Upgrading my electrical system is, and likely will remain the most major mod I’ve ever done! My van comes with a 182Ah battery. It has a 50% depth of discharge, which means I get 91Ah usable power out of it. This gave me enough power to run everything I need throughout the day.
In the evening I would run my Under Hood Generator (UHG) for a bit to charge my batteries enough to get through the night, then again in the morning to kick things off for the day when my solar panels keep things going for the day. On super cloudy / no sun days, I would end up having to run my UHG at some point during the day too.
Having to run the UHG every day, more if its grey out (which is a lot of the times here in the PNW) uses up my gas. Not much, but it adds up. Also, I have to keep a close eye on my battery…its something I have to think about every morning, every evening, and throughout the day, as letting it get below 50% discharge can damage the battery.
The benefit of lithium is it has a 100% discharge rate, so a 100Ah battery supplies 100Ah or power. It also recharges very fast. Getting it professionally installed is several thousand dollars out of my budget.In the Roadtrek Facebook group Im in, someone shared an electrical diagram for a self-install, and its been working great for him the past couple of years.
A friend who is pretty knowledgeable about this stuff was going to install it for me, so I did my research to understand the system diagram to make sure I get all the right parts. Just as all this stuff was getting delivered, I realized I’m on my own. For a moment I was sad to have to give up and return everything, but decided, I’ve been researching this for months…the least I could do is take a crack at it. So I did. I have never done anything with electrical before…besides running extensions cords, but I’m pretty sure that doesn’t count lol
It took me 2 days.. there may have been sparks…there may have been a fire. It was a very small fire though. When all was said and done..I did it!! I installed two 100Ah lithium batteries, so I went from 91Ah of power, to 291Ah of power. I also installed a battery monitor, and it has charge level alarms, so I no longer have to constantly panic check my batteries, or run my UHG anywhere near as much. Can’t wait for my next trip to try it out. Super proud of myself… I did that 😊
Technical Stuff:
Original system
- 1 192Ah Northstar TPPL AGM battery
- 2000w inverter
- 2 100w solar panels
- Under hood generator
Upgraded System / Parts & Tools Used:
- System diagram: In Roadtrek Zion & Simplicity Owners private FB group
- 2 – Chins 100Ah 12v LiFePO4 Batteries
- Renogy 12V 50A DC to DC Battery Charger with MPPT
- Victron Energy SmartShunt Battery Monitor
- Battery Shutoff Switch
- 60, 80, 200 amp fuses, fuse boxes
- 4 AWG battery cables, lugs, heat shrink
- Battery cable cutter & crimper
- Voltmeter