Aluminum Camper Forum

Hi Merlin,

Main reason was Li Time has a distribution centre here in Canada, British Columbia. Easy purchase, no tariffs or extra taxes.

Performance wise, 140 Ah is perfect for our requirements. Fits in our armour battery box. IP65 rating, cold weather disconnect is essential. Big plus, those extra amps would also help in the future. If something happened to our fridge and we had to look at a 12 v unit I think we could manage with 140 Ah. The Bluetooth connectivity is nice but wasn't a factor as we have the Victron smart shunt. But, the Li Time app does have a battery temperature measurement that would be beneficial for sure.

The main reason I purchased the BB, was they have a true self heating function. Also, I wanted to support a North American company. I don't have that same outlook now.

In cold weather it was easy to just to turn on the toggle switch to engage the heating pads. No external power required! Having an external power source to connect to the battery to engage this function didn't work for us. I will keep all the BB heating jumper cables and switch in place so that I could add a silicone low wattage heating pad to the Li Time if I determine there is a need.

With the extra amps we can just wait a while for conditions to warm up before the charging cycle can begin. I do add automotive insulation to the battery case,  just to help in near freezing temps.

Bluetti does have some new RV/ trolling batteries that I looked at, B1210. Modular with com ports for expansion, features we wouldn't use, but for off grid they would be nice.

Things just matched up. Fingers crossed.

Good luck with your selection.

D

Lots of reasonably priced batteries now. Any particular reason you went with Li Time? I have read good things about them.

This situation with BB is shedding light on how bad their design and service actually is. Customers are now posting information on their personal experiences trying to obtain warranty coverage on failed batteries. Shipping fees, service fees, return charges, only to diagnose a now known issue? You can purchase a new Chinese battery for the same amount of these fees. Makes no sense.

I really hope all individuals who have purchased these make the decision to get rid of them.

Recently I inspected the red epoxy on the positive terminal blade, it is already showing darkening from the original bright red.


Ordered a Li Time to replace this piece of junk.

Agree with the above messages.  I'd go for the 2016 with the aluminum cabinets.  We have a pre-Thor 2013 21BHS that we bought new.  We have over 800 nights in it and have towed it about 28,000 miles.  It's been great.

Our 16TBS is 10 years old and I would not hesitate to buy another used one. I suggest continuing the search for one with the aluminum roof, but that's just because I don't know anything about longevity of the TPO roof.

One important thing to keep in mind appliances and equipment will also be as old as the camper and RV appliances don't last forever, unlike the camper itself. You may eventually need to replace things like an awning or hot water heater, or exterior lights, but that's true for any brand RV. And unless the previous owner was really diligent, budget for new tires and wheel bearing service.

Thanks for the information, all good things to check when I go to look at one. 

I would go with the 2016 unit personally.

It is pretty easy to identify any welding issues with the frame. The slide side will have more cracks than the door side, you can always have some gussets installed and negotiate that cost when you decide on an offer.

Some other things to look for, cross bolts on the hitch. The original hitches had a tendency to bend up. The cross bolts stopped this from happening. Some wall areas pulled away from the bottom of the frame, look for gaps between the floor and walls on the interior, specifically on the front of the slide to the storage area. Easy fix. Just remove the diamond plate skirt, clamp the wall and frame and install some heavy fasteners to tighten things up.

These trailers just last. We are still very happy with our 2015.

All the best.

We have been shopping for a camper for what seems like an eternity and can't find anything worth buying.  The closest we came was an Intech Terra, but it was at the top of the budget and they were not negotiating on price.  There are a couple Camplite 21BHS units for sale within 500 miles of me and they check a lot of boxes (my biggest box is a camper that won't fall apart in a year).  One is a 2017 with the TPO roof, wood cabinets, and what looks like fixed standard RV windows (Thor build).  The other is a 2016 with a 2015 build date and aluminum cabinets which would be nice.  The 2016 has the typical Livin-Lite windows as well.  The 2017 is literally half the price of the 2016, so I am guessing condition reflects the price.  Would current owners consider spending money on one of these?  They are getting pretty old and I am concerned about the frame cracks I have been reading about. 

Sadly we have decided to sell our beloved 13QBB.  Very well maintained.

Sylvain

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1283610783532302/

And powder hounds, thanks for bringing this to the forum. I passed it along to a Land Cruiser forum where I'm an active member. Some other members do have Battle Born batteries as house batteries in their overlanding setups.