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Ultimate Battery Thread


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#81 Vic Harder

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Posted 06 August 2021 - 05:11 PM

Can you charge them fully somehow and confirm voltage and SOC?
Any idea how many charge/discharge cycles those batteries have seen?

 

Just using voltage I agree those batteries are likely toast.  Question is why?  If you only ever discharged to 50% you should still get hundreds of days (and years of elapsed time) of usage out of them.

 

Phil (Wallowa) just sent me this vid:

 

Battle Born 12v Battery: How to Determine State of Charge (vs lead acid) - Bing video


Edited by Vic Harder, 06 August 2021 - 07:11 PM.

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#82 dennis 221

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Posted 07 August 2021 - 03:57 PM

6am on monitor 10.6- off- o o A- 0 W -1.8V (20 -24.) 0 KWH , all means nothing to me.. maybe to you???
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#83 Vic Harder

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Posted 07 August 2021 - 06:11 PM

A picture would be better!
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#84 Wallowa

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Posted 08 August 2021 - 02:38 AM




6am on monitor 10.6- off- o o A- 0 W -1.8V (20 -24.) 0 KWH , all means nothing to me.. maybe to you???

 

========================================

 

Just saw this thread come back alive...I assume you have two AGMs [2x 75ah ?] and that this is a FWC....if that "10.6"  or previous "10.2" is the voltage shown for those batteries, then my guess is that they are either dead-right-there or severely damaged...Vic is correct, a picture of your BMV monitor?

 

If they are damaged or dead like Vic said why?  Most likely insufficient charging and/or excessive draw down..

 

Suggest testing the voltage on each battery separately  and then charging each with a stand-alone battery charger; but then if nothing shows up, take them into to battery shop for a load test...voltage alone may not show a weakness...

 

These are just my WAGs...sorry for your fix!

 

Phil


Edited by Wallowa, 08 August 2021 - 02:46 AM.

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#85 dennis 221

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Posted 11 August 2021 - 01:28 PM

Still trucking. Tried a fwc site in Jackson but they moved an No one knows where. O well
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#86 dennis 221

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Posted 11 August 2021 - 01:36 PM

So if I jump on the lithium battery band wagon .are they just drop in replacement or do I need a whole new solar set up???
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#87 ckent323

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Posted 17 August 2021 - 11:48 PM

Dennis221,

 

Depends on what you have already. 
Do you have a newer truck with a smart aternator or an older truck with a dumb alternator?
How is the camper connecter to the truck (i.e. wire size and battery separator or other components). Is it fused?

Do you have a battery separator or a Blue Sea ACR or a DC-DC charger?

Do you have solar?  What type, model and brand of solar controller? 

Do you have a battery monitor?


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1993 Dodge Cummins W-250 Club Cab long bed, 2007 FWC Keystone


#88 Sedro F. Woolley

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Posted 27 September 2021 - 10:42 PM

I have the same basic question as Dennis221, so I'll jump in with my answers to ckent323's questions:

Truck: 2009 Tacoma dbl cab, long bed 4wd with (presumably) stock alternator, purchased with camper in 2017.

Camper: 2011 4WD Finch, purchased with truck in 2017, originally sold in Canada (if that makes any difference).

Truck wiring: Appears to be AWG 10 from truck battery to female plug-in for camper in side of bed.Wire diameter with insulation is ca. 3/16".

Camper wiring: Pretty sure wires from 4-wire male plug to separator switch are AWG 10. Not sure about wires from separator switch to battery, thinking they're probably whatever was standard for Finch when 4WD built it. Will certainly check this before proceeding with work on system and replace with AWG 10 if needed.

Separator switch: SurePower 1314A (original from 4WD factory, I believe.)

Solar: Renogy 12V, 150W panel on roof, Bogart SC2030 charge controller. I installed in 2017.

Battery monitor: Bogart Trimetric TM2030. I installed in 2017.

Crown 80Ah AGM battery I installed in 2017 after original battery failed the first time we took the camper out now seems to be on its last legs. Through (initially) ignorance and (later) inattention, I managed to completely drain the new battery at least twice and drop it below 50% a time or two as well. Now, even after showing 100% charge on TM2030 monitor, when we run it down to 80% or so on the monitor using lights, "furnace", fan, etc., battery voltage is low (wish I'd thought to write it down when this has happened, but it occurs to me now I could possibly get some of this info from the monitor memory), lights start to flicker, and furnace won't work.

I know I should probably get a load test done on the AGM, but I'm pretty inclined to go ahead regardless and replace it with a BattleBorn 100Ah LiFePO4 battery for the additional usable capacity. It looks like I might have to finagle the existing battery compartment a bit to fit it in, like raise the cleats that support the wee plywood cover to provide more clearance for the battery terminal connections, but this seems doable. I have BattleBorn's instructions on setting the correct parameters for the battery on the TM2030 monitor and SC2030 solar charger. I also noticed in a previous post that I can get an IOTA IQ4 smart charger module to plug into my existing IOTA DLS30 120V/12V converter/charger that will automatically provide the correct charge rates for the LiFePO4 battery.

I think that just leaves the truck to camper charging system. I want to upgrade this eventually to get more charging from the truck (bigger wires, new alternator, new isolator switch, 12V/12V charger, etc.?) , but my sense from reading other posts is that with the built-in BMS on the new battery, I could safely install it without having to worry too much about damaging it with the existing on-board charging system. Am I more or less on-base with this approach?

Edited by Sedro F. Woolley, 27 September 2021 - 11:01 PM.

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2009 Tacoma 4wd DCLB
2011 Finch

#89 Vic Harder

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Posted 28 September 2021 - 02:15 AM

Sedro, yeah that should work.  Going Li vs AGM doesn't change the fact that alternator charging using the factory system is ... pathetic.  To improve it I would wait to see if you even need the truck charging system with your new BB.  Your AGM "Should" still be working with only 2 major discharges (unless they froze while discharged?) but the evidence you mentioned seems to prove they are indeed dead.

 

If you do decide to make the alternator charging option work, you will need to:

- Install a DC-DC charger.  Victron recommended (no affiliation!).  Why?  Because the voltage drop over 10g at 30A is enough to get the separator cycling on/off/on so frequently that actual charging is very low.  When you install the DC-DC, the separator goes into the spare parts bin!

- Upgrade the wiring to at least 6g.  This is because the voltage drop at 30A over 10g will make setting the "motor running" detection settings more complicated than they need to be.  Alternately, you could run a separate charge detection wire or switch to force the DC-DC to stay on. 

- No need for a new alternator or separator


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#90 dennis 221

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Posted 28 September 2021 - 02:51 PM

well we arrived home an since my last post ran furnace frig plug in 4 things to ubs ports lights etc an all ran with out a problem! maybe ,lol , going over all those horrible roads but supper fun between Dubois an green river woke them up!!!
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