Lithium batteries on sale, planning ahead...

[kingdaddy]

Good morning and Happy Thanksgiving!
As I plan ahead and research replacing my failed Norcold fridge, I am researching the pros and cons of going to a residential fridge.
Still looking at the various options, 12 volt vs. 120 volt, replacing the entire thing or just a conversion (JC Refrigeration etc.) OR possibly staying with an RV fridge (absorption type...not likely).

Leaning towards a 12 volt conversion from JC or similar, and realizing that on the rare occasions we want to dry camp, I will need to upgrade my batteries and charging system. Likely solar of some kind, possibly upgraded inverter?
And also possibly some kind of DC to DC charging from the truck.

Still learning about the different technologies and products available...

With that lengthy introduction ... my question (for now) is about lithium batteries.
There are some good prices of course on Amazon for these things, and I'm wondering about recommendations. Anyone use Li Time Lithium?
They have a 200 ah for $389 on sale.https://www.amazon.com/Lithium-LiFeP...lbWF0aWM&psc=1
Would I need more than just one (two?) to be able to properly run a 12 volt fridge... assuming adequate solar and/or backup generator of course?
Really appreciate any feedback or thoughts....

[AZ Traveler]

Mike,

I have no experience with the Li time batteries. I run Chins and have been satisfied - I particularly like the built in bluetooth monitor. Your battery bank is the heart of the entire system - don't shortchange it.

Here is a thread that should help you. https://www.montanaowners.com/forums....php?p=1282248

[kingdaddy]

Thanks for the link to that thread... one of the posts shared a youtube channel by a guy named Will Prowse that is really good.
Will do some more research as I make my decision on which direction to go and which products to use!

Thanks for chiming in!

[PNW Fireguy]

Both the Li Time and Chins are prismatic cell batteries and fall into the budget category. That does not mean to imply they are poor choices. The latest Li Time models on Amazon that you reference have a 200A rated BMS as well as low temp cutout circuits. I would not hesitate to recommend either the Li Time or Chins offering to a friend. Even better on sale and purchased from Amazon where you have some avenue of recourse should it be needed. With regards to the number of batteries to purchase to run your 12v fridge that’s a bit of a loaded question. Without going into a long response I will just say that if it were me I would look at the Black Friday savings as a means to justify buying two. Hope that helps.

[Creeker]

We have three Li Time 230 batteries. This was our first season with lithium. They done everything we expected and more. They do have 200 amp BMS and low temp cutoff. I purchased them after watching several Will Prowse videos. They were his most recommended for the 2023 year. We actually ran our AC at night with them several times this season. Absolutely no complaints so far.

[Foldbak]

Li Time is a well built battery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgwulWNOOJ0

The Amazon price is great.

[laprezgpoc]

We have the Dr Prepares. No complaints, so far...

[Ozzie66]

We have a 2024 3123RL with 440i solar and a 12VDC Furrion fridge. I added a Renogy 200watt portable panel and charger to plug into the port in the water box. I have two 230Ah (Will Prowse recommended) Li Time batteries. This September we boondocked for seven days with the batteries staying mostly charged. I did top of with my Honda 2000 running for four hours on several cloudy days. I recommend at least two 230Ah batteries.

[Djgrimaldi]

As batteries also have a shelf life you should wait to purchase them closer to when you are going to use them. Also remember buy what you need as you should not add batteries to an existing system once installed.

[Route66Rambler]

We have a Norcold 12V compressor fridge N15DCSS. We have 2 x 100 Ah Battle Born batteries. We found on our last trip that the charge coming from the truck could not overcome the drain caused by the fridge running during travel. We are adding a third 100 Ah Battle Born to compensate. We do not want to add a DC to DC charger from the truck because we only plan to keep this truck another year or two. We are considering adding a little solar to help the batteries on travel days. After a 10 hour travel day, our batteries were down to 60% when we stopped for the night. Still a lot better than lead acid would have done. Would have killed those batteries. The Battle Born batteries worked great. Get a 12V compressor fridge. A real residential will fail because it's not designed to be in an RV. Be sure to compare the chemistry in the different brands of lithium batteries. Also look at customer service and warranty. Battle Born has fantastic customer service and a 10 year guarantee. If you buy off Amazon what customer service and warranty will you get??

[Foldbak]

Originally Posted by Route66Rambler

We have a Norcold 12V compressor fridge N15DCSS. We have 2 x 100 Ah Battle Born batteries. We found on our last trip that the charge coming from the truck could not overcome the drain caused by the fridge running during travel. We are adding a third 100 Ah Battle Born to compensate. We do not want to add a DC to DC charger from the truck because we only plan to keep this truck another year or two. We are considering adding a little solar to help the batteries on travel days. After a 10 hour travel day, our batteries were down to 60% when we stopped for the night. Still a lot better than lead acid would have done. Would have killed those batteries. The Battle Born batteries worked great. Get a 12V compressor fridge. A real residential will fail because it's not designed to be in an RV. Be sure to compare the chemistry in the different brands of lithium batteries. Also look at customer service and warranty. Battle Born has fantastic customer service and a 10 year guarantee. If you buy off Amazon what customer service and warranty will you get??

Absorption fridges are no longer an option in a new rig. Stick a couple 200 watt panels on the roof and your batteries will be dam near 100% on a sunny day. As far as quality of 2024 Lithium batteries, it's hard to find a crappy one. My Temgot batteries cost me around $600 for the pair and have worked perfectly. I did some YouTube research and the test specs as well as build quality was 5 star. In fact as it turns out there are only a few manufactures that build most of the lithium's with different brand names. Some are poor quality but not many.

[2 Yoopers]

I installed 3 of the Vatrer 460 amp batteries this year. Amazon had them on special for 999.00 a piece. There are reviews on utube on this battery where they take it apart and show it has a quality 250 BMS and cells.
I really like the metal case and handles that would allow you to take it apart easily if you ever had to. 1380 amp hours , 7 year warranty for 3k is hard to beat for me.