8 AGM house batteries!

[hdevera]

JohnnyCLE, all AGMs were eliminated, including two upfront. Did not upgrade solar controller because it was programable and just adjusted fast and float charge voltages. With the upgrade to larger alternator, I added a Balmar Regulator and an alternator protection device. Also added a surge limiter to protect the Battleborn BMS from inverter spikes (recommended by Battleborn when using larger inverters). Since I only have 270 watts solar, the amount of charge it supplies compared to alternator is minimal, so upgrading solar controller to specific lithium recommended device did not seem worthwhile. Basically, I still get the at least the same amount of daily solar charge as I did with the AGMs, possible slightly more. No longer needed battery equalizer, since all lithium batteries are 24v and setup in parallel. Battleborn BMS does this and 12v house loads all go thru a converter. Additionally, wiring from the alternator by RT was too small so had to upgrade positive wiring from alternator to junction box and used both Roadtrek (former positive and negative) wiring from alternator as ground wires.

 

[JohnnyCLE]

hdevera, Thanks! Seems like a great roadmap forward for many E-Trek owners. Did you need to make any upgrades to the rear battery compartment for temperature or impact / vibration protection?

 

[hdevera]

Batteries placed inside, under sofa bed. Under chassis battery storage no longer used. To be clear the work was done by AM Solar in Springfield, OR. I did the original battery equalizer but did not want to tackle doing a proper Lithium conversion. I can highly recommend them. I live near Sacramento and it was worth the trip. Took them 4 days to do the work.

 

[Calson]

I would invest in a portable battery charger with a desulphating setting and then remove and individually charge each battery. Sulphating is common with batteries that may sit for a month or longer without any load being applied. Often they can be restored with a modern battery charger.

 

[hdevera]

re: portable battery charger

Roadtrek batteries are AGM and it is not recommended to try to desulfate these batteries.

 

[Calson]

Not recommened by who exactly and how long ago?

There are pulse type battery chargers that will desulphate an AGM type battery, and the trick is to do a very low rate of charge to allow any gas to vent out.