Episode 182 – Enhancing Your RV Journey: Upgrading to Lithium Batteries - The Smart RVer Podcast

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
This is Eric Stark with theSmart RVer podcast, your trusted
source for tips and insightsto embrace the RV lifestyle without
worries. Let's talk everythingRV. And today is episode 182. Let's
dig right in. Welcome back,smart RVers. But today I want to
just share a thought that cameup in some of our recent activities

(00:21):
with an insurance company. Youknow, we're always learning, finding
things out, and we like toshare them with you, that's for sure.
Because the more we know, themore you're going to know. And sometimes
the more you know, the morewe're going to know, because it works
both ways, and we appreciatethat so much. But choosing insurance
companies. You know, we'retalking about the insurance companies

(00:42):
that insure your RV againsttheft, fire damage, water damage,
tree falls on it, whateverhappens to it. So they're the insurance
carrier, not an extendedwarranty, but the insurance company.
You know, quite often we don'tknow how good our insurance company
is until we file a claim.Isn't that right? You know, you call

(01:03):
them up, hey, you know, I needto file a claim. Blah, blah, blah.
Just happened. And, man, it'seither a good experience or bad.
So recently, an insurancecarrier called us. We were talking
to a customer. We hadn't evendone a quote yet. They called the
insurance company, told themwe were the shop they wanted to use.
They call us and start askingthese oddball questions with no,

(01:26):
no reasoning behind it. Thenthey're wanting to send us parts.
And they kept saying, it'sunder warranty. And that was really
confusing because the RV wasdamaged. There were no warranty parts.
Then they're, well, we'll justsend you all the parts, and then
you just get the labor. Itdidn't make sense. So we're like,
okay, why don't you send me anemail explaining this process? So

(01:49):
rather than send an email,they call the customer and say, the
shop we're working withHighway 93, RV, they don't want to
work with us. They won'tcomply. They want to charge too much.
They want to rip us off.Customer calls us up, what's going
on? That's not true. And thecustomer knows us, and he goes, yeah,
okay, I get it now. And sothat was over a week ago, actually
several weeks now, and theystill haven't filed or settled with

(02:12):
him on a claim. So they'rejust dragging this thing out, making
it very difficult for theconsumer, the RV owner. So be very
careful. And I know sometimesit's hard because they're going to
tell you all the right things,but in this particular case, the
insurance company, I'm notgoing to say the company, they actually
farmed it out to anothercarrier. It's kind of a weird thing.

(02:32):
This particular carrier isowned by a very large RV company
in the RV world. I'm not goingto say their name either. I'm trying
not to say some names todaybecause of certain things that are
happening on the backside. Idon't want to tick anybody off if
they're listening. Theyabsolutely know who we're talking
about. But nonetheless, sojust be careful. It's important to

(02:55):
choose the right insurancecompany. Now, on another note, have
you ever done something likethis? You decided or you know, your
RV needs new batteries andit's a travel trailer, motorhome,
it doesn't matter. You decide.I'm going to replace those house
batteries. They're giving menothing but problems. So you go out,
you get two new batteries, andyou take a picture of the wiring

(03:16):
and you're very careful andeverything goes good and you think
there's absolutely noproblems. You're all proud of yourself.
You're patting yourself on theback as you walk inside the RV to
make sure the lights work andthings are coming on all to your
dismay. And there's no lightsworking on the inside. You're like,
what the heck is going onhere? These are brand new batteries,

(03:37):
you know? So you get out avoltmeter, test them, they got power,
and like, oh, man, somethingelse has gone wrong. And you're kind
of perplexed by that. What didI do wrong? Well, when we get to
the end of the podcast today,we're going to tell you maybe what
happened. It's a pretty simplefix and it does happen, and it's
in place just in case thisparticular thing happens. Not going

(04:02):
to say now. I know you're socurious. You're going to say to the
end of this podcast, no matterwhat. Now. All right, everybody,
so that we'll get to at theend now, we ask that you please share
this podcast with others.Subscribe to it on your favorite
podcast channel. We're on allof them. If you like us on YouTube,
subscribe us. Subscribe there,like us. Reach out to us. We want

(04:24):
to hear from you. We lovehearing from you guys, whatever the
thing might be. Now that'sgoing to bring us to enjoying the
RV life. And we're going totalk about RVing after dark and how
not to tick off the entirecampground when you arrive when it's
late. Now, I Think everybody'sprobably done this. You come into
a campground after dark orit's very, maybe it's not dark out,

(04:47):
depending on what part of thecountry and what time of year I care
in Montana gets dark, youknow, at 10:00 clock at night. So
maybe it's not dark yet, butit's late, people might be in bed.
Right. So as you pull intothis campground, you know, you're
kind of having a hard timeeven finding a place because it's
dark enough or is that maybeit's not pitch dark, but it's getting
dark. You know, you get thatshady type stuff and it's hard to

(05:09):
see. That in itself can besomewhat nerve wracking. When you
arrive at that time of day ornight ever. How you want to look
at that puts a little extrastrain on you because you're not
used to doing it. Somethinghappened during the day that, you
know, caused a delay. So we'regoing to talk about that. And it
might seem kind of basic.What's the big deal? Well, it can

(05:29):
be a big deal. It's not like acar where you pull up into a hotel,
grab a suitcase, go inside andspend the night. A little bit different.
So with campgrounds, it'salways good to call ahead, make sure
that they have yourreservation, everything's there and
say, hey, if I get there aftersix or eight or whatever, is there
something special I need todo? Yeah, they might say, take any

(05:50):
space you want, then come seeus in the morning. We'll put you
in the right space becausethere's not going to be anybody in
the office. So we have noproblem. Just get a space. Or if
you want to, there's a spotover here, you can just park there
for the night, no problem. Sothey might tell you something like
that, but they might say, hey,no problem. We'll have someone in
the office, they're there till10 and they will get you a space

(06:13):
and guide you to where youneed to go. That sounds great. Well,
you do want to be smart aboutthis because sometimes at night,
you know. Well, not sometimesat night, it's just harder to see.
So having one of thoseheadlights on with the LED lamp on,
it will make it much easierwhen you're pulling in parking well

(06:33):
after you're out, you're outof your tow vehicle or the motorhome.
When you're setting up walkingthe space, it's going to be easier
to see some things and evenhave on a lantern. And you know,
lantern's a little bitdifferent than A flashlight. Lanterns
are kind of cool. I have someLED lanterns that work really well,
and I can just set them like,this is my marker where I want the
back of the RV to be, or ifI'm pulling into a tight spot or

(06:56):
maybe my wife will hold it andthat you're hanging it. It's not
like a flashlight, where thatbeam's going all over the place because
they're looking at stuff.Sometimes a lantern will work really
well, a rechargeable LEDlantern. Then if you can find a leveling
app that works for you, thatmakes it even easier. It's getting
to the space, pulling throughthe park. You're not going to fly

(07:18):
through there at 30 miles anhour. You drive slower, maybe making
sure you don't miss anything.You're trying to be quiet so you're
not waking up everybody in thepark. Obviously, just driving through
is going to make some noise,but it's how much noise you make
and for how long is really theissue. You get to your site, just
walk it real quick with aflashlight so you can see what's
going on. Have someone helpingyou so you can get into the spot

(07:39):
and try to get level the firsttime you pull in. You know, look
at it. Are there any low spotsto avoid? That way in the morning
you don't have to reset up,and then you're just getting into
your spot and getting set upquicker. If you need to even level
it, maybe for the night, youcan just, you know, that's it. Because
it's late. You don't want tokeep everybody up or wake everybody

(08:00):
up. And then just stick to theessentials. You know, hook up the
power, level the RV if youhave to, and just get some water
if you need to, power if youneed to. If not, just wait till morning.
You know, waiting till morningwill sometimes make it much easier.
Not then you can see things.And if you hook everything up, you
might decide in the morning,gosh, I'm going to move forward two

(08:22):
feet. I'm going to move back.Really not as level as I'd like to
be. So I'm going to completelymove. Then. If you hooked everything
up, set up completely, thenyou got to undo it. And I think everybody's
been there once or twice, youknow, hooking up, readjusting in
the morning. And if you're newto RVing, practice this stuff at
home, getting out, wheelchocks, leveling, doing stuff like

(08:43):
that. It's a good routine toget into. And then when you pull
up at a park at night, man,you're pulling up and you're parking
like a boss, not a beginner.You're like the man, right? All right,
cool. Now, if you've got agreat arrival story, you know, at
night, something went reallywell or something went really long,
let us know. Go to thesmartarver.com, use the contact us

(09:05):
page and share it with us. Welove hearing this type of stuff.
Now that's going to bring usto our money saving tip. And this
one is very similar to what wejust talked about. It's nighttime
RVing, except this one's aboutdriving at night. You know, driving
an RV at night is a little bitdifferent than parking an RV at night.

(09:27):
In fact, everything'sdifferent at night. I'm sure everybody's
taken a road trip in a car ormany throughout their lives as children,
adults. And you know what it'slike. You get tired. You know, there's
animals, things on the roadthat you don't normally you don't
see as well at night versusthe day. Maybe you're on a dirt road,
you're not familiar with theroad or the highway. So these things

(09:49):
can have an effect. When youthink about driving at night in an
rv, now you got somethingthat's much bigger, stops, a lot
slower. Everything's differentin an rv, so you want to stay on
familiar roads. Drive thelower limit of how long you can drive.
Some people can drive foreight hours, some people can drive

(10:09):
for 20 hours. I'm more on that20 hour side. I like to drive straight
through. If it's a 24 hourdrive, 20 hour drive, I like to go
straight through, maybe stopfor 15 minutes, take a cat nap and
move on. That's me though.That's what works for me. But that
doesn't work for everybody.And believe me, even pulling an rv,
a trailer, or driving amotorhome, you can still fall asleep,

(10:32):
you can still get fatigued.Just because you have all that extra
equipment and weight doesn'tmean it's going to help you stay
awake. Not whatsoever. Beprepared for everything. For night
driving, plan on stoppingsooner. If you need to sleep for,
you know, six hours, sleep forsix hours. Don't try to push it,

(10:52):
don't try to be that hero.Because a lot of these things can
end up being a severe accidentor just silly little things that
cost money later on. You pullinto a gas station, you hit something,
you're pulling off the side ofthe road, you hit something, some
near misses, you know, all ofa sudden you have to swerve around
an animal because you reallyweren't paying attention. You're

(11:14):
maybe dozing off. You justhappen to wake up and you see a deer
on the highway and you swerve.Swerving. Pulling a trailer or driving
a motorhome can be a dangerousthing. So you need to be cautious.
Now, one thing about drivingat night, it can save some money.
Believe it or not, cooler atnight so the vehicle runs better.
That's going to save you somefuel, wear and tear on the tires

(11:37):
and such. A lot of timesyou're going to spend the night in
a parking lot or a campgroundmaybe where they have no fees at
night. When you pull in aftera certain hour and leave this leave
before a certain hour, theydon't charge you for it because you're
just basically sleeping. Youknow, a lot of times restaurants
or places to eat have lowerrates at night or specials at night

(11:58):
or you can cook on board. Sothat saves some money. So you're
not spending money eating out,you're eating in your rv and then
you're avoiding all thetraffic jams during the day. Construction,
things like that that put wearand tear on your rv. So reducing
maintenance costs is what canbe one of the bigger issue or the

(12:18):
money saving advantages ofdriving at night. So it's not like
you're going to put tons ofmoney away, but you do save some
bucks. And like I said, themaintenance costs can be reduced.
And it's easier on a vehiclewhen it's cooler out when you're
driving. So nighttime isperfect for that, especially on them
tires. You don't have the samehot highway roads that you do during

(12:39):
the daytime. Now here's a reallife story. This is a guy named John.
A guy. A guy. Some random guy,right? No, an RV or named John. So
he's from Boise, Idaho. So ifyou're in Boise, maybe you can try
to hunt him down. No, justkidding. So he saved 100 bucks on
a weekend long trip bydriving. When he, or actually when
he drove to Dole, Montana, hedid it at night. So. So, you know,

(13:02):
he just spent the night in hisrv. It was not a huge trip, but everything
he did was at night, cooked onboard, ate on board, a little better
mileage at night, had somesavings. And so, you know, he wrote
that he saved 150 bucks.There's probably more to it that
saved that $150 because hedidn't save that on fuel. But maybe

(13:23):
he had a family of four withhim. Five eating out would have cost
150 bucks. These days. But thepoint is, he took advantage of the
nighttime driving and savedsome money. Now, remember, nighttime
driving is a different animal.If you're going to be driving all
night, you might save money,but is it something you can do? Are
you up to that challenge? Someof us aren't. Some of us are a little

(13:45):
older. Might be harderchanging your routine. Like I said,
for me, I don't mind at all. Ilike driving straight through, so
it's not a big deal for me. Mywife hates it, but she goes along
with it. You don't have achoice usually, but it's just a good
way to go. It can save somemoney, but it does take preparation.
You got to think about it. Yougot to think how you're going to

(14:07):
stop, when you're going tostop. What are you going to do to
reduce that fatigue? Thinkabout hazards on the road. Certain
areas have different hazards.Winter, summertime, animals on the
highway, ice on the road. Sothink about all that. You want to
leverage the savings. Don'tjust do it to do it. Leverage, Leverage
the savings. Use them to youradvantage. So this article and the

(14:29):
RV nvr Enjoying the RV Lifearticle. Boy, the other one about
driving at night or pullinginto campgrounds at night, Losing
my mind here will be on ourWebsite the Smart RVer under the
next stop and money savingtips. That's the smartrver.com both
articles will be there in thefull so you can read them and if

(14:50):
you enjoy them and share. Nowthis brings us to staying on the
road. So a while back we'vetalked about lithium batteries, solar
panels, the whole package. Andit was probably a year longer ago,
but we're going to revisit itbecause there are steps to a successful
lithium battery upgrade thatwe need to talk about. You need to

(15:11):
be aware of it. And the reasonwhy is so many people are really
upgrading to lithium nowbecause lithium is everywhere. Yeah,
you can get lithium batteriesfor $179 on the Internet. You can
get lithium batteries for1,200 bucks on the Internet. So that's
like, okay, there's someconfusion there. And it's changed
a lot. The size of batteries,the shape, slim batteries, thick

(15:33):
batteries. But we're going totalk about lithium batteries and
just the upgrade process, notall the intricacies of them. A lot
of that would depend on yourrv, what you're trying to accomplish.
Maybe it's not an rv, maybeit's a boat, Maybe it's an overlanding
vehicle. So we can't get intoall of that, but it's the upgrade
specifically for RVs thatwe're going to discuss because you

(15:55):
guys are the smart RVers. Soif not anything else, you'll know
how to do it down the road andyou'll have this information corner
of your minds for when you doneed it. Why upgrade to lithium?
Lithium is pretty cool. Well,we're going to discuss the why, what
and how basically. So whyupgrade to lithium? Besides them
looking really nice know andthey're stacked together and they

(16:16):
don't gas so there's no acidin the air. They're not ruining things
that way. They're efficientand they have more usable capacity
and they have a longerlifespan. And also they weigh about
half as much as a conventionallead acid battery. So what does this
mean for you? This means morepower for boondocking, they're going
to charge faster and when theyweigh less, so it's less strain on

(16:38):
your RV, which I mean, let'sface it, if you have two batteries
and you're saving 70 pounds,that's not going to save that RV.
It's not going to add years toit life. But hey, the less weight
the better. Better mileage,better everything else, less tongue
weight or wherever you're at.Less weight on the floor where they're
installed. You know, batteriescan weigh a lot and they can do damage
if they're not installed inthe right place. A 30 pound lithium

(17:01):
battery, for example, that's100amp hour can replace a 70 pound
85amp hour lead acid battery.You know, that's ideal man. Get rid
of that weight, you got highercapacity, more efficiency. So when
you're traveling acrossMontana's back roads, I got to put
a plug in for Montana herewith this wonderful technology that's
changing, it makes for abetter trip or it can. Let me emphasize

(17:25):
this before I go on. If youhave lead acid batteries, this isn't
a prompt telling you to go buylithium batteries because without
lithium, RVN is going to behorrible. That's not the case. Many
people have lead acidbatteries. In fact, many people boondock
with lead acid batteries anddon't have problems. Some of them

(17:45):
have solar, some of themdon't. Remember not Too long ago,
RVers didn't have solar. Itwas a very unusual thing. Even in
Arizona, you know, going backto the 90s 80s, solar was very limited
there. It was growing, but notall that many people had it. And
it was very expensive. Themajority of RVers, for the majority

(18:05):
of the life of RVs, as long aspeople have been RVing have not had
solar and they've done well.Don't be in a big hurry to go buy
solar or I mean lithiumbecause you feel you need it, or
if you have solar, you have tohave lithium. You know, it's, it's
more efficient, but it's notmandatory. Okay, just wanted to say
that first. So this isn't likea hardcore push that you have to

(18:28):
have lithium? Absolutely not.Now one thing about lithium batteries,
they have a higher energydensity, so it really helps them
when they're discharging to godeeper in that discharge. So they
can kind of go to the bottomof the batter, if you will. They're
definitely more efficient, tosay the least. Now, I know there's
some people in our audienceand RVers that are experts on lithium.

(18:49):
They've done all thisresearch, they've learned them inside
and out. And that's absolutelywonderful because sometimes the more
information you have, thebetter choices you'll make. But sometimes
it'll make it more difficultto make a choice if you know too
much. Doesn't that soundweird? But it's true. You can never
make up your mind on what youwant or you just go over the top
and buy super high end stuffwhen you really don't need it. You

(19:10):
want to buy stuff that'swithin your budget and that matches
your RV lifestyle. You know,if you only need two batteries, that's
all you need, then don't buyeight batteries. Don't go crazy.
Lithium batteries have moreusable capacity, so they have a much
greater depth of discharge.Quite often it can be up to 80% more
than a lead acid battery.Typically it's going to be 50%, but

(19:33):
that's still quite a bit. Now,a LifePL battery can potentially
deliver more usable energythan 100amp hour lead acid battery,
even if their normalcapacities are the same. So if they're
identical, basically thelithium is going to do better. And
that's typically what we hear.That's what we hear in the store.
That's what our experience is,what we're hearing from RVers out

(19:55):
in the real world. Theirhigher energy density really helps
them to do this. And also youdon't have all that lead, so you
don't have all the weight.They're just more efficient. They
can charge and discharge manymore times than a ray or lead acid
battery. So that's gonna,they're gonna last longer and then

(20:16):
they're going to be. Theywait. Excuse me? They wait. Waste
less energy in that process ofcharging and discharging lithium
Batteries are just moreefficient all the way around. Which
what? That's what we'refinding with a lot of new technology.
Sometimes it's only betterbecause it's just more efficient.
And lithium definitely fitsthat bill, that it's more efficient

(20:40):
and they're going to lastlonger. You're talking 2,000 to 5,000
cycles versus maybe 500 to1,000 cycles. A cycle is a full discharge
and recharge. So that's onecycle. Every time you fully discharge
and recharge your battery,whether it's lead acid or lithium,
that is one cycle. So thosenumbers really reveal 2000 to 5000

(21:01):
cycles on lithium, 500 to 1000cycles on lead acid. That's a big
difference. So the lifetime isgoing to be longer and generally
the maintenance during thatlifetime is much less than lead acid
batteries. You have to checkthe water levels in most lead acid
batteries. You're constantlycleaning the terminals, or quite
often you are. Shouldn't sayconstantly. So there's pros and cons

(21:25):
in just the maintenance.Lithium is better in maintenance,
but lead acid definitely hasits place. Like I said, if you, if
it's working for you and youdon't see the need to spend the extra
money, then don't. So now thewhat and how, what to consider for
this upgrade. So does yourconverter already, or is your converter

(21:47):
already set up for lithiumbatteries? If your RV is newer, you
know, the last built in thelast five years, more than likely
it is set up. If it's olderthan that, more than likely it's
not. In some cases, dependingon the year, there's definitely not
unless somebody change thatout. But it's really easy to tell
whether it is or it isn't. Theimportant thing is why it has to

(22:08):
be upgraded. Your typicalconverter in an RV is not going to
charge enough. So it willnever fully charge a lithium battery.
In fact, some people say thatconverters, some battery companies
say that converters don'tfully charge a battery. Anyways.
Whether that's true or not,I'm not 100% certain. But they say
solar is the best way tocharge a battery. It seems like it

(22:29):
is. We're talking aboutlithium converters. If any RV place
or store can check yourconverter to see if it's lithium
compatible, all they need isthe model number. You can probably
go online and check it aswell. So you're going to be looking
for AD at the end, L at theend, something like that. That'll
give you the clue. And if it'snot lithium compatible. It's not

(22:52):
the end of the world.Converters can just be swapped out.
Like PowerMax makes greatconverters for lithium. So you can
just. In fact, we did anepisode with Graham from Powermax
in our last podcast, 181. Soyou can go back to that if you haven't
seen it. But powermax greatmakes converters for this. I mean,

(23:12):
all of them do progressiveWolfco. Everybody does. So it's not
the end of the world. It mightbe, you know, two to three, three
to $400 to replace yours,depending on what size you have.
If you have a standaloneconverter now, if you have a, a converter
that has the fuses and circuitbreakers in it and then below that
you have the mba. So that's acircuit board that just slides out.

(23:35):
It has a fan and stuff on.It's more than a circuit board. That's
just easy ways to describe itas a fan that slides out or this
tray that slides out and youjust put a new one in. So the rest
of the power center staysthere. You're just replacing one
part of it. So there'sbasically two types of power or converters.
You have the power center typewhere your fuses and circuit breakers

(23:56):
are mounted right on the faceof the cabinet. You have this circuit
board right underneath it inthe same box. It's just not visible
when you open up the door tosee your fuses and circuit breakers.
And you have a deck mountconverter which is generally in a
cabinet someplace. And it's astandalone unit, has a power cord
and two 12 volt wires going toit, but you can swap those out. That's
not the end of the world.That's the point. Kind of went into

(24:16):
greater detail there than Ireally wanted to, but now you know
a little bit more now. Also,lithium batteries don't fit in your
typical 24 group. 24 group 27battery boxes. They're usually different
dimensionally, so the sizeisn't the same. They do it because
of various reasons. They havebattery management system. They're
not just made solely for RVs.They can be mounted anywhere. They're

(24:38):
not typically going into abattery box, which is one thing.
Keep that in mind. Especiallyif I have a travel trailer and your
batteries are on the tongue,you might have to get different,
a different battery box, maybean aluminum one, a metal one that'll
mount on the tongue, that'sbigger so your batteries will fit
into it. Like on my rv, I havea Heartland trailer. So that way
the tray is not big enough fortwo lithium batteries. It's barely

(25:02):
big enough for two deep cycleor lead acid batteries. So I just
got a battery box and mountedit on the tongue and actually I like
that better. Anyways, thebatteries are easy to access, no
issues covered, you know, justlife is better. Battery boxes can
get a little pricey though, soyou'll have to shop around and see
what you can find there. Sothat definitely is an option for

(25:26):
you though. But just keep thatin mind. If you have a trailer, the
batteries probably aren'tgoing to fit very well, if at all
on the tongue unless you buy abox. Now it does add to the expense
unfortunately. Now motorhomesa little bit different. Sometimes
the battery trays are tighter.You might be able to get them in
there, maybe not definitelymeasure the space you have and find

(25:46):
a brand of batteries thatworks for you that will fit in that
space, if that's what youroption is. But keep in mind, lithium
batteries can be mountedanywhere. They don't gas, they don't
need to be vented like leadacid batteries do. So you can put
them in your kitchen, they cansit right on the table with you while
you eat dinner. You're notgoing to get poisoned. They're not
like lead acid batteries. Someasure up before you buy them. You

(26:10):
don't want to buy them and go,oh, what do I do now? These aren't
going to fit anywhere that Ithought they would fit because sometimes
placing them in a new spot canbe difficult. Depending on your rv,
how much space do you have? Doyou really want them in this compartment?
That compartment? You know, isit convenient to relocate them 20ft
away, 15ft away, that might bemore difficult than you realize.

(26:33):
Sometimes running cables andwires and stuff can be a little more
tricky. Now also when you'rebuying batteries, lithium batteries,
think about the warranties.The warranties vary quite a bit by
manufacturer. Now we've kindof settled on Powermax lithium batteries
for now. They have a fiveyear, no hassle warranty. They're

(26:54):
400 bucks. So they're not onthe high end of the spectrum, price
wise. So like the real highend guy who wants, you know, all
Victron type stuff, he's notgoing to buy these. He's going to
buy battleborn, maybe XP on,but he's going to buy those and that's
fine. Battleborn makes a good.Battleborn has a. Well, Battle Born
makes a lithium battery.They're good depending on the application

(27:17):
for over landing, not so muchfor an rv, not on bouncy Roads probably
okay. Boats, what I understandnot so good, they rattle apart. It's
just the way they're designed.And we've cut one open, we've done
videos on it. It doesn't meanBattle Born is the worst choice.
But the high end guy, he'sgoing to pick something more like
Battle Born. It's going to bea different system altogether. So

(27:39):
don't compare, don't thinkabout what he's doing versus what
you're doing. But look at thewarranties. Sometimes these warranties
after seven or eight yearsbecome worthless. It's smoke and
mirrors. A ten year warrantyreally might only be a true eight
year warranty. That's worthanything after eight years. It might
be more expensive to buy abattery under warranty than to just

(28:02):
go shop and buy a battery.Then if you're replacing one battery
at eight years and you gotanother one that's eight years old,
eh, now you're kind of offsync there, right? So these cheaper
batteries, if they have a goodwarranty and the company's good,
the company has to be good.They're going to have to be here
in five years or eight years.They're going to have to be a company
you can know and trust. AndPowermax has a no hassle warranty.

(28:25):
Battery fails in 4 years, theysend you a new battery. That's how
simple it is. We've tested it,we know people have tested it and
their warranty works that way.Super easy to deal with. So don't
be caught up on how much youspend. Look at what your needs are
for a battery or for lithiumbatteries. You need 1, 2, 3, 4. If

(28:48):
you're going to start withone, make sure that if you buy a
second battery from thatcompany, see what they have to say
about that. Like, well, youshould really buy both at the same
time. Or we're coming out witha new BMS in a year and the new battery
won't work with your oldbattery. Those are things you need
to know. So it's better to buywhat you need up front when it comes
to these batteries. Buy themall at once or talk to the company

(29:10):
and tell them what your planis, at least do that. Don't just
do something and then expectit to work later on. Now also when
you're upgrading to lithium,if you have solar charge controller
in your system, so in otherwords, you have solar panels, you
can have a charge controllersomeplace. Some people are totally
into all this. They get it,they understand it, Some people,
it's just there, something onthe wall, but they don't really know

(29:32):
what it is. But a chargecontroller controls how much voltage
is going to the batteries tocharge them up, and it's going to
shut it off at a certain pointso the batteries don't just cook
and overcharge. Some chargecontrollers do not charge lithium
batteries. That almost seemscrazy today, but some of them don't,
especially the reallyinexpensive ones. So check your charge

(29:55):
controller, make sure it cando lithium, that it's lithium ready.
If not, you have to replacethat. So basically, you know, if
your RV is pretty much lithiumready through and through, it's not
really going to be an expenseto do other than buying the lithium
and what you need for that.But if you need a converter, if you
need a battery box for newcharge controller, you know, you
could be spending 4 or 5,$600, $700 to do this upgrade. So

(30:21):
you have to know that upfront, that's going to be part of
the cost of upgrading tolithium. Now, granted, once that's
done, it's done. You have allnew components, a new converter,
new charge controller. If yourcharge controller is 4, 5, 6 years
old, you're probably betteroff with a new one anyways because
it's going to be modernized,more up to date. It's going to be

(30:43):
the cat's meow. Bluetoothready, give you another hobby. You
can look at everything on yourphone all day long. Wow, look at
that, it's charging. Wow, lookat that not charging. I only laugh
and kind of mock the apps forphones because society has a serious
problem with looking atphones. And then when we have these

(31:03):
apps, we can let them becomehobbies where now we're just looking
at the app all day. See ourbatteries are doing, looking at the
cameras inside our rv. Oh,look, I have this thing that shuts
off my water. I want tomonitor my water system. It can go
on and on and on. That's notwhat RVing is about. If it's charging,
let it charge. Maybe check itonce a day if you got concerns. The

(31:26):
smart RVers get it set upright and don't worry about it. Check
it periodically just to makethings are working so you're not
facing a major problem thatyou could avoid. Now, lithium batteries,
because they chargedifferently. And this is important
for people with newervehicles. A lot of newer vehicles
have digital alternators onthem and in. They don't understand

(31:48):
a second set of batteries or asecond battery period. So if you're
going to put lithium batteriesin your trailer, let's say, or even
a motorhome. And you're goingto be depending on it to charge the
batteries while you drive. Youreally want to install a DC to DC
charger on your vehicle. Thatway it'll properly charge the batteries,

(32:09):
the lithium batteries. It'lleven work for lead acid batteries.
You just have to make sureit's made for lead acid batteries.
But newer vehicles have a realhard time charging a second second
battery when they come fromthe factory. Let's say you buy a
GM truck, it's a 2008, I'mjust picking that year. It has a
digital alternator. And youput a second battery in or from the

(32:30):
factory, it comes with asecond battery. Well, they set it
up to charge that secondbattery. If it doesn't have a second
battery and you put it inthere, maybe you want an auxiliary
battery for some reason inthat truck, it's not going to charge
it right because it's notgoing to see that battery. The computer
is going to get all confused,what's going on here. So it'd be
the same with a trailer too.It sees that second set of batteries

(32:50):
is back there and it's notgoing to charge it correctly unless
it was set up from thefactory. So those are things you'll
have to look at your vehicle.Will it be able to do this? If not,
a DC to DC charger might beyour next step there. So it's going
to depend on your vehicle.Check with the dealership, check
with the manufacturer. Youknow, when you're, when you're doing
this stuff, when you'reinstalling your lithium batteries,

(33:13):
definitely look to see whatthe manufacturer of the battery suggests,
how to do it, what things youmay or may not have to do. You know,
you need to know, because I'mnot going to say all lithium batteries
are the same. A manufacturermight make theirs a little bit different
because their primaryapplication is for this, it'll work
for that. So they might say,well, when you do it that way, you

(33:34):
need to have this installed.Maybe you need a shunt, maybe you
need a this or that, a fusesomeplace. Check with the manufacturer.
Mixing and maxing. Mixing andmatching lithium batteries or components
is not advised. Lithiumbatteries, I should say, stick with
the same brand of batteries.Even the same date stamp is good.

(33:56):
But now, as far as componentsgo, it doesn't matter all that much
if you have a, let's say a gopower charge controller to control
the charge. And then you havebrand X lithium batteries. And up
on the roof you have brand YSolar panels, it's not going to make
a difference. In many Smallersystems on RVs are put together that

(34:20):
way. People are buying itthat, hey, these are the panels I
like. This company that makesthese panels doesn't really have
a charge controller that Ilike that'll work for my RV or my
application. So I'm going toget this brand over here. That's
okay. It's not the end of theworld. It's not going to make things
malfunction. So don't thinkthat way. Get what works for your

(34:42):
system, and smaller systemsgenerally are that way. You know,
the inverter is not the samebrand as everything else, and it
just goes that way. Now, someof the larger systems, as I said
earlier, you know, the, theguy who likes technology, the guy
who has the money, the guy whoreally understands this stuff and
he gets it. Because sometimesthe things that we think we can't

(35:05):
do, you can do. Because thecompany who makes that product, they
make it kind of one way andthey don't think outside the box.
A guy who has a lot ofexperience with solar electric, electric
components, he might say,well, this is the one I want. And
they say I can't do it forthis, but I know I can if I put part
A on here, that'll make itwork. But typically they have systems

(35:29):
that are like all Victron.Let's say everything's going to be
Victron, or maybe it's all Gopower, maybe it's all Samlex. It
just depends. The inverter,the panels, the charge controller.
They even buy their batterycables from them. They buy everything
from them. It's like a packagethat's great and there's nothing
wrong with that. Especiallylike a Victron system or even Renogy.

(35:52):
You know, when everything'smade together and you're talking
to the company, sometimes it'seasier for them to understand because
it's all their products. Now,if you have a, let's say Go Power
charge controller, but youhave Renogy solar panels and you're
talking to Go Power, theymight make it a little harder for
you to diagnose a problem withyour charge controller because you

(36:13):
don't have the. Their panels,they might say something like, well,
we don't. We're not familiarwith Renogy's panels and their technology,
so we don't know. And it'skind of a. An easy way out to get
out of the conversation. I'mnot saying that's what Go Power does.
I just use them as an example.Go Power is actually a pretty good
company. Buy what works foryou. If you can buy a full on system,

(36:34):
everything's the same like allVictron, go ahead and do it. You
can't go wrong with that. Ifit's all renogy, which is, you know,
a little priceless thanVictron, go with that. I don't think
you can go wrong with it. Sojust buy what works. Works for you
though. Now there's a womannamed Sarah who owns an rv. She's
into it. So she bought herselfor she had a Group 27 AGM battery

(36:56):
and she upgraded to 100amphour Battleborn lithium battery.
See Battleborn's out there andshe replaced her older converter
with a newer converter. Ithappened to be a progressive dynamics
and then she had to also get anew MP or a new charge controller,
MPPT controller and it allworked together. See it's different

(37:16):
brands but it all cametogether. Now the batteries required
a custom tray but she's ableto get that taken care of. And now
she's able to go outboondocking and she has 400 watts
of solar so that works outgreat for her. So she's saving on
everything she did, right? Imean she has her initial cost but
she's able to boondock notseen at RV parks. She improved her

(37:36):
RV lifestyle so she loves it.And you know, that's kind of the
typical thing. People that goto solar have no regrets. When it's
installed properly,everything's hooked up properly.
And that's probably one of theweakest links of solar. I meant lithium.
Lithium with solar. But quiteoften things battery connections

(37:56):
are poor, wire connections arepoor. I shouldn't say quite often,
but those can be the problems.The equipment generally isn't the
problem, it's just the qualityof the installation. So if you can't
do it yourself, have someonedo it who's experienced with it,
someone who's going to runthose cables properly, make sure
those crimps are good, wiresare good, all that fun stuff. So
you can really enjoy that newupgrade to lithium. So if you need

(38:20):
any help with that, you cancertainly call us at Highway 93 RV.
That's our brick and mortarbusiness. For the Smart RVer, you
can go by x.com we have achannel there or on YouTube we've
always got stuff coming outbut this full article will be on
our website@thesmartrver.comwe'd be able to read more about it.

(38:40):
Again, if you have questions,you can check with us. You can check
with Other people. There's alot of experts out there doing solar.
And I mean experts. I'm notbeing sarcastic. There's a lot of
people doing solar, butthere's a lot of experts out there
that love sharing theirinsights with others. So don't just
buy. Buy it like on your own.Make sure you buy it with some knowledge

(39:01):
about what you truly need,what you truly need. Some guys that
love a certain brand, theymight just push that brand on you
no matter what. That's not theguy you want to talk to. You want
to talk to the guy that'sgoing to help you build the system
for you for your RV and yourbudget. So we've gone on long enough
about that. So now that'sgoing to bring us to the next stop

(39:24):
and we are going to talk aboutfour different cities near Bodie.
Ghost town. So these fourcities, had to find them here on
my notes, can't remember them,is Bishop, California, Bridgeport,
California, Mammoth Lakes,California and Gardnerville, Nevada.
So they are all around or nearBodie now. Bodie is going to be what

(39:45):
we talk about next in ourshadows of the past. Towns that once
were. These four towns makegreat spots to hang out and do day
trips from there. And all ofthem are conveniently located to
Bodie. So that makes it theperfect base, the home base to plan
your trips. And this is aawesome part of California. This

(40:07):
is Northern California. Andyou know, we've done a next stop
on, on Mammoth and Bishop inthe past. Not Bridgeport or Gardnerville,
but Bishop and Mammoth. Bothof these cities are absolutely awesome.
Gardnerville is pretty cool.Bridgeport, something about Bridgeport.
I love Bridgeport, exceptbuying gas there. It's always like
$9 million more than any placeelse in the world per ounce. Okay,

(40:31):
that's a little exaggerationthere. But it's always expensive
on their fuel. Something aboutit. I like these little towns anyway,
so they always have a softspot in my heart. So all four of
them have conveniences thatare great for RVers. They have an
RV park or two or three. Theyhave places to shop, places to get
fuel, places to get propane.They're cool places to just hang

(40:53):
out for a day, a few days, aweek, a month, whatever your travel
plans will allow. Each of themhave their own unique things that
are truly unique untothemselves. So planning a trip to
one of these places isdefinitely worthwhile. So that's
Bishop, Bridgeport, andMammoth Lakes, California and Gardnerville,

(41:15):
Nevada. Any one of these fourcities, or all four, I would go check
them all out. If you're upthere, they're not that far apart
from each other. That would bea great one, two or three or four
day trip. Spend a day at eachplace and then, you know, fit in
some other things like Bodie,you know, look at a map and figure,
I'm going to go here, I'mgoing to hit Bodhi while I'm there.
Then I'm going to go here andI'm going to do this, do that. The

(41:35):
other thing, you haveMonolithic Lake up there. You have
that drive on the Highway 395to California is absolutely stunning.
It's amazing. There's a lot tosee. So this will be much more in
depth on the website. The nextstop, exploring four cities near
Bodie ghost town. Well, I'mjust having the hardest time talking

(41:56):
today. This is really gettingridiculous, man. Oh, well, I'll just
deal with it. Right? Okay. Sonow that's going to take us to shadows
of the past, towns that oncewere. So we're going to do a little
reading, as we always do. Wetry to make it dramatic, add some
flavor and flair to it. AndBodie Ghost Town is definitely a

(42:18):
place you have to go see. It'san amazing place. If you like ghost
towns, especially ones thatare abandoned, they're not a living
ghost town today. That's stilla city. They're just like Bodie,
like one day. Every left iswhat it looks like, and it's been
very well preserved. You haveto see it to really understand it.
So this is on the eastern sideof the Sierras. It's a man. It's

(42:41):
just one of those places yougot to go and check out. So this
town basically has been frozenin time, like I said. You know, it's
like everybody left one dayand that's what we have. So let's
go ahead and get into Bodieghost town. In 1859, prospector W.S.
bodie struck gold in theserugged hills, sparking a fevered

(43:02):
rush. By the 1880s, Bodieroared with life. 8,000 souls, 2,000
buildings, saloons clinkingwith whiskey, and mines yielding
millions. The standard minechurned out ore while the air thundered
with stamp mills. But beneath,beneath the glitter, lawlessness
reigned. Gunfights flared andfires consumed dreams. The population

(43:28):
dwindled as gold veins randry. And by 1942, Bodie was a ghost
preserved in the arresteddecay by the state. Today, at 8,375ft,
Bodie stands as a NationalHistoric Landmark. Thirty structures
whispering tales of miners,merchants and children who once called

(43:51):
it home. The Methodist churchlooms, its steeple piercing the sky,
while the old school households desks etched with forgotten
names. RVers, you can drivethe 13 mile dirt road from Highway
395. Bumpy, yes, but worth it.But beware of the curse, locals say

(44:12):
taken a relic, be it a nail ora bottle, brings misfortune. Return
what you find, or Bodhi'sspirits may follow you home. As dust
falls, the wind carries theirvoices, a reminder of a town that
once was. All right, so that'sBodie, ghost town in California.

(44:34):
Now that's a place you got togo. Got to go like that. So it's
definitely worth the tripthere. Bodie is really cool. As I
said, it's a wonderful place.That entire area around Bishop, Mammoth,
Bridgeport, even Gardnerville,it's just amazing what's there. And

(44:54):
you know that Bodie is justone part of it. There's so much to
it. So check that out. Putthat on your schedule. Go to Bodie
when you have the time, orvisit one of the four cities that
we talked about. Now that'sgoing to bring us to RV envy. And
today we're going to talkabout that trailer jack upgrade.
So how to upgrade to atrailer, electronic trailer jack

(45:15):
and why you should. So if youhave a manual tongue jack on your
travel trailer, you know, alot of cargo trailers, utility trailers,
have manual tongue jacks andthat's fine. They usually don't have
batteries. And so the manualtongue jack makes sense. But on a
travel trailer, it makesabsolute no sense to have a manual
tongue jack. And today,amazingly enough, there's a fair

(45:36):
amount of them that still comewith a manual tongue jack. It's amazing
to me because they're a wasteof time, they're inconvenient, they're
inefficient, they basicallysuck. There's no reason for it on
a travel trailer. Even theselittle small ones that are like a
tab trailer that's, you know,15ft long. Why bother now? Well,

(45:59):
as I say that some of thosetrailers are so small and light that
it'd probably be quicker touse a manual jack. Okay, so maybe
there's a place for somemanual jacks on tongue trailer or
on travel trailers. And, youknow, it's basically travel trailers.
It's not fifth wheels, it'snot motorhome. So if you have a fifth
wheel or motorhome, thisdoesn't apply to you, but maybe you

(46:19):
have a friend who does. So youneed to talk to them about it. You
know, be the word for Us forcethem into it. Peer pressure, high
pressure. Sales pitches. Buythem a tongue jack for their next
whatever as a gift. A manualtongue jack? Yeah, they work, but
they're a hassle, especiallyfor people with arthritis, back problems,
getting a little older inyears. Sometimes it can just wear

(46:41):
you out. A lot of extra workand it's not always worth it. In
fact, some people, you know,they can get hurt doing it because
they just don't have thestrength. And they're pushing so
hard on that jack to do it.And they don't have lights on manual
jacks. So you have no lightthere if it's dark out at night.
So it's real easy to upgrade.You know, the hardest part of this
is just buying the jack andshelling out the money to do it.

(47:04):
The upgrade is easy. So whatyou do need to know though is the
weight of your trailer, theloaded weight, and that tells us
the tongue weight. Generally,the tongue weight is 10 to 15% of
the trailer weight. Mostpeople go by 10%. I think it's just
an easier number to do. Inyour head. You got an 8,000 pound

(47:24):
trailer, then you got an 800pound tongue weight. See how easy
that is? Not hard at all. Sothe one thing you don't want to do
though is buy an electrictongue jack that's below your tongue
weight or right at it. Alwaystry to go up some. The price sometimes
is not that much more. To geta tongue jack that maybe has a thousand
more pounds of tongue weight,you know, might be 25, might be $50,

(47:47):
depending on the brand. And Iwould stick with a mainstream brand
that you can get at an RVstore. None of this jungle website
stuff where you can save $300on a tongue jack. They're just so
cheap, they're almost givingit to you. When it breaks, you have
no support. You won't be ableto get parts. No one's going to want
to talk to you about. They'rejust going to sell you a new one,
cut and dry, no Warranty, nonothing. 30 days are up. Tough beans.

(48:10):
So buy it from a regular RVstore or from a legitimate RV online
retailer. Someone who is goingto be there for you that's going
to actually help you with awarranty issue or if it breaks right
out of the box, doesn't work,they're going to help you immediately
back to the installation. Youjust figure out what you need. 10%
of your tongue weight, 10 to15% of the weight of the trailer

(48:33):
is your tongue weight. Thenchoose a jack that Fits that capacity.
All you need are basic tools,A wrench or a socket, some wire cutters,
crimper, an inline fuse holdermaybe. Generally the jacks come with
everything but the tools. Theyhave all the hardware. Make sure
you put your trailer on theball, hitch it to your tow vehicle

(48:54):
or put it on a jack so whenyou take off that tongue jack, the
trailer is not going to landon your feet. I say that and it sounds
ridiculous, but sometimespeople get in a hurry. Maybe they
have an impact wrench to takethe bolts out, you know, a battery
powered one. And they pullthem out so quick. Don't even think

(49:15):
about what's happening. All ofa sudden that tongue of the trailer
is on the ground. Maybe notliterally on their feet, but you
could actually do that. So putit on a jack or put it on your vehicle,
hitch it up and then you canpull that jack out and not worry
about a thing. Pull out themanual jack, three bolts. Put your
new jack in, three bolts and awire. So it's going to be a little

(49:35):
bit more than three bolts withthat wire. Sometimes running the
wire to the battery can be alittle bit of a choreography. If
it already had a wire, maybeyou can tie into the other one and
maybe it already has a fuse.But follow the instructions that
come with the tongue jack. Youknow, it's maybe a half hour job
to do, maybe 45 minutes, maybean hour if you're really slow or
taking your time after you getit installed, test it, make sure

(49:56):
it works right. Don't justassume it does. Make sure it works
well. You have to use itanyways to get it off the back of
your tow vehicle. Make sure itgoes up and down so you're out on
the road, you don't have aproblem right away. Make sure it's
not going to blow the fusebecause you did something wrong or
put in the wrong fuse. Now onething I recommend is to take care
of this tongue jack. Put acover on it. So many modern tongue

(50:17):
jacks, they say they'rewaterproof. Watertight. They have
this IP65 rating. I still sayput a cover on them. There are some
brands where the switches willwarp out of shape. The touchpad will
warp out of shape because thesun's cooking it. Just get it cover,
put it on there. Somethingthat's waterproof going to keep the
sun off of it. Doesn't matterwhat it is. Buy one, make one, get

(50:39):
a piece of vinyl, wrap itaround there, do whatever but cover
it. That's the biggest thing.Some people Use buckets. I'm not
a fan of buckets, but hey, ifthat's all you got, that works. And
occasionally test the overridein the system too. Make sure you
can crank it up manually. Thatsooner or later you'll have to use
that option when the thingfails on you, because it will fail

(51:00):
eventually. So buying thesetongue jacks, it's a blessing. You'll
love it. A small investmentfor how much you're going to gain,
especially if you haveproblems with, with arthritis, back
problems, pain. Okay, so nowthat's bringing us to the end of
RV envy. So subscribe to ourwebsite, our podcast, subscribe to

(51:22):
our YouTube channel. We'retrying to build subscribers. We want
more people to know about whatwe're doing. Share it with others.
If you have ideas to help usshare this podcast or the videos
we produce on YouTube, let usknow, you know, if it's whatever
it might be. Sometimes RVersare really in the know on places

(51:43):
to share information. Likethey're part of a club, an association.
We'd like to know about that.If we can do something for that club
or association. We're open toanything. We're the easy to get along
with guys. All right? Veryeasy. Okay, now let's go back to
that battery installation wewere talking about earlier. You know,
you put in those two newbatteries. Oh, they're so pretty

(52:04):
and nice. Maybe they'relithium batteries, but now none of
the 12 volt stuff works insideyour trailer or your motorhome. The
battery switch is on,everything seems to be okay, but
nothing works. You're like,wow, ever since I did the batteries.
So you're a little perplexed.I want to say all or I want to say
most, but on I'm going to sayall converters today that are in

(52:26):
RVs, they have one or twofuses on them. Generally they're
30 or 40amps. More oftenthere's two fuses than one. And those
fuses are just for thatscenario. You replace your batteries
and maybe in the process youshorted out the positive battery
cable. Somehow you did that. Awire, something happened. You hooked

(52:50):
the hit the bottom positivebattery cable on the ground post
on the battery. Accidentally,you got a small spark. Didn't really
think much of it. Well, thatwould blow the fuses on the converter.
Those fuses are there for thatreason. In case you hook the converter
up backwards that way or thebatteries backwards that way you
don't ruin the converter. Hey,so that's some good thinking, right?

(53:13):
Finally, a manufacturer madesomething worthwhile. Nah, that sounds
kind of sarcastic. But youknow what? Sometimes manufacturers
miss the boat. But convertermanufacturers are on it, so we want
to applaud them for theirbeing ahead of the curve because
they know these things happen.So that's what can happen if you
install two new batteries andnothing works on the inside. After

(53:34):
you're done, check the fuseson the converter. Some converters
you might have to find. Somemight be right up in the open like
on the side of a cabinet, likeI've said earlier. But either way,
check the fuses. All right,everybody. So I want to thank you
for coming by today, listeningto the show, watching the show, ever
how you're digesting this. Weappreciate everything you do for

(53:55):
us, likes, the subscribes, thereaching out to us, the questions,
the calls. We love it. Keep itcoming. This is Eric Stark with the
Smart RVer podcast, your go toguide for smart RVing and unforgettable
adventures on the open road.

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Episode 182 – Enhancing Your RV Journey: Upgrading to Lithium Batteries

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Episode 182 – Enhancing Your RV Journey: Upgrading to Lithium Batteries