Oliver Advice

[Against The Wind]

Hi friends. Winter’s coming and as a new Oliver owner, I’d like to ask about my batteries. We have the lithium platinum package (640ah) and as expensive as they are want to be sure we take good care of them while Ollys off the road for a while. Living in southeast Tennessee, we can experience temps in the teens for short periods so, should I remove my batteries and store them in a nice dry basement or leave them hooked up to shore power and let the battery management system control them? We will be storing Olly under a Calmark cover in our driveway and have access to 30 amp shore power. As always, your advice is most welcome. 

[Zodd]

It appears that you have already asked this question and received some responses. 

 

 

[Geronimo John]

Just about every owner's location can impact the winterized trailer. 

In addition to studying your battery Owner's Manual, I suggest that you contact your battery MFG and state the conditions you will be storing your Ollie, for how long, and if power is always available there during the winter.  

GJ

[Steph and Dud B]

As others have said, refer to the battery mfg manual. The manual for our Lithionics batteries (also 640Ah) says to leave them on and the trailer plugged in during sub-freezing weather. Ours have internal heaters.

[Rolind]

I understand concerns about best way to overwinter Lithionics batteries. The owners manual states the first option is to leave the batteries on and the trailer plugged in.  The question arises what to do if the trailer doesn’t have access to power over the winter. We store our under cover (no rooftop solar input) with a 100w portable solar panel and controller plugged in to the outside zamp plug.  The location of the portable panel allows it to get sunlight about 4-5 hrs/day in January.  During cold and cloudy spells, the battery heaters will draw down our batteries to about 75% SOC. I emailed Lithionics and asked, is it better to turn off the batteries or leave them on during cold weather knowing that the charge from the portable solar panel sometimes has a hard time keeping up with the draw from the battery heaters.  Their  only reply was to send me a link to the owners manual page with storage recommendations. I usually turn our batteries off with a full charge and make sure I follow the the recommendations for how long to leave them off based on ambient temperature in the owner manual.

[jd1923]

15 hours ago, Rolind said:

During cold and cloudy spells, the battery heaters will draw down our batteries to about 75% SOC.

I have a faint memory of how cloudy it gets in some areas of the USA. I remember a Chicago Tribune headline from about 1980, stating "45 Days of Gray!" Yes, 45 days with NO SUN in that part of the country over the winter months.

Edited Friday at 03:35 AM by jd1923
Just the hateful part, sorry.​

[Rolind]

Wow did you have to be so hateful about faintly remembering cloudy weather! Louisville isn’t as bad as Detroit where we hail from originally. I remember up in Detroit the radio shows used to have a contest for how many minutes the sun would shine in the month of December. Now that we are retired we just bug out to the Keys for 4-6 weeks in the winter, so not so bad. The worst part about 75% SOC is my neurotic checking of the SOC every several days.  I do after all need something to worry about. LOL

[topgun2]

14 hours ago, Rolind said:

The worst part about 75% SOC is my neurotic checking of the SOC every several days.

I feel your pain!  Still being used to the old lead acid days I really get worried at anything below 50% SOC no matter how much my brain tries to tell me that "its all OK".

Bill

Edited Friday at 03:06 PM by topgun2

[John Dorrer]

I had a couple great conversations with Lithonics technical. We were instructed to run our batteries down to 48-50% once a year. They said no issues keeping plugged in.

 

We store inside an unheated warehouse with the trailer plugged into shore power, and the battery warming blanket on. In Indiana we get numerous days down near 0° - 20°. 

We also turn off solar. Storage is one hour away from our home. We visit the trailer once a month to check on everything. We check both the Lithonics and Xantrex Apps when we are there.

[Rivernerd]

On 10/29/2025 at 1:11 PM, Against The Wind said:

Living in southeast Tennessee, we can experience temps in the teens for short periods so, should I remove my batteries and store them in a nice dry basement or leave them hooked up to shore power and let the battery management system control them?

Short answer:  leave them connected to shore power, as the Lithium Platinum Package Lithionics batteries have internal heaters that protect them from freezing so long as they have sufficient power supply.  BUT, disconnect shore power once every 3 months (when ambient temps are above freezing) and turn on appliances, lights etc. to run the batteries down to 30%.  Then plug shore power back in, which will recharge the battery bank back to 100% and keep it there.

That is what we do with our Lithium Pro Package Lithionics battery bank in much colder winter temps in central Idaho.  The only difference is our batteries have an external heating pad installed by Oliver with a separate switch mounted on top of the battery bank, as they do not include internal heaters like yours do.  

[jd1923]

14 hours ago, Rolind said:

The worst part about 75% SOC is my neurotic checking of the SOC every several days.

I promise no more cracks about the weather! 🤣 (Sorry about that.)

We boondock more than we plug into shore power. We have 600 Ah Epoch LiFePO4 and 3KVA Victron inverter/charger that we run 24x7 and we use a LOT of 120VAC; run TV and A/V system morning and night, electric kettle and pressure cooker, Emeril air fryer, the fridge, HWH and the A/C on occasion.

We also run the fridge on DC while towing and either the HWH or A/C the last 90 min on the road so that we arrive with either hot water or a cool cabin, whatever is more important at the time. Of course we could heat water on LP when we get there, but I'm about using the batteries we have!

We can charge in 3 ways, 320W roof solar, 400W suitcase solar and Victron Orion 50A DC-to-DC charger (reason why we can run extra AC appliances while towing).

If I'm running the A/C on the road, on a hot afternoon, SOC is likely already down to 75% when we arrive. The next morning after cooking dinner, watching TV... We're usually down to 62%. If it's another sunny day in the SW we will get back to high 70s and we applaud if SOC hits 80% using the solar suitcase. If it's a cloudy day, SOC will stay in the 60s and the next morning, we'll be in the low 50s. Another cloudy day then we're in the 40s SOC. If we're under 50% SOC we change things, like morning coffee water heated by LP vs. AC and I'll power down the inverter while sleeping.

We are between 50 to 75% SOC most of the time. I'll run SOC much lower, if I know we are breaking camp and towing. The DC-to-DC charger will bring us 40Ah while towing. Three hours on the road will charge +20% SOC and if it's sunny +30%.

I've run our batteries under 20% SOC now 3 times! Always from being DUMB! Like leaving the fridge on DC overnight, or the HWH (big amps) which is something most people would not even consider running on batteries. When I get the <20% alarm, I'll power down the inverter and use little to no power! 🤣

BTW, 75% SOC is the HIGHEST number you should maintain during storage! Keeping LiFePO4 batteries at 100% reduced battery life (see below). Which battery manufacturer really does not matter, it's about the LiFePO4 battery chemistry. I knew I was right about not leaving chargers on 24x7 from my 45 years of experience with lead acid in automobiles and AGMs in my motorcycles, but I was not sure about LiFePO4, so I looked it up.

@Against The Wind, I found similar information on 3 websites and AI replied with 40-60% being the best range of SOC while in storage. Check out this from EG4 Electronics:

At EG4, we recommend keeping the battery at 50% to 60% SOC. This range minimizes the stress on the battery cells and prevents chemical reactions that could degrade the battery over time. 

• Avoid High SOC: Storing your battery at or near 100% SOC for extended periods can lead to reduced cycle life.

https://eg4electronics.com/maximizing-battery-lifespan-best-state-of-charge-soc-practices/

Keeping at 50-60% SOC would be a chore, but SOC anywhere between 40% and 80% is better than 100%. Also, I strongly suggest we all USE the expensive batteries we've purchased! Nothing wrong with being below 50% when needed. Yes, one less thing to worry about! I used to worry. Chris still worries when we're in the 60s and she checks the apps too. I love what and how much can be run on LiFePO4 batteries today.

Now that we're installing a highly efficient Turbro Inverter A/C, we plan to run A/C on battery a few hours in the heat of the day when needed. I'm looking at adding another 460 Ah in the doghouse, just behind the LP tanks, if I can move them forward enough! A total of 1060Ah. Now we're talking! 😎

[Geronimo John]

11 hours ago, jd1923 said:

BTW, 75% SOC is the HIGHEST number you should maintain during storage! Keeping LiFePO4 batteries at 100% reduced battery life (see below). Which battery manufacturer really does not matter, it's about the LiFePO4 battery chemistry

JD:  I do wish I had your "Super Power" system.  Our three Battleborn's pale in comparison. 

Regardless, Battleborn advise for 8 months of storage where a deep freeze is possible mirrors your concept.  They stated to Equalize, and then draw down SOC to 60% SOC.  Kill alll power flow via a master switch and let it go for the winter.  So far it works well.  I typically find 8 months later that the SOC has only dropped a couple of percent at most.  

Their logic is that in our case the Battleborns may freeze, but with ZERO power draw until the next summer they thaw and all is good to go.  Up on arrival I record the SOC and equialize within a few days.

GJ

[jd1923]

12 hours ago, Geronimo John said:

Battleborn advise for 8 months of storage where a deep freeze is possible mirrors your concept.  They stated to Equalize, and then draw down SOC to 60% SOC.  Kill alll power flow via a master switch and let it go for the winter.  So far it works well.  I typically find 8 months later that the SOC has only dropped a couple of percent at most.  

Their logic is that in our case the Battleborns may freeze, but with ZERO power draw until the next summer they thaw and all is good to go.  Up on arrival I record the SOC and equialize within a few days.

Good to know of your experience, John. I thought that LiFePO4 batteries could freeze given 60% +/- SOC and fully disconnected from load and charge. 

This is as easy as it gets for winter storage! Good to know it has worked for you. Your Oklahoma storage location certainly gets a number of freezing days and nights over the long 8 months you are off the mainland. If we ever see some real cold coming, I'll do the same. Run SOC down to 60% and then pull the ground cable on our battery bank. So simple! Way better than the manufacturers that state charging power can be left on all year just as long as SOC is low once a year. I don't see that advice.

Thanks John, your Battleborn method is the best plan yet and so easy to implement! Battleborn was the best choice when you upgraded years ago. No power required during storage, no battery removal, no fuss, no worries! 😎

[Against The Wind]

As always, the Oliver family is so helpful to new, rookie Olly owners! Thanks so much for your advice and wisdom. 😃