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Old 11-21-2020, 04:03 PM   #1
Katherine1962
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Battery charging

I am waiting for the delivery date for my 3120 in December. I have it0 coming with a battle born battery. Should I replace the OEM charger that comes with the unit with something more in line with precision charging?
 
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Old 11-21-2020, 05:00 PM   #2
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With my 2017 rhere was a module for the stock converter for lithium batteries. If Keystone added the battery you would hope they also added the module. If the dealer is adding the battery than you need to make sure they also added the module.
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Old 11-21-2020, 05:42 PM   #3
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I would think if keystone is installing the battle born batteries from factory you should be ok.
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Old 11-22-2020, 02:53 PM   #4
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When you do the pre-delivery inspection at the selling dealer, look at the model number on the converter/circuit breaker panel to make sure it is the latest from progressive which supports the battle born batteries OR whatever vendor they are using. Check and verify, do not assume keystone did it right during assembly. Don't sign paperwork and lay out your money until you know everything works as it should...unless you wish to be in a situation where the dealer has your new camper sitting on their lot for weeks or months to fix everything.
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Old 11-22-2020, 04:48 PM   #5
Daryles
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I have Lithium batteries. Did a lot of research on this. My converter is a
Progressive Dynamics, model PD4575K18LS8.
It will work on lithium batteries BUT I will not get a 100% 13.6vdc charge. I can live with that.
https://www.etrailer.com/RV-Converte...575K18LS8.html
Works on LiFePO batteries also
https://www.etrailer.com/question-354675.html
Lithium converter PD4575(LI)
https://www.progressivedyn.com/lithi...acement-units/

Here is a good article on Lithium batteries
How to find happiness with lithium batteries
https://www.solacity.com/how-to-keep...tteries-happy/

Your converter model number will be on a label inside the fuse panel
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Old 11-23-2020, 01:24 PM   #6
66 Galaxie
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Katherine1962 View Post
I am waiting for the delivery date for my 3120 in December. I have it0 coming with a battle born battery. Should I replace the OEM charger that comes with the unit with something more in line with precision charging?
Is your rig coming with the Super Solar Flex option or is the dealer installing the batteries?
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Old 11-23-2020, 03:02 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Daryles View Post
I have Lithium batteries. Did a lot of research on this. My converter is a
Progressive Dynamics, model PD4575K18LS8.
It will work on lithium batteries BUT I will not get a 100% 13.6vdc charge. I can live with that.
https://www.etrailer.com/RV-Converte...575K18LS8.html
Works on LiFePO batteries also
https://www.etrailer.com/question-354675.html
Lithium converter PD4575(LI)
https://www.progressivedyn.com/lithi...acement-units/

Here is a good article on Lithium batteries
How to find happiness with lithium batteries
https://www.solacity.com/how-to-keep...tteries-happy/

Your converter model number will be on a label inside the fuse panel
does your convertor charger have the Wizard Mode Button (little blue button on the circuit board)
Yes?? Push and hold it until LED goes from flashing to solid. Now you are in Boost mode for a few hours at 14.4 volts. It will reset to 13.6 by itself.
No?? Never mind.
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Old 11-23-2020, 03:56 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by BiggarView View Post
does your convertor charger have the Wizard Mode Button (little blue button on the circuit board)
Yes?? Push and hold it until LED goes from flashing to solid. Now you are in Boost mode for a few hours at 14.4 volts. It will reset to 13.6 by itself.
No?? Never mind.
Yes, it does have the wizard mode button and I have used it while troubleshooting.
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Old 11-23-2020, 07:19 PM   #9
Katherine1962
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My rig will have just the solar flex, not the super. So 1 265 watt panel and I am having
the dealer install 1 battle burn lithium battery. Will get a second a little further down the line. The solar flex supposedly comes with a jabonee mppt charge controller. I guess I need to research it.
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Old 11-24-2020, 08:09 AM   #10
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Originally Posted by Katherine1962 View Post
My rig will have just the solar flex, not the super. So 1 265 watt panel and I am having
the dealer install 1 battle burn lithium battery. Will get a second a little further down the line. The solar flex supposedly comes with a jabonee mppt charge controller. I guess I need to research it.
I think you are asking the right questions, and there is lots of knowledge on this forum.

Just to make sense of what you have and what else you might research:
-you are correct, your package comes with a Jaboni 30 amp MPPT solar charge controller. But to be clear, this only manages the charging that comes from the solar panel.

-when connected to AC power (or portable generator), the charging will be handled by the built in charger/converter. With the Super Solar Flex package, this charger is optimized for lithium, as Montana is bundling the batteries with that package. However, with your Solar Flex package, the dealer is adding a lithium battery after. The important thing is that the charger you have from the factory is able to be set to lithium, and that the dealer will change the settings correctly.

-not all factory charger/convertors are made equal, and there is some good advice in earlier posts; check which model you have, and whether that is ideal to keep your lithium battery healthy. If your model is one that will not properly support lithium, then you will really want to have that upgraded. Perhaps if this needs to be done, you could negotiate with the dealer to have it upgraded at a discounted price while they are doing the battery install.

One last note; I know that Montana may still advertise that the panel is a 265 watt, but I think all models now have been updated to the 300 watt panels. You could ask the dealer to check your specific unit to make sure.

HtH!

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Old 12-02-2020, 01:32 PM   #11
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Your converter should have a DIP switch, little itty bity switch on it with a sticker outside of the converter that will pretty much say, using lithium, flip this switch. According to the video keystone put out, all 2021 Montys will have this. Our 3121 does.

See the 4 25amp fuses in Daryles picture? Right under those is where the switch is to flip the converter into lithuim battery mode.
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Old 12-02-2020, 02:40 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Katherine1962 View Post
My rig will have just the solar flex, not the super. So 1 265 watt panel and I am having
the dealer install 1 battle burn lithium battery. Will get a second a little further down the line. The solar flex supposedly comes with a jabonee mppt charge controller. I guess I need to research it.
You'll have a 300w panel and a 30a mppt Jaboni controller. You'll want to change it to Lithium. Basically, hit the menu button until you see "battery type" and then the up arrow until it reads "LIT" and hit the power button to save.
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Old 12-02-2020, 07:04 PM   #13
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Good info on the Battle Born site: https://battlebornbatteries.com/systems/rv/towable/
BiggarView and Daryles have posted good info. I would not rely on Keystone to do the right thing. They would be happy to go cheap and let the system get by at a limited charging level.
This is straight from BB:
In some cases, you might have to replace the current converter/charger that come stock in the application due to the output voltage of 13.6 V. Some very common WFCO and Progressive Dynamics converters will rarely get to their higher boost of 14.4 volts when a lithium battery is connected.
Although these converters will charge your Battle Born Batteries (very slowly), they may never get to a 100% state of charge and will not trigger the passive balancing effect that starts at over 14 volts.
In addition to their standard models, many converter manufacturers now offer LiFePO4 chargers and most are highly compatible with Battle Born Batteries.

You need to know the capabilities of your converter.
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Old 12-03-2020, 05:46 AM   #14
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and if all of the above fail you, you should be given a manual fr your converter. It will tell you if Lithium batteries are supported and how to switch back and forth.

BTW I would not trust the dealer to do it right. Most likely it is the first one they have seen. So double check their work
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Old 12-03-2020, 06:04 AM   #15
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and if all of the above fail you, you should be given a manual fr your converter. It will tell you if Lithium batteries are supported and how to switch back and forth.

BTW I would not trust the dealer to do it right. Most likely it is the first one they have seen. So double check their work
Thats probably fact!! Our dealer (probably the largest in florida) said they have never done a 3rd AC on an InCommand system......gimmie a break.

I literally had to find the parts for them on ebay.

Then .... magically, oh..... we see where to order them from now... this xyz warehouse has the parts.... queue roll eyes...
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