Max Amp Hours you can fit in a Slee 2nd Battery Mount?

[Otter]

Maybe not the answer you want but you can also rewire it... make the 60AH battery your starting battery and one near the headlamp the 100AH aux battery.

This is one of the things I've considered doing.

I think i've come to the conclusion I'm going to run a LiFEPO4 in the back. Sucks to have the system take up space, but keeps weight off the already heavy nose and probably the only way to get the usable 80 Ah I'm looking for. Two 50 Ah batteries can be tucked away pretty well near the wheel arches.

This is the other route I'm leaning towards. Cost is the biggest impediment at this point for a 100ah lithium. My solar charge controller is already in the cargo area, so easy to connect. Much more capacity then my 100 ah Group 31 AGM, which is about half the capacity.

 

[mdcoa]

I think i've come to the conclusion I'm going to run a LiFEPO4 in the back. Sucks to have the system take up space, but keeps weight off the already heavy nose and probably the only way to get the usable 80 Ah I'm looking for. Two 50 Ah batteries can be tucked away pretty well near the wheel arches.

Since I have no aftermarket bumper or sliders, as well as a family of 5, I am trying to put every pound I can as far forward as I can but, yeah, lithium is pretty tempting--it'd be interesting to figure out how many AH of lithium batteries could be squeezed behind the passenger side trim after a DVD-player-ectomy. . . . it'd be nice to have that thing gone so my kids can stop asking me when we're going to use the screen. Never. The answer is never.

 

[arkmm]

anyone get anywhere with this? I'm also leaning towards LiFePo in the back, maybe integrated into a future storage drawer build.

 

[mdcoa]

Realized I earlier posted this idea but with no link….and then realized I hadn’t even found deep cycles. So here’s another idea:

What about four of these 20AH deep cycle batteries? Three would fit in the Slee tray, one could go in front of the airboat, provided I can figure out how to secure it without drilling tons of holes in my bodywork….

I am aware of no other way to get 80Ah (40 usable) in one of these setups….

https://www.fullriverbattery.com/product/dc20-12/

 

[Otter]

anyone get anywhere with this? I'm also leaning towards LiFePo in the back, maybe integrated into a future storage drawer build.

Save the money on the second battery tray, and put it towards a lithium in the rear.

 

[mdcoa]

Save the money on the second battery tray, and put it towards a lithium in the rear.

Yeah, probably a good idea for someone starting from scratch at this point—figure out a box and put a bcdc and a lithium battery in it. Or buy a self-contained charging station thingmo….

But, dang, there’s a lot to like about the under-hood setup….I have ZERO spare cargo space, having the REDARC BCDC up by the grille is great and provides easy access for plugging in solar, and the compressor mount is a nice freebie….
I think with solar (I just bought a Bugout 130) my current 60 Ah setup might be just fine for our purposes. More would nice, though. .

 

[arkmm]

Yeah, probably a good idea for someone starting from scratch at this point—figure out a box and put a bcdc and a lithium battery in it. Or buy a self-contained charging station thingmo….

But, dang, there’s a lot to like about the under-hood setup….I have ZERO spare cargo space, having the REDARC BCDC up by the grille is great and provides easy access for plugging in solar, and the compressor mount is a nice freebie….
I think with solar (I just bought a Bugout 130) my current 60 Ah setup might be just fine for our purposes. More would nice, though. .

Yea i'd really prefer to use all that old AHC space and keep the BCDC up front instead of wasting space in the back thats already full on trips. How hot does it really get in the engine bay? LiFePo are good to like 130-140F right? What's the worst that can happen?

 

[mdcoa]

Yea i'd really prefer to use all that old AHC space and keep the BCDC up front instead of wasting space in the back thats already full on trips. How hot does it really get in the engine bay? LiFePo are good to like 130-140F right? What's the worst that can happen?

Based on your location, I'd say a LOT hotter than 130-140!

Also want to expand on my earlier comment re. going the LiFePo route--definitely the way to go for someone starting a 2-person-rig build now. Families of 4/5 . . . under hood is still probably worth pursuing, even though it's a suboptimal system. But tent+fridge+single column of wolfpak boxes and my cargo footprint is GONE. Then we stack upward from there. . . .

 

[Otter]

You can always find space, if you want. My setup has gone through several different iterations over the years and between trucks. I pondered going with a slee 2nd battery mount, a second AGM, a Redarc BCDC vs Lithium stored in cargo. Lithium won. I already had a Victron solar charger and a shore charger. Cost of those plus a Victron DCDC was still cheaper than the Redarc. A DIY Lithium and some new cabling and I was set. I have one 4ga wire going from my truck battery to the cargo area. All accessories are wired to a fuse panel in the cargo. Made my life a lot easier.

Here's my DIY Lithium thread.

 

[hoser]

Some old trucks had toolboxes under the hood. You can put your non-heat sensitive tools under the hood and a battery in the back? BCDC can hide in one of the side panels. It should be near the battery anyway.

 

[gungriffin]

The only downsides to I have found to lithium is that it is temperature sensitive and it is more expensive up front. You cannot charge it below 32* f or discharge it below about 20* f if I remember correctly. This is why it is better to install it in the interior of the 100. Lithium is cheaper on a per charge metric than lead acid. This is what I am looking at putting in the rear of my 100 when I build it out:

Amazon product ASIN B084DB36KW
$350 battery that weighs 25lbs with 80 usable Ah. You can go 100% depth of discharge (DOD) with lithium, but you might only get 800 power cycles doing so. At 80% DOD, you can get close to 4000 cycles before seeing any appreciable degradation in the capacity. You can also power appliances up to 1200w continuous with the built in battery management system (BMS).

Pair this with a 100 or 200 watt panel and MPPT charger for ~$150. Get an inexpensive 1000w 120v inverter for $80-170. Get a regular inverter at $80 for normal 120v power. Get a sine wave for $165 if you are charging expensive electronics. If you are using a ton of power, pair it with a DC to DC lithium charger from Renogy for about $150. When in doubt about manufacturers, Renogy is a good company to buy from.

 

[pili]

I went lithium in the back. Expensive but no regrets, this system rocks.

 

[Otter]

View attachment 2868169
View attachment 2868173View attachment 2868174I went lithium in the back. Expensive but no regrets, this system rocks.

Great setup. I really want to see that ladder mount though. I'm always looking for a nice place to stash my ladder.

 

[pili]

Great setup. I really want to see that ladder mount though. I'm always looking for a nice place to stash my ladder.

I’ll snap a few pics tomorrow. The ladder is sort of a pain to get in/out in this iteration but it works for now. And most importantly the ladder has a home and is out of the way.

 

[CBdeJ]

I've got an Odessey AGM 75/86 in my slee second battery tray.

ODP-AGM75 86

Looking for an ODP-AGM75 86 (75-86-705) ODYSSEY Performance Series battery? Buy it online at OdysseyBattery.com - the official manfacturer's website. Whether it's a battery for your car, boat, RV, a powersports battery or a heavy duty / commercial application battery - powerful performance...

www.odysseybattery.com

 

[mdcoa]

I've got an Odessey AGM 75/86 in my slee second battery tray.

ODP-AGM75 86

Looking for an ODP-AGM75 86 (75-86-705) ODYSSEY Performance Series battery? Buy it online at OdysseyBattery.com - the official manfacturer's website. Whether it's a battery for your car, boat, RV, a powersports battery or a heavy duty / commercial application battery - powerful performance...

www.odysseybattery.com

View attachment 2868577

That looks great--didn't know they made that. But my wheelchair battery still has a bit over 20% more Ah . . . and cost nearly 30% less.

Amazon product ASIN B01N15XBBR
I think Ah rating (that will fit) is the only thing that matters, although LiFePo4 batteries make even that discussion weird, as they can use pretty much all the amp hours again and again, whereas us in the under-hood crowd can only use half of ours.

 

[mdcoa]

You can always find space, if you want. My setup has gone through several different iterations over the years and between trucks. I pondered going with a slee 2nd battery mount, a second AGM, a Redarc BCDC vs Lithium stored in cargo. Lithium won. I already had a Victron solar charger and a shore charger. Cost of those plus a Victron DCDC was still cheaper than the Redarc. A DIY Lithium and some new cabling and I was set. I have one 4ga wire going from my truck battery to the cargo area. All accessories are wired to a fuse panel in the cargo. Made my life a lot easier.

Here's my DIY Lithium thread.

Super cool install thread. That does take up less space than I thought it would--nice work on the 4x 25Ah cells. Do you think it'd work to stick a redarc BCDC and four cells inside an ammo box?

 

[dividedan]

For those with lithium in the rear and a BCDC or similar isn’t there a worry running such high amperage through the vehicle? I could be convinced possibly of finding a place for lithium in the rear, but I don’t love the idea of having it be solar charged only.

 

[mdcoa]

For those with lithium in the rear and a BCDC or similar isn’t there a worry running such high amperage through the vehicle? I could be convinced possibly of finding a place for lithium in the rear, but I don’t love the idea of having it be solar charged only.

You would just put a circuit breaker near the starting battery so any short between there and the BCDC would just trip the breaker. No need to go solar only—the redarc BCDC allows charging from either the alternator or solar, prioritizing solar, without having to move any wiring or do any plugging or unplugging.

 

[pili]

I’m not worried about it. I used a 40A fuse near the starter batt and ran 6 awg back the bcdc (with extra sleeving).

Pic of the ladder mount. Just used some cheap hooks from HD and one quick fist thing.