LiFePO4Blue Brand Battery & DC-DC Chargers

[Vic Harder]

loving my Victron Orion. 25A goes into the dual Battleborn Batteries just fine. With the 330W solar also feeding the batteries, I am happy.

I will probably do rando's work around for the Blue Sea 7622 ACR that I have, so the solar panels will charge my truck battery in the winter.

P.S. the 100% SOC is bogus. I had not resyncronized the BMV yet when the picture was taken

 

[Zirdu]

I finished the install of my new Progressive Dynamics 45 amp lithium specific charger to replace the 30 amp IOTA. My 30 amp IOTA charged my my new LifeBlue 200 battery (at 60% SOC) at 5 to 7 amps. My new 45 amp Progressive Dynamics charged the LifeBlue battery at about 38 to 39 amps. Big difference. I don't know why I didn't get closer to the 45 amp capacity. Any ideas here? At any rate, I am pleased overall with the change.

Here is a picture of the new Progressive Dynamics installed. I left all the original wiring in place, and just added a direct 6 awg cables from the battery to the Progressive Dynamics, and from the battery back to the place under the dinette seat where I will place a new Victron 30 amp DC-DC charger. I installed two studs in the box where the Progressive Dynamics is located for ease in hooking up all the new 6 awg wires and also the original wires. I also put a battery switch in the battery box on the 6 awg positive wire from the battery to the Progressive Dynamics. I also added an inline fuse in the 6 awg positive wire in the battery box right next to the battery terminal. This is not visible in the picture. I picked a 60 amp fuse. Hope it is an appropriate fuse for this application.

 

[craig333]

Did you ever figure out why the Iota only charged 5-7 amps? Seems very odd.

 

[PaulT]

That does seem odd. My Iota charges my Battleborn batteries as high as 28 amps. I did replace the original IQ4 with an IQ4-LIFEPO. That may have made a difference.

With the replaceable IQ4, it would be a good idea to make sure the plug clicks into place in the socket. If still a problem, make the loop adapter from a phone cable as shown on the Iota website and try that to get the voltage Above the float level and see if that makes a difference. If the amps go up significantly, buy a replacement IQ4 module.

See Illustration 3, Dual Voltage Jack on page 3 in the manual.
https://img.acuitybrands.com/public-assets/catalog/1185671/manual_dls-12-volt-models.pdf?abl_version=07%2f16%2f2020+18:06:14&DOC_Type=Installation_Instruction_Sheets


Paul

 

[Zirdu]

I don't know why my IOTA only charged my LifeBlue Lithium battery at 5 to 7 amps. I assumed it had something to do with the charging pattern it uses, and the lower charge voltage? Maybe the IOTA thought the battery was fully charged, since as a lithium battery it is at a higher voltage, and was only giving it a float charge? Or maybe my IOTA was defective?

 

[kmcintyre]

I thought I'd post an update on LifePO4 cells I purchased from China. They took a month to get here but look awesome! $188 for 4 cells (12V, 120ah). I now have most of the parts (BMS, lugs, etc.) but waiting to assemble and test. I'll use a victron DC to DC TR charger (wanted the TR-smart but it's been backordered for a month and who knows when it'll get here).

 

[rando]

I am not sure you want the DC-DC TR. It is not a charger, just a constant output DC-DC converter. You will get some charge just from your alternator, so I would live with that and wait for the TR-TR Smart, which IS a charger.

 

[Stokeme]

Zirdu ... hopefully this info will give you some added benefit. I did not notice it on this thread, or on the LifeBlue site, so it’s possible it’s not available for use at all. I am curious if it is available to you. This is my original IOS BT LFP4 app which is no longer supported or available. When I upgrade at some point, this app will be lost to me. Tap on the vertical 3 dot group, in the bottom right. It enables this pop up window. Type in 1234 & tap ok.

 

[Stokeme]

After tapping ok, this “options” window pops up. Tap Battery Information & you get this cool, real time, individual cell view. You can watch them adjust. I have 2 StarkPower batteries, 50Ah &100Ah, since 2018. They have been great. I never understood Battleborn’s position about not including Bluetooth with their batteries. Without it, if you want live battery status, you have to purchase a battery monitor. Victron’s monitor is $$. After years in China, with increased demand & competition, I think SP’s custom supply chain & manufacturing tightened. SP closed shop a year after I bought mine. I’m looking for an app I can carry forward. LIfeBlue was a battery I looked at & liked a lot.

 

[Zirdu]

Stockme: Thanks for the tip. The LifeBlue app on my IPhone looks identical to the app on your Stark Battery, only different colors. I got to the menu that lists the individual cell voltages as you suggested, and got the same info. LifeBlue suggests changing the password from 1234 in case you are in a crowded campground and someone else with this app could access your battery. They even suggest that your settings could be maliciously changed, or the battery turned off with no way to turn it back on!? I will be changing my password.

The Victron Orion 12/12 DC-DC smart non-isolated charger is back in stock at PKYS and I have one being shipped now. Given what I have read about how hot they get, I prepared the space for it under the seat in my front dinette by installing a small computer fan and also installing a heat shield made of aluminum sheet. (I used aluminum flashing I had from a 10 foot roll I got at Home Depot.) I will wire the fan to the remote on-off switch for the Orion. In installed the remote switch in the same area the light switches are located near the back door of the camper. This way I can easily turn the DC-DC charger on or off without crawling back to where it is located. Finally I put a few vent holes in the underseat cabinet right below the fan. Here is a picture of the area before installation of the DC-DC charger:



You can see a new switch I will wire up. It is located where the Blue Sea ACR was located, and will serve the same function. It is a 1-2-both-off switch. I will wire it so I can choose to manually connect the house battery and engine starter battery, so I can charge up my starter battery with solar if necessary. Normally it will be connecting the alternator to the DC-DC charger to charge up my house battery while the engine is running. The "both" setting on the switch will not be used.

 

[rando]

One simple option for the fan control would be to add a bimetallic thermal switch to turn it on when the heatsink on the DC-DC gets hot:

https://smile.amazon.com/uxcell-Thermostat-Normally-Temperature-Controller/dp/B07PFVJ6QK

 

[Zirdu]

I like the thermal switch idea. I ordered one from Amazon and will try it. Thanks for the idea.

 

[Zirdu]

I tested my new Progressive Dynamics Lithium specific 45 amp charger again today. LifeBlue 200 AH battery at 49% state of charge and battery temp at 79 degrees F. On plugging into the wall outlet, I got 43 amps of charging, per the LifeBlue battery app. Very happy with this.

I finally got my new Victron Orion 12-12 30 amp DC-DC charger and installed it and hooked it all up. With engine at idle, I am getting a steady 24.5 amps of charging. Again, I am satisfied with this. I have the factory 10 AWG wiring from the alternator to the Orion, then 6 AWG wiring I installed direct from Orion to the LifeBlue battery. Running the Orion for about 5 minutes, it got a little warm, but not all that hot. The ventilation fan I installed with the thermal switch (I got one that turns on at 50 degree C) didn't even come on. I know the thermal switch works because I tested it with a heat gun.

 

[Vic Harder]

Where have you got your thermal sensor? I tucked mine between the fins. 40 degree unit turns on after a few minutes

 

[Zirdu]

I attached my thermal sensor to the heat sink, on the outside.

 

[Vic Harder]

I didn’t attach mine, it just dangles between two of the more central fins.

 

[Zirdu]

After testing my unit out some more, I found that the temp of the fins runs about 6 to 8 degrees higher than the outside of the heat sink. So I am going to buy a 45 degree C unit. This is 113 degree F, which I think is about right for the unit to come on when the fins hit 120 F or so.

I am having a bit of a problem setting the "input voltage lockout" and the "engine shutdown detection" voltage levels. It seems like my "smart" alternator and my "smart" Orion DC-DC converter are having a war to see who is smarter! My "smart" alternator varies it's voltage greatly, from over 14 V to, on occasion, a low of 4.6 V. I set the "input voltage lockout" values to 9.5 and 9.6 volts. This enables the charger to operate for the most part, but it sometimes even then locks out when the alternator gets to below 9.5 volts.

I am still working on a proper "engine shutdown detection" voltage levels. At 12.5 and 12.6 volts, it does not seem to work to always shut off the charger when the engine shuts off - i.e. it still gives a periodic charge to the LifeBlue battery (of a lower amp of 16 or so) even with the engine off. I don't want the system to ever drain my starter battery to charge my house battery when the truck is not running. I can turn the whole Orion unit off via the remote switch, but I don't want to have to rely on remembering to do this. Not sure how to figure out how to set these voltages values to accomplish my goal with my engine. I have a 2016 Ford F150 with V-8, not sure of what kind of alternator.

Also, I noted when I ran the DC-DC charger for 20 min or so on idle, the 10 AWG supply wire from the alternator to the Orion got a bit warm. It didn't seem dangerously hot, just somewhat warmer than ambient temp. I am getting a charge of about 26 amps from the Orion DC-DC, measured at the LifeBlue battery according to it's internal bluetooth meter.

 

[Zirdu]

"I think I figured out why the "Voltage In" measurement at the DC-DC charger dropped so much from time to time. As noted, I am using the original 10 AWG wires from the starter battery to the DC-DC charger input. When they installed that wire, they put in a 30 amp resettable circuit breaker. The Orion-Tr DC-DC charger is rated at 30 amps output, and is only 87% or so efficient, which means that it draws more than 30 amps. So it was tripping the circuit breaker. I am thinking that 10 AWG wires from the starter battery to the DC-DC charger are just too small. Like so many others, I guess I will be upgrading these. I will probably go with 6 awg wires and a 40 to 50 amp fuse?

 

[PaulT]

While you are checking, there should be one 30 amp resettable circuit breaker under the hood and a second one near the battery isolater in the camper. You will need to upgrade both of them.

Paul

 

[Vic Harder]

I am also trying to figure out the lockout and engine shutdown parameters. The dcdc charger works but won’t turn on or off as expected. Stay tuned!