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Old 01-23-2022, 04:31 PM   #1
JoeyCharismatic
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Cool Lithium powerwall upgrade

I have recently given my TM a major upgrade. It was a project born of Covid lock-in boredom, and overkill for a rig of this nature, but I share it with you today.

I have installed a 15kWh Lifepo4 battery bank with a 3kw Victron Multiplus battery inverter. In practical terms, I can run my entire rig, including AC, for 15-20 hours with no electrical hook up, or generator running.

I may post pictures or answer questions about it here if anyone is interested.

Happy trails.
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Old 01-23-2022, 06:38 PM   #2
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Wow! What a beast! That bad boy must weigh 350-400 pounds. And I won't inquire as to the price. That will be a great setup for disaster preparedness, like a hurricane in Florida.

Bill
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Old 01-23-2022, 07:28 PM   #3
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Yes, picture's would be great. I have a dinky solar system compared to yers.
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Old 01-23-2022, 08:02 PM   #4
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Wow!!! Yes, more details and photos please! Would love to see this.

Dave
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Old 01-23-2022, 08:58 PM   #5
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Wow! Glad to see the interest! It weights about 200lbs total, batteries were a steal at $1800 from China, before the supply chain issues kicked in, and another 1200 for the inverter and I'll pretend the wiring and unexpected costs weren't significant. Let me bring some pics up.
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Old 01-26-2022, 11:04 AM   #6
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Default Pictures of the upgrade.

15kWh battery installed.
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Old 01-27-2022, 05:59 AM   #7
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Lightbulb Can this please be moved to 'Electrical'?

It's awfully hard to find this Thread within 'forum admin'/'account help'/'suggestion box'.
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TM='06 2619 w/5K axle, 15" Maxxis "E" tires. Plumbing protector. 630 watts solar. 450AH LiFePO4 batteries, 3500 watt inverter. CR-1110 E-F/S fridge (compressor).
TV = 2007 4runner sport, with a 36 volt "power boost".
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Old 01-27-2022, 06:20 AM   #8
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Default Less weight than you were thinking.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill View Post
Wow! What a beast! That bad boy must weigh 350-400 pounds. And I won't inquire as to the price. That will be a great setup for disaster preparedness, like a hurricane in Florida.

Bill
The battery cells are about 16 lbs each. 16 of them makes about 260 pounds, and the Victron unit isn't terribly heavy. Although picture #2 doesn't show all of the cells, I'm assuming them to be 1P16S (One battery pack of 16 cells in series). This looks great - although, to add additional lifespan for the cells, I would have compressed them. OTOH, a compression structure would add more weight and much more cost.

The welded-on battery cell terminals are very interesting - and probably more convenient than screw-in studs. (With screw in studs, you must be VERY careful to apply the right amount of torque.) This is beautifully done!
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TM='06 2619 w/5K axle, 15" Maxxis "E" tires. Plumbing protector. 630 watts solar. 450AH LiFePO4 batteries, 3500 watt inverter. CR-1110 E-F/S fridge (compressor).
TV = 2007 4runner sport, with a 36 volt "power boost".
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Old 01-27-2022, 07:08 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rickst29 View Post
The battery cells are about 16 lbs each. 16 of them makes about 260 pounds, and the Victron unit isn't terribly heavy. Although picture #2 doesn't show all of the cells, I'm assuming them to be 1P16S (One battery pack of 16 cells in series). This looks great - although, to add additional lifespan for the cells, I would have compressed them. OTOH, a compression structure would add more weight and much more cost.

The welded-on battery cell terminals are very interesting - and probably more convenient than screw-in studs. (With screw in studs, you must be VERY careful to apply the right amount of torque.) This is beautifully done!
What do you mean you say 'compression structure'?
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Old 01-27-2022, 07:41 AM   #10
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Default LFP Battery cell compression.

The formal testing was done by EVE on their own cells, but the results are widely agreed to be applicable to any other thin-wall rectangular cells. Compression keeps the sidewalls from expanding and contracting as much. In the test, compressed cells (around 12-14 PSI) had DOUBLE the lifespan of the uncompressed cell in the test - all subjected to the same "charge/discharge/recharge/repeat" regimen. IIRC, it was roughly 5000 cycles versus about 2500. They discharged them pretty deep.

Here's a pretty good photo of the concept, in which I used 4 compression springs to push steel plates into the large "faces" of some LFP cells. The small sides , and the top/bottom, do not need to be compressed separately to achieve the benefit (and the EVE test pressed only along the "big" faces of the cells.) Although I have used steel plates on my two "smaller" batteries, most people use 3/4" plywood. Cheaper and easier to work with.

For a plywood example, see https://diysolarforum.com/threads/pr...98/post-430244

One of my own battery packs (before adding a heater pad and wood "casing") is show in the attached photo.
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TM='06 2619 w/5K axle, 15" Maxxis "E" tires. Plumbing protector. 630 watts solar. 450AH LiFePO4 batteries, 3500 watt inverter. CR-1110 E-F/S fridge (compressor).
TV = 2007 4runner sport, with a 36 volt "power boost".
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