Micro Minnie 2108 - lithium battery and other electrical upgrades

[2108_FBS]

I upgraded our 2022 2108FBS from the stock lead acid to 2x 200ah litium batteries. I also modified some of the electrical systems to accommodate the upgrade.

The batteries were moved from the trailer tounge to under the bed. I rerouted and upgraded the wires (4awg) from the WFCO 8955AD. I added a Victron Lynx Distributor to make thing more organized.

The routing goes something like this:
From the WFCO to the Lynx Distributor. The batteries also connect to the distributor. Now comes the change.

Before, the battery went from the trailer tounge to the bus bar then, to a shutoff, in the baggage compartment, then to the WFCO. Now, it goes from the distributor to the shut off then to the bus bar on the tounge. This gives me the ability to shutoff power to the tounge.

The last connection only the distributor went to the Victron MPPT controller I also added a shut to the solar panels.

A smart shunt was added as well.

I purposefully designed this upgrade to not have an inverter. I don't have a need for TV, and microwave. I do have a duel fuel generator to handle those needs.

I am very have with the results.

[MicroMinnie]

Nice work!, 200ah will last 2 weeks if you don’t run inverter

[Marine359]

Originally Posted by MicroMinnie

Nice work!, 200ah will last 2 weeks if you don’t run inverter

Nice install!
You may be dreaming if thinking many days of boondocking without adding solar. If your Micro came with 200w solar, you’ll need more.
New Micro Minnie’s come with 12v compressor fridge, which uses 50ah/day nominally. Before upgrades, we could go maybe 2 days on our 170ah LiFePo4. Now, after adding 300w solar on roof, and 100w portable, we can stretch it to 5 days, which is about the longest we stay in one spot. We disconnect our inverter /charger when boondocking so there is zero draw, but we like having it because it can charge our LFP really fast. Haven’t needed to use generator for months. Getting used to the quiet.

[2108_FBS]

Originally Posted by MicroMinnie

Nice work!, 200ah will last 2 weeks if you don’t run inverter

I actually have 400ah. I did some testing and think I could get 4 days without any solar or shore.

[2108_FBS]

Originally Posted by Marine359

Nice install!
You may be dreaming if thinking many days of boondocking without adding solar. If your Micro came with 200w solar, you’ll need more.
New Micro Minnie’s come with 12v compressor fridge, which uses 50ah/day nominally. Before upgrades, we could go maybe 2 days on our 170ah LiFePo4. Now, after adding 300w solar on roof, and 100w portable, we can stretch it to 5 days, which is about the longest we stay in one spot. We disconnect our inverter /charger when boondocking so there is zero draw, but we like having it because it can charge our LFP really fast. Haven’t needed to use generator for months. Getting used to the quiet.

Thank you! When I purchased this unit it was meant to be an extra space on our property away from the city. Since then, things changed. We decided to actually go places. The build had plans for adding additional solar but time go away from me, along with warranty work and recalls. I will add another 200w on top and maybe a side panel.

Adding the Victron shunt and MPPT controller really gave me visibility into the energy consumption and charging. I can tell that on good sunny days, I can run the fridge without really using the battery.

My converter WFCO WF 8955AD did auto detect my lithium and changed the charge profile accordingly. I charged at 55amps which is not bad a stock unit. I also upgraded the wiring since I know the stock wire could not handle that many amps.

I think that concerns me the most about Winnebago. If someone were to install a lithium battery and the WFCO kicked in at 55amps, something might happen with a wiring.

Now, to actually go camping in that thing!

[Marine359]

Cool. You’re gonna have fun.
Hopefully you used 6awg wire or larger and 200 amp fuse.

[Old Navy]

Originally Posted by 2108_FBS

I rerouted and upgraded the wires (4awg) from the WFCO 8955AD. I added a Victron Lynx Distributor to make thing more organized.

The wire from the disconnect switch to the Power Center is a good bit longer on my trailer than yours. Was yours up above the chloroplast, and if so, how easy to pull through? I assume the existing wire is secured and couldn't be used to pull the new wire. Also, yours is the first install I've seen connecting the battery to one of the fuses of the Lynx rather than the buss bars.

[2108_FBS]

Originally Posted by Marine359

Cool. You’re gonna have fun.
Hopefully you used 6awg wire or larger and 200 amp fuse.

I actually used 4awg and 125amp fuse. All 12v systems combined would have a hard time hitting 100amps.

[BigE]

Greetings,
I am new to this forum and am in the market for a MicroMinnie 2108 TB. In fact, I am about to pull the trigger on a unit. I have been dong research on the FLX package and am not convinced that this is the way to go for me personally and for a bunch of reasons. For one, I like the ducted air conditioning. I also am not a fan of the first or second year implementation of electronic equipment and the proprietary nature of an entire set of appliances. I am on the cusp of deciding that I may be able to do better with an upgrade I implement to achieve 400 watts on the rooftop solar panels and a 300 am hour LiFeP04 battery. So this is a very interesting thread to me. Thanks for posting it. A couple of questions.

Does anyone know if the 2023 units have converters and associated chargers from shore power that will detect the LiFeP04 batteries? I think the answer is yes, so I don't have to change that unit out.

The wire that the poster upgraded is the one from the converter charger to the actual battery correct? I agree on this conservative measure to insure stability in that circuit.

Does anyone know if the dual Propane and 12V upgraded refrigerator runs with the same efficiency as the base 12V compressor offered in the base unit or the FLEX package?

I can't seem to get in touch with Winnibago and my sales person is lacking in technical expertise to say the least.

Any answers are greatly appreciated.

[2108_FBS]

Originally Posted by BigE

Greetings,
I am new to this forum and am in the market for a MicroMinnie 2108 TB. In fact, I am about to pull the trigger on a unit. I have been dong research on the FLX package and am not convinced that this is the way to go for me personally and for a bunch of reasons. For one, I like the ducted air conditioning. I also am not a fan of the first or second year implementation of electronic equipment and the proprietary nature of an entire set of appliances. I am on the cusp of deciding that I may be able to do better with an upgrade I implement to achieve 400 watts on the rooftop solar panels and a 300 am hour LiFeP04 battery. So this is a very interesting thread to me. Thanks for posting it. A couple of questions.

Does anyone know if the 2023 units have converters and associated chargers from shore power that will detect the LiFeP04 batteries? I think the answer is yes, so I don't have to change that unit out.

The wire that the poster upgraded is the one from the converter charger to the actual battery correct? I agree on this conservative measure to insure stability in that circuit.

Does anyone know if the dual Propane and 12V upgraded refrigerator runs with the same efficiency as the base 12V compressor offered in the base unit or the FLEX package?

I can't seem to get in touch with Winnibago and my sales person is lacking in technical expertise to say the least.

Any answers are greatly appreciated.

Hey BigE, yes, I upgraded the wire from the converter to the Victron distributor. Non of the original battery wireing was used since it was not suitable for the upgrade. I did leave the original wiring intact in case I decide to sell and undo my upgrade.


I can't speak on the 2023 models but the 2022 all had converters the auto detected lithium batteries. I don't know much about the flex refrigerator. I have a 12v only ge and it's ok. You have get a fan in order to cook it evenly. I also put a frozen block at the bottom to act as a cold mass.

[Marine359]

Big E,
Propane/12v fridges are horribly inefficient when run on 12v. You need to be content to run them on propane almost all the time unless you’re on a FHU pedestal. If you gat a 12v compressor fridge plan on it consuming 50ah per day on average. With our 12v compressor fridge We have 300w of solar on the roof, and a 109w portable if needed, and a 170ah LiFePo4. If the sun shines even sometimes, we have more power than we need.

So your plan for 400w roof solar is about right for a 2108 model. 300ah LFP may be a bit of overkill. Depends on whether you plan on carrying a generator. We just bought a 2Kw powerstation, which basically doubles our battery capacity to 340ah (4Kw). so from now on our generator will be left at home. We elected to remove our stock charger/converter and installed a 2000w inverter/charger because we like the convenience of having ac on tap at any time, and it charges our LFP at twice the speed of a stock charger. And yes the inverter/charger will run our A/C for about 1/2 hour per Kw of battery consumed.

[No1Hunter]

Nice job. It doesn't look like you have your batteries wired into your system yet in the picture of the batteries. Are you fusing the batteries within the Distributor? You need a fuse on battery cables. I would also armor them with some split tube, especially where they run through the wall.

"I purposefully designed this upgrade to not have an inverter. I don't have a need for TV, and microwave. I do have a duel fuel generator to handle those needs."

My wife loves getting up at the crack of dawn, pushing a button and brewing a cup of coffee with our Keurig and a piece of toast with the toaster. So do I as I am able to keep sleeping rather than out starting the generator.

[2108_FBS]

Originally Posted by No1Hunter

Nice job. It doesn't look like you have your batteries wired into your system yet in the picture of the batteries. Are you fusing the batteries within the Distributor? You need a fuse on battery cables. I would also armor them with some split tube, especially where they run through the wall.

"I purposefully designed this upgrade to not have an inverter. I don't have a need for TV, and microwave. I do have a duel fuel generator to handle those needs."

My wife loves getting up at the crack of dawn, pushing a button and brewing a cup of coffee with our Keurig and a piece of toast with the toaster. So do I as I am able to keep sleeping rather than out starting the generator.

The picture of the batteries was before I wired them up. I have a 125amp fuse at the distributor. The run is ~24". Should I add a batter post fuse? I plan on adding wire loom and grommets just have not got around to it yet.



I am not a coffee person though my SO is but, she is not an early riser.

[No1Hunter]

The picture of the batteries was before I wired them up. I have a 125amp fuse at the distributor. The run is ~24". Should I add a batter post fuse?

I would. The closer to the battery, the better. Especially when you are running to a "different room" where your Distributor is located. You might even consider a disconnect under the bed, so you can isolate everything from the batteries if you need to. Anytime you work on or adding to your system, you should isolate the batteries. That include the Distributor and its various connections.

[BigE]

Thanks Jim. I do plan on carrying a generator. I am thinking a 3300 watt unit. Yes, the battery is overkill, but I want to keep it running a the top of the range unless I want to do a depletion cycle for some strange reason. I am planning on throwing a 3000 watt inverter in to the unit and need to get a wiring diagram for that.

LP is fine, but at times I am planning to camp at higher altitudes say 6,000 to 9,000 ft and I think that LP won't work as well. Not sure. So, battery is probably backup. The unit I am looking at has the 12v to LP upgrade and I can't change that. however, the Winnibago rep says the unit runs the same as the stock 12v dc fridge. Hope his is correct.

[No1Hunter]

I am on the cusp of deciding that I may be able to do better with an upgrade I implement to achieve 400 watts on the rooftop solar panels and a 300 am hour LiFeP04 battery. So this is a very interesting thread to me. Thanks for posting it.

You might be interested in this thread:

https://www.winnieowners.com/forums/...tt-365973.html

[Marine359]

Originally Posted by BigE

Thanks Jim. I do plan on carrying a generator. I am thinking a 3300 watt unit. Yes, the battery is overkill, but I want to keep it running a the top of the range unless I want to do a depletion cycle for some strange reason. I am planning on throwing a 3000 watt inverter in to the unit and need to get a wiring diagram for that..

Just to give you a point of reference. But, I think, what works for you is best for you.

For three years, We have been carrying a 2500w dual fuel generator which weighs just 39lbs. That’s 60lbs less than a 3400w dual fuel generator. Huge difference in schlepping. It uses almost half the fuel at its continuous output of 1650w on propane, which gives us 30 hours run time on a single 20# bottle. I installed an easy start on the A/C, so everything works fine, on that amount of power, including running the A/C and charger at the same time. I dunno if it wouldn’t work at higher altitude. Highest we used it was Sante Fe, NM (about 7,000ft). Everything worked fine, but we didn’t have to use the A/C. Our inverter/charger is 2000w. It’s been fine for all our needs. It will run our microwave or A/C on battery power for a while. Can’t think of any reason we would benefit from a larger inverter which would have a higher idle load.

[No1Hunter]

Can’t think of any reason we would benefit from a larger inverter which would have a higher idle load.

Jim, I believe you have mentioned it in another thread, but what is your idle load on your 2000w inverter?

[Marine359]

Xantrex XC2000 consumes about 1.5 amps in standby mode. That’s why I installed a dedicated disconnect switch for it. Normally Switch off while boondocking, unless we really need ac power for something.

[No1Hunter]

Originally Posted by Marine359

Xantrex XC2000 consumes about 1.5 amps in standby mode. That’s why I installed a dedicated disconnect switch for it. Normally Switch off while boondocking, unless we really need ac power for something.

Are you getting this info from your shunt? If I isolate my batteries from basically everything but my iXC3000 Pro, my shunt state zero amps being consumed. As soon as I switch the DC Distribution panel back in, it reads .45 amps, which would be the propane detector and other vampire loads.