Lithium vs AGM battery for camper

[Kaitum]

I'm interested in hearing experiences with lithium vs. AGM batteries for a camper or RV. I'm looking to upgrade my old marine battery to something with a much higher amp hours rating to allow for extended use while on trips. We rarely if ever stay at camp grounds with shore power. Seems a 200 ah AGM is still considerably cheaper than a 100 ah lithium. Am I missing something by going with AGM due to price point alone? I realize they are substantially heavier.

 

[Arcola]

Following this one. I run two, six volt AGMs in series and have pretty good longevity. Haven’t taken the plunge on lithium yet.

 

[npaden]

Be aware that you need to keep the lithium somewhat warm when you are using it. Most who switch to them relocate them to the interior of the trailer.

 

[Bulldog0156]

Only have to keep lithium above freezing when charging. I'd spend the extra money and go lithium.

 

[Art Vandeley]

A lot of advantages to lithium but you pay for it

 

[marksjeep]

I use Lithium iron phosphate and lead acid AGM for solar powered data logging and telemetry equipment at some very remote locations. Each has pros and cons.

Lithium pros - Lightweight, rated for thousands of charge-discharge cycles, but most important to my applications, they can recharge fast. You can throw a lot of current at lithium in a short time and top the batteries off.

Lithium cons - Expensive, temperature sensitive, may need special charging hardware (solar regulator or AC charger designed for lithium batteries).

With regards to cold, I'm running a couple of "low temperature" lithium batteries in temps well below zero, like -10 to -20 at times. The low temp variants have internal heating circuits to warm the cell to 0C prior to charging. I've been running them for two winters now with zero malfunctions.

Lead-acid AGM pros - Cheaper, work well for most applications, available just about everywhere, and will work in just about every environmental condition.

Lead-acid AGM cons - Heavy, slower to charge without damaging the battery, do not like to be discharged too far.

Weight and charge time are the main factors which steer me to/from AGM to lithium on a case-by-case basis. If you're not running solar on an RV these days, you're nuts. Solar and AGM may suit your needs just fine.

 

[Kaitum]

Good info. One more question, can AGM be mounted inside the camper, such as under the dinette seat where my inverter is located? I know the old style lead acid batteries needed to be vented, seems like maybe AGM do not? If I'm paying for lithium, I'd definitely put them inside. I'd worry about them walking away while my camper is unattended if they were in a box on the tongue.

 

[Arcola]

Good info. One more question, can AGM be mounted inside the camper, such as under the dinette seat where my inverter is located? I know the old style lead acid batteries needed to be vented, seems like maybe AGM do not? If I'm paying for lithium, I'd definitely put them inside. I'd worry about them walking away while my camper is unattended if they were in a box on the tongue.

AGMs will have a vent port that you can plumb to the outside with a hose. AGMs are very temperature stable though.

 

[marksjeep]

Many AGM are a type of SLA, sealed lead acid battery. It won't have a vent and you can mount them however (sideways whatever). Some AGM may have a vent. Look for one that's SLA.

 

[WapitiBob]

Buy two 235 ah 6 volts, they're plug n play with your current setup. Grab a 100+ watt portable solar panel if you don't want a roof mounted one to keep the batteries topped up and go camp.

 

[JohnBud]

I have two Renogy 100 ah sealed AGM batteries inside my hunting trailer that are maintained by solar. Very happy with these batteries. Lithium just seemed too expensive.

 

[jryoung]

Depending on your demands for AH coupled with wiring ability, you can try and seek out used Nissan Leaf batteries and reconfigure them for your trailer. My buddy did this and was able to get closer to 800Ah for around the same price of 2 100Ah batteries from dragonfly or renogy.

 

[dan.kirkpatrick]

i exclusively dry camp everywhere i go and i run with 2 banks of trojan 6 volt golf cart deep cycle lead acid/serries-parallel/with 3 solar panels and a solar charger on my tlr roof,,seems to work very nice,,only main draw back is the weight of 4 batterys and good trojans run about $150 each.