Changing batteries to Lithium…….

I’ve noticed a few Cali owners replacing their leisure batteries to Lithium types. Is this safe to do? The reason I ask is that I have a BMW motorbike that has a Lithium battery but I have had to buy a dedicated lithium battery charger as you cannot charge a lithium battery with a normal battery charger as it will damage the battery. What with all t the fires with lithium battery cars and E scooters that are in the news it makes me wonder. Is the Cali on board charger capable of charging both lithium and normal batteries? There are a couple of battery chargers on the market that can charge both types but you have to choose the battery type by pressing an option button on it before you start charging.

Just read a few posts on this and it seems you need to change the charging system to fit lithium batteries. Seems like a lot of pain to me. I’ll be keeping my normal leisure batteries me thinks…..

JohnCalifornia said:

Just read a few posts on this and it seems you need to change the charging system to fit lithium batteries. Seems like a lot of pain to me. I’ll be keeping my normal leisure batteries me thinks…..

Click to expand...

I think you are right, although some lithium batteries claim to have some of the conversion built in they don't seem that convincing. I get the impression that they might just work if you don't change stuff but probably not very efficiently and maybe not as safely as they should be.
However I think others on here are using them so maybe they know more

No way would I put a lithium battery in a camper. We went to a Fire Service open day last week with our grandson and the fire service seem very anti. Charging is a problem, witness some poor guy losing his home a couple of weeks ago while his daughters escooter was charging, Value for money it just doesn't make sense to me. I've had a drone battery just catch fire for no apparent reason and it's bloody scary.

briwy said:

No way would I put a lithium battery in a camper.

Click to expand...

Agree but a well manufactured and fitted LiFePO4 is a slightly different proposition.

I think it’s important to discriminate between Lithium Ion and Lithium Phosphate. The former is in more compact applications (phones, e-scooters etc) and somewhat more unstable.

LiFePO4 (the latter) is what you should be aiming for in a motorhome and is much more stable/safe.

SpuffingtonMe said:

I think it’s important to discriminate between Lithium Ion and Lithium Phosphate. The former is in more compact applications (phones, e-scooters etc) and somewhat more unstable.

LiFePO4 (the latter) is what you should be aiming for in a motorhome and is much more stable/safe.

Click to expand...

Absolutely spot on.