As mentioned there is a GREAT SALES PITCH that goes with LiFePo4 battery systems. Granted, they are a lot lighter, but there is some information that seems to be left out of a lot of the sales pitches. Like, you can get 2000 to 5000 cycles out of a LiFePo4 battery system... Ahhhh but I for got to mention that is ONLY under a controlled environment. RV's seem to lack those IDEAL conditions. The average temperature of my storage compartment is between 80 and 85 degrees. If you look at the below chart, that pretty much puts me in the same life cycle range of my flooded batteries.
Battery temperature dictates the results of all other tests, unless of course you abuse them.
Some charts indicate at 50% DOD you could get 5000 cycles.... probably could if the battery is constantly kept at its ideal temperature. Not going to happen in an RV.
The BMS is the critical part of the charging system.. of course you have the entry level versions and the top of the line models. I would venture to say that they probably used the top of the line BMS with microcontrollers between each cell to accomplish those numbers, probably not going to happen on the entry level BMS.
As in flooded batteries, AGE plays an important part in the batteries output. In flooded batteries the lead plates get thinner over time causing a drop in Ah. The battery off the shelf had 85Ah, now after 4+ years it is putting out less than 40Ah, it still looks like brand new, charges great, and stays at 12.8 VDC for months while sitting, but put a load on it and you can watch the battery discharging on the meter..
So, I personally do not think that a LiFePo4 system will do anything for my RVing life style other than cost me an arm and a leg
So, what is the average temperature in your storage compartment where the batteries will be stored? It will affect your charging and discharging results.
Don
My Registry
RVing with SOLAR
Linear Mode
