Upgrading the Under Seat Leisure Battery to Lithium and Removing the 2nd Leisure Battery

[Wannabecamperman]

I had them installed in a reinbeck (Hamburg, Germany. It took them a day. During the day I visited Hamburg. It cost a bit but I am still very happy . Did not take the inverter or solar. https://www.camperelektrik.de/colle...ierung-autarkiepaket-vw-t6-1-california-ocean

Toll! ...Aber sehr teuer!!

 

[wildslammer22]

I am vaguely interested in doing this battery change.
I too have a 6 year old ocean. The leisure batteries are nearing end of life - probably because I (and maybe the prior owner) sometimes forget to regularly charge the batteries every couple of weeks when the camper is not used.

The advantages as I see it are Lithium can maintain it's charge for months and potentially I could increase the capacity of the batteries.

I did it last year when my original batteries in my T6 were end of life. Kept the existing charger - the AGM profile works well for LifePo4 batteries. I rarely use EHU now but the trickle charge function to starter battery is also retained when I do. I did replace the split relay with a DC-DC charger. I bought Xplorer Extreme batteries which are self heating and will charge/discharge down to -20°. The only issue I had was I to do a bit of DIY to get the rear battery to fit as they were a few mm longer and there is no leeway in the hatch width wise! The front battery under seat was fine with enough room for the DC-DC without having to move the fuse box, shunt etc. I believe Roamer now do 100ah batteries which are exactly the same size as the standard Cali AGM's. More expensive but they do have a higher spec BMS and will be easier to fit.

It’s worked great, I have the fridge on 24/7 all year round (I do have an 100w solar panel too). I can run Starlink all night if I want, lights, the heater in winter and charge phones etc and have never gone below 70% SOC in a single day. My only complaints is the hassle getting the rear battery in and the app that comes with the Xplorer batteries is crap!

 

[Dave Wickham]

Why do it?
Our nearly 6 year old T6 batteries are still working just fine , so why do they need changing? Lithium batteries are prone to combustion aren’t they?

I agree with this. I work for a company that has done a lot of fire tests on Li-ion batteries and they can be quite ferocious under any battery abuse condition (can release jet flames). Thats why I won't have Li-ion storage batteries in my house but only on an outside brick/block wall (at least 2m away from a window) or have them in an out-house. My T6 also nearly 6 years old now and batteries work OK - I get 3 days off grid running fridge at high (level 6) when its hot!! Mind you the charge drops to 60% but I think you are OK to let them drop to 50%, anyone know what is the 'safe limit' to avoid any leisure battery damage?

 

[WelshGas]

I agree with this. I work for a company that has done a lot of fire tests on Li-ion batteries and they can be quite ferocious under any battery abuse condition (can release jet flames). Thats why I won't have Li-ion storage batteries in my house but only on an outside brick/block wall (at least 2m away from a window) or have them in an out-house. My T6 also nearly 6 years old now and batteries work OK - I get 3 days off grid running fridge at high (level 6) when its hot!! Mind you the charge drops to 60% but I think you are OK to let them drop to 50%, anyone know what is the 'safe limit' to avoid any leisure battery damage?