LiFePo4 Upgrade - without B2B?

Others have said if you don't have a smart alternator you can drop a fogstar straight in. How many people have done that.
I've an electroblok 119, and an MPPT solar regulator with lithium profile.
With the fogstar BMS
Ok ... here is an example....
I have on my Motorhome a Sargent EC325. That has a maximum voltage output of 13.8V for both Mains Charging and Split Charging.
It is pretty rubbish for charging Lead in fact. There are no settings to select Gel, AGM or whatever.
British motorhomes and campervans with similar limititions are very common and are still being built to this day would you believe!
Now on the one hand, it is no worse at charging then the lead, but I have spend loads of cash on a battery that I have been told I can just drop in and the result is I have a battery which I cannot use fully.

I "drop in" a Fogstar - or ANY Lithium battery for that matter and it will NEVER charge properly, and may overexert the charger, possibly cooking it.
A lot of these system are not designed to run their chargers at full power for extended periods and have both a maximum supported AH and a "do not use with lithium" warning. Put in a big lithium and any warranty is up in smoke along with the charger.

On some setups, you can indeed "drop in" a lithium battery without batting an eye as they have charging systems that will charge a lithium battery (so it is a "duh" moment there), but for a vendor to make such a blanket statement that it drops infor just about anyone and then tuck the truth away down in the weeds is misleading and disingenuous and it makes me not trust the company.
 
no such thing as a "drop in". As has been said, marketing BS.

On some setups, you can indeed "drop in" a lithium battery without batting an eye as they have charging systems that will charge a lithium batteryell you should

So in your own words you have just contradicted your first statement then?
if you had told us that there are some exceptions such as newer vehicles it would have made more sense but your statement was incorrect as you have said yourself:unsure:
 
So in your own words you have just contradicted your first statement then?
if you had told us that there are some exceptions such as newer vehicles it would have made more sense but your statement was incorrect as you have said yourself:unsure:
"some" is not good enough to make the statement
"When it comes to Lithium Leisure Batteries for Campervans, a question we get asked every day by customers is, “Can I drop-in replace my Lead Acid battery with a Fogstar Drift?”.

The very simple answer to this is - yes. "

if you think it is, then there is no point in discussing further as you don't understand. Bye bye.
 
if you think it is, then there is no point in discussing further as you don't understand. Bye bye.
I’m not disputing the fact that if you don’t have the right equipment already obviously it’s not a drop in replacement.
Ive got no axe to grind with you and in fact found your comments regarding a hybrid system very interesting and useful I am in fact in the throws of fitting a 300a lithium with Victron Multi plus inverter charger and extra solar to give us freedom from ever needing EHU and have thoughts of keeping my two aging AGMs in the system at least until they conk out 😊
no need to take any offence or throw the toys out😉
 
My AGMs are 6> yrs old so I am considering the Fogstar but get so many conflicting answers.

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My AGMs are 6> yrs old so I am considering the Fogstar but get so many conflicting answers.

Exactly my thoughts it’s a bit of a minefield out there😊
I don't see a problem if you fit Lithium fit the correct chargers and there won't any problem.
Just ignore the drop in replacement speal.
 
I’m not disputing the fact that if you don’t have the right equipment already obviously it’s not a drop in replacement.
Exactly. So what exactly are you arguing about??

Ive got no axe to grind with you and in fact found your comments regarding a hybrid system very interesting and useful I am in fact in the throws of fitting a 300a lithium with Victron Multi plus inverter charger and extra solar to give us freedom from ever needing EHU and have thoughts of keeping my two aging AGMs in the system at least until they conk out 😊
no need to take any offence or throw the toys out😉
 
Exactly. So what exactly are you arguing about??
That you stated there was no such thing as a drop in replacement and then state there is you can’t have it both ways it just confuses the whole thing it’s one or the other😊if you are not happy with that then that’s up to you I was not arguing just stating a fact that you provided 🤔
 
That you stated there was no such thing as a drop in replacement and then state there is you can’t have it both ways it just confuses the whole thing it’s one or the other😊if you are not happy with that then that’s up to you I was not arguing just stating a fact that you provided 🤔
The point is Fogstar are making a blanket statement that their battery is a "drop in replacement" and that is not the case.
There will ALWAYS be a situation that somewhere for someone ANYTHING is a drop in replacement, but they are implying that as a matter of course, the Drift or whatver it is called can be dropped in and all is hunky dory. That is nonsense. They need to caveat that statement far more clearly but it is hidden inside a load of waffle.
Sorry, but again if you think making a claim that something is a drop in replacement is ok because it is true for some people then you are being fooled.

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Sorry, but again if you think making a claim that something is a drop in replacement is ok because it is true for some people then you are being fooled
We will have to agree to disagree on that one I’m afraid but don’t be offended by my post however I believe Fogstar say it can be a drop in replacement I think the article I posted from Fogstar explained that quite well whilst also say in certain circumstances other items may be required? I don’t think that is a blanket statement for all replacements do you?🤔
 
As I am no expert on this subject can I please summarise the info you have all given.
Increase solar to 200/300w, either use my Votronic 350 solar controller or change to Victron,
upgrade battery to Lithium 100ah to start with.
Will my Schaudt charge booster cope will all the above changes after settings adjustment for battery type etc?
 
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As I am no expert on this subject can I please summarise the info you have all given.
Increase solar to 200/300w, either use my Votronic solar controller or change to Victron,
upgrade battery to Lithium 100ah to start with.
Will my Schaudt charge booster cope will all the above changes after settings adjustment for battery type etc?
Your Votronic controller will be OK as long as it's not the 430, there have been a few problems with them with Lithium. If you change to a Victron they are only single output so you would need to fit a battery maintainer like the Ablemale to maintain the starter battery.

The Schaudt has a Lithium setting but would not be my favorite choice as on Lithium they are just a constant voltage output no float also they charge at 14.4v which is a bit high. Just my thoughts, not really a problem as they are not in use for that long.

If you are going to use EHU much, if your mains charger doesn't have a lithium setting it would be best to change it.
 
Your Votronic controller will be OK as long as it's not the 430, there have been a few problems with them with Lithium. If you change to a Victron they are only single output so you would need to fit a battery maintainer like the Ablemale to maintain the starter battery.

The Schaudt has a Lithium setting but would not be my favorite choice as on Lithium they are just a constant voltage output no float also they charge at 14.4v which is a bit high. Just my thoughts, not really a problem as they are not in use for that long.

If you are going to use EHU much, if your mains charger doesn't have a lithium setting it would be best to change it.
So I can retain my votronic 350 solar controller and then dont need to add a battery maintainer just rely on the 1amp feed to the engine battery from the votronic. Is 1amp enough to compensate for any loss when standing ?
That must reduce the cost to start with and could be changed later I guess.
Are the very low priced lithium batteries worth buying or is it “buy once and wince“?
 
So I can retain my votronic 350 solar controller and then dont need to add a battery maintainer just rely on the 1amp feed to the engine battery from the votronic. Is 1amp enough to compensate for any loss when standing ?
That must reduce the cost to start with and could be changed later I guess.
Are the very low priced lithium batteries worth buying or is it “buy once and wince“?
Yep that's OK with the 350.
Quite a lot of Funsters have bought Fogstar, appear to have good customer service and UK base, they are what I'll be buying for the new van.

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Fogstar, appear to have good customer service and UK base, they are what I'll be buying for the new van
I’ve got one coming a 300ah Fogstar drift v2 long wait though now due end of August🙄
 
That's a lot of extra dosh for the 300 over the 280.
Yes but I bought a package including the multiplus inverter charger and VictronConnect b2b and solar regulator etc so a bit cheaper overall😊
 
Yep that's OK with the 350.
Quite a lot of Funsters have bought Fogstar, appear to have good customer service and UK base, they are what I'll be buying for the new van.
I bought a fogstar 230amp a few months ago I paid my money then had to wait 6 weeks for my delivery as stated on payment. It didn't arrive so I sent an email and was immediately offered my money back or the next delivery. It was late again and had to wait another 3 weeks but was offered a larger amp battery free of charge and it arrived 3rd time lucky. The communication was good and apologetic. I believe the waiting time is far less now if any.

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The Schaudt has a Lithium setting but would not be my favorite choice as on Lithium they are just a constant voltage output no float

Out of curiosity, why would you want a float on LiFePo4?

Isn’t float is a lead acid specific requirement?

Ian
 
Out of curiosity, why would you want a float on LiFePo4?

Isn’t float is a lead acid specific requirement?

Ian
You don't really a lot of B2B have a short absorbtion phase on lithium then turn off.
A lot of mains chargers have a float so that when on EHU the charger supplies the power instead of the battery.
I was getting mixed up with mains chargers.
The problem with Schaudt is the charge voltage is a bit high and it doesn't turn off.
 
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You don't really a lot of B2B have a short absorbtion phase on lithium then turn off.
A lot of mains chargers have a float so that when on EHU the charger supplies the power instead of the battery.
I was getting mixed up with mains chargers.
The problem with Schaudt is the charge voltage is a bit high and it doesn't turn off.
Schaudt drops to 13.6v on AGM so presume the same on Gel. Surely that wont hurt the lithium battery
 
Schaudt drops to 13.6v on AGM so presume the same on Gel. Surely that wont hurt the lithium battery
The EBL has a very long absorption time its a fixed time, unlike Victron where the absorption time is calculated by the DOD.
On the EBL it is 16 hours for Gel, you can't use AGM setting the charging voltage is too high, after absorption it drops to 13.8v.

With a proper Lithium charger the absorption is about 1½ hours and then about 4 hours on float at 13.5v then it turns off.
 

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