Adding battery storage

Mountaintrails · October 24

We have a new T@B 360 coming home Saturday, and one of the first things on my list, is to add more battery storage. The trailer comes with a single Battle Born 100ah battery but has the upgraded solar panel package. I am not new to wiring or to these type of battery systems. I have a fishing boat that I installed 2 Lifepo4 batteries for a 24 volt electric trolling motor and a completely separate battery system for the fish finders and navigation system. I am very familiar with the Lifepo4/batteries, but the boat batteries are charged off the shore power and store their energy. I have never ran my batteries in my boat dead, even in a long day with heavy use. I have Wattcycle batteries in the boat..The trailer, I am worried about the battery not lasting for multiple days. I know it has solar to charge but parking in a wooded camp ground will not allow it to charge. Battle Born batteries are very expensive. Worth it? Not to sure about that! Choices are to add 1 more BB or swap out the BB for a Litime 328ah and call it a day. I can but one battery that does 3 time the storage for the price of a single 100AH BB. Anyone experience this with their system?

Notes; I don’t want to mix batteries.. and I won’t need to do any new wiring or breaker increase with either option..
give me your thoughts.

Thanks Dave

AnOldUR · October 24

I went with non-Battle Born, large capacity LiFePO4's. Battle Born has a good product, but competition has similar quality at a much better price. BB's strong point is better customer service. Most installations are "set and forget", never needing help from the manufacturer, but if the cost is worth the peace of mind, stick with Battle Born.

In your situation, I'd get the bigger battery and try to sell your Battle Born. This is a fast changing technology. Doubling down on what you have doesn't make sense to me.

Horigan · October 24

I've been very happy with my SOK batteries.

ckjs · October 24

Can you try a short trip as it is? You can find out how much the battery gets drained in a typical day’s of your use. Depending on the deepness of the shade, you might get more solar charging than you expected.

I use about 350Wh / 30 Ah per day, mostly for the 12v Norcold. I’ve gotten > 200 Wh of rooftop charging in the dappled shade of a Sierra pine forest, in September.

Mountaintrails · October 25

Thanks for the input. Option 3. More solar panels? Buy a suitcase 200 watt so it can be located away from the trailer and in the sun. Option 4. Buy a separate power supply. We have a 750 watt Bluette that we use for out 12 volt power coolers in the vehicle. I could use one of these and plug the trailer in if we ran out of power. I really only care about the fridge and occasional water pump. I can live without lights.

AnOldUR · October 25

@Mountaintrails

Option 3, more solar panels, should not be considered an option to achieving your goals. I'd consider it a necessity if you plan to dry camp.

Option 4, buying a power station has been an option for some owners, but it's workaround for not having the battery capacity that you need. I'd personally rather invest in a larger hands-off onboard battery system than lug around another piece of gear. If you're in need of a power source outside of T@B camping, a power station might make sense, but it's a poor substitute for a more convenient and economical built-in system.

rcarlson1957 · November 3

Mountaintrails I've been using LiTime batteries for both my trolling motor and my T@B for awhile now and very happy with them for both applications. Just a very good value for the money and appreciate the weight reduction for my small boat. I have the one with the internal heater for the camper for camping during shoulder season since I have my battery in the storage tub in front of camper. As far as capacity in your camper, it really depends on how you'll be camping and how long and your normal energy use. I use a combination of things for our power needs. I have a small Bluetti solar battery and two 120 portable panels with extension cables (I didn't want to install roof mounted ones). Used the solar battery and one panel for my small compressor fridge and the other for the camper thru a Victron Solar controller. Worked ok as long as there was sun and watched our power usage plus could run the frig thru solar battery connected to truck 12v plug and it would keep the frig running while we stop somewhere en route to campsite. But sometimes we camp in places where lack of sun can be an issue. Now we mostly use a Bluetti Charger 1 variable DC to DC alternator charger. I get twice the wattage of any roof mounted solar system and I can also still use it to charge my solar battery too. Moving to a 328ah LiTime battery sounds like a better idea than springing for another Battleborn but as some mentioned, I would try your existing setup 1st.

Mountaintrails · November 13

Thanks for the replies and thoughts.

I know that the existing setup will only last about two days and the power storage will dramatically drop. I am in the northwest and camping is mostly under large pines with little to no sunshine. I have been in contact with Nucamp and ran some theories past them. They have confirmed my thoughts. The plan is to get a 200 watt portable to try and harvest a little sun away from the trailer. And I will be adding another 100 AH battery.. but I will keep the Battleborn and add another brand next to it. Everyone will blast me for this and they will say that this is a bad idea. I am not new to this battery world. I have done a lot of research and have a boat with 3 independent electrical and charging systems with Wattcycle brand Lifepo4 batteries. Trolling motors and electronics in both series and parallel circuit wiring.

I also have a Bluetti power station. I use it for the power fridge in the tow vehicle and it has done a great job for quite a few years now. I figure that 200 ah of battery with minimum to no solar generation will last me about 4 days using the fridge and being very cautious with the power usage. Any solar regeneration will allow me to use other products and extend the stay.

pthomas745 · November 13

Nobody will "blast" you for this, we aren't YouTube. Just the normal cautions about mixing batteries and ages, etc. Lots of owners have done that sort of thing, let us know how it works for you.

There are so many ways to "add" battery capacity. Your Bluetti can be linked directly to the trailer 12V circuit with simple cables (male to male 12V cable from the 12V port on the Bluetti to a 12V port inside the trailer). Turn the battery switch off, and the trailer will run fine on the Bluetti, while all your solar charging can go completely towards re-charging the trailer battery.

There are so many ways to connect an "extra" battery that will not involve "mixing" batteries.

This thread goes back to 2018, and shows the several ways to "add" a battery. You can see a Bluetti wired directly into the trailer wiring on page 2.

https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/7008/anyone-carry-a-spare-battery/p1

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