2020 Tab 400 Lithium Battery Upgrade

HBarry · September 1

Into the process of removing the Harris AGM batteries after 5 years and replacing them with a Litime 230AH lithium. Have spent a fair amount of time perusing the forum about the issue of the stock Wfco convertor/charger not being able to fully charge a lithium battery and fully understand the reasons for that. Am installing a Litime 40A charger along with the battery as a result. What I'm not clear about and have seen contradictory opinions on is whether the Wfco and the Litime charger can simultaneously be attached to the battery when on shore power or if the battery disconnect switch must be used to disconnect the battery from the Wfco when on shore power. Have the Victron MPPT solar charge controller on the trailer as well and that is never disconnected from the battery including when on shore power and the output of the Wfco is connected to the battery. Two chargers at the same time. What's the issue with having a third charger, the Wfco tied to the battery as well?

Thanks!

junglerich · September 2

I have a similar setup on my 2018 400, with a LiTime 280Ah battery and a 20Ah charger. I leave the charger's Anderson connector attached to the battery and only plug the charger into the connector when the battery switch is set to OFF. You can have the camper on shore power, just be sure to have the battery switch set to off when using the charger. Someone else may know better than I if it's a good idea to have the converter and the charger feeding into the battery at the same time.

Horigan · September 2

It's okay to have multiple chargers (solar, WFCO, Li charger) connected to the battery in parallel (all together). Many folks do this with no issues.

AnOldUR · September 2

We rely on our networked Victron devices to work together for efficient charging. That includes two Victron solar controllers and a 30 amp Victron charger. As far as I know, the Victron charging mode is determined by voltage and time. I don't want the voltage coming from the WFCO to affect the charging mode, so I leave the battery switch off to isolate it from the Victron products. Since the solar controllers are networked with the Victron charger, they can add to the charge going into the batteries simultaneously.

qhumberd · September 2

I also just did this swap with the LITime 230 Amp hour battery but I used a 10 amp LiTime Charger. In my 2019 with the smaller frig there is a 20 amp plug used for the frig right inside the cargo door and the space was just right for the 10 amp charger. I too was concerned about multiple inputs confusing the battery so I disconnect the battery when on shore power and plug the little charger into the plug and no issues. I got a small splitter for the plug so I can keep the frig plugged in and then take the 10 amp charger plug in and out easily. As it is a 20 amp shore power circuit I can run the charger and the frig on shore power (but not the microwave, which is also on that circuit)

donmontalvo · September 2

qhumberd said:

...[snip]...
I too was concerned about multiple inputs confusing the battery so I disconnect the battery when on shore power and plug the little charger into the plug and no issues.
...[snip]...

My 2024 320S BBC came with a single 100 Ah LiFePO4 battery, and a WFCO. I added another 100 Ah LiFePO4 battery (matching) and a 100 W solar panel, while I spent last Winter at Quartzsite, AZ. The increase makes a huge difference for this full time boondocker.

I'm always jealous of you guys who have even more!

Curious about your use of a 10 A battery charger to charge your LiTime 230 Ah battery when you're at an RV park. How does it compare to letting the WFCO charge off the RV park's 30 AMP pedestal power?

PS, Pleasant surprise when I discovered solar stuff is cheap and tax free in AZ, can't wait to go back in another month or two. I plan to scale the off grid power on my JLUR this time.

qhumberd · September 2

@donmontalvo I just got back from a 4 nite trip where we had power at the state park. Going there with the battery on and the frig running our TV (no DC to DC charger installed) just provided a few amps (like a trickle charge) when driving so we lost about 5% of the battery over the drive day. Then I had plenty of time so I just turned on shore power and disconnected the battery and plugged in the 10 am charger using the plug I described above. I could easily have used the campsite 20 amp plug and an extension cord. No difference. So I was approximately 17 amp hours from 100% and the 10 Amp charger ran for about 1 hour 45 minutes. I did notice that the charging voltage was similar to the WFCO except for the last few minutes when the voltage began to steadily rise from 13.6 or so up to 14.6 and then it cut off. I don't see a need to let the WFCO charge the new battery at all unless this charger fails while travelling.

The WFCO can put out more than 10 amps, which is the only advantage, but it can't take the battery up to 100% and allow the battery to balance the cells as it need to do periodically. I don't have solar but I do have a suitcase 100W panel I can plug in as well that can also charge Lithium.

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2020 Tab 400 Lithium Battery Upgrade

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2019 T@B400 Boondock Lite "Todd"

2019 T@B400 Boondock Lite "Todd"