Lithium batteries

[Ron Kroll]

Lithium batteries, We are taking delivery on a new elite 2023  elite11 hull #1329 on January 18. I was reading through the new 23 owners manual and came across this,does it mean as I am reading that I can’t charge the lithium batteries from a standard 120 V outlet Due TO THE HIGH AMPERE DRAW OF THE INVERTER WHILE CHARGING THE BATTERIES, DO NOT USE A 30 AMP ADAPTER INTO A 15 AMP OUTLET TO CHARGE LITHIUM BATTERIES. Has anyone with lithium batteries experience problems when charging through our 120 V outlet 15 Amp outlet

[Steve Morris]

I saw that and also was concerned. We don’t yet k ow where we’ll store our trailer so haven’t installed a 30 Amp line. Probably won’t before our March 29 delivery, either. Hopefully the low enter sun here in Ohio will keep them topped off. 

[Ollie-Haus]

3 hours ago, Ron Kroll said:

Lithium batteries, We are taking delivery on a new elite 2023  elite11 hull #1329 on January 18. I was reading through the new 23 owners manual and came across this,does it mean as I am reading that I can’t charge the lithium batteries from a standard 120 V outlet Due TO THE HIGH AMPERE DRAW OF THE INVERTER WHILE CHARGING THE BATTERIES, DO NOT USE A 30 AMP ADAPTER INTO A 15 AMP OUTLET TO CHARGE LITHIUM BATTERIES. Has anyone with lithium batteries experience problems when charging through our 120 V outlet 15 Amp outlet

That would seem reasonable. If there is only one possible shore connection and it's rated at 30 amps and that's what's required to operate the battery charger, we are pretty much constrained by the onboard system. This may have always been the case, after all the LE2 has always had a 30A shore requirement so you wouldn't want to connect that to a source that isn't rated for 30 amps regardless of the type of battery system. 

[John E Davies]

19 minutes ago, Ollie-Haus said:

That would seem reasonable. If there is only one possible shore connection and it's rated at 30 amps and that's what's required to operate the battery charger, we are pretty much constrained by the onboard system. This may have always been the case, after all the LE2 has always had a 30A shore requirement so you wouldn't want to connect that to a source that isn't rated for 30 amps regardless of the type of battery system. 

This is very incorrect. As long as you manage the AC loads correctly, you can certainly run off a 20 amp or 15 amp circuit. The 30 amp power is needed for running all the loads at once. When hooked up to a smaller supply, just turn off the hot water heater and fridge circuit breakers (run them on propane). Do not operate the microwave. Do not expect to run the air conditioner while charging lithium batteries. Do the latter early in the morning, until they are topped up, then turn off the charger and run the aircon in the afternoon….

I rarely hook up to shore power, and when I do it is hardly ever 30 amp. You can access the xantrex charge control settings and turn down the output current if needed, this has been discussed in several other threads.

 

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

[Frank C]

16 minutes ago, Ollie-Haus said:

you wouldn't want to connect that to a source that isn't rated for 30 amps regardless of the type of battery system. 

Not always the case if only charging the batteries.  I have the 4 x 12v lead acid wet cell battery setup and I keep it charged quite easily at home connected to a standard 15 amp household outlet using an adapter on the 30 amp Oliver connection.  It never draws above 7 amps when I’m just recharging the batteries. 

[John and Debbie]

3 minutes ago, John E Davies said:

This is very incorrect. As long as you manage the AC loads correctly, you can certainly run off a 20 amp or 15 amp circuit. The 30 amp power is needed for running all the loads at once. When hooked up to a smaller supply, just turn off the hot water heater and fridge circuit breakers. Do not expect to run the air conditioner while charging lithium batteries. Do the latter early in the morning, until they are topped up, then turn off the charger and run the aircon in the afternoon….

I rarely hook up to shore power, and when I do it is hardly ever 30 amp. You can access the xantrex charge control settings and turn down the output current if needed, this has been discussed in several other threads.

 

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

John, I have winterized and just have the refrigerator on auto with no gas on.  The only two draws on the lithium batteries are the refrigerator and the battery heater.  I am in Denver where it was 25 and sunny.  The batteries are at 100% on the lithium pro package.  Yesterday I was just hooked up to an extension cord and a 30>15 amp plug and the only thing it was charging was the battery.  As I understand it you're spot on.  The 30 amp service lets you have more things on, but you can plug into just a regular outlet and use the 30>15 amp plug.  As soon as the snow stops and the roads are good, I will continue on to Oregon.

[Jim_Oker]

I've been charging mine (hull #709, with Xantrex Freedom Pro 3000 inverter/charger/converter unit) by adjusting the inverter setting so that it won't draw more than 14 amps (I have a few light bulbs on the same circuit so want to leave headroom for them). I think it's a different setting than John circled above - as the units are in amps, but if you check the settings on your inverter you should be able to sort out which to adjust for this purpose. Before I did this, I tripped the circuit if I plugged in with SOC low enough that the charger was in "bulk charge" mode, but it's been fine with this setting. It's easy to switch the setting from the Xantrex phone app, e.g. in the rare event I'm plugged in to a 30 amp outlet at a campground as I was back in June. 

[Steph and Dud B]

It's Setting #28 on our Xantrex. Set it to the highest amps your source will allow (15 if it's a standard household outlet with nothing else on the circuit). I actually have ours set for 5 when we're at home because our house is old and that outside outlet shares its circuit with several other loads. With everything in the trailer turned off and the solar panels on, 5 amps has been adequate to keep the batteries charged so far, even with the batteries' internal heaters running at night. (If that changes in colder weather, we'll have a dedicated outlet installed.)

(And, yes, a bulk charge for lithiums can overload a 15 amp circuit if the Xantrex is left at the factory setting of 25 amps.)

[CnC]

Note that lithium batteries are not all the same as their internal battery management systems ultimately dictate how they respond to being energized.

Charlie.