Lithium battery option now available for Camp-Inns!

Lithium Battery Upgrade: Upgrade your battery to a 110 Ah Lithium (LiFePO4) with heated cells.

• Larger capacity (110Ah) than the standard 75Ah Deep Cycle or AGM option.

• Run time 40-50% longer than AGM batteries.

• Heated cells allow charging of a Lithium battery at temperatures below 32f.

• 5000 cycle life span.

• Does not require maintenance charging during storage.

• 12.8v very flat discharge curve right down to 20% capacity.

• 43% less weight than 75Ah AGM.

• Included in this Option, a larger 10amp NOCO brand charger used for shore power charging gives you faster charging times.

 

Great news! I'm minding myself at sites without electricity more frequently these days, and with my current load am finding myself with battery anxiety on night 2.

Is this a 'drop in' replacement for the standard Lead Acid/AGM batteries, with the understanding you'll have a slower charge rate because of the smaller charger?

 

It really is not a straight drop in. The charger would have to be changed also. Which would be easy to do on your vintage. The camper needs to have the CTEK option and TriMetric option also. So, there are some limitations to retrofits.

Cary

 

Knew I should have gotten the TriMetric!

 

Some sort of capacity meter will be needed to determine the battery level since battery voltage does not work for determining capacity with lithium. Something to think about, maybe one of the good capacity meters like the TriMetric or a Victron.

Cary

 

good point....lithium would show 12.x until 5 minute before it went toes up, since the discharge is a sharp drop at the end...

 

I would be interested in the upgrade...

Trailer is not in production as of yet... What will I have to do to put a change in for the build order?

Thanks

 

Carl,

Yes, we can easily add this to your order. Shoot us an email about if you want to do this. Been busy doing this all day actually.

Cary

 

Ken,

We have not created a cost yet for converting a pre-2016 Camp-Inn to the lithium battery. We will have to do a modification for someone first to create the cost for it. Fitting in the larger charger is what I am not sure how to do yet. On a 2016 or newer it is a direct change out for the charger that is there now and the cost is the option cost from the website plus the cost of a standard battery and standard charger.

Cary

 

A reminder that lead-acid / AGM batteries should (mostly) not be drawn down more than 50%, while a conservative rating for lithium is an 80% draw down.

Doing that math, a 75ah Deep Cycle and/or AGM has a working draw of about 37.5ah.
A 110ah lithium has a working draw of about 88ah.
A little more math and the old AGM has about 42% of the capacity of the new lithium. Or, the new lithium has 2.3x the capacity of the old AGM.
That’s a lotta’ power! (if I have my math right)
With a few caveats - temperature makes a difference, more.

Congrats to Craig & Cary & the CI team; this is going to make a big difference in our little campers! Especially in the west, where we’re more likely to be without shore power and in the PNW with mostly shady campsites.

 

I echo Seth's congrats. This will eliminate almost all of the extra power concerns that most of us may have had about the limitations of the 75 Ah batteries, and all the convoluted solutions (solar, spare batteries) some of us have had to dream up to add electrical capacity to our rigs. Sounds like you may be busy doing a bunch of retrofits.

 

Why is a CTEK and TriMetric a requirement? Wouldn’t a charger upgrade to something like this Victron model be sufficient to charge and monitor?

https://a.co/d/5xnEmVm

 

The CTEK does not do the same thing as the battery charger. It is a DC to DC charger that is going to use the charge line from the tow vehicle to charge the battery while driving. A lithium battery needs to have a DC to DC charger to protect the alternator on the tow vehicle. So, yes we are needing to have that protection on the tow charge line. Anyone using a lithium battery in a trailer should have a DC to DC charger installed.

The TriMetric is needed, sort of. That is because you do not monitor battery level of a lithium battery via battery voltage like with a lead acid or AGM. You need to have a capacity meter to know the capacity of the lithium battery. You can operate without a capacity meter but you would have no warning when the battery is about to go dead. Yes, if doing a field conversion you could use a Victron model charger with monitor to achieve this same thing. We don't offer the Victron monitors with our products, we offer the TriMetric. Either way though would work well. We chose to make it a requirement on a new camper order when the lithium battery is selected to help prevent battery monitoring issues for the customer.

Cary

 

Thanks Cary. Makes sense. I assume it would not be restricted to the CTEK DC to DC charger and that a Victron brand would also work.

 

Exactly! There are a good number of DC to DC chargers that would work for this like a Victron or a RedArc.

Cary

 

We just authorized a change on our build from AGM to lithium as we like to camp in several federal parks near us like Alexander Springs and Juniper Springs which don’t have many amenities. Both have great runs if you enjoy kayaking or canoeing.

 

Requested same change on my 560U build.

 

This is the way to go, I believe. Wouldn't even consider the lead acid battery personally for a new build. I think it would save you money and headaches in the long run.
As to the need for the battery monitor, my Renogy has built-in bluetooth that lets you monitor the battery capacity from your phone. Why would you need more than that? It's a lot simpler, especially for a retrofit that would need a monitor installed.