Report: Refrigerator on DC during travel with Platinum Package

[VBistro]

Just a quick note for those interested in the lithium platinum package, which we have on our 2022 Ollie.

We took our maiden voyage in VellOllie this week, about 4.5-5 hours from home.  Because I knew we would have an electrical hookup at our campsite, I decided to run the regrigerator on DC for the entire trip down.  We started at 100% battery, according to the Lithionics app, and ended at.....99% battery on one, 100% on the other.  It was sunny the entire trip, which helps of course.

On the return, we ended at 99% and 98%, and were in cloudy conditions for the entire drive.

I'd say that's pretty good performance, and have confidence in running the fridge on DC while traveling, even when I know we won't have electrical hookups at our final destination.  Pretty cool...and part of why we went with the biggest solar/battery package we could get.

[Jibbyboo]

Thanks so much for sharing this. I've been wondering how much of a drain running the fridge would be on the lithium batteries. Very helpful!

 

[Steph and Dud B]

Awesome! Great to know. Thanks. 

[DaveAndBecky_NorthernMI]

Be aware the Lithionics app takes some time to calibrate the SOC calculation. There are some good posts on this forum about this. You have to draw your batteries down several time and then recharge for the SOC calculation to become accurate.

 

[Frank C]

On Ollies with the lithium batteries, does Oliver disconnect the tow vehicle 12 volt charge wire?  (Black wire/charge wire on the chart with a 20 amp breaker coming from the 7 pin connector, shown in the diagram).  This wiring diagram is for our 2019 with wet lead acid batteries.  
Since tow vehicles typically don’t provide a high enough voltage above nominal 12volt DC to actually CHARGE the lithium batteries unless you add a DC to DC converter to boost the voltage a bit, which some Oliver owners have done. 

[Mike and Carol]

We’ve never run our fridge on DC, when we had the AGM’s I felt more comfortable with propane.  It’s good to know the performance of the lithiums and it gives us another option.  I’ll probably stick with propane since it’s worked so well over the years.  Mike

[ScottyGS]

Thanks to OP and everyone else for chiming in on this topic.  Have been very interested in this topic and it's good to have some first hand reports. 

[Steph and Dud B]

47 minutes ago, FrankC said:

Your tow vehicle is also contributing 12v power to the Oliver 12 volt DC bus while you are towing.

Not with the lithium packages.

[Frank C]

10 minutes ago, Steph and Dud B said:

Not with the lithium packages.

Thanks for the info.  I updated my original post since it only applied to my setup with lead acid batteries.

So Oliver doesn’t use the 7 pin 12 volt charge wire at all (wire disconnected?) on trailers with the lithium package?   

[Steph and Dud B]

18 minutes ago, FrankC said:

Oliver doesn’t use the 7 pin 12 volt charge wire at all (wire disconnected?) on trailers with the lithium package?

Correct. It's disconnected because the lithiums can absorb power way faster than the vehicle alternator can handle. (My probably over-simplistic understanding of the engineering.)

[VBistro]

On 4/14/2022 at 6:37 AM, DaveAndBecky_NorthernMI said:

Be aware the Lithionics app takes some time to calibrate the SOC calculation. There are some good posts on this forum about this. You have to draw your batteries down several time and then recharge for the SOC calculation to become accurate.

 

I was not aware, but will look at some of the older posts.  And will do some more experimenting on our next trip.

[VBistro]

On 4/14/2022 at 7:40 AM, Mike and Carol said:

We’ve never run our fridge on DC, when we had the AGM’s I felt more comfortable with propane.  It’s good to know the performance of the lithiums and it gives us another option.  I’ll probably stick with propane since it’s worked so well over the years.  Mike

We installed the GasStop emergency propane valves at the tanks so that we could tow with propane.  But....since we suspected a propane leak right before this trip, propane wasn't an option.  I'm pleased that this worked out - I will likely always throw the fridge on DC before trips where I'm headed to an electrical hookup, but will still use propane when I'm going to be boondocking.

[CnC]

These questions about what charges/discharges during various conditions can be answered by simply installing a smart shunt.  Then you can "see" the changes when things turn on/off - start/stop - connect/disconnect.  It's the best money you'll ever spend on your electrical system.  I use the Victron Smart Shunt with the bluetooth app to monitor ALL energy flows via the negative buss.

Charlie.

[Jim_Oker]

19 minutes ago, CnC said:

These questions about what charges/discharges during various conditions can be answered by simply installing a smart shunt.  Then you can "see" the changes when things turn on/off - start/stop - connect/disconnect.

With the LifeBlue batteries that Oliver installed in our hull #709 (December 2020 delivery) the BMS in the batteries that reports out via a phone app provides info on both state of charge and the amperage being drawn (along with battery temperature and # of charging cycles the batteries have been through). I don't know if the Lithionics batteries they've been installing have a similar feature. 

[CnC]

1 hour ago, Jim_Oker said:

With the LifeBlue batteries that Oliver installed in our hull #709 (December 2020 delivery) the BMS in the batteries that reports out via a phone app provides info on both state of charge and the amperage being drawn. 

Jim, we bought our #617 with BB batteries already installed by the former owner (incorrectly I might add) so I wasn't aware of what LifeBlue's BMS monitors.  Thanks for clarifying.

Charlie.

[Jim_Oker]

18 hours ago, CnC said:

Thanks for clarifying.

No worries. Just wanted to point out that at least some owners needn't go to the step of adding a shunt to their system to get such info. But the notion of adding a shunt is a great piece of info for anyone who doesn't have this already built in.

[thompsonkd]

We are replacing our AGM batteries with lithium and and are trying to keep things simple. It’s quite a learning curve, and have appreciated all the posts of others who have made this change. Along these lines, in an above post, it’s mentioned that the 12 volt charging system from the 7 pin is disconnected on lithium systems to avoid damaging the tow vehicle’s alternator. How exactly is this done? By modifying the 7 pin or within the trailer? And I assume that since the TV is not contributing to charging the lithium batteries, people would run their fridge off propane? Thanks. 
David

[Frank C]

35 minutes ago, thompsonkd said:

it’s mentioned that the 12 volt charging system from the 7 pin is disconnected on lithium systems to avoid damaging the tow vehicle’s alternator. How exactly is this done? By modifying the 7 pin or within the trailer? 

You could just open the 20 amp breaker that’s on the 12v charge wire on the 7 pin harness on the trailer.   That way the original wiring is all still intact if you ever switch back to AGMs or wet cells.