Battery bank and charger recommendations

[simple]

Definitely go LiFePo4, it is better in all respects. Prices have come waay down. Lasts 10x longer, charges faster, allows full rated charge use instead of 50%, batteries have integrated Battery Management Systems allowing you to tailor your charge profile to give 20x life vs AGM, much faster discharge rates possible also, much lighter, smaller. To top it off, over a 4 or 5 year oeriod they are thus cheaper too!

I have a similar system in my duckboat to what you want. Battery, charge from AC plug shore power when home, run one major load (trolling motor) and a bunch of LEDs (nav lights, headlight, etc), phines and video. I used to use a deep cycle marine battery, 70 lbs!

Now I replaced with that 230Ah 12v, weighs 45lbs and takes up less space. Wired to a small DC fuse block. All my loads including trolling motor are connected with waterproof plugs, so I can disconnect if issues, cheaper than on off too.

Get this 1st battery, 230Ah. It has low temp and high temp charging protection, great price.

LiFePO4 Batteries for Offgrid and Mobile Solar

The lithium batteries below are considered "Drop-in Lead Acid Replacement" because you can use them with standard 12/24/48 volt solar charge controllers/chargers/inverters and more. Simply hook them...

www.mobile-solarpower.com

Buy one of these battery chargers.

Battery Chargers

If you wish to charge your battery bank with shore power (the grid), you will need a dedicated battery charger. Some RV's and conversion vans will have this built into the converter box. If you do...

www.mobile-solarpower.com

Done. If you are looking for specific item recommendations, from someone who knows mobile power systems and actually TESTS them, ripping apart to look at wiring and build, and is knowledgeable and trustworthy, you will not find a better person on internet for RV or van or camper battery systems than Will Prowse, whose site that is.

One last economy note. For 400Ah, you are looking at $1540 for batteries and charger. With wires and case and fuses and dc fuse block, I bet you are looking at $1900.
Prices for prebuilt all in one solar generator (jackery, bluetti, EcoFlow) have dropped a lot. I bought a 2000wh system, so 166Ah for $900. It includes the charger, it includes the DC distribution panel to plug fridge, heaters, phines into. It includes an inverter and plugs if you ever want to use ac stuff. It includes a port for dc to dc charging from car while driving. It includes inputs and an mppt solar charger for adding a solar panel later.

For $2000 total you can get an expansion battery also, bring it up to 416 Ah as you desired. Like only $100 more, but all prebuilt and with everything done in compact case, engineered properly, expandable, and includes way more capability with AC inverter and solar already.
My system is the Pecron e2000LFP, and also the e1500LFP at pecron.com.

I was building my own battery setup in truckbed camper too, but the solar gen all predone beat my design

Don't dismiss solar panels as a way to charge the batteries if you have space on top of the trailer. That of course unless you know your trailer will be parked with no access to sun during the day. I have a small 50Ah LifePO4 battery and just one 100W solar panel on the top of my car. Without the panel, I can run my refrigerator for about 1.5 days (estimated as temps and length of my outings vary) but with solar panel, I can top it off and should be good for a whole weekend or longer.

I have a solar panel on my other camper and it works like you say. This application will not see much sun but if it does, I could add solar down the road.

 

[simple]

Definitely go LiFePo4, it is better in all respects. Prices have come waay down. Lasts 10x longer, charges faster, allows full rated charge use instead of 50%, batteries have integrated Battery Management Systems allowing you to tailor your charge profile to give 20x life vs AGM, much faster discharge rates possible also, much lighter, smaller. To top it off, over a 4 or 5 year oeriod they are thus cheaper too!

I have a similar system in my duckboat to what you want. Battery, charge from AC plug shore power when home, run one major load (trolling motor) and a bunch of LEDs (nav lights, headlight, etc), phines and video. I used to use a deep cycle marine battery, 70 lbs!

Now I replaced with that 230Ah 12v, weighs 45lbs and takes up less space. Wired to a small DC fuse block. All my loads including trolling motor are connected with waterproof plugs, so I can disconnect if issues, cheaper than on off too.

Get this 1st battery, 230Ah. It has low temp and high temp charging protection, great price.

LiFePO4 Batteries for Offgrid and Mobile Solar

The lithium batteries below are considered "Drop-in Lead Acid Replacement" because you can use them with standard 12/24/48 volt solar charge controllers/chargers/inverters and more. Simply hook them...

www.mobile-solarpower.com

Buy one of these battery chargers.

Battery Chargers

If you wish to charge your battery bank with shore power (the grid), you will need a dedicated battery charger. Some RV's and conversion vans will have this built into the converter box. If you do...

www.mobile-solarpower.com

Done. If you are looking for specific item recommendations, from someone who knows mobile power systems and actually TESTS them, ripping apart to look at wiring and build, and is knowledgeable and trustworthy, you will not find a better person on internet for RV or van or camper battery systems than Will Prowse, whose site that is.

One last economy note. For 400Ah, you are looking at $1540 for batteries and charger. With wires and case and fuses and dc fuse block, I bet you are looking at $1900.
Prices for prebuilt all in one solar generator (jackery, bluetti, EcoFlow) have dropped a lot. I bought a 2000wh system, so 166Ah for $900. It includes the charger, it includes the DC distribution panel to plug fridge, heaters, phines into. It includes an inverter and plugs if you ever want to use ac stuff. It includes a port for dc to dc charging from car while driving. It includes inputs and an mppt solar charger for adding a solar panel later.

For $2000 total you can get an expansion battery also, bring it up to 416 Ah as you desired. Like only $100 more, but all prebuilt and with everything done in compact case, engineered properly, expandable, and includes way more capability with AC inverter and solar already.
My system is the Pecron e2000LFP, and also the e1500LFP at pecron.com.

I was building my own battery setup in truckbed camper too, but the solar gen all predone beat my design and cost easy.

Regarding mobile power stations. It looks like the Pecron and the Ecoflow both have 2 DC 5525 output jacks rated a 3A.

This doesn't seem adequate for powering an RV. These power station's design seems to be geared more toward powering an inverter and running AC appliances.

Am I reading this spec correctly that a Dometic powered cooler may draw up to 8.2A DC?

Dometic CFX3 45 - Powered 12 Volt Cooler, 46L

Dometic CFX3 45 - The award winning powered cooler for weekend camping, the Dometic CFX3 45 electric cooler has the same footprint as the 35, but is 2.75 inches taller. Powered by AC (110-240), DC (12 volt / 24 volt), or solar, the car fridge freezer reaches temperatures as low as -7°F, while...

www.dometic.com

 

[Dave in AZ]

Regarding mobile power stations. It looks like the Pecron and the Ecoflow both have 2 DC 5525 output jacks rated a 3A.

This doesn't seem adequate for powering an RV. These power station's design seems to be geared more toward powering an inverter and running AC appliances.

Am I reading this spec correctly that a Dometic powered cooler may draw up to 8.2A DC?

Dometic CFX3 45 - Powered 12 Volt Cooler, 46L

Dometic CFX3 45 - The award winning powered cooler for weekend camping, the Dometic CFX3 45 electric cooler has the same footprint as the 35, but is 2.75 inches taller. Powered by AC (110-240), DC (12 volt / 24 volt), or solar, the car fridge freezer reaches temperatures as low as -7°F, while...

www.dometic.com

Not sure what system you're looking at. Pecron 1500 LFP has a 30A dc output, as well as several other smaller ones. Various Ecoflow have higher dc amps too. Each model us different, so I'd have to look at each. Latest ecoflow removed the 30A RV plug I think.
That fridge, says it uses less than 60w. Its specs are kinda hidden on that page... but most use less than 60w. My 30L one uses 36w max when first cooling to 0f freezer mode, then 22 to maintain that, per my watt meter measurements.

ReeWrayOutdoors youtube has reviews and tests on most power stations, as does Hobotech.

 

[Peter_n_Margaret]

Adding more battery capacity is akin to opening a new bank account without increasing your income.
If you have sufficient solar, the batteries only need to see you through the night.
We have lots of solar. We rarely run out of power and if we get low we can charge from the alternator.
We have no generator and no mains charger.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

 

[simple]

Not sure what system you're looking at. Pecron 1500 LFP has a 30A dc output, as well as several other smaller ones. Various Ecoflow have higher dc amps too. Each model us different, so I'd have to look at each. Latest ecoflow removed the 30A RV plug I think.
That fridge, says it uses less than 60w. Its specs are kinda hidden on that page... but most use less than 60w. My 30L one uses 36w max when first cooling to 0f freezer mode, then 22 to maintain that, per my watt meter measurements.

ReeWrayOutdoors youtube has reviews and tests on most power stations, as does Hobotech.

I see.

I looked at the Pecron E2000LFP and it is limited to 2 3A outputs. Your right, the E1500LFP does have a 30A output.
Ecoflow DeltaMax is only 2 3A outputs as we as Delta 2 Max. Delta pro has a 30A Anderson.

It's too bad about the Pecron because both models are the same price with expansion battery only the 2000 has more storage capacity.

 

[Dave in AZ]

I see.

I looked at the Pectron E2000LFP and it is limited to 2 3A outputs. Your right, the E1500LFP does have a 30A output.
Ecoflow DeltaMax is only 2 3A outputs as we as Delta 2 Max. Delta pro has a 30A Anderson.

It's too bad about the Pectron because both models are the same price with expansion battery only the 2000 has more storage capacity.

I was wondering where to post this today, but your thread here is pretty on topic, so:
I am thinking about NOT using solar for my new Tune camper shell now. Just a larger battery. Which is kind of where you were on this thread? So I have the Pecron E1500LFP, 1536 watt-hours. Which is a pretty good amount. But I ALSO bought their ep3000 battery for it, which is almost a power station also, all the same things except an inverter.
It weighs 40 lb, 3072Wh. It also has a 30A dc xt60 out, which can be used at same time as the attached e1500lfp, for 60A total 12v dc out, plenty! And I'd have 4608 Wh, a ton, easily making it through my 3 or 4 day max trips without solar. Then I wouldn't have to put 50 or 60 lbs on roof with all that drag, and could have less weight too... I might try no permanent panels, and I have a 330w portable folding one. I could even use just the battery for 3072wh, and skip the e1500LFP, if I don't need any AC or invertor, which right now I don't, and see get by with 3072 wh, still a whopping lot. Could still ac recharge, car charge, and solar.
Here are battery specs:
The EP3000-48V is use for E1500LFP
Capacity: 3072Wh (51.2V/60Ah); For
E1500LFP
LiFePO4 Battery with 3,500+ Life Cycles to
80%.
Can be used as an alone DC output
Input: AC Adapter charging /Solar
charging/Car charging
Solar Input: 400W Max / 15A Max / Voc
12V~95V
Car Input: 12Vdc-48Vdc / 400W Max
DC Output: XT60 (30A Max) ; PD 100W
USB-C ; USB-A; Car Charging
Max 2pcs of EP3000-48V can be
cascaded to E1500LFP up to 7680Wh!

 

[simple]

I was wondering where to post this today, but your thread here is pretty on topic, so:
I am thinking about NOT using solar for my new Tune camper shell now. Just a larger battery. Which is kind of where you were on this thread? So I have the Pecron E1500LFP, 1536 watt-hours. Which is a pretty good amount. But I ALSO bought their ep3000 battery for it, which is almost a power station also, all the same things except an inverter.
It weighs 40 lb, 3072Wh. It also has a 30A dc xt60 out, which can be used at same time as the attached e1500lfp, for 60A total 12v dc out, plenty! And I'd have 4608 Wh, a ton, easily making it through my 3 or 4 day max trips without solar. Then I wouldn't have to put 50 or 60 lbs on roof with all that drag, and could have less weight too... I might try no permanent panels, and I have a 330w portable folding one. I could even use just the battery for 3072wh, and skip the e1500LFP, if I don't need any AC or invertor, which right now I don't, and see get by with 3072 wh, still a whopping lot. Could still ac recharge, car charge, and solar.
Here are battery specs:
The EP3000-48V is use for E1500LFP
Capacity: 3072Wh (51.2V/60Ah); For
E1500LFP
LiFePO4 Battery with 3,500+ Life Cycles to
80%.
Can be used as an alone DC output
Input: AC Adapter charging /Solar
charging/Car charging
Solar Input: 400W Max / 15A Max / Voc
12V~95V
Car Input: 12Vdc-48Vdc / 400W Max
DC Output: XT60 (30A Max) ; PD 100W
USB-C ; USB-A; Car Charging
Max 2pcs of EP3000-48V can be
cascaded to E1500LFP up to 7680Wh!

That's an interesting thought regarding using the expansion battery as your stand alone power source. It certainly looks doable and has the right features that the other manufacturers don't.

In my case since I don't already own one. At $1300 for the expansion battery plus another $150 for AC/DC charger the cost for DC power is getting expensive when compared to the Li-time 230ah battery at $670 you posted.

Reading the user manual for the Pecron EP3000, it sounds like it is open to the environment with cooling fans and shouldn't be used around moisture. For this reason I like the sealed Li-time option. The carry handles, I/O ports and a few other bells and whistles on the Pecron are nice features though.

Regarding solar panels. I bonded one of those thin renogy panels directly to the roof of my camper. I think it only weighs a few pounds. So far so good. It's been through 2 summers and 1 winter. It would be easy enough to add portable solar capability but so far I haven't been in any situations where it would have been a huge benefit.

 

[rruff]

Looking at various battery packs they have their own BMS's built in making wiring in parallel and charging the bank a little tricky and is specific battery product dependent.

200ah batteries are common and not so bulky as to be hard to handle, and you can put them in parallel, no worries. Or just get a 400ah. Buying individual cells and a BMS rather than a battery is another option.

I looked at power stations, and they are a great consumer item... but if you aren't intimidated by electrical systems and you have the time, you can save some money by DIY, and have it customized to your needs. I also like that if one component takes a dump, I can just deal with that, rather than the whole unit.

Regarding heating of LiFePO4, they need to be above freezing when charging (discharging when below freezing is ok), but since you are doing that at home it should be pretty easy to accommodate this. If it's very cold out and you want to charge them, you could stick a heater in the trailer for a day to warm it up, or bring the batteries in the house.

I recently bought a Power Queen trolling battery, with a low temp cutoff just to be safe. Seemed like a good idea, in case I forgot to disable charging when it was cold.

 

[simple]

I took the plunge and ordered 2 Power Queen 200ah batteries and a Power Queen charger. Came to $1189 delivered with WA state tax. No frills here except having lots of juice.

Alloy, I plan to wire these in parallel. LOL

Recapping
This system will be for off grid winter mountain resort weekends. No sun or shore power available and no desire to run a generator. I'll be charging off our grid tie solar power at home where the winter temps are usually above 40 during the day and if not I'll heat the camper before charging.

Thanks everyone who contributed in this thread for your generous help.