Battery Config

Forum for both AC and DC electrical components. From engine alternator to dashboard, inverter to batteries, and everything electrical in-between.
Safariowner
Posts: 16
Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2021 8:27 am

Re: Battery Config

Post by Safariowner »

This is probably a dumb question, but where are your chassis (engine) batteries located?
My Continental has six batteries in the tray but two are 12 volt for the chassis.
My Serengeti had six coach batteries in the tray and the two starting batteries mounted on the firewall under the bed.
Hard to say what has been done by previous owners.
Ed and Brenda
1999 4006 Continental
Ex: 1998 3706 Serengeti
Ex: 1993 33' Serengeti
Knollibe
Posts: 64
Joined: Mon Oct 28, 2019 10:38 am
Location: Garden Grove calif

Re: Battery Config

Post by Knollibe »

I went with lithium phosphate. $2300 for new inverter charger and dc to dc charger. 400ah lithium battery’s 200 watt solar. I will never have to replace them. I have twice the capacity and they will not need maintenance. As a bonus they completely get recharged running generator 4 hrs.
Dwayne
1996 safari Sahara since 2010
Chev Colorado zr2 toad, electric pedego bikes.
3rd motorhome.
TDJohn
Posts: 552
Joined: Sun Oct 27, 2019 11:34 pm

Re: Battery Config

Post by TDJohn »

Moonwink wrote: Fri Jul 08, 2022 5:33 pm Depends on what brand and where you buy them. I bought Interstate GC-2 batteries at Costco for under $100 each w/exchange. The reviews weren't that good on the Interstate batteries. I took them back and when to a Continental Battery distributor near me where I purchased Trojan 125 batteries for about $150 each - cash money out the door for the batteries but because Costco kept my old batteries and only gave me $15 a piece for them, I had to pay Continental a $30 core charge. I'm still happier with the Trojans. Call around to the golfcart repair shops and check prices for batteries with them.
Smart decision, Interstate batteries are now made by Johnson Controls and are junk. For ones on a very tight budget, buy the Duracel brand batteries at Sam's Club, they are made by EastPenn/Deka, which is a very good company. The batteries are not as good as Crown or Trojan, but are still good quality and a lot of bang for the buck.

Crown batteries are head to head with Trojan, if not a bit better, and priced lower than Trojans, so a lot of bang for the buck for a top quality battery. They also make all the batteries for Clark fork lifts, and Clark branded batteries are also made by Crown. Their quality control is amazing!
John
'95 Serengeti, Cummins C8.3-300
Allison 6spd.
TDJohn
Posts: 552
Joined: Sun Oct 27, 2019 11:34 pm

Re: Battery Config

Post by TDJohn »

Knollibe wrote: Sat Jul 09, 2022 10:53 am I went with lithium phosphate. $2300 for new inverter charger and dc to dc charger. 400ah lithium battery’s 200 watt solar. I will never have to replace them. I have twice the capacity and they will not need maintenance. As a bonus they completely get recharged running generator 4 hrs.
For the investment you made, I would strongly suggest to spend a little more and install more solar panels, this would allow you to truly minimize, if not eliminate generator use for charging, as lithium battery don't need to be topped off every day, so unless you need every amp/hr that you have in your total amp/hr battery capacity, it doesn't matter if the lithium batteries get fully charged or not. They actually obtain longest life span by sitting in the 50% DOD range. So if you know how much you use overnight compared to what you capacity is and what percentage you are charged up to, the charge doesn't have to be 100%, unless your battery bank is undersized for your usage. If generator charging is needed because of lack of sun, again, you don't need to charge till it is full, just enough to get you through the night with an additional safety cushion. Propane is not cheap now days, use the Lithium technology to your fullest advantage.

Did you place your lithium batteries where the old ones where located, or did you place them where they will be shielded from cold weather?

What brand batteries and inverter/charger did you go with?
What brand and charging capacity is your dc to dc charger?
John
'95 Serengeti, Cummins C8.3-300
Allison 6spd.
airnav33

Re: Battery Config

Post by airnav33 »

Getting batteries ready to put in and noticed that there are 2 big positive and 2 big negative leads coming from the coach. Noticing the diagrams you all put up for me on how to connect them in series it only shows 1 negative and 1 positive coming from coach. The battery tray has the batteries runing length wise instead of side to side. Any suggestions on how to connect the batteries without blowing myself up?
airnav33

Re: Battery Config

Post by airnav33 »

Did finally find out it is a Safari 4038 Continental.
ProCycle
Posts: 135
Joined: Sat Oct 03, 2020 1:28 pm

Re: Battery Config

Post by ProCycle »

The posted diagrams all relate to the house batteries. Two of the large cables are for the house batteries and the other two are for the chassis batteries.
The chassis batteries should be 12 volt 'starter batteries' not deep cycle. They must be connected in parallel.
Jeff
1997 Ivory Edition 3740 Cat 3126 Allison
Knollibe
Posts: 64
Joined: Mon Oct 28, 2019 10:38 am
Location: Garden Grove calif

Re: Battery Config

Post by Knollibe »

TDJohn wrote: Sun Jul 10, 2022 3:44 pm
Knollibe wrote: Sat Jul 09, 2022 10:53 am I went with lithium phosphate. $2300 for new inverter charger and dc to dc charger. 400ah lithium battery’s 200 watt solar. I will never have to replace them. I have twice the capacity and they will not need maintenance. As a bonus they completely get recharged running generator 4 hrs.
For the investment you made, I would strongly suggest to spend a little more and install more solar panels, this would allow you to truly minimize, if not eliminate generator use for charging, as lithium battery don't need to be topped off every day, so unless you need every amp/hr that you have in your total amp/hr battery capacity, it doesn't matter if the lithium batteries get fully charged or not. They actually obtain longest life span by sitting in the 50% DOD range. So if you know how much you use overnight compared to what you capacity is and what percentage you are charged up to, the charge doesn't have to be 100%, unless your battery bank is undersized for your usage. If generator charging is needed because of lack of sun, again, you don't need to charge till it is full, just enough to get you through the night with an additional safety cushion. Propane is not cheap now days, use the Lithium technology to your fullest advantage.

Did you place your lithium batteries where the old ones where located, or did you place them where they will be shielded from cold
weather?


What brand batteries and inverter/charger did you go with?
What brand and charging capacity is your dc to dc charger?
I hope I am replying correctly. If not late.
I used xantrex xc 2000 inverter charger. As for the battery’s I bought the cells from battery hookup and bought bms from eBay and built plywood boxes for them to fit in my battery tray next to starting battery’s. Total 400 ah. We are in California so freezing batterys will not be an issue. We can dry camp for 3 days until needing to run genset. Charge time is about 4 hours for 100% charge. More solar panels I am considering. I pull the fuse on the solar controller when not in use to not keep battery’s at 100% charge.
Dwayne
1996 safari Sahara since 2010
Chev Colorado zr2 toad, electric pedego bikes.
3rd motorhome.
TDJohn
Posts: 552
Joined: Sun Oct 27, 2019 11:34 pm

Re: Battery Config

Post by TDJohn »

Dwayne,

Thank you for the feedback. It's nice to be in sunny southern California and not have to worry about the batteries getting too cold. :D
Sounds like you saved yourself some decent money by putting together your own battery bank.
If you want quiet power or want to minimize generator run time, add another 600w of solar and you probably won't need the generator again, unless you need a/c. The best part is it's quiet and no fuss. Between having lithium batteries and adding more solar, you would be pretty much maintenance free, without having to worry and fuss about your power needs.
What are you using for a dc to dc charger?
I ended up going with Renogy's simple version of their 60amp dc/dc charger. Best bang for the buck compared to what is out there, it's simple and works great. I recommended it to one of my trucker buddies and he uses it every day that he is on the road and he is happy as a clam. He has 500 amp/hrs under his bunk, so it saves him a lot of fuel. Took me forever to talk him into it, now with the fuel prices, he is happy that he finally did it.
John
'95 Serengeti, Cummins C8.3-300
Allison 6spd.
leonnyy
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Jun 26, 2022 11:40 pm

Re: Battery Config

Post by leonnyy »

TDJohn wrote: Sun Jul 10, 2022 3:44 pm
Knollibe wrote: Sat Jul 09, 2022 10:53 am I went with lithium phosphate. $2300 for new inverter charger and dc to dc charger. 400ah lithium battery’s 200 watt solar. I will never have to replace them. I have twice the capacity and they will not need maintenance. As a bonus they completely get recharged running generator 4 hrs like these https://www.propaneva.com/best-portable-generator/
For the investment you made, I would strongly suggest to spend a little more and install more solar panels, this would allow you to truly minimize, if not eliminate generator use for charging, as lithium battery don't need to be topped off every day, so unless you need every amp/hr that you have in your total amp/hr battery capacity, it doesn't matter if the lithium batteries get fully charged or not. They actually obtain longest life span by sitting in the 50% DOD range. So if you know how much you use overnight compared to what you capacity is and what percentage you are charged up to, the charge doesn't have to be 100%, unless your battery bank is undersized for your usage. If generator charging is needed because of lack of sun, again, you don't need to charge till it is full, just enough to get you through the night with an additional safety cushion. Propane is not cheap now days, use the Lithium technology to your fullest advantage.

Did you place your lithium batteries where the old ones where located, or did you place them where they will be shielded from cold weather?

What brand batteries and inverter/charger did you go with?
What brand and charging capacity is your dc to dc charger?
Thanks for the great tips! On the one hand, it seems that this is obvious, but until you see it with your own eyes, you will not think about it
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