorption' phase. Do you know why it didn't work so well?

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Julian Robinson Good question! The technical rep at Battleborn Batteries was who told me that our original converter would only charge to 80%. We never confirmed the 80% threshold in the field, however, we ran the genny for over 2 hours after the battery was well depleted and we were only able to bring it up to 40% before giving up due to the extremely low charge rate. I believe it was just a difference in battery chemistry whereas the original converter was not designed to communicate properly with lithium batteries. Our new lithium converter charges very quickly and brings the battery to 100% every time.

[@runningslowman]

Best video I’ve seen on Lithium RV upgrades. I feel better now that I can do this myself on our travel trailer. One question: I’ve seen some videos about Lithium batteries taking so much incoming current that they can damage an alternator. Do you have any concerns about this (while towing)? I was thinking the 7-pin connection would limit the charge from the alternator. Any help would be appreciated.

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Phil McCullough Thanks Phil! Glad the video helped you out! We haven’t had any issues with our alternator while using the 7 pin connector. Our alternator hardly sends any juice to the batteries when hooked up. I have confirmed this using our BMV-712 Bluetooth Battery Monitor while both idling and driving. I’m sure every vehicle and setup will be a little different, so, I would recommend confirming this using a battery monitor for your own situation. Here’s a link to our BMV-712 install if you’re interested: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qaPYqaumoquXqtU I have actually been looking at installing a 20 amp DC to DC charger to be able to get a charge while driving. Here’s a link to a video by Jared at All About RVs that he just released for the Renogy charger that I have been considering. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bX-nn42ppNqIr7s The Renogy charger can limit the amount of amps being pulled from the alternator to protect it. Jared also explains why he believes his 7 pin connector and wiring wasn’t sending much power to his batteries (similar to ours) prior to the charger install. Hope this answers your questions! Feel free to let me know if I can be of any further assistance.

[@tarefoot]

If your new converter in 50 amp 2:50, why does it only have 35 amp fuses....5:59.

[@EddieAtLarge]

@tarfoot Hey there, good catch and good question! I actually had not paid any attention to that before. I called WFCO and their tech dept. informed me that the 2 fuses are wired in parallel which together creates a 70amp fuse. I also looked at my old converter that was rated at 55amps and it also had 2 ea. 35amp fuses. The manual confirms this requirement. Thanks for the question!

[@ScottDLR]

Good vid! My question is about charging capacity. The 100AH li batts all seem to call for 20 AH charging but can take much more if needed. So would charging these batts at 30 AH all the time hurt them? I'm going to be getting two 100AH batts and researching whether I should get a 45 or 65 AH converter.

[@EddieAtLarge]

Thanks Scott! Battleborn 100AH batteries can accept up to a maximum of 50 amps of charge. So for 2 Battleborn batteries, the maximum charge rate would be up to 100 amps. They do say that 100amps should not be exceeded as that high of a charge rate will shorten the life of the batteries. We use a 50 amp charger for 3 batteries and that works fine for us. Here’s a link to a Battleborn blog post with more info. battlebornbatteries.com/charging-lithium-batteries-the-basics/ Hope that helps!

[@ScottDLR]

@@EddieAtLarge Thanks for the detailed response Eddie!

[@timothydecoursey7546]

You didn’t mention the year and model of your Keystone. I am wondering how you determined which converter you needed without pulling panel first.

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Timothy DeCoursey We have a 2020 Cougar 25RES. I did pull the panel first to find that we had a WFCO 55Amp Converter Charger that was factory installed. Decided to go with a 50Amp WFCO Lithium Converter Charger to stay on the safe side as we only have 6AWG wire installed from the panel to the batteries.

[@richardowens9061]

Didn't you say the new converter charger was a 50 amp model? If so, I wonder why you were only getting about 25 amps of charge current? LiFePO4 batteries are supposed to be able to take up to about 0.5c charge rate - which, for a 100 amp hour Battle Born battery should be about the 50 amps that your new charger converter is supposed to be able to provide. So, any idea why you're only getting about half the current capability of your converter charger?

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Richard Owens Hi Richard, I believe the reason for the low charge rate is due to a long travel distance between our converter and the batteries. The converter is back past the center of the RV under the stove so there would be at least 15' to 20' of 6awg wire to get to the batteries from there. I believe the resistance in the wire due to this long run is most likely slowing the charge rate. If I were to upgrade to 4awg wire, I think I would get the higher charge rate.

[@richardowens9061]

@@EddieAtLarge L At a charging voltage of 14.4 volts DC at 50 amps over a 20 foot run of 6 gauge wire, you would lose about 0.8 volts, which would give you about 13.6 volts at the battery. And, that would translate to a loss of about 40 watts to heat distributed across the entire length of the wire. And, at 25 amps, of course, the voltage drop and the heat loss would be half that, or about 20 watts lost to heat and an end voltage of about 14 volts. I would be interested to know what voltage you're getting at the battery while you're charging at 25 amps to see how close my calculations were.

[@richardowens9061]

@@EddieAtLarge It occurs to me that if you can adjust the output voltage of the converter charger to compensate for the voltage loss across the line, you could possibly get your 50 amps across your existing wire. Is the voltage of your charger adjustable?

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Richard Owens I should have mentioned: I did have an issue with the original converter and had to replace it. Here is a link to my video on that: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bX7XlJ2mZb6Aqas In this video, I had commented that the new converter was charging at a better rate than the original, which was at a rate of 36amps. I had also tested the voltage at the charger with the battery and shore power disconnected and was reading 14.59v. Regarding the voltage at the battery, I'm not sure how to measure that as the voltage will change as the battery charges. In the video, the voltage shows 13.26v at the battery, however, when the battery has a full charge, the voltage hovers close to 13.6v. If you know of a good way to test, please let me know.

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Richard Owens The settings on the WF9850-L2 are not adjustable.

[@tomforeman4976]

You can also plug in a charger for a lithium battery charger and when you are plugged into shore power or running the generator it will charge you arteries a100 per cent and old convert will maintain at 80 per cent on solar already installed

[@EddieAtLarge]

I could see that being a possible work around if you plugged the lithium charger into your generator or into shore power. Most all solar chargers today are capable of charging lithium as well. We now have 3 Battleborns and charge mainly by our Victron solar charge controllers. Haven’t used the genny for 2 years now.

[@andrewk1916]

Great video with a great explanation of the problem and the solution! The video is great helping a person understand the limitation when switching to a lithium battery since that is a huge topic on so many RV KZbin channels yet a lot of the channels never mention the converter issue or it's mentioned in-passing when discussing their 4-6 lithium battery conversion with 3K watt inverter with equally expensive monitoring devices and 600W solar panel grid. All off that is great but it's also $6-$9K worth of equipment! Your install discusses a problem everyone will have not matter how big of a lithium system you put into the coach! Thank You for taking the time to show this for those of us that want lithium but need to understand it is not a simple "drop-in solution" if you expect it to charge properly. I guess he other question is what issue will there be when connected to the tow vehicle for charging? Thanks!

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Andrew Kocsis Thank you Andrew! Very glad to see this video is helping people out who like you said, don't want to or maybe can't afford to install an elaborate system with tons of solar, huge inverters, etc... I actually just ordered 2 additional Battleborn batteries and will be installing a 2000w inverter, however, the inverter won't be hooked into the main panel. I'll run a dedicated outlet to a central location in the rig that the inverter will power and then if I want to send power to the entire rig, I'll run my main 50amp power chord to the main electrical input for the rig, using a 110v dog bone to connect to the inverter. I'll do a video on that as soon as i get it all installed. Regarding your question of charging with the tow vehicle... We have not had any issues with the batteries while hooked up to tow. I've checked the status via my bluetooth battery monitor while hooked up to tow and have not even seen it charging. I believe the truck batteries may have to be depleted some to get the alternator to send a charge and that is when it would also send a charge to the rig? Sorry, not 100% on that one. I do know one other viewer was concerned about having an over-charging problem and had contacted Battleborn. Here is the message that she sent to me: @Homie At Large The original email reply that I got from Battleborn led me to believe that a Dc to DC charger needed to be set up from the starting battery-alternator to the house battery. Apparently, for some reason, the rep was referring to vans, busses, class Cs, etc. I just found this on BB's web page. Sorry for any confusion caused by my original response. "Before discussing this topic please note that when connecting to a towable trailer (such as by a 7-pin connector), you typically get a low amount of charge into your lithium (aux) battery bank and an isolator or current regulating device is usually not necessary." So, it appears that towing a 5th wheel or a travel trailer would not be an issue, however, if you have an RV with a "House Battery", you may need to set up a DC to DC charger. Hope this helps answer your question.

[@andrewk1916]

@@EddieAtLarge I like your concept on expansion to your system! for our Boondocking needs, we recently ordered the Lion Safari ME with expansion pack that provide a portable solution with a 2K inverter and ~3KAh (w/extension pack). It seems comparable to your system but I think you may a little more amp hour storage in your set-up. But we saw the Lion Safari ME (w/expansion pack) as a solution to allow us to enjoy boondocking more without the constant need for the running the generator, just plug the 50A to 110A dogbone in and plug in like normal from the camper. Plus, I wouldn't have to drop and drop the massive amount of $$$$ and install for an on-board solution like I mentioned earlier. And the LS ME is portable. Although I talked about cost earlier, as you know, all of these systems are expensive (batteries, large inverters and solar panels) but just how expensive is the question. Your video here helps me to do the one of the last two parts remaining to the electrical system for boondocking/moochdocking, 1)change out the lead-acid & converter in the OEM system to lithium and 2) install an easy start micro air on the main A/C to allow use on a 2K inverter (3K generator) or plugged into a 110 outlet on a house. Looking forward to your next video!

[@andrewk1916]

@@EddieAtLarge Any issues with this charging when plugged into the tow vehicle or mods you had to do on that end as well?

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Andrew Kocsis No issues.

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Andrew Kocsis Took a look at the Lion Safari & expansion pack. I see that it is a lithium battery with a built in 2000w inverter. With our 3 Battleborn batteries, we'll have 3600wh vs the 2048wh that comes with the Lion ME & expansion. Our 3 batteries cost $899ea. and the 2000w inverter from Renogy for $339. You could go with 2 each 100ah (2400wh) lithium batteries (total of $1800 + tax) and the Renogy inverter for $339 and come in much less overall cost with more watt hours than the Lion ME & expansion which I see at $3995 on their website. As you said, this would be close to the same setup at almost 1/2 the cost. Just thought I'd throw that out there in case you wanted to consider it and it could save you some money. Also, the Battleborn batteries have 3000-5000 full cycles vs the 2500 full cycles of the Lion. Check this video out by Ray at Love Your RV where I got the idea from to do our future inverter setup: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r4eVqX2ffbiVnLc Hope that info helps and wish you the best on your setup and boondocking adventures! Thanks again for watching and commenting.

[@patmitskey839]

I've a lot to learn... Where do you buy one of these converters?

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Pat Mitskey I do believe that WFCO has discontinued the WF-9850L2 model and has replaced it with the WF-9855-LIS model that has a remote switch that gets plugged into it so that you can switch between Lithium and Lead Acid battery types if needed. The 9850L2 still shows up on WFCO's website, but, I can't find it for sale on the internet. Amazon has the WF-9855-LIS. Looks like the unit does not include a remote switch with it. You would need to either use a wire to jump across the connectors or run wires to a remote switch to put it into Lithium mode. There's a review on Amazon that goes into more detail on how to do that. Here's a link to the review and product: www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R1AYKB98DR4GT2/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B08KJJF7L8 Another option would be to buy a different brand such as Progressive Dynamics. Here is a link for one of their chargers. battlebornbatteries.com/product/progressive-dynamics-12v-60-amp-lifepo4-battery-charger/ You'll want to make sure you get the same amperage charger that you currently have in your camper so you don't overload the wiring.

[@vitalhoma2553]

Could I put more then one battery in the RV with out doing anything else besides the converter?

[@EddieAtLarge]

Yes. You would be able to add multiple batteries by wiring them in parallel to keep the voltage the same.

[@SkypowerwithKarl]

It looks like you only have #6 leads out of the charger. That may account for only 30 amps out of a 50 amp charger. Look up a “voltage drop calculator”online. Making sure that keeping runs short as possible between batteries and loads/chargers and properly sized conductors can make a huge improvement. For instance a 12volt 3000 watt inverter can draw 400 amp peak (and should be fused as such). For even short runs of a few feet can drop delivered voltage by .3 volts with a 4/0 cable. I ran double 4/0 cables to avoid low voltage inverter tripping when there a surge like running a coffee maker and toaster at the same time. The batteries were at the time were three 8D AGM VMAX in parallel. I experienced tripping when the batteries were down to 12.5v or 40% (no load at batteries). Improvements now are now are a 24v 4000watt inverter/charger lithium ready, using the same (now way overkill) double 4/0 runs because it’s already there. Tied into six Battle Born 100 amp batteries. My capacity has doubled also notice that for a given load, lithium’s don’t drop/sag voltage as much as top rated AGM’s. They also charge/top up faster than AGM’s. As far as I know the three AGM’s are still running fine after I sold them. With the AGM’s I typically would recharge at 12.5 and never let it go below 12.3(no load) Now I just have the inverter shutoff 10.5 volts though I’ve never got below 12.

[@EddieAtLarge]

Hey Karl! We do only have 6awg hooked up to the charger. We left the stock cables intact for now, however, plan to upgrade to a 3000W inverter and add on 2 more Battleborn 100amp Lithium’s. When we do that, we’ll be moving the batteries to another bay right next to the inverter and upgrading the wiring as well at that time I’m thinking to 2/0 wire. Thanks for pointing that out about the probable reason for only getting 30amps out of a 50amp charger. That makes a lot of sense that it comes down to the wire length. It’s quite a distance from the charger to the battery... Thanks for the info!

[@SkypowerwithKarl]

Homie At Large Excellent idea! I highly recommend something like the 12 volt Magna Sine Hybrid inverter charger. 24 v version is more efficient and allows smaller cables. Hold onto the new charger than you can run separate banks for “house” and “inverter”. If you replace or install an additional heavy duty alternator (24v?)(Balmar) and use a isolator ACR (Blue sea systems) you may be surprised how fast you can recharge your banks. Yes they are marine but they work. Consider the use of up or down converter for alternator charging if you go the 24 volt route. There are so many great devices available now. Remember those long runs are big cables and are +$ to do it right. Don’t forget the max charge rate of 100 amps per battery. The frame can help with sharing the load but not to be depended on and no current through the hitch contact. Have fun, it only cost money, but KZbin monetize can help.

[@SkypowerwithKarl]

Hint: if you run a home refrigerator/freezer 115 volt there are two things to do to it. #1 find the defrost circuit and install a switch to disable it at night or for a few days while on inverter. This will make it more efficient and the keep the inverter quiet at night as the fan only kicks on with higher loads. Make a check list so you remember to turn it back on. If the refrigerator doesn’t already have one incorporated in it, Install a delay on timer (at power plug is ok) to allow the compressor head pressures to drop when there’s a power interruption (power transfer). If the compressor stalls, there’s a overheat switch that can trip but it’s a bad idea and it only works so many time.

[@EddieAtLarge]

Looking at installing this SPS and use with the Victron Multiplus 12/3000 inverter. Will try to minimize the cable runs between the SPS and the battery bank/inverter. Per the website: “The Smart Phase Selector (SPS) is designed to control power flows between a 50A main panel, a single input inverter with AC pass-through/PowerAssist, a shore power connection, and a generator. It allows both sides of the 50A main panel to receive power with a single inverter whether connected to a 50A shore source or not, within the output limitations of the inverter. The SPS greatly simplifies the installation of an inverter system and improves the functionality of an RV configured for a 50A service.” Saw this on All About RVs KZbin channel with Jared Gillis. I actually met him when we were out west and he was nice enough to give me some advice on the setup.

[@EddieAtLarge]

Here’s the link to his video on it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bamugKyIrt2XhM0

[@gcragg11]

hi...thanks for the vid man...enjoyed it. Im looking at someday upgrading to lithium as well. I was thinking id go for 200 AHs. ( just to be safe) I havent really callculated my usage but its I say fairly average. Do you think the extra moneys worth it for the average guy? Your furnace ran quite alot and you were only down what?...74% er so? we do have an inverter that will get used some though. ( some TV maybe) Not sure if you used one during that first dew nights or not. Do you think that would be enough diff from what your needs seem to be to warrant the 200 over the 100? thank you

[@EddieAtLarge]

Hey there. Glad you enjoyed the video. Lithium is definately the way to go, especially if you're doing a lot of boondocking. We ran on the 100 AH battery and 200 Watts of Solar for the 1st year out, however, we were extremely conservative with our power and had lots of sun out in the Western US. We now have 300 AH as we have added a 3000 Watt Inverter and we ran on 600 Watts of Solar for 6 months out West last season. No problem running the TV, Starlink Satellite & charging devices. We would shut down Starlink overnight though to conserve some energy. Also just added another 350 Watts of solar to the roof for convenience. You can start small like we did if you like and per Battleborn, you can add more batteries up to 2 years after the original install without compromising the integrity of the battery bank. I would say you're on the right track with at least 200 AH to start. It was well worth the money for us, however, we travel and live full time in our RV. Hope that info helps. Feel free to let me know if you have any other questions.

[@gcragg11]

@@EddieAtLarge that sounds like great advice and much more like what we d need that what you started out with. Thanks again!

[@BWSmithOnline]

Do you do all this boondocking on that one 100 amph lithium battery?

[@EddieAtLarge]

We actually now have 3 batteries and 900 watts of solar.

[@2marice2]

I really appreciate this video. I can barely change a light bulb so thanks for explaining in detail. I have a MUCH better idea of what a converter does and how a newer model was beneficial. Going behind the circuit box was helpful.

[@EddieAtLarge]

You’re very welcome Bob! 👍🏻

[@danielsnook5029]

Why is your spare tire eating into your storage space, it should be mounted underneath or on rear bumper?🤔

[@EddieAtLarge]

For whatever reason, Keystone decided to put it in the front storage bay. Would love to have the extra room!

[@derkhutchens9956]

Thanks for the video, I am in the same situation I have a 2022 Grand Design solitude 375RES, I’m thinking about switching out my lead acid batteries today at 100 amp hour lithium battery so I have to switch out the converter as well like in your situation. My question is can you run any other appliances other than what your lead acid battery could run, Microwave, outlets, TV?

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Derk Hutchens Hi Derk, to run any A/C powered appliances, you would need to install an inverter. This can be simple or complicated depending on which route you choose. Here's a video from a guy who did an inverter install like ours (the simple way), then plugs his main power chord into it to get power to his camper. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eaLRY3anndefi7s Like he says in the video, make sure you don't overload it by running too many appliances at the same time. Also be sure to shut off the breaker to the converter so you aren't trying to charge your batteries with your batteries. We actually shut off all breakers other than the camper outlets and we don't use high powered devices like the microwave as they can drain your batteries quickly. Also, make sure you use heavy gauge extension cord (as short as possible) going from the converter to your main power cord. We have a 12 Gauge, 3 prong cord. You'll need an adapter as well to go from the extension cord to your main camper cord. Rule of thumb for the inverter size is 1000Watts for every 100AH of battery. Meaning, if you want a 2000W converter, you'll need at least 200AH in batteries. We put in a 2000W Renogy converter and now have 300AH of Lithium. If I was to do it over again, I would have went with the 3000W inverter for not much more money.

[@bt4b4]

Won’t your solar panels charge up the Battle Born battery ?

[@EddieAtLarge]

@bt4b4 They would also charge very slowly as we only have 2 ea. 100W panels. The new converter charges at 25 - 35 amps in bulk mode whereas the solar panels will only charge around 15 amps in full sun. But, yes, they charge the lithium battery as well with the proper solar controller. Thanks for the question and thanks for watching!

[@bt4b4]

@@EddieAtLarge oh yeah. Thanks for the info. Stay safe out there, peacefrom510 .

[@garygullikson6349]

Can you divulge what DIY conversion cost you, new converter plus lithium battery?

[@EddieAtLarge]

@gary gullikson $900 for the Battleborn Lithium Battery, $250 for the WFCO converter

[@crudedriver]

Will the original battery monitor still work for a quick glance?

[@EddieAtLarge]

Hi Duane, the factory battery monitor will not give you a true reading for your battery levels and is quite inacurrate. Here's our video for the Victron BMV-712 which I highly recommend (we are not affiliated with Victron, just really like their products). kzbin.info/www/bejne/qaPYqaumoquXqtU And here is a link to the monitor on our Amazon page: amzn.to/3weECxf Feel free to let me know if you have any other questions.

[@johnfritz3792]

Can you still charge a lead acid battery with the new converter? Thanks

[@EddieAtLarge]

Not with the model in our video, however, WFCO now makes a model that a switch can be wired to and that one will charge lead acid or lithium. amzn.to/3sGos0u

[@johnfritz3792]

@@EddieAtLarge thank you for your reply!

[@guycaouette3569]

Great video. I’m thinking of doing the same. I noticed you have a Cougar Fifth wheel. Any problem either In-Command system?

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Guy Caouette No issue with the In-Command system. I did install the BMV-712 battery monitor though as the In-Command battery monitor is inaccurate. I made a video for that as well if you’d like to check it out. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qaPYqaumoquXqtU

[@guycaouette3569]

Yes. I saw too. Great job!!

[@BenjaminMedlock]

Thank you for this video. Is your fridge a propane/electrical one? I am inquiring because I have a 12 volt fridge and I was hoping you did as well to see the overnight drop. Thanks again for making this video.

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Benjamin Medlock You are welcome! Our fridge is propane & electric. Not sure what the consumption is overnight for just the fridge as we have been boondocking in fairly cold temps and the furnace is the big draw right now. I believe it uses very little power though. Maybe only an amp or 2 when running. It is a Dometic.

[@aznick102]

I have a 3 stage WFCO 8735 model, wondering if I'd have same issues with not charging battery 100% too? I read your comments about the alternator and the last one you said you thought the alternator wasn't charging battery at all? But no issues with alternator to date? I'd like to drop a lithium 100ah in when our sealed flooded lead battery fails, but don't want to change out converter/charger if I don't have to as we are seriously considering upgrading to a 5th wheel. Then I could just swap lithium into 5th wheel and then do upgrade to converter/charger if necessary.

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Nick Markosian Hi Nick. No issues with the truck alternator charging my truck batteries. It just doesn't send any charge to the lithium battery in our 5th wheel. I would guess that you may have similar issues with your WFCO 9735. I tried to do a little research on your model and could not find much info. There is supposed to be a replacement "Switch" for your power center, part number WF-8735-PB-LIS, however, I could not find anyone online who is selling it. I would recommend calling both Battleborn and WFCO to see if they can give you more information. When I called Battleborn about our model converter/charger, they told me that it would charge the battery, just not to 100% (only to around 80%). Which I thought would be fine as Lithium can be discharged to almost 0% without damage. The issue I ran into was that the battery would charge extremely slow using the stock converter/charger. I had not choice and had to replace it. If the manufacturers say you can use it, you can always buy the battery first to see if it charges ok or not. Another option for you is to get set up with some solar. We use only 200 watts of solar to charge our batteries and I haven't had to run our generator in over 3 months while full time RVing. We are boondocking out west though with plenty of sunshine... Hope this helps!

[@aznick102]

@@EddieAtLarge After reading the manual to our power center, it states it will only stay in bulk mode for a max of four hours, wondering if this is the weak link to charging lithium battery. I need to look to see if you did a video on your solar setup, we definitely will be looking into this too! I'll look, but did you go suitcase style or attach to RV? We live in Phoenix and when we camp I hunt shade, so no way I'm attaching to RV. But that begs the question if you leave camp to fish, hike etc... How safe is it to leave them out.

[@EddieAtLarge]

@@aznick102 I don't believe that the limitation on time in bulk mode is the issue. From my understanding, the standard converter isn't configured to be able to send a high enough voltage to the lithium battery to charge it properly. A standard lead acid battery is considered full at 13Volts. A lithium battery is considered full at 14.6Volts. My lithium converter sends 14.6Volts to the battery when in bulk mode (I checked it with a multi-meter). If the standard converter is only sending 13Volts (in bulk mode), that would be the issue IMO. I haven't done the solar video (yet). I did put together a solar suitcase with 2 ea. 100 watt panels (200 Watts total) and can run it out about 30' from the RV using 10 AWG wire with the panels wired together in series. We leave the panels out and secure them with locks and a steel cable. If someone really wants to steal them, I'm sure they could get around the locks and cable (if that's what you are referring to regarding being safe to leave them out?) Or if you mean safety electrical wise, the solar controller that we installed takes care of that and will cut off power input from the panels once the batteries are fully charged.

[@aznick102]

@@EddieAtLarge You got it, I was talking about the two legged animals walking off with suitcase. You should make a short video on how you built your suitcase. My converter says in bulk mode it will charge at 14.4Vdc for max 4 hours. www.manualslib.com/manual/1647241/Wfco-Wf-8700-Series.html?page=7#manual - This stuff is so interesting, but also gives me a headache. Thanks for your help in understanding all this!

[@EddieAtLarge]

@@aznick102 Glad to help! Your converter may work to charge them, however, I wouldn't get your hopes too high. I do know that they design those converters to work with the certain battery types and they are able to detect the battery state of charge which in turn puts the converter in the different modes (bulk charge, absorption charge and float charge). The converter will most likely not be able to determine what state of charge your new lithium battery is in and therefore won't charge it as quickly or to the full capacity. Will definitely be putting together the videos for the battery bank upgrade and solar panels sometime soon.

[@hidalgored]

did you. have to replace the 12 volt fuse panel? I've heard different stories

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Rich Bring We did not have to replace the panel. It was as simple as what we show in the video.

[@hidalgored]

@@EddieAtLarge thanks, I just ordered the converter you used

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Rich Bring Cool. You'll love lithium. We've got 3 now.

[@AnotherDayDIY]

Excellent info for what we’re thinking to do. Thank you 🙏🏻. May I ask what battery monitor system you use? Just subscribed and will check out your other videos to find it but if you see this and could let us know, we’d appreciate it. Thanks again.

[@EddieAtLarge]

Thanks for subscribing! We use the Victron BMV-712 and it’s worked very well for us over the years. Here’s the link to that install and review. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qaPYqaumoquXqtU

[@AnotherDayDIY]

@@EddieAtLarge 👍🏼👍🏼. “Add to cart”. Lol. Shot down on the wf9850. I guess they no longer make them. Found a 9845lis, with a switch. I have no idea how to hook up the “switch” part but it still seems the best option. Thanks for everything ☺️

[@EddieAtLarge]

@twoforonecreativelife Cool. Yes, I believe they discontinued our model. There is also a 55 amp LIS model on Amazon, however, you would need to ensure your wiring is sufficient to handle the extra amperage. Regarding the switch, it’s fairly simple. The new model should come with a “jumper wire” and for the unit to charge on lithium parameters, you just install the jumper wire into the Wago connectors and then you won’t need to install a switch. You only need the switch if you plan on swapping lead acid and lithium batteries back and forth which most people won’t be doing. Let me know if that makes sense. You can also look up the questions on Amazon regarding the WF 9855 LIS model and many people talk about it there. amzn.to/44fgXLy

[@AnotherDayDIY]

@@EddieAtLarge , I did see that one but our wiring is same as yours from what I can tell; further investigation needed on my part to be certain. And, honestly, I’m okay with slower charging speed if it’s safer ☺️. I’m happy to hear there’s likely a wire (included) to make the switch lithium only. That was going to be my next puzzle to solve. All of this is new to me and as I am retired and my husband still works, I’ve taken on the tasks involved in getting our new-to-us rv ready for full time living. All the information necessary is truly mind boggling…and I began “studying” months before we purchased our rig. So…thanks again for you help. The electrical had been kicking my butt! Lol. Grateful to ya

[@EddieAtLarge]

@twoforonecreativelife You’re most welcome! We’ve been at it full time for almost 4 years now and we’re still learning all the time. If there’s no wire included, you should be able to use a short 14 or 16 gauge wire for the jumper. Have fun and safe travels!

[@jeraldmcqueen9226]

What is the recommended 12v solar panel array that should be used to charge this 2-battery bank? What does your solart array look like on top?

[@EddieAtLarge]

Hello Jerald, we used only 200W of solar last year to power and charge 3 ea. of our Battlborn 100 AH batteries while boondocking for 5 months out west. The sun out west easily recharged our batteries each day with only 200W, however, we were not using a ton of energy last year. This year, we've added 400W to the roof and now have a 3000W Renogy inverter providing AC power to our rig for all of our outlets. We now use our TV's, microwave and have the Starlink internet dish that uses quite a bit of energy. Not to mention recharging our computers, phones and cameras. Hope that answers your question? Here is a link to our Amazon page where we have all of the equipment and parts listed that we used to do our upgrades as well as other items that we have purchased to live full time in our RV. www.amazon.com/shop/homieatlarge (Please Note: As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases when you visit our Amazon Home Page)

[@thebrianashman]

I've watched you install the wfco upgrade for lithium batteriesand the monitor. Did you install a mmpt solar controller module?

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Ashman Brian Yes, I did install a 100 | 20 Victron MPPT Solar charge controller to go with my 200w solar suitcase that I put together. I also added 2 additional 100 AH Lithium batteries and a 2000w inverter. I used it this summer while boondocking for 5 months straight and the setup has worked great. Taking a break right now, but will be doing install and review videos on those soon.

[@daviscrt]

How much solar are you using? Don't remember seeing it on your rig

[@EddieAtLarge]

Don Davis Good Evening Don! We don't have solar set up just yet, however, I had ordered and now have all the components that I need to build a 200W "solar suitcase" for ground use. I plan to eventually install panels on the roof as well. Can't wait to start harvesting that free energy!

[@calpal9983]

Thanks for this!

[@EddieAtLarge]

My pleasure!

[@seannic66]

Ops I mean do I need to replace my distribution box with a newer one for the upgrade to lithium batt ?

[@EddieAtLarge]

Yes, if you have an older model with the distribution box vs the converter/charger plug in like ours, you would need to replace/upgrade to the newer distribution box that supports lithium.

[@Gman-qm6bv]

The DC battery charge from your truck, is there any adapter you need to put in series from your truck to RV to protect your F250 alternator since you switched to lithium?

[@EddieAtLarge]

No issue on mine as for some reason, the truck alternator doesn’t charge the trailer batteries at all while hooked up. Not a big deal for us now that we installed solar on the trailer roof and that charges while we drive. If you want to charge your lithium battery with your alternator, you will want to use a DC to DC charger that has a lithium profile like this one: amzn.to/3kGjP2i Here’s a great video by Ray from Love Your RV on the install. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rajCZayehrV6rbs You may want to pull the fuse to keep your alternator from charging through the trailer cable as well if it’s pushing current to avoid damaging your alternator.

[@seanhenriques808]

Awesome video..simple and perfect for my application. Is your rig a Jayco? Ours is and the heating duct runs by the converter just like yours so when the heat is on the fan on the converter runs too. DUMB! lol

[@EddieAtLarge]

@sean808080 Thank you! Our rig is a Keystone Cougar 25RES and yes, one of our heat ducts does run right past the converter. Have not noticed the converter fan kicking on when the heat is running. I'll have to check that out. I did notice yesterday that our oven that is located directly above the converter, has holes in the bottom where when you open the oven door, you can see directly down into the cavity below where the converter sits as well as all of our wiring that is connected to the breaker panel. I couldn't believe it! I'm assuming there hasn't been any major issues because of this as I'm sure this design/configuration has been around for a while. Fingers crossed... Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@hidalgored]

will one lithium battery go longer than two 6 volt golf cart batteries?

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Rich Bring It would be close to the same. 2 golf cart batteries at 6v would need to be wired in series to make 12v. Each golf cart battery is typically 200 to 220 amp hours. Wired in series, the voltage increases to 12v and the Amp hours stay the same. Golf cart batteries can only be drained to 50% before damage begins. So that cuts the AH down to 100 (or 110). All that being said, 2 golf cart batteries are about the same capacity as 1 lithium battery at 100AH that can be drained completely with no damage.

[@hidalgored]

@@EddieAtLarge OK thanks, I'm trying to figure out how to go to the sand dunes for 4 days without running the generator the entire time . Should have kept my toy hauler

[@EddieAtLarge]

👍🏻

[@jrmilchling9215]

did you do anything charging from your truck you need protect your alternator with a dc to dc charger or other device it will damage it over a short period of time

[@EddieAtLarge]

We did not. We now have 750W of solar on the roof so we are always charging.

[@jrmilchling9215]

if you get power from the truck your alt will be affected you need check this @@EddieAtLarge

[@eilersjessica]

Which battery monitor did you install?

[@EddieAtLarge]

The Victron BMV-712. Here’s our installation video for it: Victron BMV-712 Bluetooth RV Battery Monitor Installation & Review (w/ Battleborn Lithium battery) kzbin.info/www/bejne/qaPYqaumoquXqtU

[@bobmakow55]

What was your source of power for charging, generator?

[@EddieAtLarge]

Champion 3100 Watt generator.

[@seannic66]

Do you the converter box I have a older 5th wheel mines a 06 dos min have the converter built in so I lrobly need a new inverter power box ?

[@EddieAtLarge]

See my other reply.

[@Farmer2492]

problem is on eBay there are lithium batteries that say 100ah but are rated lower than advertised

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Farmer2492 We bought our batteries direct from Battleborn.

[@chrisheiser9207]

What year is your cougar? I am looking at this same upgrade on my 2021 cougar. I havent dug deep enough into the panel yet to check the model number on the transfer switch/converter.

[@EddieAtLarge]

@Chris Heiser Ours is a 2020. I do believe that WFCO has discontinued the WF-9850L2 model and has replaced it with the WF-9855-LIS model that has a remote switch that gets plugged into it so that you can switch between Lithium and Lead Acid battery types if needed. The 9850L2 still shows up on WFCO's website, but, I can't find it for sale on the internet. Amazon has the WF-9855-LIS. Looks like the unit does not include a remote switch with it. You would need to either use a wire to jump across the connectors or run wires to a remote switch to put it into Lithium mode. There's a review on Amazon that goes into more detail on how to do that. Here's a link to the review and product: www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R1AYKB98DR4GT2/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B08KJJF7L8

[@johnr5545]

Nice job god bless

[@GirdHerd]

Did you have to change any of the charging parameters or was the WF-9850L2 "plug & play"?

[@EddieAtLarge]

@19ken49 The WF-9850L2 is plug and play. There is actually no way to connect to it to change any of the parameters. Kind of wish there was though... The WFCO does pretty well though regardless charging around 25 to 30 amps in bulk charge mode. We will eventually be moving to a Victron Multiplus Inverter which will have full access to alter parameters as needed.

[@GirdHerd]

If you plan to leave your Victron BMV-712 display in that compartment and not mount it in the living space, you might want to consider switching to Victron's new SmartShunt. It is Bluetooth capable with no display. I really like mine.

[@EddieAtLarge]

@19ken49 Because the BMV-712 is bluetooth capable, I just connect to that with my phone, so, I don't think we would benefit from the SmartShunt, unless maybe it has additional features that the 712 does not have?