Thinking about building your own Lithium battery pack for your Van, RV, or Trailer, but not looking to go all overkill?  Great idea!  It's a great project and you can save over 50% versus buying off the shelf.  Before you do, you need to learn about Lithium to be safe and to make the right parts choices for an RV.  What type of Lithium?  Which cells?  Can they handle my electrical needs?  What else will it cost me?

In Part 1 of this multi-video series, I look at what led us to choosing Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries over Lead Acid, Gel, and AGM batteries, after a dry camping trip with crummy stock batteries left us high and dry.  I also cover Lithium battery basics, battery components, and RV charging system changes that you need to know about.   

Resources:

New cells, BMS (China and US vendors)
http://www.aliexpress.com

New and used cells, battery pack materials
http://www.batteryhookup.com (not sponsored)

Credits:

Local Forecast - Elevator by Kevin MacLeod https://incompetech.com/
Promoted by MrSnooze https://youtu.be/ioi_-5sAuXQ
Creative Commons — CC BY 3.0 I https://goo.gl/Yibru5

Disclaimer:
Undertake any project at your own risk.  I'm being as safe as I can be and making that judgment for myself.  I'm sharing my knowledge as I go, but I could be incorrect or miss something, and do not know about every possible unexpected issue that could arise.  I try to push myself, but I also know my limits and don't exceed them.  Before you embark on a project, you should too.