April 2015 – For the past ten days we’ve been doing a total overhaul on our RV’s electrical power systems, and we’re really excited about the upgrades. Having installed several RV and boat solar and battery systems to date, both for ourselves and for friends, we’ve gone all out this time, researching, studying, and talking with the engineers at different companies to figure out which components will suit our needs best. Our upgrades include:
- Trojan Reliant AGM batteries
- Exeltech 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter
- Iota 90 amp converter / multistage charger
We’re getting new Trojan Reliant T105-AGM batteries!
NEW AGM BATTERIES
Since we live on solar and battery power in our RV 100% of the time, having a robust power plant on board makes all the difference. Back in 2008 when we first got our fifth wheel trailer, we asked the RV dealership to install four Trojan T-105 6 volt wet cell batteries for us. These were terrific and served us very well for quite a few years.
However, because we had to leave the trailer in storage for stretches of 12 to 20 months at a time when we cruised our sailboat in Mexico, they deteriorated because no one was there to do the routine maintenance they require.
Wet cell batteries are inexpensive, which is why we chose them at the outset of our RVing life. However, once we started living with higher quality AGM batteries on our sailboat, we found AGM batteries have many advantages over wet cells (our boat had four Mastervolt 4D AGM house batteries and one Mastervolt Group 27 AGM start battery). So we decided to upgrade our RV battery bank to AGM.
Much to our surprise, we managed to time this upgrade really well, because Trojan Battery has revamped, redesigned and re-engineered their AGM battery line completely, and their new Reliant AGM batteries have just hit the market in the last month.
Our new batteries go into the fifth wheel basement.
The batteries we are installing are their new 6 volt AGM battery called the Trojan Reliant T105-AGM.
Trojan Battery has been at the forefront of battery engineering and technology for decades, and this new AGM version of their ultra popular T-105 6 volt wet cell batteries is a true deep cycle AGM battery, designed to deliver steady power and withstand deep discharging of 50% of the battery’s capacity day after day after day (we plan to discharge them 25%-30% or less each day).
Most AGM batteries are actually dual purpose, designed not only to provide long-term power and deep discharging, but also to pack a high cranking power punch that can get an engine started without discharging the battery much at all. Our boat’s AGM batteries were all dual purpose marine batteries, despite their enormous size.
Obviously, a battery designed specifically for repeated deep discharging is going to be superior as a house battery to one that is designed to be both a deep cycle house battery and a start battery. So these new Reliant AGM batteries should work really well in an RV (or boat!).
The list of advantages of AGM batteries over wet cells is considerable:
- Maintenance free – no equalizing and no adding distilled water (great if the RV gets stored for months on end)
- Discharge just 3% per month when they aren’t being used (also important for longer term RV storage)
- Charge more quickly than wet cell batteries
- No gasses released during charging, so no special venting is needed in the RV battery compartment
- Can be installed on their sides or ends since there is no liquid that can spill out
Mark has been very busy revamping our fifth wheel basement battery compartment, and he is taking this opportunity to rewire it entirely, applying all the things we’ve learned in 8 years of living off the grid!
NEW and BIGGER INVERTER
At the same time as our battery upgrade, we also decided to upgrade our inverter. We have loved our Exeltech XP1100 Pure Sine Wave Inverter since we installed it in 2008.
Exeltech makes all the inverters used by NASA, and they supplied all the inverters to both the American and Russian sides of the International Space Station (the two sides run on different voltages and currents, so they need different inverters!).
Our old Exeltech XP 1100 pure sine wave inverter is getting replaced with the 2000 watt version
Our new Exeltech XPX 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter
The quality of the electrical signal produced by Exeltech inverters is so pure that they are used by field medical units to run sensitive medical equipment. One nice thing about living on inverter power exclusively is that we never have to contend with flakey RV park electricity, and we know our Exeltech inverter is giving us a great signal whenever we turn it on.
Our old Exeltech XP1100 inverter was too small, however. We have a 900 watt microwave, and 1100 watts of inverter power was shaving it just a little too close. A mishap last year made us realize we needed to go bigger. So we are installing an Exeltech XPX 2000 Pure Sine Wave Inverter that will give us 2000 watts of power.
NEW MULTI-STAGE CHARGING CONVERTER
Solar panels charge our batteries almost all the time, but once in a while we get stuck in overcast and stormy conditions for a while. After about 4 days of grey skies, we turn to our trusty Yamaha 2400i portable gas generator to bring our batteries back to full charge. When we run the generator, we plug the generator into our shore power input connector on the side of our trailer so the converter in the fifth wheel basement charges the batteries.
Our fifth wheel trailer came from the factory with an Atwood 32 amp converter which is a single stage battery charger. This is typical of converters installed in RVs. Rather than going through three stages of charging, these simple converters give the batteries a mere trickle charge at a low charging voltage.
RV manufacturers save on costs by installing basic single stage converters rather than robust multistage charging converters, and since most RVs are plugged into shore power all the time, it doesn’t matter if it takes 48 or 72 hours to charge the batteries completely.
The Iota DLS-90 / IQ4 Converter does true multi-stage battery charging
Sperry stands behind their gear!
However, the only time our converter is charging our batteries is when we run our generator, and with that thing making noise and burning fuel, we want the batteries to be charged as quickly and efficiently as possible. We don’t want to trickle charge our batteries from the generator!
We are replacing our old converter with an Iota DLS-90 / IQ4 Converter which not only provides three stages of battery charging but will also put the batteries into a true bulk charge state when we first turn on the generator.
So, with all this wiring going on, we’ve been giving our trusty Sperry Clamp-on Amp/Volt Meter a good workout lately. And we’ve had a surprising experience with that little piece of gear.
We bought it back in 2010 when we were wiring up the solar power on our sailboat. But it died 10 days ago, right as we were starting our new RV power upgrade project. Of course, the warranty ran out a long time ago, but we called the company to see if there was anything they could do. We were shocked when they sent us out a replacement unit at no charge!
It is so rare these days for a company to stand behind its products like that, especially something small and inexpensive like a volt meter. Wow!
We’ll be posting much more detailed info about our electrical system upgrade once we’ve finished it all, so stay tuned!
For now, we’re extremely grateful to our good friend “Mr. G” who invited us to shoehorn our rig into his driveway in Sarasota, Florida, and make use of his workbench, tools and fabricating expertise as we tackle this exciting project.
A great spot to do a little upgrade work on our rolling home!
Want to learn more about all this, check out these informative posts:
- RV Solar Power Made Simple – How solar charging works on an RV or boat
- RV and Marine Battery Charging Basics – Single-stage vs. Multi-stage charging
- Converters, Inverter/Chargers and Engine Alternators – How these battery chargers work
- Solar Chargers in Plain Language – Optimizing Solar Battery Charging
- Solar Power and Shore Power Combined – What happens when two chargers run at once?
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More info:
- Trojan Reliant AGM Batteries
- Exeltech XPX 2000 True Sine Wave Inverter
- Iota DLS-90 / IQ4 Converter and Multistage Charger
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great to hear your decisions on your electrical, thats quite an upgrade.
being a retired boat manufacturer, I wholeheartedly recommend Thomas and Betts ‘kopr-shield’ dope for crimped fittings for anti-corrosion and contact. but you may be soldering.
I have learned that charging rate should ideally be set as to battery temperature and not so much their instantaneous voltage state of charge. but I also know that many many battery temperature sensors report erroneous readings.
I use a handheld temperature gun to give me a sense of case temperature now, especially in the summer.
with 90 amps going on, one could afford to force ventilate the battery compartment and having an even small air space around each one would help.
just some thoughts.
your iota sure is a deal compared to all the Xantrex’s I have bought in the past [tho the only thing that ever took them out was lightning or a ‘Bahamian voltage surge’].
Good tips, all of them. Thank you!!
I like your article about the upgrade to the Exeltech XP 2000 Pure Sine Wave Inverter. I was a bit surprised though at the cost of around $1700 to buy one. I’m still working out if I can get by with a modified sine wave inverter or a less expensive pure sine wave inverter. All this so I can run my coffee pot and microwave and blender in the morning….without starting my generator. (which of course, needs to be run on regular basis to prevent gum-up fuel problems.)
The Exeltech inverter is expensive, but you do get what you pay for. We tried a cheap Chinese made Xantrex (Schneider Electronics) 2000 watt inverter and got a very flaky signal from it, so we returned it. You might consider getting a Melitta coffee filter for a few dollars and making your coffee manually by pouring boiling water over the grounds (that’s what we do). And using a gas stabilizer will help with the problem of gumming up the fuel in the generator. We have let our generator sit for as much as 20 months, and the gas stabilizer made all the difference. Good luck!!
great article, so helpfull ( as always)
How many batteries are you installing?
Thank you, Josef
I’m glad this was helpful, Josef. We are installing four batteries, two pairs in series and those two series-pairs in parallel with each other.
Thank so much.
Looking forward to hear how new set up works
It is truly awesome, but all our testing has been in our friend’s driveway. We finally pulled out to begin our travels again just this afternoon, so writing this reply on my laptop while boondocking is one of the first things I’ve done using our new setup!