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Adding a lithium Ion battery to FWC


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#21 cdbrow1

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Posted 29 January 2015 - 02:41 AM

Photos - 

 

I put the new battery in the position of the second battery (further aft) so I would have space to install an inverter in the forward area. 

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#22 enelson

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Posted 29 January 2015 - 03:54 AM

I will be charging off the FWC camper connection, which is only 10 gauge wire. It won't be passing too many amps down that path. Otherwise would be off line power or the generator via the IOTA DLS which would charge at higher amperage, but most likely during warmer hours. 

 

I am not doing solar - yet. I will probably be adding 100-180 watts of flexable panels on the roof down the road, but only if I can find a solar charger that will work within the confines of the charging profile I need. 

 

 

Stark and the other vendors I have spoken with have all advised against "float" charging - they say charge the battery to 14.6 volts and then take it off the charger until it need another charge.  Have you addressed this? 

The details of my installation are on this thread http://www.wanderthe...n-hallmark-k2/ 

 

It also answers your question about how to keep track of state of charge of the LiFePo battery.  The answer is an amp hour meter.  My BMS board has current shunts and a battery management integrated circuit that does the amp hour calculations.  I wish the BMS was available for purchase at the moment but I think there is a delay before more are released.  


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#23 craig333

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Posted 29 January 2015 - 03:54 AM

Thank you all for doing this. Hopefully by the time they drop in price to where I'll consider it we'll have all the bugs worked out.


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#24 enelson

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Posted 29 January 2015 - 04:17 AM

cdbrow1, I forgot that you had already read the thread where I described my build.  I you have any specific questions you can ask them on this thread or PM me.  

 

I did remove my lead acid battery charger completely from the camper and only use solar or truck DC directly to into my solar Battery Management System board.  The BMS has distinct IN, BATT, LOAD terminals and it is not possible to both charge and discharge via the LOAD like the way a lead acid battery charger would do.  The IN has solar and truck DC connected, the BATT has only the battery + terminal connected, the LOAD connects to the Progressive Dynamics power box that was factory installed.  The LOAD power is connected where the lead acid battery charger would have normally connected to the 12V DC Bus.  All the negative (return) DC lines are shorted together since the BMS is only designed to work on the positive side of the DC circuits.  My inverter is also connected to the LOAD on the BMS.  The AC from the inverter is connected to the AC bus on the Progressive Dynamics Box.  That way my three AC outlets all have inverter power on them.  The shore power AC that was installed in the camper is presently not hooked to anything.  I will eventually run it to the 2-way frig.  When I want to charge the battery from shore power I just plug a 12V 3.5A supply to the truck power cable and this can top off the battery.

 

Eric Nelson


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#25 photohc

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Posted 29 January 2015 - 08:28 AM

cdbrow1, thanks for sharing. I assume you left all the components installed by FWC as is. All you did was to remove the AGM battery and replace with the LiFePo4 battery? So this would mean, the IOTA converter/charger, and solar panel/controller is still hooked up?


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#26 cdbrow1

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Posted 29 January 2015 - 03:23 PM

cdbrow1, thanks for sharing. I assume you left all the components installed by FWC as is. All you did was to remove the AGM battery and replace with the LiFePo4 battery? So this would mean, the IOTA converter/charger, and solar panel/controller is still hooked up?


That is correct. I confirmed with IOTA that their unit will not exceed the voltage requirements of the new battery. I have no solar as of yet, but my truck is prewired by FWC for solar.
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#27 photohc

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Posted 29 January 2015 - 05:13 PM

I will be charging off the FWC camper connection, which is only 10 gauge wire. It won't be passing too many amps down that path. Otherwise would be off line power or the generator via the IOTA DLS which would charge at higher amperage, but most likely during warmer hours. 

 

I am not doing solar - yet. I will probably be adding 100-180 watts of flexable panels on the roof down the road, but only if I can find a solar charger that will work within the confines of the charging profile I need. 

 

 

Stark and the other vendors I have spoken with have all advised against "float" charging - they say charge the battery to 14.6 volts and then take it off the charger until it need another charge.  Have you addressed this? 

That is correct. Remove the charge source once you've reached full charge. You may want to check with Stark if the BMS (battery management system) does that for you. The BMS I'm getting from Electrodacus, does that as part of the management system.

 

That is correct. I confirmed with IOTA that their unit will not exceed the voltage requirements of the new battery. I have no solar as of yet, but my truck is prewired by FWC for solar.

I've been looking at my current 2xAGMs, solar, and IOTA wiring and planning for my lithium/bms arrival. I'll need to do some changes the way the IOTA is hooked up to the system. The IOTA currently is wired directly to the fuse block. There is a on/off switch that connects/disconnects the AGM battery to the fuse box. The IOTA charges the AGM's via this connection to the battery. That is why, if you are plugged into shore power, the battery will not charge unless the switch is on. If off, the battery is disconnected from the fuse block and therefore not receiving current from the IOTA but the rest of the camper is still powered by the IOTA.

A little complicated but this is the best I could figure out. If your bms shuts down the charging, then your okay the way you have it, otherwise you may need to disconnect the shore power once the batteries reach 100%.


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#28 Advmoto18

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Posted 29 January 2015 - 11:23 PM

My HAWK is on order.  So I am writing based only on what I've read and researched.

 

According to the FWC Support/Service Manuals/Electrical & Solar web page, the Morningstar SS-6-12V solar controller is installed in the camper. 

 

According to the Morningstar web site (linked by FWC) this controller does not support LiFePO batteries.

 

The Bioenno Power 12V/24V, 30A  Solar Controller (Model SC-122430T) is designed specifcally for LiFePO batteries. 

 

I wonder if swapping out the Morningstar for the Bioenno is called for when using a STARPOWER 100Ah LiFePO battery?


Edited by Advmoto18, 29 January 2015 - 11:28 PM.

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#29 cdbrow1

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Posted 30 January 2015 - 12:02 AM

My HAWK is on order.  So I am writing based only on what I've read and researched.

 

According to the FWC Support/Service Manuals/Electrical & Solar web page, the Morningstar SS-6-12V solar controller is installed in the camper. 

 

According to the Morningstar web site (linked by FWC) this controller does not support LiFePO batteries.

 

The Bioenno Power 12V/24V, 30A  Solar Controller (Model SC-122430T) is designed specifcally for LiFePO batteries. 

 

I wonder if swapping out the Morningstar for the Bioenno is called for when using a STARPOWER 100Ah LiFePO battery?

 

I would not use the morningstar controller. It is a nice unit, but might damage the battery over time. From a quick look the Bioenno meets the specs for my battery. I would install this unit if I was using solar.  


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#30 cdbrow1

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Posted 30 January 2015 - 12:08 AM

That is correct. Remove the charge source once you've reached full charge. You may want to check with Stark if the BMS (battery management system) does that for you. The BMS I'm getting from Electrodacus, does that as part of the management system.

 

I've been looking at my current 2xAGMs, solar, and IOTA wiring and planning for my lithium/bms arrival. I'll need to do some changes the way the IOTA is hooked up to the system. The IOTA currently is wired directly to the fuse block. There is a on/off switch that connects/disconnects the AGM battery to the fuse box. The IOTA charges the AGM's via this connection to the battery. That is why, if you are plugged into shore power, the battery will not charge unless the switch is on. If off, the battery is disconnected from the fuse block and therefore not receiving current from the IOTA but the rest of the camper is still powered by the IOTA.

A little complicated but this is the best I could figure out. If your bms shuts down the charging, then your okay the way you have it, otherwise you may need to disconnect the shore power once the batteries reach 100%.

 

 

I think the FWC kill switch works for me. I will plug in the camper overnight before trips to precool the fridge with the kill switch activated (battery isolated) and put a quick charge in the battery for an hour or two before I leave by deactivating the kill switch. 


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