My Roamer 460ah lithium battery performance

[jeffmossy]

I thought I would update the performance of my new Roamer 460ah lithium battery. We have been out in the van since 20th August, returning home on the 22nd September,and we have used the electric kettle about 6 times per day, electric toaster most days, air frier every day, microwave every day, Lorraine has used her 2600 Watt hair drier every other day plus a halogen hob ring quite a few times as well as charging phones, laptops and my drone batteries every day, we have had electric hook up a couple of times, but I have never had to switch the on board charger on, also we have travelled for about 15 hours in total, and I do have 525W solar panels, so with all that the battery has had thrown at it the unit has never dropped below 80% and the smart BMS has now began to condition the cells and the unit is sitting at 495ah when 100% full. I am over the moon with the battery, it was not cheap but I would never go back to lead acid again.

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[Fisherman]

I thought I would update the performance of my new Roamer 460ah lithium battery. We have been out in the van since 20th August, returning home on the 22nd September,and we have used the electric kettle about 6 times per day, electric toaster most days, air frier every day, microwave every day, Lorraine has used her 2600 Watt hair drier every other day plus a halogen hob ring quite a few times as well as charging phones, laptops and my drone batteries every day, we have had electric hook up a couple of times, but I have never had to switch the on board charger on, also we have travelled for about 15 hours in total, and I do have 525W solar panels, so with all that the battery has had thrown at it the unit has never dropped below 80% and the smart BMS has now began to condition the cells and the unit is sitting at 495ah when 100% full. I am over the moon with the battery, it was not cheap but I would never go back to lead acid again.

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Hopefully we will be getting a new van next spring and I will be installing 2X 100AH lithium c/w bluetooth and heaters.
It will be a van conversion, and I am hoping to install 2x 120w or larger panels on the roof, what we have on our current van.
The van comes with 2X banner 100AH led acid batteries and they will be sold as soon as I get the van.
I currently have 2X 95AH AGM batteries so I will be doubling my capacity and saving 25KG on my payload.
Unfortunately there would be nowhere that I could install such a large battery as yours, but then we don't require to power some of the things you listed.

 

[barryd]

Sounds great Jeff. How long do you think it would all last if you had zero solar? It's pretty much like having your own onboard EHU by the sound of it, clearly using a lot of 240v stuff.

I find all this very interesting. I wonder if it would be possible to have a set up that lasted all year round without EHU or moving the vehicle.

I have to say though the AGM 120 ah battery I bought off Richard off here has been amazing all summer with the solar. Small fry compared to that setup.

 

[colinm]

AFAIK lithium batteries don't like being at 100pc for long periods, as another member on here noted that's what knackered his Nissan Leaf battery, maybe you should look into keeping charge at 80pc max as that would seem to work for you.

 

[jeffmossy]

AFAIK lithium batteries don't like being at 100pc for long periods, as another member on here noted that's what knackered his Nissan Leaf battery, maybe you should look into keeping charge at 80pc max as that would seem to work for you.

As the roamer battery has got a smart bms it will look after itself by discharging the battery if left for long periods and not being used

 

[barryd]

I see they do a smaller one also

Roamer 460SMART4 - 12V 460Ah LiFePO4 Lithium Leisure Battery

The Roamer 460SMART4 is a high capacity 12V 460Ah LiFePO4 battery for install in a campervan or boat. Includes 300A continuous discharge, active balancing, Bluetooth and plug and play integration with Victron. Free delivery, Roamercare, 10 year warranty and 5 star support from the UKs leading...

roamerbatteries.com

I agree, the way to go. I wonder if prices will come down. Maybe not the way things are going.

 

[jeffmossy]

I see they do a smaller one also

Roamer 460SMART4 - 12V 460Ah LiFePO4 Lithium Leisure Battery

The Roamer 460SMART4 is a high capacity 12V 460Ah LiFePO4 battery for install in a campervan or boat. Includes 300A continuous discharge, active balancing, Bluetooth and plug and play integration with Victron. Free delivery, Roamercare, 10 year warranty and 5 star support from the UKs leading...

roamerbatteries.com

I agree, the way to go. I wonder if prices will come down. Maybe not the way things are going.

Worth every penny Barry, I did not want to spend that much money, but this roamer should out live me, and the missus is happy as well,

 

[barryd]

I would consider the smaller one coupled with 200-300 watts of solar for our next van would be more than enough. We tend to tour spring, summer and autumn and usually somewhere sunny so what we have now works fine but on the periphery of those months I'm always a bit careful with usage. We are nearly always off grid and in one place often for long periods. It's the weight advantage as well that's a big draw.

 

[molly 2]

Thanks for update Jeff, i think you got right , even in winter without solar you can carry enough juice for many days . Bazz

 

[izwozral]

Really impressive Jeff, it is something that we will look into when we get our next MH.

 

[Fisherman]

I see they do a smaller one also

Roamer 460SMART4 - 12V 460Ah LiFePO4 Lithium Leisure Battery

The Roamer 460SMART4 is a high capacity 12V 460Ah LiFePO4 battery for install in a campervan or boat. Includes 300A continuous discharge, active balancing, Bluetooth and plug and play integration with Victron. Free delivery, Roamercare, 10 year warranty and 5 star support from the UKs leading...

roamerbatteries.com

I agree, the way to go. I wonder if prices will come down. Maybe not the way things are going.

Barry they have already came down.
I bought two 100 Ah lithium c/w bluetooth, and heaters for £1020 from alpha batteries. They have increased in price by about £100 now. But 3 years ago batteries with this type of technology would have cost three times as much.

 

[wildebus]

Lithium Batteries are going up for sure. Raw Materials are pricier; The Chinese authorities (they ALL originate in China) have imposed a "safety" tariff on each battery to cover the higher risk following various instances in the factories and docks, plus inflation generally. The lowering value of the Pound will also make imports more expensive.

If I were buying Lithium at the moment, I wouldn't be holding off hoping for lower prices personally. FWIW, the Batteries that Fisherman has are the same as I have had in my Motorhome for a few months now and I think they are excellent batteries and great value even at the current price.

 

[barryd]

Thanks for update Jeff, i think you got right , even in winter without solar you can carry enough juice for many days . Bazz

That would be the crucial test. Let's say you were unfortunate to have an entire week of rain and thick cloud, would they last and crucially how long to recharge? It's only going to happen out of season or in the northern parts of the UK though really.

 

[molly 2]

I bought lead carbon 110 amp just before end of December 21 now £30 more alpha batterys .

 

[barryd]

That 120ah AGM I bought from Richardhelen off here back in the spring has done us proud for the past four months. On EHU for just one night in June. It's been amazing with the solar but it's getting to the time now where we need to be careful and just a few dull days would see us looking for hookup if we are not careful. It would be great to think you had say a weeks worth of full power and not having to worry about it if it was dull without adding 150kg of lead to the van. Trouble is our van never moves far. We don't use it during the day as we use the scooter. So if mainly relies on solar.

 

[Derekoak]

Sounds great Jeff. How long do you think it would all last if you had zero solar? It's pretty much like having your own onboard EHU by the sound of it, clearly using a lot of 240v stuff.

I find all this very interesting. I wonder if it would be possible to have a set up that lasted all year round without EHU or moving the vehicle.

I have to say though the AGM 120 ah battery I bought off Richard off here has been amazing all summer with the solar. Small fry compared to that setup.

We are in Northern Scandinavia. I usually keep my 200ah lithium at only up to 80% on my 60 amp alternator charging system so as to use solar on bright days rather than waste it.But up here, even at the Equinox a horizontal solar setup is pretty poor and I allow engine charging to maximum. Having a bigger lithium would clearly not help. The only way to stay still would be a large tilted solar array, and soon even that would not help! or as we only need to drive about 25 k per day every 3 days or so, to recharge you need a big capacity charging from the engine, system.

 

[barryd]

I am surprised you don't see more tilting roof mounted solar panels that track the sun. Mines probably been inactive for a good couple of hours now but the sun is still shining across Kintyre on the side of the van. If I could tilt it 45 degrees I would get a couple of hours extra im sure. Mind you, we are long over due some EHU I think. First CL with hookup booked 3rd October.

 

[FiL]

I met the Roamer guys @ Campy Quirky (a highly recommended festival for self-builders). They are super friendly & knowledgeable - plus they have great kit! They do small 100Ah batteries right up to the beast that JeffMossy bought. I got a 220Ah unit that fits (snugly) under my driver seat in place of a 90Ah lead/acid for under £1,000. A LOT of money I know, but when you do the sums of useable range (safely down to 20% without affecting life) plus the longevity of them (15 years) I figured there wasn't a huge difference over a couple of quality AGMs, plus the size/weight benefits too. Obviously Trussenomics will probably push the price up, but then that's the same for everything now-a-days isn't it!

 

[Glandwr]

I met the Roamer guys @ Campy Quirky (a highly recommended festival for self-builders). They are super friendly & knowledgeable - plus they have great kit! They do small 100Ah batteries right up to the beast that JeffMossy bought. I got a 220Ah unit that fits (snugly) under my driver seat in place of a 90Ah lead/acid for under £1,000. A LOT of money I know, but when you do the sums of useable range (safely down to 20% without affecting life) plus the longevity of them (15 years) I figured there wasn't a huge difference over a couple of quality AGMs, plus the size/weight benefits too. Obviously Trussenomics will probably push the price up, but then that's the same for everything now-a-days isn't it!

I've been looking into this type of battery but was concerned to read that charging them when the temp was sub zero would permanently damage them. Have you taken measures to ensure this can't happen? There are ones with built in heaters but they are even more expensive.

 

[Admin]

I've been looking into this type of battery but was concerned to read that charging them when the temp was sub zero would permanently damage them. Have you taken measures to ensure this can't happen? There are ones with built in heaters but they are even more expensive.

Most of the newer batteries including this one have low temp charge protection, so this in not an issue.