Keith Gooden
In today’s episode of the Motorhome Matt podcast…
Matt Sims
We dive into what you need to know when choosing a lithium battery.
Keith Gooden
And we answer your questions about disabled access to stopovers, van security and getting insurance without a home address. Welcome to the Motorhome Matt Podcast. I’m Keith Gooden.
Matt Sims
And I’m Motorhome Matt.
Keith Gooden
Industry insights and expert advice for the world of motorhomes, caravans and campervans. It’s brought to you by www.thatleisureshop.com.
Matt Sims
Please do remember to follow on your favourite podcast app. And if you’re watching on YouTube, would you hit subscribe and the bell? It’s all brought to you by www.arobasecreative.co.uk.
Product of the week
Keith Gooden
Let’s delve into the www.thatleisureshop.com product of the week for this week shall we, Matt? What is it?
Matt Sims
It’s on topic. Unsurprisingly, it’s a lithium battery. So this is a 100 amp hour leisure battery from the company Teconnex. And as we unpack later in this episode, it complies with all criteria that you need to know about when replacing your leisure battery with a lithium one or if you’re doing a lithium battery upgrade. And the best bit about it is it’s bright orange.
Keith Gooden
It’s very orange!
Matt Sims
Which actually is not important at all.
Keith Gooden
But we like orange.
Matt Sims
We do love orange. This one hasn’t got the battery terminals on. I’ve not fitted them, but they do come with those. You can screw those on so you can put your battery clamps on the top. Get 10% off at www.thatleisureshop.com with the code MOTORHOMEMATT. And the best bit about this brand is they are Motorhome Matt Approved.
So I have been questioning and interviewing the guys at Teconnex. They’re a massive company. They are a very impressive team, I have to say. They have signed up to Motorhome Matt Approved and I’ve given them my rubber stamp. I’ve been testing one of these in my own motorhome, and it has been brilliant.
Keith Gooden
Motorhome Matt Approved. How do people search the Motorhome Matt Approved database?
Matt Sims
Easy. Just go to www.motorhomematt.co.uk/approved, and there you’ll find the entire directory of companies, brands, businesses and products that I’ve used, some for many, many years, and brands that I can wholeheartedly recommend to you.
If you’re looking for a lithium battery, you’ll find names of the companies that I use and I can commend to you. And the list is growing all the time as we’re testing products, and businesses are approaching us and asking to be Motorhome Matt Approved.
And I’m discovering, actually, in conversation with people, how many brands and products you actually need to use when you own a motorhomeor campervan, whether you’re cleaning it or putting a tracker on it, securing it… it’s vast. It’s almost unending.
And I’ve used hundreds and thousands of products over the years, and some, I have to say, are better than others. So this is a great way, Motorhome Matt Approved, of finding brands that I love and I can commend to you.
How to choose a lithium battery
Keith Gooden
It’s the Motorhome Matt podcast. I’m Keith Gooden.
Matt Sims
And I’m Motorhome Matt.
Keith Gooden
It’s brought to you by www.thatleisureshop.com. We are talking about lithium batteries today, and I have unofficially called this episode, “How to choose a lithium battery. HELP!”
Matt Sims
And rightly so. You know, we’ve done an episode before on installing one and the costs associated with doing a lithium battery upgrade. But what do you need to know when choosing a lithium battery?
And I started scratching the surface of this and realised I was actually opening what felt like a can of worms, because there are so many brands out there. And even as a business here at That Leisure Shop, we are regularly contacted weekly from brands and businesses, usually in China, that are trying to sell to us their lithium battery products.
And they may well be fine. But even then, what criteria should I be looking at to make a judgment call of whether this is going to be a good battery, a reliable battery, and one that, frankly, isn’t going to go wrong? Because let’s face it, when lithium goes wrong, it can go really wrong, can’t it?
Keith Gooden
It can indeed, and this is about really quite a complicated issue in a fairly young industry, and the consumer isn’t helped by the amount of choice, the amount of labelling, and what’s important and what’s not. So you’ve been talking to somebody, haven’t you?
Matt Sims
Yes. So I started unpacking this in some detail, and I wanted to find out what the accreditation means. What testing do these batteries go through at a component level and at an assembled, finished product level that you can then buy?
And what rules and regulations do these products have to comply with, so that then as a consumer, we can make an informed choice about a battery that we might be buying? So I started by talking to the guys at Teconnex, and I asked them a bit more about this.
Teconnex lithium batteries
Matt Sims
I’m delighted to be joined by Richard Feather from Teconnex, one of the world’s biggest leisure battery or lithium battery manufacturers.
Richard Feather
In the UK.
Matt Sims
Brilliant. So thank you for joining me. You’re the business development manager for Teconnex in the leisure sector. Just tell us a little bit about Teconnex, Richard. So you make a battery that is almost as big as this room, you were telling me, that will potentially power a festival site and replace the use of a generator.
Richard Feather
Yes. We have got large ESS units, the energy storage systems. 25 kilowatt, 50 kilowatt. It can be extended, and they are for clean renewable energy, and it’s part of the diversification unit for Teconnex.
Matt Sims
And I guess these types of batteries will power a building in the event of a power cut. That’s their purpose.
Richard Feather
Absolutely. That is exactly what they’re for.
Matt Sims
Clean and quiet. Very clever. So this is a minute version of a battery for you. And it’s worth saying as well – I know I’m not allowed to push you on any of your client base, but if you’re watching or listening to this, if you think of a car manufacturer at all levels of car make, it’s probably a Teconnex client. Can I say that?
Richard Feather
I would probably agree with that.
Matt Sims
And if you think outer space, they’re probably a Teconnex customer too.
Richard Feather
That would probably be correct also.
Matt Sims
But we’re not allowed to name any of them! Anyway. So these guys are a global player. 1,200 staff, I think?
Richard Feather
Globally, yeah. 1,200. We’ve got 500 in the UK.
Matt Sims
Amazing. And you’re based up in Yorkshire. So this is, as I say, a minute battery for you. Why did you build this battery for our market in in this quiet corner of the kind of battery world of motors and campervans? I mean, this is tiny for you.
Richard Feather
It’s part of the diversification of Teconnex, where our main component is the internal combustion engine, but we’ve gone into the leisure sector and renewable which is all part of the greater plan of Teconnex for diversification to ensure our long term…
Matt Sims
For your continued world domination.
Richard Feather
That sounds better.
Matt Sims
Love it. Well, welcome to our little corner of the world, anyway. Now, it’s worth saying as well, I’ve got one of these batteries in my own motorhome. I have spent months researching and preparing for this conversation.
So a lot of prep has gone into this, because, as I said earlier with Keith, it was like opening a can of worms trying to find out about lithium batteries. And there’s a lot of fear around them, isn’t there, it’s fair to say. And let’s get that elephant out of the room – so lithium batteries catch fire and explode. Fact?
Richard Feather
If they are manufactured incorrectly with substandard parts, that can happen. But with an accredited battery that is proven and with the correct accreditation, they are safe.
Matt Sims
Right. Nicely, corporately spoken! So let’s get to it, then. So this is over to you, right? Okay, no holds barred. I want to talk about that accreditation, because we do genuinely get numerous approaches now daily from China, businesses trying to sell us lithium product to put in That Leisure Shop.
So it’s worth saying as well that we do sell this battery in That Leisure Shop. And this is a LiFePO4 battery, or a lithium phosphate battery. Let’s talk about the accreditation. There’s some marks on it. Let’s start with this one here. UN 38.3. Now, this is a series of 10 tests, which…
Richard Feather
Eight.
Matt Sims
Eight tests, okay. Thank you for correcting me. So this is about the battery in transit and how the battery survives being shipped, so your ability to send this all around the world. Now, for me, that’s important, because I’m putting this in my motorhome, so I am essentially a delivery van delivering a battery because it is being driven everywhere. So, you know, that’s important to me. Let’s go through the test. So they start with T1. Can we talk through the testing?
Richard Feather
Yes. Basically, T1 is the altitude simulation, which is low pressure, and it’s tested at various temperatures. Just basically simulates all kinds of atmospheric areas, wherever that would be. Then you’ve got T2, which is the thermal test, which is from minus 40 up to 72 degrees.
And all these tests that they do ensure that the battery still functions safely and operates all the safety features during all these tests to stop the catastrophic failures that are prone with other brands that are imported in.
Then you’ve got T3 which for the motorhome sector probably is an important one. It’s a vibration test. So if you’ve got this battery in your motorhome, you’re driving round, or your campervan, and that’s being vibrated and bumped and all that lot, you want to know that that’s still going to maintain its form factor within that box. So there’s no loose wires, there’s nothing coming apart and nothing goes wrong. So that vibration test probably within the motorhome is important.
Matt Sims
And what does that test involve? Do you know?
Richard Feather
It goes onto a plate and it’s basically strapped down, and it’s shaken to a massive degree. And the battery is then tested to make sure it still functions, the safety features are all still correct, and that’s what that primary one is for that one.
Matt Sims
T4?
Richard Feather
Then you’ve got the shot test. That’s to simulate, in layman’s terms, if it was in a crash or anything like that, to ensure that it doesn’t blow up or malfunction, and all the safety features still, again, are correct, and that the box doesn’t cause any other issues.
Matt Sims
So in an accident, that’s really important, I guess. And then T5?
Richard Feather
The external short circuit. Now, that’s quite important, really, if you’re installing it, or somebody’s installing it, or if a wire comes loose during your wiring system, so that if there is a short circuit, that that battery will shut down. The battery management system is mainly tested on that one, so it ensures that it shuts down when it should do.
Matt Sims
Okay. Now, we’re not getting into the pros and cons of how a lithium works in terms of a BMS, the battery management system. We’re going to assume you understand that if you’re listening to this episode, because we are sticking with the accreditation. So let’s stay there. So we’re then up to T6.
Richard Feather
The impact in a crush. Again, this is about if something is dropped on it, and then that way it ensures that the battery and the internal components do not get damaged if something is dropped on it. So if it’s again in a crash or the likes of that, it’s still staying in its form factor and doesn’t malfunction.
Matt Sims
T7?
Richard Feather
Overcharge. Again, if you’re using your battery, whether that be solar, in a charger, or if something goes wrong and it tries to put a massive surge of charge into the battery – so that it doesn’t cause a problem. The safety features shut down.
Matt Sims
So again, if you’re hooked up to the electric and there’s a surge from the National Grid, which doesn’t happen very often…
Richard Feather
No, but it could.
Matt Sims
Yes, or from your alternator. Then the battery’s protected. Okay, got it. And then force discharge, T8?
Richard Feather
Same thing again. If you’re using it or charging, discharging, and if there is a sudden large pull, then again, the safety features kick in and it shuts down.
Matt Sims
So this could be about my kettle going wrong as I’m running an inverter off the battery, and the battery would shut off. Okay. Now, these tests, this UN 38.3 is a global standard. Is that right?
Richard Feather
That’s correct. Yes.
Matt Sims
So the batteries that are made in China – and let’s face it, most of them are – although you’re going to tell meyours are different.
Richard Feather
Ours are made in the UK.
Matt Sims
Okay, and hence the Union Flag on those. But the ones made in China, do they have to go through these tests as well?
Richard Feather
In theory, they do. But what a lot of them are doing is saying they have got a UN 38.3 but what they have is a UN 38.3 on a cell, on a singular cell. Ours is for the cell and the whole battery.
Matt Sims
So this is really important, isn’t it, because this is about the assembled end product. That’s what you’ve accredited. Now, you need to understand this, when you’re buying a battery from China, that the cells may be accredited individually, but as a final end product it’s not accredited. But they can put on the box that it’s accredited. Why are they allowed to do that?
Richard Feather
Again, that’s something that the industry needs to get a grip on, because it’s a safety issue. It’s not any other part of it. It’s all to do with safety. At Teconnex safety is paramount to us, and that is why we have got the full accreditation and the full range of tests and safety features that is needed.
Matt Sims
And the key thing with this battery is that you’ve assembled it in the UK. Have you made all the components that are in it?
Richard Feather
No. We do buy them in from our trusted suppliers. And again, they meet certain criteria. So we don’t just randomly buy parts in. We have our tried and tested and trusted suppliers of parts.
Matt Sims
You guys aren’t messing around when you make a battery. You’re supplying some of the world’s biggest automotive brands, and, in fact, other sectors as well. So you’re assembling this battery, and then you’re getting it accredited. Okay, the other big one, and we see this everywhere, is CE, and increasingly UKCA. Either or is fine, isn’t it, now in the UK?
The Standards Authority kind of changed the ruling, didn’t they, in 2023 and said the CE label is accepted in the UK post-Brexit because we were going to have to have UKCA on everything, but that’s been kicked into the long grass. So yours are CE and UKCA. That’s not the case, is it, with batteries necessarily coming out of China?
Richard Feather
No, because if you haven’t met all the criteria of all the certification, they shouldn’t have the CE. Basically, if they haven’t passed all the safety criteria and got all the certifications, it is not then or should not be for sale on the shelves in the UK because it doesn’t meet the safety standards.
Matt Sims
And you can ask to see this accreditation.
Richard Feather
Absolutely. A company should be proud of the safety features of their product. You should be able to ask them, and they should go, “There you go.”
Matt Sims
We are launching an electronic product with That Leisure Shop, which we’re really excited about. It’s a big secret at the moment as we record this. It’s launching in January, and that has got CE certification, and we have got a massive box file of paperwork, and I’m sure you have for this as well! And this is a tiny electrical product.
Richard Feather
When we build this, we have full traceability from the start to the end of who built it at what time, even to the point of what Newton meter certain things have been tightened to. Every battery is documented, recorded. Every wiring system is done the exact same way on every single battery.
Matt Sims
Individually?
Richard Feather
Yes.
Matt Sims
And of course, they’re all trackable with a serial number.
Richard Feather
Absolutely.
Matt Sims
And it’s worth noting, isn’t it, when somebody buys one of these batteries, they register it with a QR code here. And you get an alert, don’t you, that that serial number has been switched on and is alive.
Richard Feather
I actually personally get the email when they register that warranty. That alert comes direct, actually personally to me, so I know where that battery is. And if I’ve got an issue, or they’ve got an issue, they can ring me up, or ring Teconnex up and say, “I have battery, X, Y, Z,” which is a serial number, and we know when they bought it, who they bought it from. And then we actually can go into our system and we know exactly when, where and who built that battery.
Matt Sims
Yeah. Now, I wanted to mention this as well, that it’s really important when you buy a lithium battery, any lithium battery, that you register the warranty. We had an episode in the past where – I think it was called, “Are lithium batteries safe?” – a chap bought a battery from a company called KS Energy.
They issued a recall because they recognised a fault on their battery management system. And unfortunately, Simon’s battery experienced this fault and it exploded. It wrote his van off. Thankfully, he wasn’t in it, and KS Energy were able to track where every battery was, because everyone had filled in the warranty.
And the message there is, fill in your warranty. So if you have a problem that you recognise with any battery, you can find it and contact the person that owns it and swap it out. And hats off to KS Energy, they absolutely did the right thing by Simon, and he’s now living in a roof tent above his Tesla, so his faith in lithium batteries is still strong! And hats off to you, Simon. Thanks for giving us that episode as well. Let’s talk about RoHS. What is it?
Richard Feather
RoHS – the document is compiled of all the parts, how they’re made, where they’re made, and all the specification of each particular part within that battery and how it’s manufactured.
Matt Sims
So this is about the assembly of the final product. Okay. I want to talk about your Bluetooth. So a lithium battery can be connected to by your phone, and you can turn it on.
Richard Feather
Or other smart devices.
Matt Sims
Yes, very true. And you have your own app, which means I can connect to my battery. I can connect to any Teconnex battery. In fact, most lithium batteries I can find on it, but it uses Bluetooth. Now, I’ve seen many lithium batteries that don’t have the Bluetooth symbol.
Richard Feather
The official logo.
Matt Sims
Yours has got the official Bluetooth logo on. Do you have to have that?
Richard Feather
To be using Bluetooth, yes, you have to pay them and be a member of Bluetooth SIG. They can, if they see fit, choose to enforce a particular brand or product to stop using Bluetooth.
Matt Sims
So if they’re using their technology. So you register as a company on their database. And you can actually log in, can’t you, to the Bluetooth SIG, is it?
Richard Feather
Yep. Bluetooth SIG.
Matt Sims
And you can type in the company name and find their registration and basically… how much is it? It’s quite expensive, isn’t it?
Richard Feather
Several thousand pounds.
Matt Sims
Annually?
Richard Feather
Yes.
Matt Sims
So you can find the companies that have paid to be using the Bluetooth tech. And there aren’t that many on it!
Richard Feather
I know we’re on it!
Matt Sims
I found Teconnex on it. That’s a good thing. So let’s talk about RED as well.
Richard Feather
Radio equipment directive.
Matt Sims
So what is that?
Richard Feather
That’s also part of Bluetooth and the EMC and so forth. What a lot of other batteries have is the FCC, which is the American Standard. But for a battery to be in the UK, to pass all the relevant regulations, they need to be RED certified, which stands for Radio Equipment Directive.
Matt Sims
Okay. So tell me about R10.
Richard Feather
So it’s another certification that’s needed for the OEMs. So basically it’s part of the EMC, and it’s for the vehicle type approval. Not for propulsion, but for the leisure side of it, within the back of the motorhome or the campervan, and the likes of.
Matt Sims
So for leisure batteries, it means they can be replaced. The original manufactured one can be replaced. And this one is fit for purpose to replace it. I’ve got it. That makes sense now. I want to talk about cycles. One of the unique benefits of a lithium battery is how many times it can go flat and be recharged, go flat and be charged. You claim 3,000 cycles on this battery. I’ve seen batteries, though, that are claiming 10,000. But 3,000 – let’s think about this a minute.
Richard Feather
Let’s put that into perspective.
Matt Sims
If you flattened it every day for a year, 3,000 is eight years, flattening it every day. But I’m not going to do that! I think ours has been on the van for… when did we fit ours? It was back in the summer, wasn’t it? And I think it’s had five cycles in six months. So this is going to outlive my van. It’s gonna outlive me.
Richard Feather
Basically, yeah!
Matt Sims
But why are you only 3,000? Why are some people saying 10,000? 10,000 seems irrelevant.
Richard Feather
Yeah, it’s just a number that people put out there to make it sound better than…
Matt Sims
So what happens at 3,001?
Richard Feather
Nothing. The battery will be absolutely fine.
Matt Sims
It just keeps going? So you’ve quoted a realistic number.
Richard Feather
A sensible number.
Matt Sims
So the cycle rate, how many cycles – 3,000 is more than enough. I want to talk about temperatures for recharging. So one of the rules of a lithium battery and its BMS – and it will self police this – is that you should never recharge a lithium battery below zero degrees. So the ambient temperature’s at nought. So the windscreen’s frozen. Don’t put your van on charge if it’s zero degrees inside. Is that right?
Richard Feather
Look at the battery on the app. See what the temperature is telling you. If you try to charge it, the battery management system will not allow you to charge that battery if it is below zero for safety reasons.
Matt Sims
Yes. So if it’s got a poor BMS, and it does allow it to charge because it’s not doing its job, that’s when thermal runaway could occur.
Richard Feather
Could occur. Yes.
Matt Sims
Not will occur, could occur. It could go wrong. Okay, so that’s about BMS, and that’s one of the most important jobs it does, as well as the overcharging and sudden discharging and managing all of that. Your battery is rated at IP43.
Richard Feather
That’s correct.
Matt Sims
So you can get it splashed. Some lithium batteries are rated at IP67 which means you can submerge them in water. Why you’d want to do that I don’t know, but you were telling me earlier why that is not necessarily the safest route. Why a lower IP rating?
Richard Feather
The reason for our lower IP rating than a 67 or some of the others is because our battery case can vent. So if there’s a thermal runaway, and the cell is vented, it lets the gas out. If that was IP67 rated and completely sealed, that extra gas that has gone into that battery, where is that going to go? You are creating a gas chamber.
Matt Sims
So it becomes pressurised – and a bomb!
Richard Feather
Yes. Could do.
Matt Sims
So it can explode.
Richard Feather
So our battery box vents, so if a thermal runaway was to happen, the gases that are in there can escape and not be a pressurised battery box.
Matt Sims
Okay, got it. Interesting. The other thing I note about your battery box is it’s glued tight. I noticed some are screwed together. Why do you glue them?
Richard Feather
Because we feel, again, safety is paramount. We don’t want an unqualified person going into the box, altering, messing with the wire, causing a problem if they are not qualified to be touching or altering it. And then we all know what problems can occur if something’s altered, thermal runaway, etc.
Matt Sims
Or me, at 16 years old, trying to take it apart!
Richard Feather
Pretty much. That’s where we’re at.
Matt Sims
Got it. Again, I’d never appreciated that. So tell me about 1C – what does that mean?
Richard Feather
1C, what that is, that’s a 100 amp power battery, so that will charge and discharge at 100 amp. So 1C is just a technical term. Now, the reason we only allow that to be charged at 1C is because the cell is graded at that.
If we were to allow that to discharge at 150 amp or more than that, even though the BMS may allow it to do that, the cell manufacturer states that the cell should not be charged or discharged at more than 1C. So again, we feel safety is more important than anything else.
Matt Sims
Now, I’m about to put a two kilowatt inverter attached to this battery in our van. Is that safe to do that?
Richard Feather
Yeah, yeah.
Matt Sims
And it will run it? How long will it run it for? Say I’m drawing 2,000 watts out of it.
Richard Feather
If you run one kilowatt, for example, it’ll run at 100 amp for an hour.
Matt Sims
That’s if I’m pulling 2,000 watts out of it for an hour. I’m going to flatten it. So I want to add more batteries, then, so I’ve got more power. Can I parallel these up?
Richard Feather
You can.
Matt Sims
Positive to positive and negative to negative?
Richard Feather
You can. We strongly recommend rather than a random person doing that, it’s done by a qualified person.
Matt Sims
Of course.
Richard Feather
Because obviously, you have to make sure your cables are the correct thickness and tight and as short as possible. But yes, they can run in parallel to increase your capacity.
Matt Sims
How many can I put in parallel?
Richard Feather
Four.
Matt Sims
Right. No more than four. Okay, and the BMS will turn off if it detects more than four. What about in series? So why would I want to put it in series? I’m speaking to a number of people that are currently building 24 volt systems in their motorhome so that the inverter doesn’t have to work as hard to get to 240 volt. Can I put these in series?
Richard Feather
These ones won’t go in series.
Matt Sims
Why not?
Richard Feather
Because the components within it are not graded to go to 24 volt and etc. So the BMS will not run at 24 volt.
Matt Sims
Okay, so if you’re thinking of a 24 volt system, and I’d understand why you might do, you need to check and research the lithium battery you’re thinking of putting in, that it will allow you to run them in series, because that’s not the case with all of them, is it, or this one in particular?
Richard Feather
Yes. But our future batteries that we are going to be releasing next year, some of them will run in series and parallel.
Matt Sims
We’re getting there! There’s a couple left. Recycled. You’ve got the recycled logo on this. Tell me about that, because I know that’s a big deal for Teconnex.
Richard Feather
This battery – at its end of life, every battery manufacturer should receive that battery back to recycle it. So then what we can do with our battery is we can actually strip this battery down to piece part, so that when we come to recycle it it can all be recycled to the relevant places and recycled correctly.
Matt Sims
Okay, and what about the lithium that’s in it?
Richard Feather
That would then get used and recycled correctly as well, because we can strip them down to piece part. So the plastic goes with the plastic, the metal goes with the metal, and the lithium cells would go to that correct part that we can literally strip it all down a piece part.
Matt Sims
I want to fit one of these in my van, and many people do because of the benefits of a lithium battery. But this is all about charging voltage, isn’t it, and compatibility. You warned me that our motorhome has a Nordelettronica charging system. It has a lead acid profile on the charger and an AGM profile. It doesn’t have a lithium profile.
There’s no switch that says lithium on it. And you said, “Put it on AGM, it’ll be fine.” Now, our charger is putting out between 14.2 and 14.6 volts. That’s the critical bit of information, isn’t it? So many motorhome chargers don’t charge that high, and that’s why often the lithium battery doesn’t work, because it doesn’t get recharged properly.
But it’s not as simple as just going out there and covering your solar panel, hooking up, checking the voltage – if it’s somewhere between 14.2 ane 14.6, tick a box, then unplug it, start the engine, check the voltage again… then turn the engine off, uncover the solar, check the voltage again. If the voltage is between 14.2 and 14.6 it’s probably likely your charger will deal with a lithium battery.
Richard Feather
There is a chance, but it is electric. It is lithium. I strongly suggest if you’re unsure or anything like that, you consult a qualified installation team.
Matt Sims
And I know you’ve had first hand experience with a customer of ours who bought one of these. They fitted it to their motorhome, and it didn’t charge.
Richard Feather
No, it didn’t charge fully.
Matt Sims
You actually met him in a car park – that sounds really dodgy! – with a replacement battery. You replaced the battery, and he still had the same fault. And actually the issue was on his motorhome, and he had to get a professional to rectify the wiring issue that was causing the problem.
Richard Feather
That’s correct.
Matt Sims
My advice is – the first thing to do is check the voltage – but consider getting a professional to fit this for you, and I did that. I had a motorhome technician fit our lithium battery, and all it was was to connect everything to these two poles, and that was the physical fit. It was dead easy, but he did it safely, securely.
Everything was tight, and I knew that Jon had checked everything, and we were all good. I’m not qualified to do that, and I highly recommend that you don’t undertake fitting a battery. I know it’s only changing the battery, but it’s not – you are changing to a totally different technology. Get a professional to do it. And I would add as well, we’ve been talking a lot about the risks of lithium batteries.
Our Teconnex lithium battery is in the back of our motorhome. If you lift my pillow and lift the mattress, there it is. And I sleep with one of these literally under my head, and I sleep well, and I thank you for that! And I’ve been months getting to a point where I was confident to fit a lithium battery into our motorhome, particularly where it is.
And the accreditation, for me, is everything. So if you’re considering investing in one of these, then check the accreditation. Go through the checklist of these notes. It’s also worth adding as well, you are going through NCC approval. So the National Caravan Council, or the regulatory body in our motorhome and caravan industry, they are currently in the process of approving your battery for our industry, which is a great recognition as well.
I just want to say a massive thank you for bringing this into our market and unpacking this kind of long list, the can of worms that is the accreditation. And yeah, thank you so much for making the five-hour trip to the studio today to let me pick your brain and unpack something. And hopefully that’s given you a little bit of assurance about what you need to know when it comes to choosing a lithium battery!
Audience Q&A
Keith Gooden
It’s the Motorhome Matt podcast. I’m Keith Gooden.
Matt Sims
And I’m Motorhome Matt.
Keith Gooden
It’s brought to you by www.thatleisureshop.com. It’s time for our question and answer section. I say it every week, but it’s true – Matt is the expert, and if he can’t answer the question, he’ll find somebody that will! Jo Woolnough got in touch.
Jo Woolnough
Hi Matt. This is Jo with the funky chair. I have a question. You had Brit Stops on. But sadly, even though I am a subscriber to Brit Stops, none of their filters apply for wheelchair accessible. There’s nothing.
So therefore, every site that comes up, I then have to ring them in order to find out if they’re wheelchair accessible. With them being so digitally advanced now, Brit Stops, surely they could possibly put that in as well as a filter. Just wondered if other people had found the same thing.
Keith Gooden
Doctor Who seems to be in contact in the background there. Thanks, Jo, very much for that question. What’s your answer there, Matt?
Matt Sims
Well, we went to Brit Stops, who are also Motorhome Matt Approve, I have to say. I’ve been using Brit Stops for a long time. They’ve now gone digital, as Jo suggests. So it’s now an app. And they came back and said, “Thank you for the feedback. We agree that we would like to surface this information better to our Brit Stoppers. It has been on our list since we launched the new site, and we are working actively to collect more information on each host’s features, including accessibility features.”
Keith Gooden
“With over 1,100 hosts, it takes some time to get accurate information from every location, but we hear you and feel the same way as you do. We look forward to sharing more about this in the coming months.”
Matt Sims
There we are. Thank you, Brit Stops. That’s great news, Jo. Stay tuned and keep watching the app and look out for an update.
Keith Gooden
We’ll keep you updated here on the podcast as well.
Keith Gooden
Robin Taggart is in Ballymoney. That’s County Antrim, the Causeway coast in Northern Ireland. “Hi, Matt, can you and Keith cover the topic of van security when you’re parked up and away from the vehicle and it’s in danger of being broken into?”
“Specifically DIY fitting of dead locks to the habitation door and garage doors – are these effective and worth the hassle and expense of fitting? Are there any other measures worth considering? Many thanks,” says Robin.
Matt Sims
Yes. We have done this before, in fact, at length. There’s an episode you can search for called “Preventing motorhome theft.” And we talked to the insurer Caravan Guard about this as well, because one of the things to be mindful of is if your insurer requires a piece of security to be fitted to your motorhome or caravan at home, they will require it fitting to it when you’re on a campsite as well.
If you’ve told them you’ve got a wheel clamp on it, you need to fit the wheel clamp to it even when you’re away on a campsite. As for, “Are these extra devices worth the time and effort?” Yes, I would say they were. The more visual, the better. It sadly does mean that the thief is going to walk down the road onto the next one, but the more visual, the better, I’d say.
Keith Gooden
Barb’s in Brum. She says, “I’m selling my home to buy a motorhome to live and travel in on my own. This will mean I will no longer have an address. How do I go about getting insurance and stuff like that without a home address?”
“A bonus question from a newbie,” it says here. “What’s the difference between a campervan and a motorhome? Thanks, guys. Great podcast. First saw it on YouTube and then searched on Audible. You’re now my favorite bedtime story.” There you go, Barb. There’s my bedtime voice for you.
Matt Sims
Is that your best late night voice?
Keith Gooden
“Thanks for listening to Motorhome Matt…”
Matt Sims
She’s already gone to sleep.
Keith Gooden
“Motorhoming with Kevin…”
Matt Sims
“Campervanning with Chris…”
Keith Gooden
What’s the answer?
Matt Sims
Anyway, Barb, come on, come on! What was the question? So this is a great question, because it was asked recently as well, and there are virtual PO boxes and addresses that you can register for. The challenge comes with official documentation, so things like banking and your V5. The DVLA will want a physical bricks and mortar address.
My advice is to register with either a family member or a friend and get registered at their address with their permission, I suggest. But that will mean you stay on the electoral roll, and also you’re going to maintain a good credit score, a better credit score by virtue of the fact you have a physical address.
Lots of people do exist without a physical address. And if you’re listening to this and you do that, how do you manage this? Because the research I’ve done into this is that without a physical bricks and mortar address, it can be very difficult to register for banking and with the DVLA. So I’d love to know how you manage.
In terms of difference between a campervan and a motorhome – I guess the simple rule is that a motorhome has a toilet, shower, bathroom where a campervan wouldn’t. And the other key criteria is a campervan is normally a metal van with a sliding door with holes cut in it for the windows, whereas a motorhome, perhaps, is a coachbuilt where it’s had a body put on the back of a chassis and cab. That’s probably the simplest explanation.
Ask Matt
Keith Gooden
There you go, Barb, hope that’s been of help to you. Matt, if somebody wants to ask a question, what should they do?
Matt Sims
Please do. Go to mhmp.info/askmatt. You can fill in the form and submit your question, and we would love it if you recorded your question. You can listen back to it before you press submit. Hit the orange button and record your question. And if you do, please tell us where in the world you’re based!
Keith Gooden
And you can subscribe on YouTube as well.
Matt Sims
You can – just click the little bell and the subscribe button. And our YouTube channel is sponsored by www.arobasecreative.co.uk.
Keith Gooden
If you really care, please share with a friend.
Matt Sims
We would love it if you did! Try and spread the popularity of the podcast. If you think somebody would find this content useful or maybe even entertaining, please do share it with them.
Keith Gooden
See you next week…
