Lithium Battery

R

Robert Gersten

Newbie
My wife and I have a brand new 560 with the lithium battery. The trailer is parked out of the sun with the Dometic cooler on the side table. Running the cooler at 37 degrees and the roof fan at moderate power, the battery went from 100% to 56% in a little less than 12 hours. Is this what is to be expected?
 
I also have a new camper and have not seen a drop like that. Some factors that may affect the power drain- is the cooler in the sun or covered with a towel? A moist towel on top may help with cooling loss.

We also only run the fan at night while we are in the camper and have used the screens in the daytime to air it out
 
What I am finding is that the fan pulls more amps than the cooler. The cooler averages slightly over one amp on an average, the fan is slightly over two amps and running two of the three lights on moderate setting draws 1.4 amps. Run the fan at night, the lights a few hours a day and the cooler and the lithium battery might not last much more than a couple of days. To augment I just purchased a 200 watt portable solar panels and am also evaluating a 1000 watt Jackery or equivalent power station. It is a small price to pay for more confidence in having adequate electrical power.
 
Robert Gersten said:
What I am finding is that the fan pulls more amps than the cooler. The cooler averages slightly over one amp on an average, the fan is slightly over two amps and running two of the three lights on moderate setting draws 1.4 amps. Run the fan at night, the lights a few hours a day and the cooler and the lithium battery might not last much more than a couple of days. To augment I just purchased a 200 watt portable solar panels and am also evaluating a 1000 watt Jackery or equivalent power station. It is a small price to pay for more confidence in having adequate electrical power.
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I have a 220 watt folding solar panel, and I tell ya, I love it --- if there's sun it really charges the battery quickly, and I have lead acid/deep cycle. It wont help with battery draw, but it does take care of the 'problem' --- I'm an energy hog too. Between my fan, chargers, media server, hot spot and lights -- I can barely keep a battery charged.

What fan are you using? I have been told the maxxair fans are more efficient --- I have one, and even if it weren't I'd upgrade just for the rain sensor --- don't ask me how I know the value in that :D
 
I got in the Jackery 500 box and it works well and is easy to use. I have charged it from ac as well as my Renology solar panels. It will power my cooler for about 2 days. Howeve, I am having zero success in having my solar panels charge the lithium battery on my 560. The amber light illuminates on the CTEK box but zero charge is going to my battery. I have my solar panels pointing right at a 95 degree Texas sun. My battery is registering 43% on the Tri- Metric gauge and does not budge. My tester shows current on the Merinco plug but it seems to stop there. I began my conversation a few days ago with Cary about this. He said that it is possible that the lithium battery would not take the solar charge because the battery may have been close to fully charged. At that point the battery was showing 80% + charged on the Tri-Metric and having 13.2 volts. Do you have any thoughts on this? I will talk to Cary again on Monday.
 
The reason I suggested a fuse is because on my 560 (#701) there is a 10 Amp inline fuse between the solar plug on the side of the trailer and the battery (very clearly shown in the wiring diagram in the manual). I have had that fuse blow before and the only symptom was the failure of the solar panel to send any voltage to the battery.
 
Here is where we are on the DC battery charging issue. I am unable to charge the battery either from the tow vehicle alternator or the solar panels. My ammeter and the CTEK indicate power is getting to the CTEK but seems to be getting no further. I spent time with Craig over the phone and he had me check additional points with the ammeter. Craig believes that there might be a problem with the CTEK box. He sent me out a replacement CTEK and instructed me on how to handle the switching of the units. I should have the replacement in a day or two.
The Jackery 500 was purchased off Amazon for $325. It is the old model that will only charge up about 500 times. As I am 80, I doubt that that limitation will be much of an obstacle. There are a number of quality devices like Jackery on the market, so shop around. My wife and I are going to take the 560 on a little 8 day trip in mid September. Going to go to Fort Davis and Big Bend National Park in SW Texas. Good opportunity to learn the 560.
 
Carl U said:
OK I think I may have jinxed myself. I have just experienced the same thing . After being on the road for 6 hours I am usually charged to 100 percent this time it was only at 47 percent. Wondering if maybe I have a bad ctek as well?

Ours is number 1108
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While possible, I think it's unlikely to have two failures. I'd suspect loose connections or a bad battery as the single point of failure.
 
Update: I installed the replacement CTEK that Craig sent. Problems still exist, maybe more. Some power flowed from the tow vehicle to the battery for a while then stopped. No charge comes through from the solar panels and none of the new CTEK lights illuminate. I did a bunch of ammeter tests, guided over the phone by Craig. Nothing conclusive. I sent the old CTEK back to Craig for his analysis. Craig will determine an action plan. I know Cary reads these posts and probably Craig also.
 
Update: I talked to Craig and he had me reset the parameters on the tri-metric meter. I should have written them down but when you’re on the phone getting an issue resolved you don’t think of these things! lol Craig had to take a sec to get his…
We’re still monitoring, and writing this reminds me I should log it daily. We are currently in Zion NP plugged in. Last night we were at 71 this morning it was at 67 just the fan and dometic running. Unplugged it and plugged it back in and I am at 71.
 
Carl U said:
After being on the road for 6 hours I am usually charged to 100 percent this time it was only at 47 percent. Wondering if maybe I have a bad ctek as well?

Ours is number 1108
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We have been experiencing the same and we are only 10 away from you. #1118

Everything was great March pickup through June shake down camping trips, then our big trip in July and the poltergeist issue showed up. Following to see if a solution is found. We will be at CICO end of month so maybe can compare notes.
 
Update: After hiking all day in Zion we got back and it was 100 percent. Leaving Zion traveling to Idyllwild CA it went from 100 to 97. Plugged in here and it went to 100 percent. This morning I am at 96.

This seems to be more normal readings and resetting the tri-metric parameters brought it back in sync so far.

I won’t be back to our home state of WI until early October. We will miss the CICO unfortunately.
 
Carl U said:
Update: After hiking all day in Zion we got back and it was 100 percent. Leaving Zion traveling to Idyllwild CA it went from 100 to 97. Plugged in here and it went to 100 percent. This morning I am at 96.

This seems to be more normal readings and resetting the tri-metric parameters brought it back in sync so far.
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Thank you for the update, we will check in with Cary and Craig at CICO about resetting the tri-metric.
 
Looks like I am joining the Lithium crowd. Just ordered a Li Time, heated group 24 battery. It is currently on sale for $249 (before taxes) at their website. Recently replaced the original Battery Tender with a Victron charger and picked up a CTEK 250SE off of ebay. Battery prices have really dropped since I first looked at lifepo4 batteries.
 
I'm glad I didn't buy one, these are proably all made in the same factory in Tianjin. There are several now that offer self-heating.

I"ve still got my deep cycle --- but when it dies, at around 250 --- its a no brainer.
 
Old post but I just installed new li battery. Some observation
First off you'll need new dc to dc charger for your tow vehicle and a new ac charger for your camper.
Li has different charging requirements than lead acid batteries, you can charge them from your alternator but, the dc to dc charger regulates how much charge they get, correct temperature range, etc.
The power coming from the 7 pin cable is not really enough for a 100 a battery, I measured just over 2 a from mine( it varies a bit depending on your alternator) but that's 50 hrs of dr iving to charge a dead battery.
Not sure how campinn addresses this on the newer campers, but I ended up running a new separate power cable from the alternator to the battery in the battery in the camper. So the sequence is alternator/starter battery to dc to dc charger, dc charger to rear of truck with a disconnect next to the existing 7 pin. Then under the camper to the rear battery.
With 100a I turned on all the lights and fan and got about 26hrs to half.
The refrigerator was gulping down the energy 20% overnight , until I realized the door wasn't latched down all the way then it went down maybe 8% over the next 24 hrs.
I'm thinking on a full battery you can easily get a long weekend without a recharge, maybe longer.
Campinn makes their trailers pretty energy efficient, but the solid walls make it difficult to rewire. Any way working great, adding a second battery to my truck so essentially I'll have 200a of power @12v but I also have an entertainment center in my truck, otherwise 100Ah is more than I need.
 

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Sweeney said:
I'm wishing I had put int he Lithium now. My next battery definitely will be.
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It's definitely much longer lasting and more usable power as they can be pretty much fully discharged whereas the lead batteries only down to 40 or 50%.
Wasn't that difficult to change, I reused most of campinn wiring, got rid of their ac charger and went with a 40a , no battery in the old location, so I didn't need the heat circuit sensor. So far my new battery doesn't get hot, stays at whatever temp it is outside, I have it near the sink in the bottom of the cabinet with a plywood shelf over it. The hardest part was figuring out how to get the power wire up to the front. You may be able to rig up the 7pin power wire to a dc to dc charger
If so that's 1 issue solved, but on mine it was a 10 or 12 gauge wire and I wasn't sure it could handle 50 or 60 amps, so I opted for 6awg all the way to the alternator except for the connection between the camper and truck, I bought a kit already made in 2 awg just for extra life.
The existing circuit breaker was fine
Worth it imo
 
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