2106 DS battery upgrade and relocation to inside

[maksiu]

Has anyone relocated or installed a lithium battleborn battery into the cabin? I am going to do it and was wondering what the best cable routing options are for bringing the battery cables into the bunk storage.

Thanks!

[skisurfbum]

The battery shutoff switch is in the basement under the bed in my 1808, I suspect the same for the 2106. Wire hot into the switch, disconnecting the original cable to the factory battery box. Splice the ground.

I haven't tried it though. I did just order some SLA batteries but couldn't justify the cost of LifePo at 200ah+

[Micro1808]

Yes, I've done it in my 1808. I put the batteries inside the front storage compartment. Using that spot, I was able to route the cables over to the water heater compartment through the existing access hole in the partition, and then down the existing hole in the bottom of the coach. From there, i routed them to the relay and ground that the factory batteries used. I didn't relocate any of the factory wiring--except for the 2 battery cables.



While i was in there, I added a vertical board to mount a shunt to monitor the batteries. Nice and clean and now i have the factory tongue spot for something else..

[Fred 2106DS]

maksiu, I brought the existing battery wires back up through the hole under the cut-off switch to a junction box and ran additional 6 awg. wires to the battery box inside the pass through. I did this a part of my solar install. Here is a link to my solar install, there is a picture of the junction box and battery box installed in the pass through.

[maksiu]

Originally Posted by Fred 2106DS

maksiu, I brought the existing battery wires back up through the hole under the cut-off switch to a junction box and ran additional 6 awg. wires to the battery box inside the pass through. I did this a part of my solar install. Here is a link to my solar install, there is a picture of the junction box and battery box installed in the pass through.

That is some real nice work Fred. I am more of a jack of all trades master of none so I am always impressed with clean tight work. I peeked under today and did see the Jbox you were talking about. So you think I would be able to pull the red and white battery cables currently running outside thru to the inside locker via the Jbox? I am just trying to keep it simple and not have to cut anything in case I decide to trade and put the battery back on the nose. I was hoping to just coil up the slack on the white and red battery cables and install the battery tight against the nose wall near the locker door. Not my pic, saw this on another thread but I will be able to enter cabin from Jbox right?

[powercat_ras]

One thing you should consider if removing batteries from tongue and relocating them is that there is power from the battery feeding the trailer brake breakaway switch. It will be on the battery side of the battery disconnect switch so the breakaway switch can still operate even if you have opened the disconnect.

If the power feed to the breakaway switch does not come off right off the battery side of the disconnect switch you'll have to figure it out. In my Heartland Edge TT there was a terminal block with breaker mounted near the batteries to the chassis and that's where the power to the breakaway switch was connected.

[Fred 2106DS]

Thanks maksiu.

I had plenty of length to run the red and white wires over the top of the lower jbox that is under the camper and up through the floor to my upper jbox. If you don't change any of the wiring and just extend the red and whites from the upper jbox to the new battery location you don't need to worry about the breakaway switch.

The only wire I needed to modify was the black positive wire for the tongue jack. I needed to extend it to the upper junction box, since it was also connected directly to the battery.

Below are a couple of pictures showing the red and whites looping over the top of the lower jbox and back up through the floor; another showing the splice I made at the lower jbox to extend the jack wire, I used red for the extension; and another showing the inside of the upper jbox with the wire loom removed showing the wires entering the jbox and the connections. As you can see from the upper jbox picture, I didn't need to do anything to the original battery wires, they are the ones with the crimped blue terminal insulation, not the glued heat shrink terminal insulation I use for all my connections.

[maksiu]

Originally Posted by Fred 2106DS

Thanks maksiu.

I had plenty of length to run the red and white wires over the top of the lower jbox that is under the camper and up through the floor to my upper jbox. If you don't change any of the wiring and just extend the red and whites from the upper jbox to the new battery location you don't need to worry about the breakaway switch.

The only wire I needed to modify was the black positive wire for the tongue jack. I needed to extend it to the upper junction box, since it was also connected directly to the battery.

Below are a couple of pictures showing the red and whites looping over the top of the lower jbox and back up through the floor; another showing the splice I made at the lower jbox to extend the jack wire, I used red for the extension; and another showing the inside of the upper jbox with the wire loom removed showing the wires entering the jbox and the connections. As you can see from the upper jbox picture, I didn't need to do anything to the original battery wires, they are the ones with the crimped blue terminal insulation, not the glued heat shrink terminal insulation I use for all my connections.

Thanks again Fred, I was able to take the exact same route you did and extended the power jack wire as well. Now my new little baby is safe in the cabin.

[Fred 2106DS]

Originally Posted by maksiu

Thanks again Fred, I was able to take the exact same route you did and extended the power jack wire as well. Now my new little baby is safe in the cabin.

Your welcome maksiu, glad I could help.

[JML]

Hello,

Good job relocating your battery. However, I was wondering why you moved it to the storage area. Storage is at a premium on these trailers so I was just curious as to the benefit of doing this.

John

[maksiu]

Originally Posted by JML

Hello,

Good job relocating your battery. However, I was wondering why you moved it to the storage area. Storage is at a premium on these trailers so I was just curious as to the benefit of doing this.

John

the new lithium battery I installed has many benefits over the standard AGM battery and costs around $999 dollars so I didnt want to get it stolen when parked at the storage. If you do a little research its well worth the cost just in battery life and recharge cycles over the AGM. You dont need to baby sit them as much and you can use the power down to 99% and recharge vs maybe 45% with AGM. Other benefits include weight only 30lbs and I dont need to keep a float charger on it during storage. Its really amazing if you need off shore power.

[JML]

Got it...appreciate the quick response. I am fairly new to the RV life so I ask a lot of questions to learn from folks like yourself. I didn't realize those lithium batteries were so expensive. I have found that keeping my RV plugged in all the time is somewhat of a pain. I did perform a battery function test by completely shutting everything off so there was no power coming off the batteries. However, I quickly found that after about a month my batteries started to drain. I have dual batteries but they are the cheap batteries you get with the new RV. I plan on changing them after they fail.

By the way, I have a 2019 Micro Minnie 2106DS. Not sure if you have the same RV or not.

John

[Micro1808]

Originally Posted by JML

Hello,

Good job relocating your battery. However, I was wondering why you moved it to the storage area. Storage is at a premium on these trailers so I was just curious as to the benefit of doing this.

John

Same for me as above. I have 2 lithium ion batteries @$900 each so that is a tempting target for a thief. But in addition LiFePo batteries can’t accept a charge below freezing so having them inside allows me to do some solar charging later into the fall. They don’t give off gasses so having them there is safe.

The other reason is that I have a board in the compartment to mount a shunt to monitor the recharge/discharge status. It made sense to have the batteries close to the shunt for a clean install. I had the shunt outside and the extra wires hanging out there kinda made a mess.

Now I have that spot on the front of the tongue for something less expensive like my soot covered Webber grill.

[maksiu]

Originally Posted by JML

Got it...appreciate the quick response. I am fairly new to the RV life so I ask a lot of questions to learn from folks like yourself. I didn't realize those lithium batteries were so expensive. I have found that keeping my RV plugged in all the time is somewhat of a pain. I did perform a battery function test by completely shutting everything off so there was no power coming off the batteries. However, I quickly found that after about a month my batteries started to drain. I have dual batteries but they are the cheap batteries you get with the new RV. I plan on changing them after they fail.

By the way, I have a 2019 Micro Minnie 2106DS. Not sure if you have the same RV or not.

John

I do have a 2020 2106DS. Our 7 year old little guy is completely dependent on us 24/7 and day to day viruses could have us in the hospital for up to 8 weeks at a time. Has you can imagine hotels and planes were very problematic for short trips or making it out to our 2nd home in Vegas. I just got on this RV thing because its like his safe little pod to travel. Its been a heaven sent gift and we can travel with confidence he wont get sick and we keep all his medical gear permanently in the RV so no lugging carts of equipment to hotel rooms for a short night. We have respiratory treatments every 4 hours when we are on the road so I have all his gear in the RV and that is why the off shore battery was critical to us. I just run a cord to the front cabin where the battery is now with a 1000W pure sine wave inverter and we can run everything but ac and microwave during our breaks until we get to the campsite for the night. Like I mentioned the game changer with these batteries is you can run them down to zero with no risks of damaging the batteries like the standard ones. He is half Polish half Korean but got 99% Korean genes

[JML]

Thank you for sharing. I wish you and your family nothing but great health and safe travels!!!

I recently purchased a Predator 3500w Generator/Inverter as I want to try dry camping this year. I am finding it opens up a lot more choices around lakes and rivers. I am an avid fisherman so I like to camp anywhere I can fish. Dry camping spots on the water are readily available compared to full or partial hookups.

I have a question, if you know, regarding traveling with the fresh water tank full. I have read that the fresh water tanks are not supported well and you should avoid traveling long distances with them full. My plan would be to fill up either at the campsite or a nearby gas station so I don't have to worry about this. Your thoughts?

[Goodspike]

Originally Posted by JML

I have a question, if you know, regarding traveling with the fresh water tank full. I have read that the fresh water tanks are not supported well and you should avoid traveling long distances with them full. My plan would be to fill up either at the campsite or a nearby gas station so I don't have to worry about this. Your thoughts?

I've never heard the claim about the tanks not being well supported, but in general you should try to minimize your tow weight. I think your plan off filling up close to the campsite makes sense. Our trailer's 7,000 pound GVWR probably makes them rather suited to carrying a full load of water, but off road the extra weight would be problematic for any trailer.