Camper charg/invert ok for lithium?

[Willowflowage]

I'm switching to a lithium battery soon to replace my old lead.
Mostly I want to use solar to charge but if I'm plugged into shore power will the camper charge controller be ok with a lithium? Or would I have to disconnect the battery when on shore power and charge it with a separate lithium charger acdc then reconnect when shore power is unplugged.
It's a 2018 camper with a 3 stage charger. It's a wfco ultra 3 distribution center. Wf-8900 series.
Cutler Hammer
See picture

 

[DonTom]

I'm switching to a lithium battery soon to replace my old lead.
Mostly I want to use solar to charge but if I'm plugged into shore power will the camper charge controller be ok with a lithium? Or would I have to disconnect the battery when on shore power and charge it with a separate lithium charger acdc then reconnect when shore power is unplugged.
It's a 2018 camper with a 3 stage charger. It's a wfco ultra 3 distribution center. Wf-8900 series.
Cutler Hammer
See picture

You will never get anything even near a full charge with that L-A converter to a lith battery. You cannot even get a full charge by driving the vehicle. Lith uses a higher voltage than L/A and needs to charge at a higher voltage to get much current to charge with. And to use solar, your solar controller should be compatible with lith as well.

But I don't see how it can hurt anything to keep a L-A converter on a lith battery, just don't expect the lith battery to charge much, if at all.

You probably want a higher capacity converter anyway if you want to charge via generator. You can charge at least twice the current with a lith and then charge twice as fast as with a L-A battery of the same rating.

When I went to lith, I removed my 40 amp L/A converter and installed an 80 amp lith converter. I have a 300 AH lith battery in my old RV listed below.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Willowflowage]

You will never get anything even near a full charge with that L-A converter to a lith battery. You cannot even get a full charge by driving the vehicle. Lith uses a higher voltage than L/A and needs to charge at a higher voltage to get much current to charge with. And to use solar, your solar controller should be compatible with lith as well.

But I don't see how it can hurt anything to keep a L-A converter on a lith battery, just don't expect the lith battery to charge much, if at all.

You probably want a higher capacity converter anyway if you want to charge via generator. You can charge at least twice the current with a lith and then charge twice as fast as with a L-A battery of the same rating.

When I went to lith, I removed my 40 amp L/A converter and installed an 80 amp lith converter. I have a 300 AH lith battery in my old RV listed below.

-Don- Reno, NV

Would something like this work and would I first have to disconnect from shore power?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NY23BKF/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_336S3FMXYAYYMPEA0KMC

With shore power plugged in is my lifepo4 safe on my current charge converter?

 

[DonTom]

Would something like this work and would I first have to disconnect from shore power?

Yes, but 30 amps is a bit on the low side for most lith RV batteries. But it has a li-ion setting, which is what you want. What are the specs of your li-ion battery?

I use an 80 amp converter on my 300 AH li-ion battery. Yours will take almost three times as long to charge the battery than mine will. Usually only an issue when charging by the genny, as yours will have to run almost three times as long for the same charge as mine.

I am not sure what you're asking about the shore power. The converters have their own AC cords and they can be safely unplugged while shore power is still connected, so keeping on the shore power shouldn't be an issue.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Short answers:

1. Yes, your existing WFCO 87xx charger is "safe". Won't harm the battery
2. Your WFCO charger won't fully charge the battery, so you will be running as if the battery is maybe 70% full charge.
3. The 30A external charger is ok for a lithium battery in the 100 AH range. It's ok to use that charger in parallel with the onboard charger, but disconnecting the battery from the onboard system will speed up the charging a little. Try to do the charging when DC power demand in the RV is low. Or put a battery disconnect switch on the battery to use when charging from the external charger.

I'm saying OK, but that doesn't mean "ideal". However, the difference between "OK" and "ideal" is rather small in my opinion, and the effort & cost to be ideal is rather large. And not worth it in most cases.

 

[Lou Schneider]

Short answers:

1. Yes, your existing WFCO 87xx charger is "safe". Won't harm the battery
2. Your WFCO charger won't fully charge the battery, so you will be running as if the battery is maybe 70% full charge.

Let's look a little deeper into that.

The WFCO charges at 13.6 volts until the current drops (bulk mode), then switches to 14.4 volts absorption mode for up to 4 hours.

The Blue Star charger in lithium mode charges at 14.2 volts, then drops to to 13.5 volts. I don't see a lot of difference there, especially with solar supplementing the charge. The extra 0.2 volts in absorption mode isn't an issue, Progressive Dynamics sets their lithium power centers to 14.6 volts.

There's no harm keeping either charger connected along with solar. Their output will simply shut down whenever solar is supplying more voltage.

I'd go ahead and try the WFCO and see what happens. The only issue is if it takes more than 4 hours to recharge the battery before it drops out of Absorption Mode. The battery will draw at the maximum output of the converter, so divide the total battery capacity by the converter's current rating to see how many hours it will take to charge a completely drained battery.

I have an ancient two stage Heart Interface inverter-charter in my Safari Trek that puts out similar voltages and it does a fine job keeping my pair of Lion Safari UT 1300 lithium batteries charged up when I'm connected to 120 volt power from shore power or the generator.

 

[garyb1st]

Our motorhome has a WFCO converter. I replaced our batteries with Lion Energy lithium batteries about 2 years ago. The only issue with my WFCO converter is it's inability to fully charge the batteries. Hopefully our 300 watts of portable solar will top them off. Haven't dry camped enough in the past year to see how the the solar works. When we're at our home, the motorhome is always plugged in to the houses 120v. If you haven't already done so, look into battery monitoring systems. I have a Victron Energy BMV 702.

 

[Willowflowage]

Yes, but 30 amps is a bit on the low side for most lith RV batteries. But it has a li-ion setting, which is what you want. What are the specs of your li-ion battery?

I use an 80 amp converter on my 300 AH li-ion battery. Yours will take almost three times as long to charge the battery than mine will. Usually only an issue when charging by the genny, as yours will have to run almost three times as long for the same charge as mine.

I am not sure what you're asking about the shore power. The converters have their own AC cords and they can be safely unplugged while shore power is still connected, so keeping on the shore power shouldn't be an issue.

-Don- Reno, NV

Thank you.
Battery is a 100ah lifepo4
And it'll be largely charged by 200w solar. Also minimal usage. Water and lights. I think I'll be fine then.

 

[Willowflowage]

Yes, but 30 amps is a bit on the low side for most lith RV batteries. But it has a li-ion setting, which is what you want. What are the specs of your li-ion battery?

I use an 80 amp converter on my 300 AH li-ion battery. Yours will take almost three times as long to charge the battery than mine will. Usually only an issue when charging by the genny, as yours will have to run almost three times as long for the same charge as mine.

I am not sure what you're asking about the shore power. The converters have their own AC cords and they can be safely unplugged while shore power is still connected, so keeping on the shore power shouldn't be an issue.

-Don- Reno, NV

Thank you.
Battery is a 100ah lifepo4
And it'll be largely charged by.

Short answers:

1. Yes, your existing WFCO 87xx charger is "safe". Won't harm the battery
2. Your WFCO charger won't fully charge the battery, so you will be running as if the battery is maybe 70% full charge.
3. The 30A external charger is ok for a lithium battery in the 100 AH range. It's ok to use that charger in parallel with the onboard charger, but disconnecting the battery from the onboard system will speed up the charging a little. Try to do the charging when DC power demand in the RV is low. Or put a battery disconnect switch on the battery to use when charging from the external charger.

I'm saying OK, but that doesn't mean "ideal". However, the difference between "OK" and "ideal" is rather small in my opinion, and the effort & cost to be ideal is rather large. And not worth it in most cases.

Thanks.
It's 100ah and low use so it sounds good. The RV has an easy disconnect for the battery so I'll try to do that when needed. Hopefully solar will be the lions share of my needs.