Need Lithium Capable Charger
- Thread starter tgokaydin
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david-steph2018
Well-known member
Suggest you call Solar Energy Systems:
Solar Energy Systems - Solar Installers - Nappanee, IN
Solar Energy Systems is a leading solar installation company in Nappanee, Indiana, providing solar energy solutions for residential, commercial, farm, and RV's.
sesindiana.com
This is what I use with 3-100Ah batteries.
Thanks for asking this question as I'm in the exact same situation. I just installed a CanBat 200ah battery in my Cyclone Toyhauler 1 weeks ago. It worked fine off our GoPower 200watt solar panel. But we covered our RV for the winter and it's plugged in to shore power and my battery has dropped to 60% and has stayed there for a week. My knowledgeable friend said I needed a Lithium suitable converter. He said it should match the Amp specs of my factory on. I haven't had the dry weather to remove the front wall and see what that could be. Searching I've found it could be a 65amp or even a 80amp. Thru Amazon I've already found a couple of very highly rated converters to use and hoping to find the correct amp model to choose soon. The brand I've found on Amazon is Powermax and the 80Amp model is $262cdn. Which I feel is very reasonable. Please respond back to how you make out with yours and I'll do the same.
taskswap
Well-known member
In an ideal world, you want a charger whose capacity (amp rating) is equal to or greater than your lithium battery's max charge rate without blowing a breaker.
Blowing a breaker isn't a problem. You can't directly compare amperage ratings between 12VDC and 120VAC, but the math is simple - you just convert to watts and back. Watts = Volts * Amps so say you're on a 30A campground connection. That's 30*120 or 3600 watts. Divide by 12 to get to DC and you have 300A. As you'll see below, that's so high you shouldn't have to worry about it.
Now for the battery, if I'm looking at the right spec sheet (CanBat 200Ah), it says it has a max charge rate of 200A but recommended is 100A. I would stick with recommended to maximize the battery's life (they're expensive) so I would be looking for up to a 100A charger.
That means something like this unit might work if you can source something like it locally:
recpro.com
If you want something smarter and don't mind a bit of a longer charge time, I'm a huge fan of the Victron IP22. That's only rated for 30A, so a complete empty->full charge cycle would take just under 7 hours. But it adds a lot of useful functionality like Bluetooth monitoring, is a smaller and easier to install unit, and a super reputable brand....
Blowing a breaker isn't a problem. You can't directly compare amperage ratings between 12VDC and 120VAC, but the math is simple - you just convert to watts and back. Watts = Volts * Amps so say you're on a 30A campground connection. That's 30*120 or 3600 watts. Divide by 12 to get to DC and you have 300A. As you'll see below, that's so high you shouldn't have to worry about it.
Now for the battery, if I'm looking at the right spec sheet (CanBat 200Ah), it says it has a max charge rate of 200A but recommended is 100A. I would stick with recommended to maximize the battery's life (they're expensive) so I would be looking for up to a 100A charger.
That means something like this unit might work if you can source something like it locally:
RV Converter 125 Amp, 110V AC to 12V DC with 4 Stage Smart Charging
Say goodbye to worrying about battery life on your next camping trip with the RecPro RV Converter. This replacement converter will keep your batteries charged and protected.
recpro.com
If you want something smarter and don't mind a bit of a longer charge time, I'm a huge fan of the Victron IP22. That's only rated for 30A, so a complete empty->full charge cycle would take just under 7 hours. But it adds a lot of useful functionality like Bluetooth monitoring, is a smaller and easier to install unit, and a super reputable brand....
Great reply ! This does make sense and I've not had anyone explain it this easy. We seldom have shore power ( other than in our backyard) and when boondocking we would use our BE 3600watt ( max output) generator if cloudy or rain while out boondocking. I think my BE will run @ 3000watts so I anticipate I should pick a converter that's suited to that as well. My Canbat is bluetooth so I do already get some helpful info like volts and amps going out or in.In an ideal world, you want a charger whose capacity (amp rating) is equal to or greater than your lithium battery's max charge rate without blowing a breaker.
Blowing a breaker isn't a problem. You can't directly compare amperage ratings between 12VDC and 120VAC, but the math is simple - you just convert to watts and back. Watts = Volts * Amps so say you're on a 30A campground connection. That's 30*120 or 3600 watts. Divide by 12 to get to DC and you have 300A. As you'll see below, that's so high you shouldn't have to worry about it.
Now for the battery, if I'm looking at the right spec sheet (CanBat 200Ah), it says it has a max charge rate of 200A but recommended is 100A. I would stick with recommended to maximize the battery's life (they're expensive) so I would be looking for up to a 100A charger.
That means something like this unit might work if you can source something like it locally:
RV Converter 125 Amp, 110V AC to 12V DC with 4 Stage Smart Charging
Say goodbye to worrying about battery life on your next camping trip with the RecPro RV Converter. This replacement converter will keep your batteries charged and protected.
If you want something smarter and don't mind a bit of a longer charge time, I'm a huge fan of the Victron IP22. That's only rated for 30A, so a complete empty->full charge cycle would take just under 7 hours. But it adds a lot of useful functionality like Bluetooth monitoring, is a smaller and easier to install unit, and a super reputable brand....
