Battery too good to be true???

[Cajunwolf]

That last post might be a bit confusing. The above link goes to a thread by me on this site, and from there you can link to the information provided by LoupGarou. Now once your on that link/channel's video, which is a review of an excellent solution for this problem by Renogy, there are four excellent links on the dangers of charging LiFePO4 batteries with your vehicle's alternator. Anyone who is needing to charge house batteries from a vehicle should watch to keep from damaging their batteries.

 

[Buster1903]

What I did with TTT was build it with Ryobi 18 volt tools using their vehicle charger and 4 amp hour batteries. Then bought their lights, fans and wet dry vacuum.  After I saw how well this worked I added solar which powered the vehicle charger and bought the larger 18 volt batteries that would run my fan 8 hours (over night) on sale.  Just before Christmas is when they usually happen.  If you get and purchase them with a Home Depot credit card you can get a better warranty which allows you to exchange them in store nationwide.  Getting the "One" latest tech batteries really made this an easy build but if you don't buy when the sales are on it gets costly.

Cool idea, how many batteries can you charge at one time and how long does it take to charge them?

You are proving there was more than one way to power a TTT

 

[Buster1903]

Thank you all for your interest help and advice. But I have come to the realization that building my own battery pack and trying to do it on the cheap is significantly out of my skill set, and definitely lacking the tools and equipment for it. Considering this is my first trailer and will be my first solar, battery, alternator charging system I think I’ve gotta go with prepackage stuff that’s proven to work. Rather than trying to make this too much of a science project/learning experience.

One of the prepackaged “solar generator“ battery packs (Jackery) should meet all my needs. They’re just so expensive for what you get. I will have to do without until I can find them on sale, or the price goes down.

I am still testing this Misdy battery, seeing how long it will run my exhaust fan. I can still charge it with my battery tender trickle charger. It seems a little silly plugging in the inverter to the car then plugging in the trickle charger to the inverter just to charge a 12 hour battery, but it works. We’ll see how long it runs the fan first.

Cajunwolf Your link does not seem to be working.  Also I would double check anything this guy "DIY Solar Power with Will Prowse" is doing before you try to put it into practice, I have come across several mistakes he is making. He still maybe a good place for ideas but he is not an expert in any way.

 

[bullfrog]

I just charge one at a time and rotate batteries. It takes about 4 hours to fully charge a 4 amp hour battery. Lights last about three days and I only use them at night so if the fan battery runs down just use the battery in the light and put one on charge.

 

[Buster1903]

That is a really cool solution. I think if I had some 18V Ryobi tools I might give this a try, but for now I would not have any use for the batteries if I didn't like the setup. But I'm glad it works for you 

 

[timkass]

Yo,

Just bought a battery off of Amazon. Miady LiFePo4 Battery 12V 6Ah I want to know how to test it to see if it produces the numbers it claims to.

Also interested in how to charge this lithium iron phosphate battery off of my cars alternator.
Charge Voltage: 14.6±0.2V

Buster, I bought the same thing from Amazon, but the 8 Ah 12v for $29 ... hard to believe it myself, was skeptical but bought 2 of them. Im a Ham operator and We Hams love to build projects and operate our radios portable, emergency preparedness sort of.. these batteries are ideal, light weight compared to SLA and have a high current output...perfect for the short wave backpacking radios and camping radios Hams use... 10 -20 amp battery is the norm.. Lots of info on these batteries and their usages and just how long they last in a give situation.. check Youtube .. Ham battery box build, etc. lots of forums on how to build up packs and how to charge them...requires a special charger as its a 2 step process to charge LiFePo4 .. constant current for an hour or so, then constant voltage for the remaining 20% .. gell cell chargers will only charge them to 80 percent capacity.. LiFePo4 cells are touchy...no higher charge voltage than 14.3 V .. hope this helps.. good luck. Tim

 

[wayne49]

I have been thinking about a portable power source to run a small GPS logger that isn't connected to Google or to a cellular network. At 1 pound that 8AH looks promising. Thanks.