Adding more battery capacity April 11, 2025, 10:55:23 am In our 2021 I'm currently running two 6V AGM batteries with two factory installed PV panels (115w per) and no inverter. I think it would be liberating to be able to charge our ebike batteries when not on shore power without the generator. They are 750W and 625W batteries. Also off-grid electricity to heat water for tea in the morning, a small coffee maker, brief microwave use, a blender, etc...Could this be accomplished with an upgrade to lithium batteries and an inverter? I'm at a loss where to start as far as brands and capacity and the like.I'm in the San Diego County area. Any recommendations on an installer for all this? 1 Likes
Re: Adding more battery capacity Reply #1 – April 11, 2025, 11:51:34 am I’m not aware of any installers in the Sandy Eggo area but since there are some forum members down there perhaps they will chime in with suggestions. You are about 4 hours away from Quartzsite where there are at least two installers who operate during the October to April timeframe. You may want to contact one of them and discuss your power needs, then they can make equipment suggestions and give you a quote. Discount Solar did my install in January.RV Solar Installers & RV Solar Supplies: Installation & Repair - Discount...Solar bill 1 Likes
Re: Adding more battery capacity Reply #2 – April 13, 2025, 03:40:24 pm We have a 98~MB with two 6v and two 12v lead acid batteries with about 460Ah capacity with about 40% usable. We have about 500W of solar on the roof. We have used a 400W pure sine wave plug in inverter to recharge our Electric bike batteries which has worked well for the last two years. We have a 2amp charger for our bike batteries which runs fine on the 400W inverter. We also have a 5amp fast charger which does not run for long on that 400W inverter. So slow charging seems to be the answer when using small inverters. We prefer the smaller inverter when recharging bike batteries since it draws less power form our batteries. We have decided to up grade our four LA batteries for two Li batteries with 400Ah capacity with about 90% usable. We will free up some space and save about 100lbs. Karen~Liam 98 ~ MB NinA 2 Likes
Re: Adding more battery capacity Reply #3 – April 13, 2025, 04:35:07 pm Quote from: Karen & Liam - April 13, 2025, 03:40:24 pmWe have used a 400W pure sine wave plug in inverter to recharge our Electric bike batteries which has worked well for the last two years. We have a 2amp charger for our bike batteries which runs fine on the 400W inverter. We also have a 5-amp fast charger which does not run for long on that 400W inverter. So slow charging seems to be the answer when using small inverters. We prefer the smaller inverter when recharging bike batteries since it draws less power form our batteriesNo matter which charger you use, the amount of battery power needed to recharge your bike is the same overall, discounting differences in inverter efficiencies. Lithium ebike batteries do not benefit from slow charging vs. faster charging.You will love lithium batteries; be sure to keep them warm during your winter ski trips.Larry 1 Likes
Re: Adding more battery capacity Reply #4 – April 13, 2025, 10:33:30 pm "We have decided to up grade our four LA batteries for two Li batteries with 400Ah capacity with about 90% usable."One alternative is the Epoch Essentials 460 Ah battery. I installed one about a month ago, and it's working fine so far. Obviously that's not long enough for me to recommend it (although it is guaranteed for eleven years), but I'm just mentioning it as a possibility. It has heaters, Bluetooth, etc. Weight is 85 pounds, which has to be a lot less than your lead-acid batteries. :-) 1 Likes
Re: Adding more battery capacity Reply #5 – April 14, 2025, 12:56:29 am Andy, we already bought two SOK 206Ah Li batteries last month. The price looked the lowest at that time I have seen since I started thinking about upgrading years ago. They fit in our battery box under the front dinette which I had installed 9 years ago when I was adding two 12v batteries to our two 6v that were in the original LD battery box. Our SOKs have heaters and Bluetooth to the BMS. I got them up and running today. I may take our scale out to see what the old batteries weigh to see what weight we have saved. My guess is about 100lbs. I will check tomorrow. I reset the jumper in my PD 4645 to charge lithium batteries. I will check on it all tomorrow.Larry, We have been using the 2 amp charger which came with the bikes for two years now. With the 400W inverter we can use it in the car and charge the batteries when we are not with our LD. We went through many inverters to get one that works in our car or LD. Apparently 400, 500 etc do not mean much it they will not charge or blow fuses. We also use that inverter to run our Starlink when we are not charging bike batteries. We have a 2000 inverter that sucks a lot of power and would run our LA batteries down quickly. I guess we can try it now with our Li Batteries. Karen~Liam 98 ~ MB NinA
Re: Adding more battery capacity Reply #6 – April 14, 2025, 12:59:49 pm Quote from: Karen & Liam - April 14, 2025, 12:56:29 am We have been using the 2 amp charger which came with the bikes for two years now. With the 400W inverter we can use it in the car and charge the batteries when we are not with our LD. We went through many inverters to get one that works in our car or LD. Apparently, 400, 500 etc do not mean much it they will not charge or blow fuses. A 400-watt inverter should be hardwired to fully utilize it; a cigarette lighter cannot provide the needed amperage and can blow the fuse. 400-watts @ 12.5 volts pulls over 30-amps, the cigarette lighter has a 20-amp fuse.Going to lithium should save you at least 100 lbs or more, when removing the four 6-volt batteries, and the supporting frame work from our LD saved 200 lbs and the battery capacity increased to 300-watts, over twice the usable capacity.Larry 2 Likes
Re: Adding more battery capacity Reply #7 – April 14, 2025, 04:47:00 pm "Andy, we already bought two SOK 206Ah Li batteries last month."Got it. Well, the Epoch battery was just a suggested possibility. And while wiring up one battery is a little easier, with two batteries you have the assurance that if for some reason one should fail, the other can get you by until a replacement can be ordered. I've put all my eggs in one big basket, so there's that. Your new setup is going to be a big improvement over that mixed lot of lead-acid batteries you had, that's for sure. 1 Likes
Re: Adding more battery capacity Reply #8 – April 15, 2025, 01:26:08 pm Larry, I weighed the old batteries on a bathroom scale(not very scientific), the savings is 125lbs lighter. We have a Renogy 700W wire in inverter we got for our trip to the Baja last year but the 400W plug in worked fine and also ran our starlink, I checked it, the wire and plug did not get hot so we used it. I was going to wire in the Renogy when we got Lithium. Well that day is here so at some point probably not this trip I will wire it in. Andy I looked at a single battery Lithium upgrade but at the time these two batteries were less money and have a good reputation with Bluetooth and internal battery heat. I probably will not need the heaters because these two are in side the house under the front dinette seat but at the time I thought they would go out in the original LD battery box. If I need more battery power I still have that LD battery box.We are starting out tomorrow fro a trip to central Oregon mountains for a music festival and Skiing. We will be mostly unplugged for most of the trip. Night time temps are expected to be in the teens with day time temps in the 30s so this will be a great test for our battery endurance. In the past on this trip with our lead acid batteries we could go up to two days without sun. We are hopeing to get 4 to 5 days this time and at this time of year we expect more sun. Karen~Liam 98 ~ MB NinA 3 Likes
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