There are many lithium batteries coming onto the market proclaiming to be direct swap overs or to be compatible with all chargers.
These are usually not suitable for use with your system. We use Battery Management Systems, not chargers in most of our installations. Multi-stage battery chargers and power management systems can damage the built-in protection and management systems in lithium batteries.
The BatteryPlus35-HA and BatteryPlus35II-HA are the only models that we support for use with Lithium batteries.
A Trek or Odyssey display is required to switch the system to Lithium mode and this can be removed afterwards if not installed in the van. It is strongly recommended to have one of these installed as the discharge profile of lithium is too uneven to make estimations based on voltage levels.
When looking for Lithium batteries, look carefully at the ratings, specifications and limitations. There are a number of cheap lithium batteries on the market but many of them are just that, cheap.
Some of the things to look out for are:
- Maximum discharge/charge rates. Some batteries are only suited to discharge at 20 or 50 amps per hour. While this can be fine for a car fridge or backup battery for some people, many RV's can draw or charge at rates higher than this. This is particularly important if you have a high draw system with items such as a compressor fridge, an inverter, a CPAP or a heater.
- Parallel connection suitability. Lithium batteries can be very sensitive to imbalances and are many budget models come with warnings to connect no more than 2 batteries together or even to not connect extra batteries together at all.
- Mounting requirements. Many batteries are chassis mounted, exposing them to some elements. Keep the mounting location in mind as not all batteries are fully sealed or waterproof.
It is for these reasons amongst others that we only recommend using higher quality batteries such a BMPRO's Invicta and Zeal range.
For more information, refer to Which Lithium batteries should I get?