These pages are about our change from lead acid batteries to Lithium and pictures of what we built. 

We also replaced our troubled Waeco fridge at the same time as it was just as disruptive.

Our demands on the batteries were getting greater. While camping off-grid most of the time, we were succumbing to the modern world of technology and while charging phones doesn't take much power, running laptops and TV's doesn't help and changing over to electric bicycles added another power draw when needing to charge them.

Being a bit old, many of the items in the original build didn't support Lithium batteries and would need to be replaced so we set about a shopping list.

• New Lithium battery
• Solar chargers 
• Mains Charger
• B2B charger from vehicle to leisure battery

This was the starting set of big purchases but to add to this we put in several smaller items.

• Standard fuse box
• Cooling fans
• Reverse charging for the vehicle battery
• Cable management
• TV voltage stabiliser

Things we also did

• Replaced the original Waeco CR110 fridge (14 years old) with the equivalent new model, CRX110
• Added an additional 150W solar panel with it's own controller
• Automatic mains/invertor switching

This needs it's own section because this is how the new equipment is accessed. It's not much of a problem for the little access to the new electronics, it's not been used to turn the lights on/off or anything like that but does require the phone to be used which if avoiding the outside world is a nuisance.

Everything has an app and I'm not sure if it's worth digging out an old phone and using that just for the van. With this comes the need for some security and if the app allows changes to your van then definitely use it.

All the Victron equipment came with their own apps, the new battery and our gas tank has one too.

There are lots of different brands in the Lithium battery market and most are new without much of a reputation. I'd been keeping track and one of the new names that seemed to be getting good long term reviews was Fogstar. So looking at their range we bought a new 280Ah battery. We had previously run two 105Ah batteries and their capacity was struggling, so this became a capacity upgrade as well as replacement.

The battery came with an app and Bluetooth connectivity (just feels wrong but it's been useful) which doesn't tell you very much, charging rate and current charge. There are lots of error indicators but we haven't needed to concern ourselves with them yet. The app also shows all the Bluetooth connected devices nearby, regardless of function, and includes those of other campers nearby, including their batteries. It's a battery with heating for charging in lower temperatures, and I'm not sure if it's ever been needed, winter camping tends to be in the UK and sub-zero temperatures on the South West coast re a rare event.

The battery also has an on/off setting and a charging on/off setting controlled by the app. There's an option to add a security key when accessing the battery to prevent unauthorised access and I recommend that it's used. Without it your neighbours with the app can switch off your battery, either accidentally or deliberately.

There's been no issues in use, the app connectivity with security key was a bit hit and miss but appears to be working just fine now. It has been a fit and forget item for the most part and only needs checking if we've been parked up on site for a few days without much sunshine.

Having fitted the electric years ago, this manufacturer passed us by and we read peoples enthusiasm with polite interest. It was still expensive. But the price of their equipment had come down which made purchasing the new Lithium compatible equipment a sensible option. 

We bought their IP22 mains charger, Orion 30A B2B controller and two new solar controllers, a 100/30 to replace the original ePever on the old 300W array, and a 75/20 for the new 150W panel.

There's more about these separately, see the sidebar, but they all came with Bluetooth to set them up, the apps needed an update straight away but since then it's been a rare occurrence.

The CBE system we had has remained unchanged, just does less than it did but still does it's part and there's no reason to replace it. The 300W sine wave inverter we bought to charge the electric bicycles has also stayed, we're planning on doing more with mains electric appliances in the future but for now it's enough for our charging needs.

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