How To Do RV Lithium The Right Way 

This is WAY above my head but I loved watching this. What an amazing system in an amazing RV!

All in and over-engineered! Good job. Impressive. I am a cheap ass. 16s grade b cells with 5kw Chinese hybrid solar inverter/charger. Using the onboard ac charger to charge the inhouse batts. Max I can pull with ac, heater, and microwave at the same time is 83amps @ around 52v. Wired for 200amps max. 30ft RV.

Great video! Thanks for the walkthrough!

A truly amazing system. Congratulations!

All I can say is WOW! lol. We had a decent size system installed using all Victron and Battle Born batteries and it's been great so far....I think lol. I helped the installer and he walked me through everything but its hard to wrap your head around everything in 3 days, specially if your not tech/electrical savvy and I'm not lol. We are weekend warriors at best and have only used the system by itself a couple times so still learning the how and why's of it, Ben did a great job of putting things into layman's terms for the average person to understand. We ended up going with a 12v system and yes those wires were fat and very hard to manipulate but we got it done nice and neat like yours. Only thing I want to add is a high output fan in the enclosed cabinet where everything lives and duct it to the inside of the rv, our last trip the batteries were as hot as 98F and the fan was constantly running on the Multi Plus !! we have.

The reflection on cell 16 looks like it has been crushed by the end plate because of the rigid rods without springs. Crushing can happen if the cells were “compressed “ at a low state of charge (rod nuts snugged) and when the batteries reach full state of charge, they can expand with the accumulated expansion of 16 cells as much as 3/8 of an inch, even more in hot conditions. Springs can be added so the end plates can apply a force of between 500 to 650 pounds regardless of expansion across the large side of the cells. Other than that, excellent install.

Great Set up / Content!!👌🏾👌🏾

A few items. For an example of a method to add more solar panels via stacking and slide out, take a look at fellow YT Sail Life Athena from 6 months ago. The design is for a dinghy davit for a sailboat but the concepts might work for you, As far a budget solar, I helped design and install a 640w system on a catamaran 3 yrs ago. Total cost for two 320w panels (at 60cents/w) a 60amp Makeskyblue mppt with bluetooth ($150) plus circuit breakers, pv cables, battery cables, tools and waterproof thru hulls was $650 or about $1per watt. The boat already had a 12v battery bank so there was no extra batteries needed or their cost .

Very cool Ben! Thanks for sharing!!!

An awesome system.. SOO love the batteries. Learning the details to build some as we speak. Battle Born, even if they are the best, are so, SOOO far beyond the commonly expressed excuse of "buy once cry once" it's hysterical. When I started this endeavor some years ago I intended to go Battle Born simply becuz they were allegedly the best, and the best is what I thought I was about to do. HA! I ended up getting just shy of 3 batteries per cost of one, and 3 years later I have not regretted it.

Holy Moley 😵‍💫 Thank you I think 😁 Safe Travels ❤️

Amazing ! My dream battery for my RV in Europe. Still very expensive over here !

Cool setup.

I've been wanting to swap my onan generator out for a battery pack. And this really helped me figure that I've got plenty space.

OMG...it sure looks like an incredible build. I wish I had an electrical buddy to help me!!! Good job!!!

That is an incredibly good build. You are even down-buffering from the 48V system to a 12V battery for the 12V system (which means that the DC-to-DC converter doesn't have to deal with the 12V loads). Very few people in the industry know about that trick.

Very nice and clean build 👍👍 Greetings from Bavaria... which unfortunately is in Germany. 😅😅

Once in 6 years of solar/ battery RV ing I find someone who knows what the hell he’s talking about kudos to you

A shunt is simply a piece of wire with a known resistance, by measuring the voltage across it, you can work out the amperage.

That behemoth of a system is a true piece of artwork.

Most awesome setup Ben, I really like the fact that you got away from packaged batteries and went the cell route. I wonder if the big 3 that I follow, David Poz, Jehugarcia, and Will Prowse would comment on your great setup?

very nice setup. if you pull 10kw each battery will be producing around .4C if those are 280ah cells. I have 4 of those batteries setup in my house and only when things are starting up do I even come close to 10kw. I use kilowatts as the unit of measure since 48v and 240v have different amps to achieve the same kw in/output. I would suggest he runs a heater/ac duct into that area. so it can be cooled or heated so it wont matter where he goes.

Great setup! I did a similar diy setup in my cargo van conversion. 15KWH custom battery, I did 12v and huge cables lol. Setup as 2 independent 12v batteries. I did 1 victron 3000 multiplus and a 3000 watt inverter on separate AC lines. Mostly for cost. I’ve also been able to plug into an ev charger and charge the battery! J1772 connector to Nema 14-50.

Nice system!

If you are still considering adding more solar you might get some ideas from what we're doing. I will be racking 8, 550W Sungold Power solar panels in a single row down the length of our 35ft Class A, about 14" off our roof, above our AC, fan shrouds, etc. Our MH is only 11' 9" tall now, to the top of our AC shrouds, so we will remain under 12" in height when done. We're wintering over in Yuma, AZ now, assembling the components of this build, and plan to have it finished right after the first of the year. We received our aluminum racking material and hardware last week, and our solar panels just arrived 4 days ago, but it will take time to get everything assembled and installed, as we're moving much slower these days. We are retired and living on social security and a small pension, so have to do everything on a tight budget forgoing name brand components like Battleborn and Victron for lesser-known brands and must do all the work ourselves - which keeps getting harder as we age. You could probably rack 9-10 of these huge panels on your fiver, dedicating one or two for your 12v batteries if needed. We started our build 4 years ago with a custom built 620-watt liftable solar array mounted on the side of our motorhome. It serves as a nice bedroom window awning too, practically lifting itself to the desired angle with a couple gas struts and it's easy to clean with a windshield squeegee, standing safely on the ground. But the main reason for mounting it on the side of our MH was to leave the roof free for the 4,400W array that will cover the entire roof so we'll be bringing our own shade with us wherever we go. We just completed the first phase last January, with the addition of a custom built 560ah of LiFePo-4 battery we made with 8, 280ah prismatic cells. We typically use less than 20% of their capacity daily giving us enough reserve capacity for about a week of bad weather before we have to run our generator for charging. It only cost us $1,500 to build this 560ah 12v (7.1Kwh) battery, including a 350A amp BMS and an active balancer. We will be using a Sungold Power all-in-one 48V, 5,000W, 120V PSW Inverter, 100a MPPT charge controller and a 40A a/c battery charger. The reason we chose this all-in-one is because the idle power consumption is only 25 watts - and it's on sale now for only $721 to the end of the month! Our 48v battery bank will use 16, 310ah prismatic cells. So together with our 560ah (7.1 Kwh)12v bank, we will have a total of 22.9Kwh of batteries onboard (about 18 Battleborns worth). We will be replacing our old rear 13.5k btu rooftop Dometic AC with one of the new high-efficiency 12k btu mini-split heat pumps. This second phase will cost under $10k, including the $1,500 EG4 28.5 seer2 heat pump, as we plan on doing all the work ourselves. Our 2nd phase will provide 24/7 off-grid air conditioning and supplemental heat from the heat pump and allow occasional usage of our front rooftop 14.5k Furrion AC to cool things down quickly during peak afternoon hours, as well as give us whole house 120v ac power. We'll soon have total off-grid electrical independence, allowing us to keep our generator in reserve for emergency use only - on a budget we can afford. Take care, we hope to see you down the road!

Nice video, very cool setup. When I was experimenting, I noticed when I put cells in parallel, the BMS got very hot. After researching, it appears the cells may become out of balance because they tend to charge each other, which causes the BMS to get hot. After a lot of effort, I have found that puting diodes at the ends of each series and puting them in parallel with the diodes, prevents the BMS from heating up. I also noticed a significant increase in my battery performance. Since I need a lot of amps, I soldered 20 diodes rated at 1 amp in parallel for each series cell. I have seen about 10x increase in performance (voltage sag, cell balance and power output).

Nice

Put bifacial panels over your present array, make them movable . The bottom panels will generate some while the n Bifacial s are over then moved off you will have full output of both arrays.

First off a mis title here that is a LIFEPO4 Battery bank... Huge difference between the standard Lithium batteries because the normal Lithium batteries suck... Next off I use a 24v LIfep04 Battery on my mobility scooter and its amazing!

WOW, WHAT A SYSTEM! But he has what he thinks he needs! And he must have some very deep pockets.

Are you running a 48v aux alternator off the engine or a PTO? it seems that would be the most efficient way to recharge your system quickly.

Question we do lots of community outreaches through out our state as well as throughout endeavor the country to help during natural disasters. We have a 40 foot trailer and are looking to build a new 53 foot trailer. In the past we have been running a 12000 watt Cummins Onan diesel generator. Sometimes we start it and it runs for as many as 4 to 5 weeks only stopping long enough for oil changes. Although we get very good fuel economy with fuel prices right now it can cost up to $1200 per outreach or disaster situation. We go into inner cities as well as rural areas. We are non profit and looking to go with lithium and solar as well as keeping generator to help charge the system if needed. We have contacted battery companies unfortunately they are more about sponsoring fishermen and sailing RU-vidrs rather than helping out non profits. So we are looking to do a system ourselves. We are designing and building our own trailer but could sure use some help with designing the lithium solar system. If anyone would be interested in offering some advice it would be highly appreciated. We are extremely mechanical and capable when it comes to fabricating. Also pretty electrical and have a friend that has been a union electrician for 30 years. But advice in the design of this type of system would be a tremendous blessing. Thanks for consideration.

Me watching this thinking I am going to do this tomorrow by myself with no issues 😵‍💫

What are you using for a 48v shutoff for the system? I have not found any good options.

That is one gigrundus system!

I run a similar setup with the same style eve cells on my house 45kw bank, way cheaper than anything else on the market and has been perfectly stable - just have to do the math and build it out yourself, which I prefer better

Very impressive, thank you for sharing. I'm in the market to upgrade my singular 12 v group 27 battery with 220v solar power setup to something comparable to your system I.e. 48v. Basically enhance the battery with something that gives me better piece of mind knowing I won't run out of battery power. My rv is an 18' tear drop Safari condo alto R1713.

Cool vid, thank you! What kind of batteries, where are they sourced, price, warranty, etc. Bless 🙏🏽✌🏽

If you ever decide to make some changes you can replace those two dally BMS with a single baytrum BMS and it will replace the two individual battery shuts you have and give you way more information on your batteries including individual cell voltage and jbd makes a BMS for 12 volts they make a 48 volt as well and a 24 that has Bluetooth connectivity individual cell voltage and an internal shunt and switch. Having said all that would you have there is an amazing battery build A good BMS like a patreon or patreon style or JBE and there's a lot of them out there doesn't need a balance board/ active balance you might want to look at some of Will Prowse old videos on them. Also a Victron Orion would allow you to charge your RVs 12v from your tow vehicle

Exactly why I built my own….BattleBorn is great product…when you want a name and have a big checkbook. I wanted capacity and didn’t care about a name. Built roughly 16kwhrs for roughly $1200. Wasn’t hard and love them.

Your setup is awesome! However, I would like to know where you found the ' buddy plug.' Can't find a 30amp power output plug like the one on your rig. Plenty of inlet plugs. A resource to buy one would be much appreciated. Thanks and again, a killer power system.

Maybe build a fold down solar awning? I would imagine it is the easiest way to add major amounts of solar without putting it on the roof.

The only issue I see is lack of insulation between each cell. The outer case of those cells are connected to negative, and the only thing keeping a short from happening is that thin blue coating that's very easy to nick while installing. During road vibration it can chew right through. Cardboard, thin plastic, fishpaper, really just about anything will keep it safe. Good job on the compression though, the rest of the build looks high quality and we'll thought out.

I did a 24v system with 100AH cells. I’m assuming you have 300AH cells to get you the 20KWH+ of energy. I also have a 12v battery that is charged via the 24v bank through the multiplus. Do you go with Quattros vs multiplus for the 10K rating? How many amps through your Dc-Dc converter (48v to 12v), and what DC components do you use it for? Nice work. Great job on the install. Edit: FYI….generators, generally, have 12v starter (hence my 12v agm battery). More details how I charge the 12v: I have a Victron IP22 charger that plugs into the backside of the main distribution panel (gave me a breaker dedicated to this charger). I do loose energy in the DC to AC to DC conversion, but it really simplified things.

Looks like a cool system! Diy is definitely the way to go when you want to be cost efficient. Just wondering how the weight ends up, is it comparable to hauling the generator or is the RV maxed out now?

Oversizing the inverter - you are going to have more power loss/waste. Besides that, nice system. On the cells, have you tested to confirm they are running rated capacity? Do you have temperature sensors on the cells?

It's baffling that there aren't any RV manufacturers putting regenerative breaks on any new models.

Turning a 100k worth of equipment into a broom holder is perfect 👌 😅

the victron inverter chargers can even feed power back in to the grid.

Are those cells and busbars rated for mobile applications?

Do I understand that 2 ought cable is lighter and thinner than 4 ought?

What are the cords for at the pin box. Seen there was a couple and thought it might be addressed in this video

Who was his mentor who helped him design the 48 Volt system? I want to use the life pro cells like he did and I'm interested in building a 24 Volt system. I don't think I will need as much power that he is creating I have 6 325 Watt panels. I would like a little help designing my system and I would like to build it myself. I think I would use it in the design on my skoolie build, kind of a steam punk look inside. My plan is to run my TV's and computers off 19 Volts DC (read the inline transformers that power them) and pretty much everything else lighting and solar linear actuators to tilt panels and raise the bed for storage underneath off of 12 Volt. Fridge Microwave and mini split off of AC current. Still designing as I build. Great video thanks

Where did you source these batteries and what’s the brand/model of them? Great setup on this rig! Digging the network and internet setup!

what bms are you using ,what disconnect also.

Can I remove my 2 agm batteries and replace them with lithium? I don't have any solar. I'm thinking about a battery tender for th lithium batteries.

I'm just not getting the same calculations as you are. Taking the 1st battery bank, it is 16 cells at 3.3 volts each, essentially making it a 48 volt battery. The cells have to be wired in series to make 48v. As stated in a different comment, these are CALB cells. Going to their website and looking at their products, one is 230.4 Watt hours, which is close to the amp hours stated. If you multiply 230.4 (watt hour of each battery) x 16 (number of cells) = 3,686.4 watt hours. AH=WH/voltage. So 3,686.4 / 48 = 76.8 AH. If you put (4) 12v battleborn at 100AH each in place of the 16 cells, you would have more battery capacity. Those 16 cell banks are really only the equivalent of 3 battleborn batteries. So the entire system would be the equivalent of about 6 and 3/4 battle borns at 100AH. Edited: But besides that, this is a really nice system. Very clean professional look and still a lot of capacity. I also agree with not spending huge amounts of money for a name brand and multiple BMS.

I'm impressed with your set up. I'm wondering about the position of the batteries in the 48 volt string. Is there any information if the batteries should be rotated? It seems there should be just like they say if you have more than 2 strings you can run into problems of balance. I'm running four strings in 24 volt with T105s. I was able to get 16 batteries for $2000 and went that way for this purchase. Next purchase I'm hoping to go with Lithium. I am seeing balance problems. I think the batteries need controllers like the lithium have. I think battery manufacturers just sit back and laugh at consumers waiting for us to go buy more batteries. The T105 were made for a 48 volt golf cart in one string.

I like the system but hopefully you got a generator also they are getting better also with inverter and propane options.

Ben, .. what size cells? ... 280's, .. 304's .. curios .... If you said, sorry, I didn't catch it...... I went, separate 12v/24v system, but, went separate panels, charge controllers, cells/batt. ... Complete separate systems, ... in terms of backup, 2 is1, 1 is none.......... Love your setup.....

I run my 12 volt on a 55 amp IOTA converter. Off of the 120 volt AC output of the main power system. I tried the Victron from Amazon but the seller wanted access to my network to set it up so I sent it back and went with Magnum. I think the inverter should not include a charger. I think we would be better served with a separate charger and run the whole rig from the inverter. Always a pure sine wave. Do not need to worry about dirty shore power or lightning strikes.

which BMS is being used?

The one thing I was expecting, and you did not mention, or possibly do not have is a way to use your truck charging system to charge the batteries while you drive down the road.

Not sure if anyone else has pointed it out but 21 battle born batteries weighs less than this setup not more. Each battle born battery weighs 31 lbs x 21 = 651 compared to the 800+ lb of this setup. I saw someone else already mention the lack of springs to allow for expansion of the battery packs. I'm still not sure why 21 BB batteries isn't a better less complicated solution...cost?

Have you thought about using solar awnings

How much do the batteries weigh?

Which BMS are these ? Got a link ?

I would like to know the pin weight of that rig

Where did you buy your batteries

what about another 48 V battery in the front portion of your truck bed? Higher amperage alternator to help me charge batteries? Who built the batteries?

Why can't they make the slide topper a solar panel screen??

I see two issues. Vibration and cold. Those cells can be damaged if charged at 0 degrees celcius or below. That, and a 1000 watts of solar will take days to fully charge the banks.

Awesome video again! What an awesome setup. Who on discord can I hire to help design and install a lesser solar setup?

Ok, i am confused, aren't Battleborn batteries made of these same type cells? Ounce for ounce, how are you really saving any space or weight??

This is one of the cleanest setups I’ve ever seen…but are the cells 230Ah like the 12V battery or are the 48V batteries made up of larger cells? 280 or 274Ah cells seem to be the cheapest right now but 310Ah cells do exist. Are they EVE or Lishen cells? One more question is that the big daddy 500A Daly BMS? Any regrets not going for a JK or Ant BMS. Not sure if JBD/Overkill make a BMS that large.

that's a LOT of busbars. and 5 shunts? wow.

I'm new to your channel and to solar I'm putting a small to medium sized lithium and solar system on my rv Who is this Ben person and what company dose he work to help me not screw up my RV

What BMS is he using ?

I think the best way is to go overkill on the solar panels and just keep a modest battery bank. No need for such capacity imo, recharging way more important

Your using the 12v load part of a mppt charger to charge your 12v battery from the 48v battery correct???😳😳😳

A great expose, but how realistic is this really? There has to be a balance between form/function/cost and in the RV world weight!

Wow! Amazing configuration. Maybe the next time you should just go straight to a nuclear reactor?

#Five2Go what battery's is he using how many amps

I would never gamble with those odds. If one single 3.3VDC cell in either of those arrays throws an error it renders that array out of commission because of it's link in the series. The BMS system can only address small imbalances before it runs home to mama, then your storage is effectively cut in half, and it gets worse if you split your roof solar between two charge controllers and did not design a combiner switch-over system to reassign the unuseable solar panels. I like to gamble on sportsbook in Vegas, not out in the middle of a dispersed camping LTVA in Arizona or California boondocking when the day time temps hit the mid 80's. and my neighbors are offended by generator noise.

DIY batteries can in theory be done cheaper, but what about warranty & support? Let's hope the elec guy who put together these batteries from components is willing to support it when something breaks. Otherwise this guy is farked big time. Nice system though. The Victron sales guys will love him. Also - I hope the BMS has temp probes for low temp charging protection if he takes his rig anywhere below zero.

Id love to do a solar install on this for free we do 16 550w solar panels on a 25ft camper

What's the total price

The BattleBorn Battery that looks like a car battery weighs 31 pounds, 21 of them weighs 651 pounds.

48 volts is easier to invert to 120 AC

The only issue I see with these is service. Batteries do fail, with a few larger batteries you have fewer to check. With all those you would have to disconnect them all to test, to find the one or possibly more with issues.

My brain hurts from this video

All that and you have to worry about running out of power

You pay for what you get and the best is the most exspenive but not always but most of time and they have never let me down and that means a lot to have peace of mind and not have to worry about batteries. That’s what I use and I know what Iam going to get not some China junk that says all the right things you want to here but the Performace

I disagree about the solar being a less expensive part. I have 2000 watts of solar and leaf batteries. A 3000 watt inverter and a 4000 watt low frequency inverter. Two charge controllers and the best wire and buss bars and a nice shunt. It's barely enough to have me off grid and I have atleast 15 grand maybe 20 grand in it. Did the work all myself but still was kinda expensive.

Battleborn batteries 200 amp is 37 lbs

I shutter to think what would happen if something were to short out one or more of those cells.

Now that you’ve colored your beard, you’re ready for the next step! Gray.

nice set up but he is not getting the capacity he thinks . his calculations are off. basically it's pretty close to what he'd get from the same number of battleborns...the nice thing is 48 volts allows much lighter cabling as he pointed out. I did a similar set up but decided to go with 24 volt rack batteries.

You need to double your battery capacity and PV.

Why with a system as nice as it is that he is trying to run three Coleman ac units that are very inefficient? He needs more solar so if he removed the 3 Colemans he could add more solar and change over to a mini-split system that is not an energy hog?