Carado Banff batteries

[Margaret Alexander]

Hello,
Has anyone replaced the house batteries with lithium batteries, in the 2017 Carado Banff?

 

[RizeMaster]

Hi there, and welcome to the Class B forums.

I don't have a Carado Banff, but I have pondered a similar project. You could read some of the process here...

Two main things to keep in mind are that, due to the difference in chemistry, 1) there are some disadvantages to lithium (LFP) batteries, and 2) some or all of the charging components may need to be upgraded/changed.

As for 1) disadvantages, LFP batteries don't do well when it is very cold or very hot. Accordingly, many place them inside the cabin, which may or may not be an issue for you. They also don't like to be fully charged all the time, which stresses them, nor very much discharged (there are protections that should prevent damage). Another thing is that LFP batteries can go "offline" when the BMS decides that one of its parameters has been overshot. If you do have solar, this "offline" situation may lead to a spike which could kill the solar controller as well as any subsequent power consumers.

Regarding 2), you may need to change your converter (which allows charging the battery via shore power or generator), your solar controller (if you have solar panels), as well as any Isolation Manager which handles the connection between the alternator and chassis battery to that LFP house battery. Some of these may work somewhat if your old batteries are AGM.

In short, this project is not a simple "drop-in". Probably worth some studying and reading, and if you have specific questions, there are many helpful posters here on the forum which freely share their wealth of knowledge.

 

[Ken Allan]

We don't know exactly how your Banff is outfitted so on this forum you may not get a direct answer to your question. The best I can tell is that there are variations in how these Hymers were outfitted. I have a 2018 Sunlight2 that had the "ecotrek" system with solar panels, UHG, 2000w inverter, and (originally) two Ks2 lithiums.

If you only have AGM for house battery it may take considerable work to convert to lithium. The charging requirements for lithiums is different so everthing needs to comply. You need to know what you are doing. It's not a simple swap from AGM's.

Depending on your power needs, lithium (LFP) batteries are great.

I suggest asking your question on one of the facebook groups centered around Corado, Banff, Sunlight owners. You may get a quicker response and better answers.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/461889954253973

---KenA

 

[hbn7hj]

After six years of working with it I still think the dual battery system is the better way to go. Keep the original lead acid system as is, inside the coach add the lithium batteries, their special charging systems, and a switch to switch between the two.

The advantage is the outside battery compartment is still being used, the interface with the alternator is untouched, and the generator starts from the lead acid battery. The lithiums are inside where it is warm with their special chargers. You can also charge the lead acid batteries from the lithiums which reduces generator run time.

Just an opinion.

 

[RizeMaster]

After six years of working with it I still think the dual battery system is the better way to go. Keep the original lead acid system as is, inside the coach add the lithium batteries, their special charging systems, and a switch to switch between the two.

The advantage is the outside battery compartment is still being used, the interface with the alternator is untouched, and the generator starts from the lead acid battery. The lithiums are inside where it is warm with their special chargers. You can also charge the lead acid batteries from the lithiums which reduces generator run time.

Just an opinion.

It's an option, and it can even be greatly simplified by purchasing a "Power Station" rather than a naked battery, since those come with their own solar controller and inverter. They recently plummeted in price so it's not a huge difference.

However, going all lithium has advantages wrt reducing the weight of the vehicle (so you can pack more, or go faster uphill, etc) AND you don't have another set of batteries which need attention and cost money to replace when they wear out (which is possibly the situation the OP is in).