Replace leisure battery with Lithium?

[NeilP]

A mate is building up an outside broadcast vehicle, for film use and was asking me about batteries, split charge systems etc.

So far I have not even Googled the subject, jsut wondered if any one here has had any dealing with replacing a lead acid 'leisure battery' charged form vehicle alternator with a Lithium pack instead.
needed to run a pure sine wave invertor for mains voltage..no tapping required for the 12 volt form the pack itself

Anyone any inof or good leads?

 

[SamTexas]

Never heard of "leisure" battery. What is it?

4s LiFePO4 is a direct drop in replacement for 12V lead acid and compatible with car charging system (14.4V max).

 

[NeilP]

What is usually termed a leisure battery is a battery and charging system fitted to a caravan/ motor home/ surf van/ leisure vehicle to power things like fridge, lighting, music system, laptops etc etc while the vehicle engine is not running, set up so as not to flatten the starting battery for the engine. It wiil charge via a split charge system once the vehicle engine is running.
Lead acids are often marketed as "leisure' or deep cycle batteries.

Of course something could be rigged up using a normal hobby charger, but that would require user input everytime the vehicle is shut down and restarted, just wondering if any one knew of charge system built along these lines specifically for Lipo

I would not want to just drop in 4 LiFePO4 packs without some sort of balancing / charge monitoring system on a standard split charge relay.
Probably wanting a 12volt 100Ah pack, maybe 200Ah

 

[SamTexas]

We just call them deep cycle batteries over here. I have 375Ah lead acid in my motorhome. Of course only half of that is usable.

Whether a battery management systems is there or not is a matter of choice by the owner. Just like in the ebike world.

 

[Hillhater]

Neil,
Have you looked at any Marine battery specialists ?
dual battery systems and split chargers, BMS units, often with LiFePo4 cells, is not uncommon in that world ( cashed up owners !)
Good luck.

 

[dogman dan]

I would think 4s lifepo4 with a bms would work ok. Get 100 ah or 200 ah ones if you need the big capacity. Assuming a steady discharge, 2c stuff might be plenty good enough.

 

[Ykick]

Term commonly used here is "deep cycle" battery.

Don't let your jaw hit the floor when you see these prices but these:

http://www.lithiumion-batteries.com/lithium-rv-deep-cycle.php

It really shouldn't be too hard to find a DC charge controller that would provide simple charging from vehicle system? Then assemble cells of choice....

 

[zsnemeth]

Don't let your jaw hit the floor when you see these prices but these:

http://www.lithiumion-batteries.com/lithium-rv-deep-cycle.php

Slightly better prices at the EVPower and they are in the EU.

 

[NeilP]

The batteries here are called deep cycle too, using the term' leisure battery' is just to describe it function really.