Expanding Our Battle Born Battery Capacity to over 1000 Amp Hours
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- Опубліковано 2 жов 2024
- This video is sponsored by Battle Born Batteries
We just expanded our Battle Born Battery Capacity by 810-amp hours giving us a total of 1010 usable amp hours in our RV, we also increased the amount of solar we have on our roof to a total of 1300 Watts.
This is something we have been talking about doing for a long time, but first we had to decide if we were going to keep our RV or going to go out and buy a newer RV to replace our Vista, after all it does have over 110,000 miles on it. We decided it’s still the perfect size for us and we would like to keep it for at least another four to five years. So, we started making upgrades to it such as Koni shocks and sumo springs.
You may be wondering why we wanted to expand on our original battery capacity, and it comes down to a few reasons.
Convenience, comfort and safety for Belle
Starting with convenience, the system we now have installed in our RV is always on and is wired directly into our distribution box, so it is like we are plugged into 30amp power everywhere we go, even while rolling down the highway. This means if we want to turn the A/C on during a hot day Sabrina can do so right from the passenger seat. We can also use things like our 1500-watt microwave while at a rest area for lunch, or our favorite, the air fryer. This system gives us an added level of convenience & comfort we never had before in our RV. If you are new to our channel and us you may be saying well you could do that with your onboard generator, but our generator has always struggled to operate our A/C unit and our Microwave. We did bring it to a few Onan service centers where they could not fix the issue and a replacement seemed to be the only way to resolve it, and honestly we are just not a fan of the generators, because of the noise level and maintenance. So this new Battle Born Battery & solar system replaces all the functions of our Generator.
We also mentioned safety was a reason for this expansion. Sabrina and I have traveled across the US and one thing that happens more often than we ever expected has been power outages at campgrounds. This has always prevented us from leaving Belle alone in the RV in warm climates. The RV is not much different than any other vehicle and when it gets warm outside it gets really hot inside, to the point that it would be dangerous for Belle to be left alone. Yes, we do have temp monitors in place, but she is still on our mind and we have never truly felt comfortable to leave her. Now with how this system is wired into our RV when the power at a campground goes out this system automatically takes over and the A/C will continue to run like nothing ever happened and because of the battery capacity we have it will run for a minimum of seven hours, longer if we are in a nice sunny spot.
We are going to make a follow up video of how this system works and how it was installed. We hired a company called Echo One Adventures for the install and together we came up with a unique way of combining our original 12-volt Battle Born Battery system with our new Game Changers, let us know if you have any questions about why we did this expansion or how it all works and we will do our best to answer them down in the comments or include them in the next video.
Take care all and safe travels!
Nice to hear from yall again 👍🏽👍🏽
Lol thank you! We are still around and kickin. 😃
I see Old Rincon Hwy in your future LoL of course Belle will love it !
Great to see you guy's.
Thanks Vicki, it's nice to come back on and interact with everyone
You can Boondock now!! Love it, shoot, you're going to catch me on miles.I have 140k.... I just love my Battle Borns...
I am about to leave to go to Georgia and back for the FMCA Rally. That will be about a 3600 mile round trip. I might catch you yet! Lol
Outstanding, system! The travel needs are very similar on our end when it comes to resting/eating between destinations. Having a system that everything (110 & 12v) can function "on-demand" is exactly our preference. Sabrina couldn't have put it more simply...No buttons to push.
Sabrina certainly has a way with words 😃 It is hard for us us to pick just one thing that we like most about the system, but not needing to turn anything on or off is great, even when plugging in or unplugging the RV. Everything is automatically adjusted for it.
Hello Kenny and Sabrina, thank you for your video about the new electrical upgrades. We changed from lead acid to lithium batteries also. We changed from Magnum Energy to Victron Energy equipment. It's been about two months and we are totally happy.
Hi Mark, Sabrina and I are very impressed with the Victron equipment as well. The Bluetooth control and monitoring makes everything so easy and the power from the inverter just seems to be more steady and reliable then even plugged in. Wishing you continued safe travels!
Good to see you two again. I'm looking forward to the follow up video on the install. Running the AC without the generator is huge. You're a 30 amp rig too? One AC? Can you be sure to share how much those things weigh too. Also, would love to hear your thoughts on the sumo springs. I put Kone shocks on my rig (2020 Adventurer 29B) and am considering the Sumo springs too but they're a little pricey. Would love to hear your review.
Hi Daniel, yes we are 30amp with one A/C. Each battery weighs 80lbs, but has 270 amp hours of power. I think the Sumo Springs made a bigger difference in the ride then the Koni shocks did. I do like the Koni shocks though. I started with them just in the front then added them to the rear after a couple if months. I would say the Sumo Springs help with the sway of the RV and when we are parked it feels more solid when walking around the RV.
I have the exact same sort of trade in or upgrade thoughts about our coach, which we have owned since 2016 and it is a LOT older than yours, having turned 21 years old last Thanksgiving (build date was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving 2001). So far upgrading is winning, and each year it seems I am either replacing or upgrading something, last year it was installation of 420AH of LiFePo4 batteries, last week it was replacing the original roof top heat pump / air conditioner, next will likely be a major 100,000 mile transmission service as it started making some odd noises on our last trip (I am on the wait list for an appointment at a local transmission shop right now). Now i just need to get the air conditioner fixed in the cheap tow car we bought a couple of years ago as it decided to stop cooling just before New Years, it seems it is always something.
Ike it really is always something amd that was our thoughts even when buying a newer RV we figured it would also need something too. We figure we are already familiar with all the quirks with our RV and didn’t want to risk buying something newer that could potentially have more serious issues. Safe travels and hope those repairs don't beat you up too much!
I’m actually thinking of adding solar to our winnebago, I like to boondock in the desert and think solar would be nice. Our generator works our heat pump/air conditioner and the microwave and any appliances without any issues. But adding the solar is a extra convenience in case the generator or the campground power goes out. I can’t wait to hit the road again in April. Nice to see your videos again, safe travels!!
We really enjoyed having solar on our RV even before this big battery upgrade. We started with portable panels, then went to putting some solar on the roof. I would say I enjoyed the solar in the roof more than the portable panels. It was nice not setting the panels up and having the solar always working was a big plus. Safe travels! Maybe we will see you at this year's Winnebago Grand National Rally in July?
@@MovingForwardAdventures yes we will definitely add panels to the roof because we have a ton of roof real estate, because our heat pump/air conditioner is not on the roof. Yes maybe we will seek you guys.
Oh wow, yeah, you have space for a ton of solar. Hope to see you in July, we will definitely be there.
Great to see you back; I've been following since your started we have a larger version of the Vista with BUNKS; 2018 we use the generator in route to location because the kids in the back we run everything no issues with the Gen. has been solid. I am adding the 2 lithium batteries also when the lead-acid one die your little test with the battle-born help a lot thanks guys.
Excellent! I think we really just got a dud of a generator, it's been hindering our travels for years lol. Any chance you will be at Winnebago Grand National Rally in July? Sabrina and I will both be there.
Wow! Where have you two been? 👋 Happy to see you again!👍
LEEsureLEE Trippin'. 😎
Hi Lee, we've been around. Actually doing a lot of traveling. Most of what we share now on Instagram, because it's so much faster am easier to keep everyone up to date. Hope you are doing well and wish you safe travels
Glad to see you two back. Looking forward to your next video.
Thanks Tictac, I called Echo One Adventures (the company that did our unstall) to see if they would be interested in doing a full walth through of the system and how it works with me.
They like the idea, so I'm going to go to New Mexico at the end of next month to film it with them.
Both of you are looking great! I can get about 6 hours running the air conditioner on 600 ah lithium. I’m curious how long your Air Conditioner can run for.
Thanks Mike and that's a good question. On paper we should get over 7 hours of continuous run time, but I haven't tested it to see how much the solar extends that time. I should have a better idea once it starts warming up a bit, we have been in an odd cold spell for the last two weeks. Even had snow last week. Hope you two are doing well!
Heyyyyyyyy Good to see you guys again great video
We plan to do the same 👍🏽
We are loving it! It's great to have all the outlets hot amd use items like our AC and microwave. We feel like real glampers now lol
What a sweet set-up! Good to see you!
Thank you! We are really enjoying it. I (Kenny) have a 3600 mile round trip coming up next .onth and I'm looking forward to really putting this system through it paces.
Great video, we are thinking of getting Lithium batteries for our coach. Looking forward to your next video. Safe travels
Hi MnM, I'm excited to film the next video, I spoke with Jordan (the owner of Echo One Adventures) and he said he will have time to film a walk through at the end of next month. Timing works out well since I will be returning from the FMCA rally in Perry Georgia. Safe travels to you as well!
So glad to see you guys are doing well and love your new up grade. As always wish you safe travels from Rick and Pam from southern Ohio at Big Bear Creek family campground
Defiantly sounds like a worthwhile investment. Said thst the gen set sucks. But 2016 was a good year, so yea, keeping it.. 👍🏽👍🏽