Lithium battery in 400

Denny16

You would save money by buying the parts/accessories you want installed (look for sales) and take them and the trailer to the RV shop.  Unless the shop sells these parts, ykumwill save some $, over having the shop order in the parts, and marking them up.
 Cheers 

Dona

thank you @Denny16.  I have a maxxair fan in the closet that I’m dying to get installed, as well! 

 

Horigan

@Dona
 I would ask the RV place how they feel about installing customer supplied parts.  Some may be fine about it, some not.

Denny16

Good point Horigan.  I have not had issues with that, and I do get parts from the RV repair, if they have them available.  I was referring to specifically ordered nüCamp specific parts, that an independent RV repair facility might not have readily available.
 Cheers 

Dona

@Horigan and @Denny16  thank you for replying, I appreciate your insight.

Dona

We’ve installed 2 12v Lion lithiums and just ordered a new converter.  I wrote to WFCO and asked which converter I’d need.  We have the WF-8955.  He told me to buy WF-8955-AD-MBA.  The AD denotes “automatic detection” of lithium (or lead acid).  Next, I asked if we’d need to upgrade to bigger wires and he said no, it’s a direct replacement.  My question: is this correct on a T@B?  We know nothing about working with electricity, and my husband thinks he’s heard/read that we need to upgrade the size of the wiring with the new equipment.  I could also call NuCamp…see what they say?  thank you.

Sharon_is_SAM

@Dona - did you see this YouTube for what you are doing?  It is on a 320.
https://youtu.be/gxlWjzGLeb8

Dutch061

@Dona, I can only speak directly to our 2020 400 BDL with the following comments.

On our 2020, the Power Distribution Center (PDC) is located under the dinette on the door side of the camper in the very front. The batteries are located under the bed, and the wiring in between the PDC and the Battery Junction Block is 8-gauge. The battery cables between the AGM Batteries and the Battery Junction Block were 4-gauge.

The 8-gauge wire with the OEM installed AGM Batteries and the WFCO-8955 Converter in the PDC offers too much resistance to allow the Converter to use the Bulk Charging Mode. This simply means that in the stock configuration that it will take 24 to 36 hours to fully charge the OEM installed AGM Batteries. Previous to installing Lithium Batteries, I removed the WFCO-8955. Then I installed a Progressive Dynamics PD9260CV under the bed less than 24" from the Battery Junction Block and used 4-gauge cables in between. This corrected the charging time from the previously mentioned 24 to 36 hours to less than 3 hours.

I installed 2 x 100 Ah Battleborn batteries in June of 2021 and I used 2/0-gauge cables between the batteries and the Battery Junction Block with the same converter. 

In November, I added an additional 2 Battleborn batteries and used 2/0-gauge cable to connect them to the previously installed 2. This winter, I swapped the converter for a PD9160ALV that is designed for Lithium, which just makes it simpler to charge my 400 Ah of batteries.

Can you use the 8-gauge wire, yes but realize that the time to charge will be much higher due to the higher resistance.

Also, with the issues of corrosion of the convectors in the heating system that has several pages of information, including a bulletin from Airstream. In the Airstream bulletin, it is recommended to upgrade the wiring to at least 6-gauge along with adding an additional ground to the Alde boiler.

Since my converter is within 24" of the Battery Junction Block with 4-gauge in between, I am able to get the full 60 Amps from the converter into the batteries as per my BMV-712. And since I removed the converter from the PDC, I didn't bother with installing the larger gauge wiring between the PDC and the Battery Junction Block.

On a 2019 model year, it may be completely different as to the location of the PDC and the Batteries or Battery Junction Block.

Sorry for the long reply and adding in additional information, but I think it is important to understand the potential issues.

Brad

Dona

@Dutch061 thank you for the great info, Brad, and I appreciated the length of your message - it’s very helpful and fascinating, and I’m grateful you took the time to write it all out. Because I’m ignorant about electricity and very curious - more is more!  You’re a good writer and I’m that much closer to understanding   And thanks for the alde info, too.  We’re going to have a friend help with this, but I just have a need to know!

@sharon_is_SAM yes!  I watched both of Mark’s great videos, thanks!