Lithium or a Generator ?

RCB · July 30

With powered sites pretty much booked and difficult to find where and when to match your itinerary but often tent sites are available. The difficulty presented is of course your battery capacity - good for 1 night but questionable for two. Three and maybe four nights would our length of stay, and little interest in ac in our Cdn latitudes. The options currently under consideration are a 2000 watt generator or 200 amps of lithium. Has anyone been thru this and perhaps offer some advice ?

dlb · July 30

I have both and since I installed 300 amp hour Lithium in my Tab the generator has become a $1000 paper weight.

I also have about 260 watts of solar.

Basil48192 · July 30

I am similar to @dlb.
I have 305 watts of solar, 200 AH of lithium, and a 2500 watt generator.
I usually do 4 day boondock trips in Michigan and have yet to use the generator. On our last trip we had good sun and my batteries were back up to 100% by early afternoon each day.

AnOldUR · July 31

Agree with the two posts above. We went with two 100Ah LiFePO4's a while ago, but if I were to do it today, I'd go with a single larger LiFePO4 of at least 300Ah.

This past winter I upgraded my 100W rooftop solar to 310W and also use a solar suitcase to allow for camping in the shade. We use to carry a small 700/900W propane generator for emergency battery topping off, but like @dlb, no longer have a use for it.

drackus · July 31

I recently upgraded to a 300ah lithium battery and added solar to our TAB400. A full charge will run the fridge, water pump and lights for four days without any charging. If we are in a good sunny location, our 200w solar panels can usually replenish what we have consumed overnight.

I don’t feel the need for a generator, in addition to this setup.

tphaggerty · July 31

300a of lithium plus 350 watts of solar keep me going indefinitely, even with poor solar performance. Generators should be (banned) a thing of the past!

pthomas745 · July 31

What is your current battery and solar setup? Still have the "dual 6v"? Have portable solar? What fridge setup?

cschaepe · July 31

I replaced the BB 100Ah Lithium with an Epoch 460Ah battery. We can do 4 nights for sure but have a portable solar panel in case we are in the shade. Not really needed other than to keep the battery level up.

RCB · July 31

To answer pyhomas…
A 400 launched in 2019. The two 6v agms are now in their 7th year. The fridge is the small 12 v. Solar I think is about 200 watts. Hopefully a 200 or 230 LiTime can be dropped and mostly charged with the existing charger and topped up with the existing solar. Maybe too simple …

pthomas745 · July 31

Yes, it really is "drop in and reset the solar controller simple". The WFCO in your trailer will bring the lithium battery up to about 85 percent, and the solar controller can do the rest.

There are many threads about this upgrade (and it sounds like you have seen some) and there are many owners that can help with the install and basic questions.

The hard part is dragging those heavy AGM's out of the trailer!

https://www.google.com/search?q=2019+400+battery+upgrade+site:tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com&client=firefox-b-1-d&uact=5&oq=2019+400+battery+upgrade+site:tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com

elbolillo · July 31

400ah of LiFePo4 on our '23 Tab 400 and plenty of solar. Not sad one bit about not having to lug around a generator and gasoline...

Wyo4Life · August 1

We just bought a Tab 400 last week and added a second 100 Am Hour Battleborn battery to it.

I also have a Four Wheel Camper pop up on my truck and I can tell you that I "ALWAYS" have my Honda 2000 generator with me as back up. I don't use it often but where we go off the beaten path, I am always prepared with back up power.

I rely on Lithium right up until I need electrical power and then am very glad to have the generator. Another poster commented about it being a $1000 dollar paper weight but it is worth it's weight in gold if you are out there and need it. What is that saying about it being better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it...?

Marceline · August 1

RCB said:

With powered sites pretty much booked and difficult to find where and when to match your itinerary but often tent sites are available. The difficulty presented is of course your battery capacity - good for 1 night but questionable for two. Three and maybe four nights would our length of stay, and little interest in ac in our Cdn latitudes. The options currently under consideration are a 2000 watt generator or 200 amps of lithium. Has anyone been thru this and perhaps offer some advice ?

Since you're in Canada, you might want to take your camping season into consideration. If you camp when days are short, a generator might be a better option because it might be hard for the solar to keep up with the fridge. Or you could plan to just use an ice cooler in the spring and fall.

If you mostly camp during the summer, the lithium option could work.

donmontalvo · August 5

Wyo4Life said:

We just bought a Tab 400 last week and added a second 100 Am Hour Battleborn battery to it.

I also have a Four Wheel Camper pop up on my truck and I can tell you that I "ALWAYS" have my Honda 2000 generator with me as back up. I don't use it often but where we go off the beaten path, I am always prepared with back up power.

I rely on Lithium right up until I need electrical power and then am very glad to have the generator. Another poster commented about it being a $1000 dollar paper weight but it is worth it's weight in gold if you are out there and need it. What is that saying about it being better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it...?

As a full time boondocker (since October), I will always schlep a 2500W gas generator. I hardly ever use it, but there have been a handful of times when I got stuck in 90º+ weather, or a full week of cloudy days, and needed to crank up the AC, or at least charge my LiFePO4 batteries.

My 2024 320S BBC has 200ah LiFePO4 and 480W of solar, which is fine for all but the above extremes. As a backup to my backup, my 2021 JLUR tow vehicle has it's own 100ah LiFePO4 with solar.

ScottG · August 5

What I've been through is neighbors with generators. Go with lithium. Please. :-)

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