I've currently have the entire system switched over from the existing lead acid coach batteries to these new lithium SOK batters as pictured here.
My current issue
I'm trying to entirely remove the LVD from my system, it doesn't really serve a use for me as far as I can tell as the rest of the AC and DC side of the system has been moved over to the lithium. meaning the lead acid is only doing two things, the engine boost and generator start, I'd like to remove the LVD but retain those two functions for my lead acid (probably looking to replace the old lead acid coach batteries with a smaller battery just dedicated to this function, trickle charge off the lithium batteries)
I'd like remove it but wire power to the coach battery switch so I can still use the boost and generator start as that would be nice. as of right now it sort of beeps because it detects low voltage (the lead acid batteries are pretty shot) and you have to keep a constant charge on them as the prior owner of this Chinook hadn't done anything to really maintain the health of the batteries.
when i switched to lithium for the coach, the LVD was removed, i put in a blue seas battery switch to disconnect the coach when in storage, i had thought about keeping the boost feature but decided that i would carry a noco jump starter instead. mine is 2000 amp because i have a cummins diesel for power. under the coach i have 2 950 amp lead acid batteries for the engine and generator. this system has been working great, i also have a small voltmeter on the dash that reads the voltage of the chassis and coach batteries
I also removed the LVD back when I did my DC distribution system overhaul. That was in 2014-ish, so I didn't go to lithium at the same time.
Just a couple of notes:
1) Older year Chinooks (including mine) started the generator from the Start bank (i.e. the Ford battery). Downside is it's a longer run (if you do this, don't use the wimpy 6AWG that Chinook used!). Also of course it somewhat negates the "start bank is sacred" boating type philosophy. But then if you can self-jump start, maybe that's fine.
2) If your SOK batteries have the specs for it (not all batteries do, because the BMS might limit them), you could consider doing your emergency self-jump off the LFP house bank. When I re-wired my rig, I used a manual switch to combine for charging (which I only need once in a blue moon). (I removed the Surepower 1315 because it was old, had lots of voltage drop, and was recalled for catching on fire from time to time -- and didn't really feel like putting in an ACR, which is just as well now because you can't really use them with LFP). So I could use that same switch for self-jump start (which I think I used once, but glad to have it that time). At that time I upgraded the Start bank to House bank wire to 1/0 AWG (it was #4 I think? that was many years ago though). There are a few ways you could do this connection, but I'd say first check your SOK batteries' specs to see if they would even support that. It's around 225-250 amps draw while you are cranking the Ford engine, btw (closer to 900 amps inrush... for fractions of a second).
3) I think in another thread you mentioned 1,100 watts of solar panels? Okay, I'm itching to know how you put that much wattage on the Chinook roof, especially if you are keeping the rooftop AC.
