Currently in my van I have 1200AH of lithium batteries and I wanted to share some tips I have learned along the way!
1) You CAN drop lithium batteries into a stock RV setup without changing a single thing. Typically this will only take the batteries to about 80% charged, but it WILL still work.
2) You need a SHUNT (I reccomend Victron BMV-712) which can be picked up on amazon for about $65 to measure how much battery you have. Like a cellphone lithium batteries will stay full power until the batteries reach low capacity and just shut off without warning.
3) You do not "need" solar! I have had solar and I wasn't impressed, who wants to park in the hot sun to get power? We all know campers and vans are like ovens! I use 2 different chargers, one is 45 amp (for longer extension cords and standard 15 amp outlets) and the other is 80 amp (for my honda 2200i or a 20 amp outlet)
4) The more batteries the better. I can run my 12v AC for a few days without any solar and stay nice and cool. We also run 2 gaming PC's, Starlink, and a huge TV.
5) DC-DC chargers are amazing, While driving down the road my batteries are charging at 50amps and you could always add a second depending on your alternator size. 100amps while driving? Oh yeah!
I will add more later but if you have any questions feel free to ask!
1) You CAN drop lithium batteries into a stock RV setup without changing a single thing. Typically this will only take the batteries to about 80% charged, but it WILL still work.
2) You need a SHUNT (I reccomend Victron BMV-712) which can be picked up on amazon for about $65 to measure how much battery you have. Like a cellphone lithium batteries will stay full power until the batteries reach low capacity and just shut off without warning.
3) You do not "need" solar! I have had solar and I wasn't impressed, who wants to park in the hot sun to get power? We all know campers and vans are like ovens! I use 2 different chargers, one is 45 amp (for longer extension cords and standard 15 amp outlets) and the other is 80 amp (for my honda 2200i or a 20 amp outlet)
4) The more batteries the better. I can run my 12v AC for a few days without any solar and stay nice and cool. We also run 2 gaming PC's, Starlink, and a huge TV.
5) DC-DC chargers are amazing, While driving down the road my batteries are charging at 50amps and you could always add a second depending on your alternator size. 100amps while driving? Oh yeah!
I will add more later but if you have any questions feel free to ask!
