Assistance with Lithionics batteries

[OffGridlivn]

It was at 91% for about 40 min so I thought it might not charge further so unplugged. I will leave it plugged in till 100% and leave it plugged in for as long as it takes. It didn't shut off this morning just flashing blue light. Thanks for the SOC drift info.

 

[electric]

It was at 91% for about 40 min so I thought it might not charge further so unplugged. I will leave it plugged in till 100% and leave it plugged in for as long as it takes. It didn't shut off this morning just flashing blue light. Thanks for the SOC drift info.

During those 40 minutes did you connect via Lithionics app to see if charge current is still present? It's possible that your inverter/charger voltage is set too low, so it stops pushing current before battery reaches required minimum of 14.2V for a few seconds to reset SOC to 100%.
When you re-charge from shore power again, please keep an eye on charge current, if it stops before reaching 100%, then you need to bump up the charge voltage in your charger settings by 0.2V, to either 14.4V or even 14.6V if neccessary, to compensate for voltage drop between charger and the battery.

 

[Jojohoho]

Last winter I turned my battery off as I don't use the rig over the winter and weather here gets down into 20 deg F range....is this all ok? Do I need to remove it and store inside?

 

[electric]

Last winter I turned my battery off as I don't use the rig over the winter and weather here gets down into 20 deg F range....is this all ok? Do I need to remove it and store inside?

Was that a +20F or a -20F ? Anything above -4F is OK for storage.
Here is the storage recommendation article https://lithionics.freshdesk.com/su...rocedure-how-to-store-your-lithionics-battery

 

[creativepart]

This is a thread specifically about the unique Lithionics power system in Winnebago RVs. These are not generic LFP batteries but as others have pointed out an engineered system with advanced capabilities.

This thread is monitored by an electrical engineer that is affiliated with the company for specific help on these systems. It is best to keep this thread free of any other discussion as it has been for the past few years.

Several off topic posts have been removed to preserve the main purpose of the thread.

Thanks

 

[Trublucali]

LI3- 320 discharge issues

Happy Holidays! My Li-320 battery is having issues since I upgraded the firmware several months ago. Went to Europe and now using the van again. 2023/2022 Revel.

My LI battery will charge to 100% while driving, but 3x now after overnight, it drops to ~ 40%...why 40%, I don't know.

Opened a ticket with LI and they advise going to recent 2.1.11...I'm on 2.1.10.

Nothing could be sucking almost 60% of the battery overnight. Turned battery on and off, same issue.

I'm a FT boondocker and this is really affecting me.

I plan to go to an RV campground, plug in and apply it.

Anyone have any other thoughts?

 

[electric]

Anyone have any other thoughts?

There are no other thoughts, this issue was addressed in the firmware release 2.1.11 , please update the firmware when you have an opportunity.

Please note that battery was not actually losing any charge, it's just an error in SOC calculation in the software due to complexity and limited measurement accuracy in LFP batteries. It has to do with LFP batteries having extremely flat voltage in the middle of SOC range, so even a tiny measurement error can be misleading to SOC calculations.

If you were to ignore the SOC drop and keep using the battery, it would reach 10% and stay there, while battery keeps supplying power until it reaches actual 10% evident by a steady reduction in voltage to approximately 12V.

After you update the firmare please do a full charge to 100% to re-sync SOC back to actual value.

 

[Trublucali]

Thanks for the quick reply.

I'm now at a campground and my SOC was at 100% from driving. Connected Shore Power and applied newest firmware successfully.

However, it will not move off 10% SOC and it's been connected for 1.5 hours.

Please advise. I've had a ticket open with LT as well.

Thanks - James

 

[electric]

Thanks for the quick reply.

I'm now at a campground and my SOC was at 100% from driving. Connected Shore Power and applied newest firmware successfully.

However, it will not move off 10% SOC and it's been connected for 1.5 hours.

Please advise. I've had a ticket open with LT as well.

Thanks - James

I see that our support team is already responding to your ticket, so I will let them do their job.

When you say "connected to shore power" it doesn't confirm if the battery is actually charging. Charging is confirmed by observing positive current flowing into the battery, it shows in green numbers with + sign in the Lithionics app. Maybe the transfer switch is not passing AC power to the inverter? Maybe AC breaker has tripped in the shore power pedestal?
Check your inverter control panel for status and take neccessary steps to enable charging.

 

[ChrisRiley]

We just bought a new 2024 FLX and I’ve been investigating the electrical system. This is what I discovered.
The Lithionics 320 Ah battery has a lot of potential, but it’s only as good as the charging systems that refill it. The rooftop panels, the Xantrex XC Pro inverter/charger, and the “solar on the side” offer a lot of potential. The problem is the Go Power 30A MPPT solar controller came from the factory with the parameters set for a GEL battery. The Xantrex also came with the wrong parameters. I went to the Lithionics web site and downloaded the user guide for the battery and looked up the proper numbers set by the manufacturer. This battery is a lithium iron phosphate (described as LFP or LiFePO4) and has charging parameters that are slightly different from a regular Lithium battery and very different from the other batteries found in settings. I set the battery type as “user” and entered the recommended numbers.
The “Solar on the side” plug is connected to the battery, so you’ll need a charge controller for the panels you plug in there. I have a set of portable Renogy 200w panels that came without a controller, so I bought a Renogy Rover 20A MPPT controller and mounted it inside the storage area next to the plug. It also had to be programmed for the Lithionics battery.
The go Power controller, Xantrex inverter/charger, and the Lithionics battery are all Bluetooth ready. The Renogy Controller needed the addition of a plug in Bluetooth adapter. They were all easy to pair with the Apps I downloaded, except for the Go Power controller. In order for the Go Power to enter pairing mode, you have to remove the control panel from the wall inside the trailer. Then you have to unplug the panel and plug it back in. The Bluetooth symbol appears in the lower right corner of the panel’s display for about 5 seconds and then vanishes. You’ll have to be ready to tell the app to search for devices and hope it connects before the symbol disappears. I had to unplug and plug in around 10 times before It worked. Very annoying. None of the devices require the app, but the app makes reading the information really easy and programming is also much easier.

 

[DavidRL]

We just bought a new 2024 FLX and I’ve been investigating the electrical system. This is what I discovered.
The Lithionics 320 Ah battery has a lot of potential, but it’s only as good as the charging systems that refill it. The rooftop panels, the Xantrex XC Pro inverter/charger, and the “solar on the side” offer a lot of potential. The problem is the Go Power 30A MPPT solar controller came from the factory with the parameters set for a GEL battery. The Xantrex also came with the wrong parameters. I went to the Lithionics web site and downloaded the user guide for the battery and looked up the proper numbers set by the manufacturer. This battery is a lithium iron phosphate (described as LFP or LiFePO4) and has charging parameters that are slightly different from a regular Lithium battery and very different from the other batteries found in settings. I set the battery type as “user” and entered the recommended numbers.
The “Solar on the side” plug is connected to the battery, so you’ll need a charge controller for the panels you plug in there. I have a set of portable Renogy 200w panels that came without a controller, so I bought a Renogy Rover 20A MPPT controller and mounted it inside the storage area next to the plug. It also had to be programmed for the Lithionics battery.
The go Power controller, Xantrex inverter/charger, and the Lithionics battery are all Bluetooth ready. The Renogy Controller needed the addition of a plug in Bluetooth adapter. They were all easy to pair with the Apps I downloaded, except for the Go Power controller. In order for the Go Power to enter pairing mode, you have to remove the control panel from the wall inside the trailer. Then you have to unplug the panel and plug it back in. The Bluetooth symbol appears in the lower right corner of the panel’s display for about 5 seconds and then vanishes. You’ll have to be ready to tell the app to search for devices and hope it connects before the symbol disappears. I had to unplug and plug in around 10 times before It worked. Very annoying. None of the devices require the app, but the app makes reading the information really easy and programming is also much easier.

How did you end up wiring in the Renogy 20A MPPT controller? I have a 2023 FLX model and would like to do the same thing. I purchased Renogy’s 200W portable solar suitcase and trying to figure how to wire the controller into the 12v system. My Lithionics 320A battery has tamper resistant screws and am trying to see other alternative ways than to wire directly to the battery. Thanks

 

[creativepart]

Here's a set of star drivers with the security pin for less than $5 on Amazon:

Amazon.com

 

[DavidRL]

Thanks, I may have to take that route, but I’ve been told it could impact my warranty, which is why I’m trying to find an alternative way to connect my charge controller. But, … the bits above are similar but different than the type I need for the battery. The bit is more like an Allen wrench hex key with a hole in the middle. See attached security screw.

 

[ChrisRiley]

We have a 2024 FLX and I’m not sure how much different it is from the ‘23. I did some research and I found that some solar-on-the-side ports are wired to the existing controller for the roof panel(s), and some are wired directly to the battery. I put a voltmeter to the side port’s connectors and got a reading that was the same as my battery voltage. That means the side port goes directly to the battery and I would need a controller for the panels that I plug into the port. I already had the 200w Renogy portable panels, so I bought a 20A MPPT Renogy controller and mounted it inside the storage compartment on the port side. The two wires from the solar input were crimped in with two other wires. I’m not sure where they go, but two of them must go to the battery. I cut the two wires coming out of the back of the solar input and ran the wires from the Solar input to the controller solar input terminals. Then I ran wires from the controller output terminals to the other two wires that go to the battery. I downloaded the Renogy APP and it said all is as it should be. I attached a photo of the wiring behind my solar plug. The lower red and black wires are coming in from the solar-on-the-side port.

 

[DavidRL]

Thank you. The 2023 FLX is wired the same way and I also confirmed with a multimeter that the side SAE Solar port also showed battery voltage. This is what I needed to give me an alternative way to hook up a second charge controller without going directly to the battery. It’s unfortunate that you pay a premium price for a FLX model with expectations that you can get several good days of off grid camping only to find out that your lucky to get about 1 1/2 days which doesn’t provide you much freedom to explore remotely! Thanks again for your help.

 

[ChrisRiley]

BTW, the screws on the battery look like screws I used on my boat a long time ago. It takes a special Allen (hex) wrench with a hole in the end so a standard Allen wrench will not work. An extra hoop for the bad guys to jump through.

 

[DavidRL]

Thanks for all your help! I was really struggling with how to improve the usability of our trailer. We love taking it to the Smoky Mountains for 2 weeks a couple times a year where we boondock. Now we can enjoy those trips with some sorely needed extra solar power!!! Hopefully those crazy security screws on the battery can stay where they are thanks to your assistance.