Electrical and Systems
RV House Battery Replacement, AGM and Lithium Conversion
Typical range
$500 to $5,500
Shop hours
2 to 10
Labor rate
$260/hr
The short answer
House battery replacement covers flooded lead acid, AGM, and LiFePO4 lithium bank builds, including the charging profile and cable changes a lithium conversion requires. Work runs $500 to $5,500, or 2 to 10 hours at $260 per hour plus batteries. Estimates are $150, refundable against an authorized repair.
01
What this work actually involves
Swapping batteries is the easy half. The half that gets skipped is the charging profile. A lithium iron phosphate bank charged by a converter still set to a flooded lead acid profile will sit at 13.6 volts forever and never reach a full state of charge, so the owner concludes the expensive batteries are defective. Going the other direction is worse. A lead acid bank fed a lithium bulk voltage gasses off electrolyte and dries out. Every bank we install gets the converter, inverter charger, alternator path, and solar controller reprogrammed to match the chemistry that is actually in the box.
Cable sizing matters more on lithium because lithium will actually accept the current. A LiFePO4 bank will pull 100 amps of charge where an equivalent AGM bank tapers to 20, and the 6 AWG factory run that was adequate for lead acid now runs hot and drops voltage. We size cable to the real charge and discharge current, fuse at the battery post rather than somewhere downstream, and use sealed lugs. In coastal cities like Long Beach and Oceanside we replace far more corroded lugs than actual batteries.
Heat is the other Southern California factor. AGM life falls off sharply above 95 degrees ambient, and a battery bay on a coach parked in Indio or Palm Desert in August runs well past that. Lithium tolerates the discharge heat better but will refuse to charge below freezing, which matters for owners storing in Big Bear, Victorville, or Lancaster. We match the chemistry to where the unit actually lives, not to whatever is trending.
Systems and brands we work on: Battle Born, LiFePO4, AGM, Victron, Magnum, Xantrex, Progressive Dynamics, WFCO.
Location: All work is performed at our Yorba Linda facility. We do not offer mobile, roadside, or fleet route service.
02
What the job includes
- Load testing and state of health assessment of the existing bank
- Flooded, AGM, and LiFePO4 lithium bank replacement and sizing
- Converter, inverter charger, and solar controller profile reprogramming to chemistry
- Alternator charge path evaluation and DC-DC charger recommendation for lithium
- Cable resizing to actual charge and discharge current with sealed lugs
- Class T or ANL fusing at the battery post
- Battery tray, hold-down, and vent modification for a different case size
- Battery monitor and shunt installation with correct capacity programming
- Low temperature charge protection review for high desert and mountain storage
- Old battery removal and compliant recycling
03
When you need this service
- Bank will not hold overnight with only the furnace fan and a few lights running
- Batteries reach 13.6 volts on the charger and never climb higher
- Swollen, cracked, or leaking cases in the battery bay
- White or green corrosion built up on posts and cable lugs
- Voltage drops below 11 volts the moment the inverter or slide motor loads it
- A new lithium bank that never seems to reach a full state of charge
04
How we do it, step by step
- 01
Test what is there
Existing bank load tested and each battery measured individually. One failed cell in a series string drags the whole bank down and it is often the only battery that needs to go.
- 02
Usage and chemistry discussion
How you actually camp decides the chemistry. Shore power most weekends does not justify lithium. Boondocking with an inverter and a residential refrigerator usually does.
- 03
Charge source audit
Converter, inverter charger, solar controller, and alternator path all identified and checked for whether they can be set to the target chemistry profile.
- 04
Cable, fuse, and tray work
Cable resized to real current, sealed lugs crimped and heat shrunk, fusing moved to the battery post, and the tray modified for case dimensions where required.
- 05
Installation and programming
Bank installed and every charge source reprogrammed to the correct bulk, absorption, and float values for the chemistry, then documented on the invoice.
- 06
Verification under load
Charge acceptance confirmed at each source and the bank discharged under a real load to verify capacity and voltage stability before delivery.
05
Pricing and posted rates
| Item | Rate or range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Typical job range | $500 to $5,500 | Varies with extent of damage and parts availability |
| Shop hours | 2 to 10 | Quoted after teardown, not before |
| Mechanical and electrical labor | $260 per hour | 2026 posted rate |
| Parts | 100% markup under $100, 35% over | Special order parts require a non refundable deposit at order |
| Deposit | 50% at authorization over $2,000 | Additional 25% when parts arrive on jobs over $10,000 |
| Sales tax | 7.75% on parts and materials | Labor is not taxed |
Insurance billed jobs may be billed at carrier negotiated labor rates that differ from the posted retail rates above. See all posted rates.
07
Vehicles we do this work on
Vehicle
Class A Diesel Pusher Motorhomes
A diesel pusher carries a rear-mounted diesel on a raised-rail air ride chassis, usually 34 to 45 feet with full-body paint and pa
Vehicle
Class B Camper Vans
A Class B is a camper built inside a factory van shell, usually a Sprinter, Transit, ProMaster, or Chevy chassis. Because the stee
Vehicle
Class C Motorhomes
A Class C is a coach body built onto a cutaway van chassis with a sleeping or storage cabover extending above the factory cab. Tha
Vehicle
Standard Fifth Wheels
A fifth wheel couples to a hitch in the truck bed through a kingpin and pin box, with a raised forward bedroom over the truck. The
Vehicle
Travel Trailers
A travel trailer tows from a ball hitch behind the tow vehicle rear axle on an A-frame tongue, which makes it the most sway-prone
Vehicle
Camper Van Conversions
Camper van conversions are Sprinter, Transit, or ProMaster chassis with windows cut into the sidewalls, a roof full of penetration
Vehicle
Off-Road and Expedition RVs
Expedition RVs mount a composite habitat box on a four wheel drive truck chassis, usually through a torsion-free three or four poi
08
Questions about house battery replacement, agm and lithium
Frequently asked questions
What does an RV house battery replacement cost?
Work runs $500 to $5,500, or 2 to 10 hours at $260 per hour plus batteries. Two group 27 AGM batteries dropped into an existing tray is at the low end. A 400 to 600 amp hour LiFePO4 bank with resized cable, new fusing, a shunt monitor, and four charge sources reprogrammed is at the high end.
Is lithium worth it over AGM?
It depends on how you use the coach. Lithium gives you roughly double the usable capacity per rated amp hour, takes charge far faster, and weighs less. If you are on shore power most trips, AGM is the better value. If you boondock, run an inverter, or have a residential refrigerator, lithium usually pays for itself in usable nights.
Can I just drop lithium batteries into my existing setup?
Not safely, and not with good results. The converter, inverter charger, and solar controller all need lithium charge profiles, the alternator path usually needs a DC-DC charger to protect the alternator, and the existing cable is often undersized for the current lithium will accept. Dropping them in is how people end up convinced lithium does not work.
Will lithium survive a desert summer or a Big Bear winter?
LiFePO4 handles heat better than AGM on discharge but will not accept charge below freezing without internal heating. If the unit stores in Big Bear, Victorville, Hesperia, or Lancaster, we specify a bank with low temperature charge protection or heating. In the low desert, we look hard at bay ventilation before we commit to any chemistry.
What does an estimate cost?
RV systems estimates are $150 and refundable as a credit against an authorized repair. That covers the bank load test, the charge source audit, and a written recommendation with sizing. All work is performed at our Yorba Linda facility.
09
Related services
Service
Auxiliary Battery and DC-DC Charging Systems
Auxiliary battery and DC-DC charging work builds a second bank that charges from the engine alternator without damaging it, using
Service
Inverter and Charger Replacement
Inverter and charger replacement covers failed units, capacity upgrades, and modified sine to pure sine conversions, including tra
Service
Solar Panel Installation and Repair
Solar installation covers roof panel mounting, MPPT controller sizing, wire routing, and integration with an existing battery bank
Service
12V and 120V Electrical Diagnostics and Repair
Electrical diagnostics traces 12V DC and 120V AC faults on RVs, vans, trailers, and fleet units, including dead circuits, parasiti
Service
Custom Van Build-Out and Camper Conversion
A custom van build-out converts an empty cargo van into a camper, mobile workshop, or purpose-built work vehicle with insulation,
10
More electrical and systems work
Ready to move on house battery replacement, agm and lithium? Bring it to Yorba Linda.