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Coach Battery for EVC
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MrPulldown
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2021 2:01 pm    Post subject: Coach Battery for EVC Reply with quote

From reading post on here a group 31 is the largest battery that I can install in the stock battery box. From what I understand reserve capacity and Amp hour rating are the most important things for a coach battery. Not the cranking or cold cranking amps.

Does this sound right?

I think I will be replacing my coach battery soon. The current one is an old spare I have lying around.
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steve2sloth
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2021 6:32 pm    Post subject: Re: Coach Battery for EVC Reply with quote

Yes, the number of amp hours (ah) is really the only stat that matters. Other than that, you should consider the material. You've got lead acid batteries, gel, AGM, or lithium. Imo, the best bang for your buck is a gel or AGM battery. They don't need to be topped off with water periodically like the lead acid batteries so they're dead simple to maintain. Lithium is too expensive to be considered unless you're SURE that you need the extra capacity (ah) that they offer. Like lead acid, the gel and AGM batteries should not be drained past 50% charge.
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 24, 2021 10:04 am    Post subject: Re: Coach Battery for EVC Reply with quote

MrPulldown wrote:
From reading post on here a group 31 is the largest battery that I can install in the stock battery box. From what I understand reserve capacity and Amp hour rating are the most important things for a coach battery. Not the cranking or cold cranking amps.

Does this sound right?

I think I will be replacing my coach battery soon. The current one is an old spare I have lying around.

I used a Group 27 but a Group 31 has better Ah because it's physically larger (more plate area). Yes, you want a Deep Cycle marine/RV battery not a starter battery like for the engine where cranking amps and CCA are the important factors.
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MrPulldown
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 03, 2021 10:26 pm    Post subject: Re: Coach Battery for EVC Reply with quote

Just installed this group 31 deep cycle marine battery. The 31 fits like it was meant to. Fits perfectly in the box with room to spare.. O'Reilly has this battery for 99.99$. I think it is their most popular battery as it was sitting on the display shelf.
https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/marine/super-...&pos=3
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 03, 2021 11:13 pm    Post subject: Re: Coach Battery for EVC Reply with quote

I'm not sure what the space limitations are for the EVC, but I installed one of these Napa AGM Group 94R batteries under the driver seat.

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/NBP9894R?partTypeN...up+94r+agm
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ruairidh
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 03, 2021 11:14 pm    Post subject: Re: Coach Battery for EVC Reply with quote

I installed an AGM 31 from O'rilleys in my '99EVC today as well. The 34 measured a little to tight to try and fit in.
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TFB777
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 08, 2021 11:34 am    Post subject: Re: Coach Battery for EVC Reply with quote

After much researching on replacing my dead coach battery, I bit the bullet and installed a Battle born 100ah LiFePo4 battery. I get a full 100ah out of it and it weighs only 31 lbs! My EVC is my daily driver, so the weight savings over a dual 6 volt setup is about 110 lbs! The Battle born is very pricey at $900 but there are many Chinese LiFePo4 batteries on the market that cost much less. This was my third coach battery replacement on the EVC but it should definitely be the last.
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MrPulldown
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 08, 2021 12:52 pm    Post subject: Re: Coach Battery for EVC Reply with quote

Nice work. $900 is a lot of coin. Are you using the stock charging system. Not sure how friendly it is for your new battery. I know mine give a constant ~13.5v. Smarter chargers will give it a healthy 14+ when it needs, and drop it down to just above 12 after it is fully charged. This is better for the life of the battery, at least old school lead acid types.

I find that lead acid deep cycle batteries last about 5-10 years. So I am not too concerned about killing off a $100 battery at that interval.
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TFB777
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 18, 2021 9:28 am    Post subject: Re: Coach Battery for EVC Reply with quote

I first checked with Battleborn about the old Magnatec and they said while its use wouldn't hurt the Lithium battery it would also not charge it fully due to the lower voltage output. I now have a Progressive Dynamics 30 amp LiFeP04 charger sitting in the garage. Hope to install it this weekend.
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 08, 2021 2:12 pm    Post subject: Re: Coach Battery for EVC Reply with quote

I am looking to upgrade to LiFeP04 battery as well on a 2002 EVC and am curious about how the alternator charges the house battery? Is there an existing separate charge controller, and does this need to be upgraded in addition to the shorepower converter ?
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 09, 2021 8:21 am    Post subject: Re: Coach Battery for EVC Reply with quote

JasCosta wrote:
I am looking to upgrade to LiFeP04 battery as well on a 2002 EVC and am curious about how the alternator charges the house battery? Is there an existing separate charge controller, and does this need to be upgraded in addition to the shorepower converter ?


The alternator charges the house battery through an isolation solenoid (a big high current relay) on the firewall. You need to replace this with an active DC-DC charger with lithium for two reasons.
1.) The Lithium ion batteries can draw much more current when fully discharged than lead acid can, potentially roasting your alternator.
2.) The alternator may not produce a high enough voltage to fully charge the battery.

Because of reason 2, you also need to replace the stock line powered battery charger/power supply with one that can handle a lithium charge profile.
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JasCosta
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 09, 2021 5:56 pm    Post subject: Re: Coach Battery for EVC Reply with quote

Perfect … thank you!
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RiverdaleTom
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 02, 2021 4:17 pm    Post subject: Re: Coach Battery for EVC Reply with quote

Hi there, I have a 95 Eurovan Winnebego conversion and am thinking about doing this same upgrade (LiPO4 battery for the house battery). I have been able to find a lot of info about changing out the battery and installing a DC to DC in line charger to make sure that you don't burn out the Alternator and that you use a good charging profile for the battery. However I do have a couple of questions if anyone has ever done this:

First one is where did you install the inline charger? Under the hood or back near the battery?

I also can't find much info about replacing the 110V AC to 12V DC inverter and battery charger in order to get the shoreline charging the battery with a proper charging profile. Anyone have any suggested models or devices that they have used? Does the inverter directly power the furnace, cabin lights, etc, or does it only charge the battery and the battery powers the 12V system (I don't even know if that question totally makes sense).

Any tips would be much appreciated!
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JasCosta
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 03, 2021 11:23 am    Post subject: Re: Coach Battery for EVC Reply with quote

For a 2002 EVC

I installed the new DC Charger along side the new AC charger in the spot where the old huge AC Charger used to be.

I used the Renogy DC to DC 30A (also has solar which i mounted a zamp SAE plug to the back panel and have a portable suitcase solar system that plugs into that.

Used the PD9130LV shore charger AC to DC Converter (shorepower)

The AC converter can power the lights, fridge, furnace, water pump and the 110 outlets. The 110 outlets only work from the AC converter.

I added a separate 1000 watt PSW inverter directly to the new 100ah lithium battery and mounted it on the wall under the fold out rear seat/bed.

Hope this helps
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RiverdaleTom
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 07, 2021 6:12 pm    Post subject: Re: Coach Battery for EVC Reply with quote

Thanks! Very helpful!
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RiverdaleTom
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 04, 2021 2:24 pm    Post subject: Re: Coach Battery for EVC Reply with quote

JasCosta wrote:
For a 2002 EVC

I installed the new DC Charger along side the new AC charger in the spot where the old huge AC Charger used to be.

I used the Renogy DC to DC 30A (also has solar which i mounted a zamp SAE plug to the back panel and have a portable suitcase solar system that plugs into that.

Used the PD9130LV shore charger AC to DC Converter (shorepower)

The AC converter can power the lights, fridge, furnace, water pump and the 110 outlets. The 110 outlets only work from the AC converter.

I added a separate 1000 watt PSW inverter directly to the new 100ah lithium battery and mounted it on the wall under the fold out rear seat/bed.

Hope this helps


Hi JasCosta, wondering if I can bug you with another couple of questions about this, I really want to make sure that I get this right! I have all of my supplies now (Battery, Renogy DC to DC charger, Power Dynamics AC to DC converter & battery charger) and have taken out my old AC to DC converter. It looks like the PD9130LV will be an easy swap in overall.

When wiring in the new converter, my old AC to DC converter had three wires coming out of it:
A) 12VDC + wire for all RV 12VDC circuits
B) Battery +
C) Negative - leads for A & B circuits
The old converter is 20A and the new one is 30A which is part of my concern. Did you plug both the A and B connections directly into the +ve terminal of the PD9130LV? If not, how did you wire up the A circuit?

When wiring in the DC to DC converter, where did you connect it in? The AC to DC converter +ve battery terminal wire connects into a nearby rubber covered connection terminal which I think is the connection point where the starter battery, AC-DC converter, and house battery are all wired to. I am thinking I need to remove the starter battery wire from that node, connect it to the Input side of the DC to DC charger and then connect the output side +ve terminal back into the connection terminal.

Am I planning this correctly? Any adivce is greatly appreciated.

I attached a photo of the rubber covered terminal that I am talking about, just in case.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 04, 2021 9:17 pm    Post subject: Re: New LiFePo Coach Battery for EVC Reply with quote

Hi. Question about coach batteries. For Xmas I bought a 100ah LiFePo battery along with 100w solar panel, AND a Renogy DC-DC Mppt combined charge controller. Here’s the question. I know my 1997 EVC has a battery charger solinoid between the alternator/starter battery and the house battery. QUESTION: Do I need to bypass the old solenoid (uninstall it) and wire my new controller direct to the starter battery?? Or can I attach the current wire from the solenoid to the new controller?
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TFB777
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2021 12:47 pm    Post subject: Re: Coach Battery for EVC Reply with quote

This page from 1705.net was extremely helpful in replacing my stock charger/converter on my 2002 EVC. I followed the instructions exactly and everything is working perfectly.

https://1705.net/converter-upgrade/
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RiverdaleTom
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2021 6:33 pm    Post subject: Re: Coach Battery for EVC Reply with quote

Great link, thanks for sharing!
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MrPulldown
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 09, 2021 10:34 am    Post subject: Re: Coach Battery for EVC Reply with quote

TheOneTrueQuux wrote:
JasCosta wrote:
I am looking to upgrade to LiFeP04 battery as well on a 2002 EVC and am curious about how the alternator charges the house battery? Is there an existing separate charge controller, and does this need to be upgraded in addition to the shorepower converter ?


The alternator charges the house battery through an isolation solenoid (a big high current relay) on the firewall. You need to replace this with an active DC-DC charger with lithium for two reasons.
1.) The Lithium ion batteries can draw much more current when fully discharged than lead acid can, potentially roasting your alternator.
2.) The alternator may not produce a high enough voltage to fully charge the battery.

Because of reason 2, you also need to replace the stock line powered battery charger/power supply with one that can handle a lithium charge profile.


Don't you still need the solenoid with the DC-DC charger to isolate the engine battery from the house. Or does the DC-DC charge do this.
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