larry kidd

Once the material starts tearing as I put things on or especially once they are dirty / wet and shred as I try to remove.

Jackie Lei wrote:Hey everyone — quick question for the RV folks here 🙏

Has anyone here actually used LiFePO4 batteries in RV setup? I’m planning an upgrade and deciding between going with one 600Ah battery or two 300Ah batteries in parallel, and I’m a bit stuck on which way is smarter in real-world use.

I’m looking at these two options:
one unit 12V 600Ah battery
two units 12V 300Ah mini size battery (would run two in parallel)

On paper both setups seem workable, but I’d really like to hear from people with hands-on experience — things like reliability, wiring complexity, redundancy, performance, or any regrets after choosing one way over the other.

Any advice or lessons learned would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot for your time!

Have you used a power system of this type at all? 600AH @12V is NOT enough power to run AC overnight. With a total of 600 AH @12V gives you about 5000-6000 useable watt hours and even less if you want maximum life out of them. You need more volume and you really need to consider a better voltage 12v is going to run HOT with those kinds of loads.

Just my $0.02 then again I've been living with or on batteries / solar over 18 years now......

Les Frijo wrote:

larry kidd wrote:I set up a grow tent and having things growing in the house all winter really helps on cold winter days. I sit beside the tent with the door open and it's like being outside in the spring on a nice sunny day.

Midwestern winters would be waaaaay longer without growing things indoors. Just make sure the grow lights you choose produce the UV light you want and need and then stay indoors if need be.

I just using 4000k shop lights.

My homemade potting soil is a grand slam! It's been just over 30 days and the growth rate is explosive! I'm seeing a weeks growth in about 48 hours. I've added nothing but water and a little molasses. When I say a little I mean less than a cup total across everything, that's all I had on hand. lol Oh and I'm not even using grow lights just cheap UFO style shop lights.

I set up a grow tent and having things growing in the house all winter really helps on cold winter days. I sit beside the tent with the door open and it's like being outside in the spring on a nice sunny day.

Les Frijo wrote:

larry kidd wrote:EVE cells from the 18650 battery store or whoever has the current best price. Quality cells versus unknown cells from whoever.

Thanks for the recommendation. I wouldn't have known that EVE cells were any good.

It seems like a big project for what I'm looking for and this seems like it might be all I need and hard to beat in price. With a 5 year warranty it might be worth taking a risk. Assuming I'll be able to get ahold of the company if anything were to go wrong. It's cheaper than a deep cell AGM or lead acid.

Super Empower 12V 100AH LiFePO4

Hope you have better luck than I have IF warranties are needed! I didn't think much about warranties until I called a couple of them in and found out they weren't worth the paper they were printed on!!! Since then I'd rather handle things myself.

Never forget for just a few dollars you can add your own heat and thermostat in to your battery build. Since my battery bank is fixed in place I simply used heat tape for water pipes that come with a built in thermostat on at 35f off at 50f.

EVE cells from the 18650 battery store or whoever has the current best price. Quality cells versus unknown cells from whoever.

Have you considered buying components and putting a battery together yourself and saving some money? Then you save money and know your parts and how to fix / replace them.

Eric Hanson wrote:Christopher,

Ok, if you had to recommend a battery chainsaw platform, what would it be?  Since I am considering Milwaukee, might the Milwaukee saw do it?

If you already own 18V Milwaukee tools or plan to then that's the way to go since the batteries are interchangeable across almost all their large tools. Yes they still have some smaller stuff like my daughter's M12 tools that she works with everyday. They are perfect for the lighter work of installing security systems. Where they are not as good for framing or demolition. Right tool for the job ya know!