Lithium battery upgrade questions

[michael99685]

Originally Posted by Centex

FWIW methinks that 'standard caution' is indeed a holdover from battery off-gas concerns and is moot with LiFePO4 of the sort we are considering (BestGo, Battleborn, etc/similar).

I understand that the Freedom XC, like all other similar devices I've explored, is not rated for use in a potentially explosive atmospheres (it might serve as an ignition source due to internal arcing). Some might argue in favor of a particularly 'conservative' approach such as placing even LiFePO4 batteries in a sealed and externally vented box, isolated from all potential ignition sources; I won't argue against that choice, but it's not mine.

Personally I'm basing my 'utility bay layout' on an assumption that the LiFePO4 battery is not a source of explosive or noxious gasses**, does not require isolation from ignition sources or breathing-air spaces, and am focusing on minimizing cable-runs and maximizing cooling air-circulation for both batteries and inverter/converter components.

YMMV and of course I'll keep the eyes and mind open for any info credibly suggesting that's a flawed approach.

**Yeah, it's possible for an LiFePO4 battery to emit 'bad actors' when things go 'really south'; IMO that's a circumstance that's extremely unlikely in our well-physically-protected and prudently-controlled travel-trailer applications, and IF things get to that point there's gonna be so much other trauma going on that the situation will be dreadful from many other perspectives - it's just not an eventuality that IMO is worth trying to mitigate in advance with extraordinary efforts. Again, YMMV.

the Freedom XC, like all other similar devices, Learn a lot from your reply,thanks so much,buddy

[elwoodaz]

Of course it was more work than I expected but I replaced my two 6V Interstate golf cart batteries in the front storage box with two 100ah Renogy LiFePo batteries. Aside from needing longer jumpers to wire in parallel with the batteries end to end (they were too long to fit side to side in the storage box), the factory wiring was long enough to adapt to the new layout.

Bought two GC1 battery holders off Amazon to hold them in place, and they worked well bouncing down some dirt roads on our break-in run.

Replaced the WFCO converter with the swap-in Lithium ready converter and they charged up from 45% to 100% in about 8 hours off a household outlet.

Already had installed a Bogart Engineering BMS and solar charger, so it was just a tedious but straight forward process to update the parameters for lithium.

First impressions: Used 20 ah cooling the fridge on the drive out, and another 10 ah overnight with phone charging, lights, furnace and microwave use. Factory solar panel was able to re-charge to about 95% capacity with a slightly sun-blocked campsite. I figure for boon docking I could top off with solar successfully on most days and have a deep enough reservoir to handle some shady days over the course of a week or two.

Next steps: investigate adding a flexible solar panel to the front forehead of the trailer (2016 '19)