Upgrade to lithium batteries blows circuit boards....?

[mountainoliver]

For general information, both the Suburban  NT-20SEQ furnace and Suburban SW6DE water heater as installed in the 2017 (hull 208) Oliver LEII (information taken from my Oliver supplied as built sheet) are rated for 10.5 - 13.5 VDC. The Dinosaur replacement control board that I now have on my water heater is rated for 10 - 19 VDC. The Blue Sky solar controller is programmed for maximum voltage of 14.6, acceptance charge of 14.4, and float charge of 13.6 VDC. These settings are per the Battle Born folks. From the above information and the fact that the Progressive Dynamics PD4045 charger also produces 14.6 VDC, we should install a voltage regulator on each appliance. Unless the original control boards have been replaced with Dinosaur control boards! Also I no longer have the Dometic fridge so don’t know/don’t care what it’s voltage specs were! Anyone happen to know what the DC amperage draw is for the Suburban furnace while running?

[mjrendon]

@John E Davies posted this link in another thread - 10.3 amps for the furnace fan

Quote

Here is a chart (one of a gazillion out there) showing how much power in watts or amps various appliances consume. Since it is winter you do not have to worry about the air conditioner, it is a huge energy hog. Your water heater electric heating element, if you have one, and the fridge electric heater both use a lot of current. If you are hooked up to 30 amps, don’t worry about them, but if you are on a 15 amp circuit, you need to make sure both of those units are running off propane. Trip those breakers and make sure the propane is turned on and working.

https://optingoutofnormal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/PDF-RV-APPLIANCE-POWER-CONSUMP.pdf

John Davies

 

[mountainoliver]

Ok, but the chart looks like they are showing the furnace fan only and the amps listed are at 120 VAC. Our camper furnaces run on DC/propane only. I may just test the furnace load while running. 

[mjrendon]

You are correct.  My 2017 Oliver owners manual shows furnace fan and ignitor at 4-8 amps.

Edited February 10, 2021 by mjrendon

[choied]

Oh boy, I am about to upgrade my AGMs to lithium batteries.  Do I need to get regulators for all the appliances and splice them in?  For some reason I thought leaving the Converter and Solar Charger at the AGM setting would be okay as well vs. changing them to Lithium settings.

[Overland]

I still think this is a lot of drama over numbers in technical specs without much in the way of real world failures actually pointing to an issue. I’ve been running lithiums for three years now with no circuit board failures and this thread is literally the only thing on the entire internet that I can find expressing concern over lithium charge voltages.

IMO, go camping and stop worrying. 

Edited February 11, 2021 by Overland

[mountainoliver]

Overland, I apologize 

[Overland]

48 minutes ago, mountainoliver said:

Overland, I apologize 

No need whatsoever.  If anything I should apologize if I came on too strong.  We all have our opinions, things we stress over, don't stress over, etc.  Like anyone else, I'm just a guy with an opinion, and a year from now I may have changed it.  

I just don't want people to think that this is something that they absolutely have to do if they swap out to lithiums.  Some people may read this and decide to take the extra precaution, and some may want to just wait and see if it really turns out to be anything worth worrying about.

Edited February 11, 2021 by Overland

[choied]

I am currently beginning the process of switching over to LI batteries from the AGMs and actually ended up asking the BattleBorn rep about this issue.  He told me that changing out batteries and reprogramming the Solar and Converter to the LI setting should not impact any of the appliances if the RV was wired properly.  I guess I will find out in the not so distant future..lol..