Lithium battery info

[Natgreen]

I just bought 2 battle born batteries and wanted to ask the forum for advice on taking care of them. They seem to be pretty much plug and play but it never hurts to ask. I want these to last a long time.

 

[Matlock]

Most don't know the difference between lithium battery types and taking care of them. New to the market technology mostly.

I'm assuming your talking about the LifePo4 lithium. There is a difference and at $900 or more each I'd be contacting Battleborn and asking them directly how they recommend taking care of the batteries. What chargers, fusing, wiring, solar, controller, etc. They, after all, are the people that will handle warranty issues.

I'd be interested in what components they recommend for ideal results.

 

[whitewolf]

I don't do anything except try to stay above freezing. You're not supposed to charge them below freezing so I don't. Being below freezing at night doesn't seem to matter. Mine are in a Class C below the entry steps. If I was stuck in cold weather I would probably take the step off and try to keep them a little warmer. I keep saying I should insulate that compartment but I haven't yet.
Two years now and I love them. 510w of solar on the roof with a 50 amp MPPT is plenty. If no sun, 20 minutes of generator 3 times a day usually does it. One time they got too low and shut themselves off. I try not to let that happen as they got a little hinky for about three days. Then they settled and have been fine ever since. Funny, two years ago there were people who said it was crazy to buy those batteries, now there are people saying it's crazy not to get those batteries. Progress, I guess.

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[Natgreen]

I read the bms has temperature cut offs. 25f is the charge cutoff and -4f is the discharge cut off. This was a concern of mine since Pennsylvania is my home base. I seen on will prowse channel he mentioned a heating pad that can run off the batteries but I haven't been able to find that video again. I'm guessing I don't need a temperature sensor from my controller as it's all built in the batteries?
Also I have a PWM controller.
https://www.amazon.com/EPSOLAR-View...troller+30a&qid=1567596601&s=gateway&sr=8-128

Would I need to program anything. I read gel settings work for lithium

 

[wayne49]

Gel setting on my Trimetric is a flat 13.6 (maybe .7) VDC. No boost. No equalization.
I have a van that came stock with Gel batteries. The alternator puts out 13.6 (or .7) constantly. Which agrees with Trimetric's GEL setting.

"Maybe" that works for LiFePo4. At $900/each, do you feel lucky?

 

[MotorVation]

They call for a charging voltage of 14.2-14.6. Charging them at less voltage won't harm them but they won't fully charge. The BMS won't accept a voltage over 14.6 and will shut the batteries down to protect them. They don't need a temperature probe.

Also, they don't call for a lower voltage acceptance charge. They want the 14.2-14.6 (bulk charge) the entire time until they're full. Battleborn claims a float is ok (if the charger already has one) as long as it's at or below 13.6 volts. The "acceptance" charge should be the same voltage (14.2-14.6 volts) as bulk and should only take 20 minutes for each battery in the bank. In other words, they don't require or want a separate acceptance stage. They don't need a float charge at all as they hold their voltage when there is no load.

 

[Elbear1]

Funny, two years ago there were people who said it was crazy to buy those batteries, now there are people saying it's crazy not to get those batteries. Progress, I guess.

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Lithium is thee way to go. But theyre still way too much. They're still novelty priced. $5 an amp max and off brands hundred less. Imo

 

[jonyjoe303]

If you don''t have a coulombmeter, you need one. Lifepo4 voltage is almost always at the 13.1 volt area except when its fully charge or near empty. That way you never take it down to empty. Because of the heat I been using my swampcooler 24/7 and thought I was fully charging my battery every day but when I checked my 2 lifepo4 (110ah each) they are both down to 49ah,without the coulombmeters I would think they were full, since they read 13.1 volts. I use the tk15 (cost about 25 dollars) it handles up to 50 amps in/out, but they sell ones that can handle over 100 amps.
tk15 coulometer


With lithium and solar you need a solar controller you can adjust. With voltage drop 14.4 volts aint going to cut it. Lifepo4 voltage is close to what a 12 volt battery reads when its full, so the controller will either switch to float or reduce amps to the battery. I have to set my mppt controller bulk setting to 15.5 volts (highest it will go) just to get a full charge. When set to 14.6 volts, the controller always goes into float and charges at less then 4 amps, at 15.5 volts I get close to 12 amps of charging current. If your pwm controller has no display showing volts/amps, you need to get a 90 volt 30 amp combometer and place that between the controller and battery, that will show what the controller is putting out, next measure the voltage on the battery terminals, if they differ then you have voltage drop, you need to increase the bulk voltage to compensate. Lifepo4 you can hit them with maximum amps till they are almost full, its a waste to trickle charge them because the controller thinks they are full. 

90 volt 30 amp combometer

 

[MotorVation]

Here's a link to a PDF from the Battleborn site which states the charging parameters. I was a little bit off on the float recommendation. It's between 13.4 and 13.8 volts. The bulk charge is between 14.2 and 14.6. They will not charge above 14.6. The BMS will disconnect the batteries. If the charger has an absorption stage it should be set at the same voltage as bulk for 20 minutes per battery when wired in parallel.

Me? I'm going to do exactly what the manufacturer states as to not void my 10 year warranty.

https://battlebornbatteries.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Battle-Born-Manual.pdf

 

[MotorVation]

I apologize for coming off like a stuffed shirt

 

[LoveCareThinkDo]

I am a former electronics technician, AND I was able to grill the inventor of the BattleBorn myself. The only way to damage one of these things is to shoot them or take an axe to them. The internal electronics (more than just a BMS) protects them from every stupid thing you could possibly try to do to them.

If you call them, they will tell you exactly how to set up whatever charger controller you have. They are familiar with ALL of them.

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[MotorVation]

Battleborn posted this link on Facebook today. It addresses cold weather.

https://battlebornbatteries.com/taking-care-of-your-bb-batteries-in-cold-temperatures/

 

[highdesertranger]

for those of us that refuse to go on face book and since that link you posted is a dead end. can you tell us what they said. highdesertranger

 

[MotorVation]

They only posted the link on their Facebook page. It led to their site. Looks like they deleted the page for whatever reason. I didn't absorb all the info so I'm not going to try to repeat it. Weird. I went back into my browser history and tried to get to it from there and I get the 404 message now. If they re-post it I'll update

 

[Giuseppe Hardblast]

You guys (and gals) and(insert whatever pronoun makes you happy) are the best. Thanks for the tips.

 

[Giuseppe Hardblast]

So far these things are pretty sweet. I like that I don't have to stare at the volt readings all day to see where my batteries soc is so it don't drop below 12.1. Plus if it does discharge the bms will cut off for me so I rest easy. I didn't realize how much of a idk stressful? Situation that was. It's like a weight lifted off my shoulders.

I don't like not knowing the exact state of charge. I'm at 13.0v right now and not sure how close I am to complete discharge.

But no biggie. I'm definitely looking into one of those columbo meters.

 

[Giuseppe Hardblast]

Oh yea. Battle born recommending charging between 14.2-14.6 and float charge of 13.6. But they said the sealed settings would work just fine. They asked me about my setup and just basically said the only thing they recommend is a fuse from the panels and fuses to the inverter. These things are pretty much ready for anything.

 

[LoveCareThinkDo]

(insert whatever pronoun makes you happy)

That's why I just say "y'all" or "you folks."

 

[Elbear1]

It's pronounced "yuns"

 

[regis101]

No no.. Yinz ,is the correct pronoun