# Lithium Battery Upgrade: Cost, Hours and Process in Hacienda Heights A lithium battery upgrade replaces a lead acid house bank with lithium iron phosphate and reworks everything that charges or protects it: the converter profile, the solar controller, the inverter low voltage cutoff, the interconnects and often the alternator side isolation. Dropping lithium into lead acid charging hardware is where these projects go wrong. ## Specifications - Price band: $1,500 to $12,000 - Shop hours: 4 to 20 hours - Turnaround tier: Upfit and fabrication - Insurance billable: no - Parts lead time: Battle Born and Lion Energy 5 to 15 business days. Victron controllers and shunts 7 to 20 business days. - OEM brands: Battle Born, Lion Energy, Victron, Magnum, Progressive Dynamics, Renogy ## Lithium is a system change, not a battery change Lithium iron phosphate takes a different charge profile than lead acid, has a different voltage curve, tolerates deeper discharge, accepts far higher charge current, and carries an internal management board that will disconnect the bank to protect itself. Each one of those differences touches a component that was chosen for the old chemistry. The converter is the first. A WFCO or Progressive Dynamics unit set for lead acid will either undercharge lithium forever or hold it at an absorption voltage it should not sit at. Either the unit supports a lithium profile or it gets replaced. There is no third option that ends well. The second is protection thresholds. An inverter with a low voltage cutoff set for lead acid will shut down while a lithium bank still has meaningful capacity, which is the most common complaint we hear from owners who did the swap themselves and felt like they bought less battery than they paid for. - Converter or inverter charger with a selectable lithium profile - Solar charge controller reprogrammed to the lithium curve - Inverter low voltage cutoff and alarm thresholds reset - Interconnect and main cable sizing for the higher charge acceptance - A shunt based monitor, because lithium voltage tells you almost nothing - Compartment temperature consideration, since charging below freezing is restricted ## Sizing the bank against how the coach is actually used Amp hour math is easy and usually beside the point. What matters is the largest sustained load and the overnight energy budget. A coach with a residential refrigerator, a residential microwave and a CPAP has a different requirement than a coach that runs lights, a pump and a television. We build the number from measured draw rather than from a nameplate list. The residential refrigerator is usually the swing item, and the second is whether you intend to run air conditioning off the bank at all, which changes both the battery count and the inverter. The honest answer for a lot of owners is that two lithium batteries with a good monitor and a correct charging profile solve the actual complaint, and four would be capacity nobody uses. We would rather scope it that way than sell the bigger bank and have you discover it later. ## Cost, hours and whether it pays back The band on this page runs from a two battery conversion with a compatible existing converter at the low end to a four or six battery bank with a new inverter charger, a solar controller, new cabling and a monitor at the top. Labor is the posted mechanical and electrical rate of $260 per hour across 4 to 20 hours, and battery lead time is 5 to 15 business days. On pure cost per usable amp hour over service life, lithium generally comes out ahead of lead acid because you use a much larger share of the capacity and the cycle life is several times longer. Whether it pays back for you specifically depends on how often you are actually off shore power. The two arguments that convince most owners are not financial. The first is weight, because a lithium bank is roughly a third of the mass of the lead acid bank it replaces and many coaches are close to their cargo limit. The second is that nobody has to reach into a hot compartment with distilled water again. ## Not included - We do not install lithium behind charging hardware that cannot be set to a lithium profile. - Chassis alternator charging modifications are truck shop work and are not part of this scope. - This is an upgrade rather than a repair, so it is quoted as a project and not as a diagnosis. ## Questions **Can I just drop lithium batteries into my RV?** Mechanically yes, and that is why so many owners try. Electrically it needs the charging side reworked. The converter has to support a lithium profile or be replaced, the solar controller has to be reprogrammed, the inverter low voltage cutoff has to move, and the monitor needs a shunt because lithium voltage is nearly flat across the usable range. Skip those and you get a bank that undercharges and cuts out early. **How much does a lithium upgrade cost on a motorhome?** The band on this page covers it. A two battery conversion where the existing converter already supports lithium sits near the bottom. A four or six battery bank with a new inverter charger, a solar controller, new cabling and a shunt monitor reaches the top. The systems estimate at $150 produces the actual number and is credited against an authorized job. **How many lithium batteries do I actually need?** We build the number from measured draw rather than a wish list. The swing items are a residential refrigerator, a residential microwave and whether you intend to run air conditioning off the bank. Many owners are fully served by two batteries with a correct charging profile and a real monitor, and we will say so rather than quoting four. **Does the cold matter for lithium in Southern California?** Rarely here, but it is worth knowing. Lithium iron phosphate should not be charged below freezing, and quality batteries include internal protection or heating for that. In the San Gabriel Valley the compartment almost never gets there. If you tow to the Sierra in winter, we spec a heated battery and say why. --- Source: https://ocrv.club/rv-service/lithium-battery-upgrade OCRV Center, 23281 La Palma Ave, Yorba Linda, CA 92887 Phone (949) 799-3387. Email info@ocrvcenter.com. Serving Hacienda Heights and the surrounding area. 18.4 miles, 24 to 38 minutes via SR-60 west to Fullerton Rd, then south to La Palma Ave. In shop work only. All estimates are priced and credited against an authorized repair.