I saw and advert. About Evolitium Battery set ups for Motohomes and Caravans in the Grey Nomad Forum. Has anybody had anything to do with them and are they expensive to buy?? They sounded and read very well but that is not always the case. Does anyone know?? Please and Thanks...
Chucker we run a LiFePO4 battery of 4 X 200 Ah cells which we bought from a supplier in Melbourne at about half the price of those advertised. Having said that I the had to assemble them into a pack and install in van. Current price for these cells is around $1800 and are equivalent to the usable power of 320 Ah of lead acid batteries of about $1000. Care has to be taken to ensure the system is managed correctly in both charging and discharging to maintain longevity. There are several threads in the "Techies Corner" forum and "Solar" sub forum if you wish to find more info. We are very pleased with the performance and the ease and speed of recharging of our setup.
Hi Chuker, I like Alan run a system that I assembled from cells I purchased individually, I run 8 200Ah cells giving us 200Ah at 24V, we charge it with 1,200W of Solar and then use it to feed a 3,000W inverter. The basic principles of a system like this are well known, and in theory it should be simple, but there are many traps, and many ways to mis manage your cells, thus resulting in destroying your expensive cells. I was lucky, I had the help and guidance of a large group of very experienced enthusiasts who had done a huge amount of experimenting before I came along, I did not exactly follow the same way they did, but I do Know that without there help I would have damaged my battery.
If you are into electronics, and prepared to learn and put the effort into managing your cells, then I would recommend reading all the information you can find, buying the bits, and building your own system. If that is not you, then the systems that are already built with all the gear there to protect the battery built in would be worthwhile. It would be interesting to check their warranty.
I saw and advert. About Evolitium Battery set ups for Motohomes and Caravans in the Grey Nomad Forum. Has anybody had anything to do with them and are they expensive to buy?? They sounded and read very well but that is not always the case. Does anyone know?? Please and Thanks...
The Melbourne dealer cannot be too concerned about selling them... I rang them to get a price (twice). The man who could help was on another call and I was asked to leave my number and he would call me... I am still waiting for the call.
Mike - sounds like this battery dealer is well suited to the RV industry - doesn't care and unreliable.
We had some LED interior lights blow in our van which at that stage was only 4 months old. I contacted the van maker who was very helpful and got their electrical contractor to phone me. The female who phoned me was ok and undertook to send me out a complete replacement set of lights (as they had had a faulty batch - made in China of course) so I could change them myself - which suited me as we were in a remote location at the time. The lights turned up but with no instructions as to how to remove the flush fitted old ones and put the new ones in. I phoned the contactor and asked if one of their staff could phone me and tell me over the phone how to do it. It didn't happen despite two more phone calls to them. The van maker said not to bother anymore and as it was a warranty claim they had accepted, the contractor can pick up the labour bill for a van repairer to do it.
Then my Ibis air con developed a vibration. Exactly the same thing as the electrical contractor, except Air Command, the maker of the Ibis unit, couldn't even be bothered to phone me or return calls I left for their warranty staff.
Obviously these outfits make too much money and don't understand that nasty 2 word sentence - "customer service"!!!
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Cheers Bruce
The amazing things you see when nomading Australia
Hi Chucker, my name is Ken Johnston owner of Evolithium. Our system is as it reads on our website, simple for the user, safe and comes with a full 2yr replacement warranty.
There are a lot of do it yourself lithium setups around, so if you have the time to acquire the knowledge and the motivation to keep up with ongoing maintenance required to keep the cells in optimum condition, and also consider the following.
You need to incorporate a short circuit disconnect(double pole)..........ambos and firemen could be electrocuted through a operating inverter
Overcharge disconnect at cell level...........no cell can be charged further than 3.7v
Active cell balancing........does not need to be charged to a particular voltage to balance(shunt bypass)
Electronically restrict the potential to 300amps...............from 2000amps
Have enough power in reserve after a low voltage disconnect to allow the unit to stay in standby mode for at least 10months.
The above are just some of the parameters we have incorporated into our system which make it unique and extremely safe to all who may come it to contact with it.
My biggest concern with home made lithium packs is the fact that they are going to be passed on to unsuspecting buyers when the vans are sold, going to be another blow to the credibility of lithium batteries when they make a mistake of playing around with a 12v battery with a 2000amp potential.
Revemike, sorry to hear you have had issues trying to contact one of our service agents, unfortunately we have no control over the daily running of their business, but please give us a ring on our freecall no 1800 944 044 and we will help you as best we can.
Hi Ken. Thanks for your response. I will call you on that number. I am tied up with commitments tomorrow but I will try to call on Tuesday. Yes, I do understand that owners have little or no control over the distributors which is a real problem as the lack of service is often 'blamed' on the supplier/owner unfairly. I appreciate your response.
Hi Ken, it is nice to see a vendor standing by their product, especially when they understand the product rather than just repeat the claims made in the brochure.
Safety is a huge concern with any power source with high current capability, regardless of the voltage. I like your approach with the batteries contained in a self contained unit, with sensible protection built in.
Thanks Plendo for your comments, it took me 16mths and 5 prototypes to come up with a lithium battery system that could be operated by a person who had no experience with batteries, i have burnt myself enough times working with batteries and charger/rectifiers over the years, so i try my best to make sure none of our customers ever experience it.
