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Old 03-13-2023, 03:12 PM   #1
LadyBeeRanch
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Lithium Battery of choice

I have a 2018 Montana Legacy and I am considering lithium batteries instead of lead acid battery. What is the best brand of lithium battery that I should go with?
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Old 03-13-2023, 03:42 PM   #2
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The "best" battery is very subjective as one,s opinion would be governed by your type of use , budget, etc. The needs of a full-time boondocker are very different from a weekend rv,r. I get a lot of satisfaction finding an item considerably cheaper than it's competitor and having great service from it.
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Old 03-13-2023, 03:54 PM   #3
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Look on YouTube for Will Prowse channel.
He has torn apart lithium batteries and does a detailed review of them. From the control boards to the individual cells inside.
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Old 03-14-2023, 04:38 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by Daryles View Post
Look on YouTube for Will Prowse channel.
He has torn apart lithium batteries and does a detailed review of them. From the control boards to the individual cells inside.
Great suggestion. Will has hundreds of great videos, very informative.
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Old 03-13-2023, 04:13 PM   #5
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When I bought I chose Lion but that doesn’t mean I won’t buy them again. They are great batteries, nothing wrong with them but this is changing so fast I would check out several brands. Just make sure you get one that has internal monitoring. That is for safety both yours and the battery.
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Old 03-14-2023, 10:20 AM   #6
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I have two Lifeblue 300ah batteries. One is about four years old. We live offgrid about 8-9 months per year.
I couldn't be more pleased with these. One thing I especially like about these is the phone app (Android and Phone) that enables you to connect to the battery via bluetooth and read voltage, Soc, current flow into and out of the battery, battery internal temperature, number of discharge cycles, and an event log (my event logs are empty for I've never had an "event" with them).
This app can be found by simply searching the play store for "lifeblue".
I used to have 4 six volt Interstate batteries, but these two Lithium batteries provides over twice the available power. They charge much faster and have less internal resistance. The only downside is cost. If I start my generator my charge rate can exceed 100amps which charges the batteries very quickly.
I also have a shunt that can read battery Soc, but it has never been accurate. Sometimes it's off by 50%. I've had two trailers with battery monitors and neither was ever accurate. And yes, I did try resetting the shunts.
if you spend much time offgrid and boondocking you will love these batteries.
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Old 03-14-2023, 04:35 PM   #7
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Question is sorta like is your favorite truck a Ford, Chevy or Ram. LOL
SOK batteries for us. Pleased with them so far. At the time they seemed to be the most bang for the buck. As stated earlier, times are changing at a fast pace. The advice on watching Will Prowse's YouTube channel was excellent advice. Good luck in your endeavor.
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Old 03-14-2023, 06:11 PM   #8
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I purchased from Battle Born a 270Ah 12V LiFePO4 Deep Cycle 8D Battery in Quartzsite to replace 3 almost new Interstate Group 24 Deep Cycle RV batteries that produced a total of 243AH. I also purchased a Lithium charger and haven't regretted any part of the decision. We boondock a lot and it's so nice to have battery power available 100% of the time and only run the generator 4-5 hrs a day to maintain the battery to full charge.
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Old 03-15-2023, 08:42 AM   #9
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Looks like there is a new Lithium technology coming - Graphene incorporated in solid state.
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Old 03-19-2023, 01:11 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by LadyBeeRanch View Post
I have a 2018 Montana Legacy and I am considering lithium batteries instead of lead acid battery. What is the best brand of lithium battery that I should go with?
Most of them are great, A lot of RVers are using Battle Born including me. I will be selling my RV soon and the BB's will be 5 years old at that point. They are still like new.
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Old 03-19-2023, 01:12 PM   #11
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Don't get battleborn. Had them 2years only good for 50 percent of capacity after 1 year ant too expensive for today's market.

Watch Wll Prouse on YouTube.
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Old 03-19-2023, 01:15 PM   #12
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Originally Posted by Novanut01 View Post
Don't get battleborn. Had them 2years only good for 50 percent of capacity after 1 year ant too expensive for today's market.

Watch Wll Prouse on YouTube.
Something wrong there, mine are 5 years old and still full power. Call BB, they will figure out what you are doing wrong and rectify the situation. Almost every YT RVer and sailer is using BB and most are way more than 2 years old. I expect mine to last the 10 years they talk about.
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Old 03-19-2023, 01:25 PM   #13
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Lithium Battery of choice

I purchased a Renogy 200 Ah battery. I have no experience with any others
I am very pleased with mine. The only thing I would differently, is get the "smart" version. Mine has a BMS and Bluetooth, but I have to be within 2-3 feet to connect . With the smart version , a wireless monitor can be added. For mine, I added a hardwired shunt monitor to see current draw and remaining capacity.
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Old 03-19-2023, 03:11 PM   #14
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I’ve had 3 BattleBorn 100ah batteries for 3 yrs with no problems. I’m a full timer and move almost weekly. These batteries are like new.
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Old 03-19-2023, 04:59 PM   #15
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That’s a call you need to please yourself on cost and need. I like battle born.
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Old 03-19-2023, 07:06 PM   #16
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Good afternoon -

I am going to jump in with another consideration for a switch to lithium. What amount of power do you want to store - I wanted at least 600Ah of storage capacity, where do you want them to be placed in the trailer - mine went into the basement, and what do you want to pay - I wanted to stay around $5k?

I spoke to AM Solar in Eugene Oregon, and we settled on the LifeBlue Low Temp 12V300Ah D-LT. I bought two for my 2008 Montana 3665RE. The batteries fit perfectly in my basement - there is room for two additional, which I will add this summer. They are close to the on-board generator and charge very well.

The initial rationale for choosing LifeBlue was that they were the vendor that offered 300Ah batteries in the footprint I desired whereas Battle Born had either 270Ah batteries in the size I desired; or one with higher Ah than the 300Ah LifeBlue in a battery with a larger footprint. The smaller footprint allows for two additional 600Ah batteries!

LifeBlue kept me under the $5k upper limit I had set too! So far, the LifeBlue's have been very dependable and work like a champ.
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Old 03-19-2023, 07:07 PM   #17
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Lithium batteries

Can’t say what is best. But. I have 2 battleborn 100 AH units I installed in 2019. They have performed well for us. I had to change the convertor in my 2016 to one that would properly charge lithium. They also work amazingly well in my boat running a 24 volt minn kota trolling motor when we are not using the camper.
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Old 03-19-2023, 10:25 PM   #18
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Watch Will Prowse on YouTube. He goes over all the different lithium batteries. I have battle born but there’s been many good batteries out since I bought mine at a much better price.
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Old 03-20-2023, 01:31 PM   #19
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We just got a 200Ah Plus Ampertime ( now LiTime) with 200A BMS, and it is great.
Ampertime has great customer service and answer any question within 24 hours.
You may want to get one with Smart technology so you can monitor State of Charge etc from a smartphone app, or get a shunt type monitor with the Bluetooth to do that.
But before you buy any brand make sure you know how much capacity you need (amp hours) for your RV lifestyle, how much you charge phones and tablets, how much TV, do you want to use microwave for short periods (say 4 min. for potatoes or popcorn, etc). and any other power needs.
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Old 03-21-2023, 11:33 AM   #20
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Battleborn
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