Swapping out battleborne battery in TAB 400

Dasieg
Dasieg Member Posts: 3
edited August 11 in Battery/Electrical & Solar

I have a 2023 Tab 400 that came with the single 100ah Battleborne li battery. We almost always dry camp and have run into late night power failures on several occasions (It’s gotten worse this summer with the higher temps). I’m considering swapping out the 100ah battery for a 320ah The trailer has the stock solar controller and inverter . Can I just do the swap, or do I have to upgrade the other components?

Comments

  • pthomas745
    pthomas745 Administrator, Moderator Posts: 4,627

    Welcome to the Forums……

    The swap would be pretty straightforward for your trailer, a simple swap. If you have a Victron Shunt, you would have to change the battery capacity settings. In your trailer, you should have one of the "lithium compatible" converter/chargers (the WFCO unit) which might take some work to get it to "auto detect" the lithium battery.

    What do you think the issues with the battery failures are with the Battleborn? Poor solar charging? Have you studied the history pages and such and looked at how much power is actually being supplied to the batteries?

    2017 Outback
    Towed by 2014 Touareg TDi
  • Dasieg
    Dasieg Member Posts: 3

    I think the issue is not enough capacity. The fridge alone is using in excess of 75AH a day in the heat. Add in the other battery draws (water pump, lighting, Alde) and the fact that the battery is 4 years old, and it gets drained. Of course, that damages the battery further. The solar can’t keep up unless it’s in the sun all day—which of course would heat up the trailer even more.

  • dlb
    dlb Member Posts: 175

    I put a 320 Ah lithium in my 400, adjusted the charging parameters on the shunt and have really enjoyed the extra capacity. I use the solar roof and a portable panel to extend the duration. If necessary I will plug it into AC power. Then I only get to about 80-85% of capacity.

    2021 Tab 400 Boondock
    2020 Audi SQ5
  • jdzioba
    jdzioba Member Posts: 17
    edited August 12

    I did the same thing as dlb. Installed a LiTime 320ah mini, changed the shunt settings, and use a 20amp charger when the battery is disconnected to charge to 100%. We recently traveled across the country and were able to boondock without shore power for 14 days (fridge on propane).

    2021 Tab 400 Boondock
    2022 GMC Sierra 1500 2.7
  • Ikanizer
    Ikanizer Member Posts: 17

    I added two 100 ah Battleborne batteries identical to the one that came with our 2023 400. The 300 ah capacity makes multi day boondocking much easier. We spent two months on an Alaska trip this summer and never went below about 50% SOC. Wish I had a propane refrigerator.

    2023 400
    2021 F150 2.7l 
  • EPOD1
    EPOD1 Member Posts: 3
    edited August 14

    From safe batteries to ammonia and hydrogen. Has anyone ever seen the movie Mosquito Coast?

    I went the route of adding more Battleborn 100AH batteries and upgrading the inverter to a Victron Multiplus II Inverter charger. I pretty much ripped all of the factory stuff out including the breaker panel which is now split for vital circuits. At this point I am thinking I made a mistake with the Battleborn batteries as the feedback on solar forums don't seem very positive for Battleborn. I am mostly concerned about safety since we sleep on top of these in a combustible bed. Victron makes a battery (BAT512120610) that is an option, making the entire system Victron. With a smart battery, the software could monitor the battery health.

    All of this adds weight but so far so good for me. I have a brand new Ford Expedition Tremor to tow it all…. now if only gas was not so expensive.

    2023 TAB 400 Boondock

    2026 Ford Expedition Tremor

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