Battery charging options

[Wrecit]

Doing a enclosed conversion and the dream is a full solar. Unfortunately did a full cost of conversion last night with wife and she got sticker shock lol.

My second thought for power is for now wire up the electrical sans the solar array. I want to get a 100 or 200 ah battery and wire the trailer with 12v lights, ect and get a battery charger hooked up on board that I can hook up a generator up for a few hours a day to recharge the system.

The idea is down the road seek in the solar when she if feeling more generous. I see a few hurtles to going this way but wanted to get the experts opinion with a blank slate before I gave my full thoughts to allow for all possibilities you can come up with.

[bdosborn]

A lot of people do that, you can always add solar later if you want. Just make sure you pick a charger that has at least 10% of your battery amp-hrs capacity for good battery life if you go lead acid (100 amp-hr battery=10amp charger). A battery monitor is always nice to have so you don't run your battery down too much and ruin it.
Bruce

[Wrecit]

I would be looking at a lipo. So if I go 200ah a 15amp would not fly?

[bdosborn]

Then you're only limited in size by whatever the battery manufacturer recommends and there isn't a minimum charge rate. But, you've got a lot of reading to do if you want to go lithium; there's a lot to learn and a lot of options out there.

lfhoward Lifepo4 write up

Bruce

[mtbikernate]

NOCO makes great chargers.

I've got one in my little camper. It's an older one (there are newer models out now), but it has settings for different battery chemistries and whatnot.

The way my camper is setup (very, very minimally speaking) on that end is that I have a port in the wall of the trailer for a standard 15A A/C cord.

https://no.co/gcp1

On the inside of the trailer, this plugs into a basic power strip.

Then my charger plugs into the power strip. Mine charges a 100Ah battery, which is within spec for the charger.

https://www.amazon.com/NOCO-G3500-Ultra ... B004LWVEKS

The Genius 5 is the updated version of it. https://no.co/genius5

I use a Dakota Lithium battery, which has a lot of the extra stuff dealt with already, including a BMS. Yeah, I paid a little more for the battery, but I didn't really have to fuss with it much. Just make sure it doesn't slide around in the spot where I chose to mount it (it replaced a smaller AGM battery, so I had to make some adjustments to the battery containment).

Now, a couple years after upgrading my battery, I'm adding solar (I technically already have a little 40W Zamp suitcase panel that can extend my trip a little bit, and it has a controller built in, so its wiring to the battery is dead simple). The solar bits that I ordered for my setup cost me just shy of $500, which is just a bit over half the cost of the battery alone. Not bad comparatively speaking, but considering that my trailer cost me about $10k to start with, I'm easily at 10-15% of the overall cost of the trailer (more if you count the fridge that is the whole reason I have been upgrading my electrical). If your build is saving you some money on the trailer itself, then the proportion will be higher.

[John61CT]

Do not use LiPo!

LFP (LiFePO4) is best.

LTO too but rare.

No 3.6-3.7V nominal li-ion is safe enough. Boom bad.

[rjgimp]

Then you're only limited in size by whatever the battery manufacturer recommends and there isn't a minimum charge rate. But, you've got a lot of reading to do if you want to go lithium; there's a lot to learn and a lot of options out there.

lfhoward Lifepo4 write up

Bruce

Yep, I second this wholeheartedly. As far as I am concerned, in this forum Lauren Howard is THE authority on this subject and the link Bruce offered is exactly where I would suggest you start reading. Lauren has assembled an incredible list of resources and links with even more detailed information. If Lithium is the direction you intend to go you are probably looking forward to a solid 30-40 hours worth of reading and videos to learn enough to not screw it up and end up wasting a crapload of money.

Good luck! I'll keep an eye on your build. I am about to dive into a foamie build on an old popup frame and also have ambitions of solar with a battery bank in at least the 200ah range. Not sure I'll dive into lithium but crazier things have occurred in my life. LOL!

[TimC]

Yep, Lauren convinced this LiFePo4 reluctant member how easy and fun it is to build a 100aHr LiFePo4 bank. And now I've built two and have ordered a third, smaller pack. First and second 100 aHr packs cost less than $300 (I had wire, fuses and misc needs). Give Lauren's abbreviated thread a look...

https://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=74022

[Wrecit]

I upgraded my Prius (06) to lipo4 last year and that sold me on everything electric needs lipo lol. I will check out the links thanks

[John61CT]

Lipo4 is not a thing. Lipo is, as a packaging technology, not a specific chemistry, but generally uses 3.6-3.7Vnom ones - which have nothing to do with LFP.

If in doubt use LiFePO4,