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Old 12-03-2022, 12:17 PM   #1
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154bh Lifepo4 suggestions

Hello all,

I have a 154bh that I bought new a few years ago. Have been using the factory 12v 75ah sla battery with an Renogy Wanderer 30a charge controller and 100w solar panel (25' cord and move it around the camp site to keep it in good sun).

I have had enough storage with the 75ah battery we have never run out, just lights, small fan during hot days, a little tv in the morning and a movie before bed. But I want to upgrade to a 100ah lithium so I we can be a little more liberal with our usage and maybe get a real coffee maker instead of using instant as we have been.

I bought a Renogy 1000w pure sine wave inverter and a mechanical transfer switch. The plan is to use the transfer switch to go between shore power while at home and inverter power on the go. Back feed the whole camper using the Renogy inverter with the exception of the microwave, AC and of course the converter.

I'm mostly looking for opinions on 100ah Lifepo4 brands. Have been surfing Amazon and most fall into the $300 range. I have heard of Renogy but they are in the $500-600 range, looks like CHINS is a notable brand, I see Miady has a lot of reviews and Nermak.

I was thinking about going with this one..
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09XQKXBZ4...v_ov_lig_dp_it
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Old 12-03-2022, 05:56 PM   #2
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I have the base Renogy (not heated, 2000 charge cycle rated) 100 amp lithium. I do like the Bluetooth function that gives me the status. Now also have a Renogy MPPT that gives me even more stats including what the solar is doing.

But they do cost more. Watch out for newcomers that may not be there for warranty, won't pay for return of BOB ( bad out of the box). I would read reviews carefully on all the others before buying .

100 amps of lithium would triple your available amps but a 1,000 watt unit will draw about 100 amps an hour if you really like your coffee maker you may need a second 100 amp battery.


If you go Renogy sign up for emails and get 5% off and get a referral from a customer like be and get 7% off. I think they can be stacked to get 12% off!

That would be $60 off the $499 Bluetooth and more off heated model.


I drilled a hole and pulled the wires from the factory tongue position inside under the bed where by battery and MPPT sit right beside each other with minimum wire runs. And out of weather and sticky fingers plus more space on tongue for "stuff".
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Old 12-03-2022, 06:50 PM   #3
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Thanks Roger it would appear that as they say "great minds think alike" as I was planning to pull my battery in under the main bed along with my inverter and charger controller to minimize wire lengths and keep the batt within operating temps.

The 1000w inverter draws less than an amp (10-12w) on idle so I should be ok. Coffee maker will run (400w instantaneous) for the duration of the brew (5-10 minutes max) and then shut off for a total of around 6 amp hours per pot. Pretty decent if you ask me 👍

I'll keep an eye out. I may pull the trigger on the Nermak as it seems to have hundreds of positive reviews and offers customer support, warranty, etc.

Thanks for the reply!
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Old 12-03-2022, 07:19 PM   #4
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Many inverters have provision for a remote shut off to prevent the wasted idle power.


If you don't get a Bluetooth battery consider a shunt system that will allow you to measure available power level in the Lithium as output voltage does not vary like a lead acid battery as it is drained.



I read some of Q&A on the Nermak 100 AMP. Unlike Renogy and I think so others there is no below 32 F charging shutoff. Charging a lithium below 32F can damage the battery. Another thing that Renogy mentions is that it will balance cells , not sure what or why this is needed but they mention it in big caps.

I have camped below freezing but my battery is inside so that is not terribly important unless I were to leave solar on while unattended and unheated.
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Andersen WDH hitch, Renogy 100 AH Lithium &
200 Watts solar panels from Renogy

Prev. '14 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland, gas 3.6 V6
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Old 12-03-2022, 07:45 PM   #5
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Balancing cells in a lithium battery is important because if a cell gets overcharged it can go kaboom. Im not sure if the bms will prevent this, I imagine so, however its anyones guess.

A 12v lithium batt is really several cells in series (likely 4x 3.7v cells in series) if the cells arent balanced ( charging each cell individually to 3.7v nominal) then if one cell goes bad and drops to below or zero voltage and the charger tries to make up for it and ends up overcharging the good cells which can be very dangerous for lithium batteries.
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Old 12-04-2022, 04:14 PM   #6
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I bought a Renogy 100ah with heater. It was on sale. If you decide to go with Renogy, ask someone here for a referral code. I think you save 10% with that, so it's a nice savings.
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