I stumbled across this interesting interview with the CEO of battleborn batteries, he really knows his stuff!
I am in the market for a lithium battery and I am interested in some of the newer low temp batteries that have internal heaters. I see a couple of different manufactures offer them. Relion, LifeBlue, maybe Battleborn? Anybody know of any other ones?
The video talks a-lot about low temp charging. I thought that charging below freezing was a hard no on LiFeP04 batteries, but battleborns will charge down to 25F.
Anyway, I'll be in the lesser 48 this winter, so it is a great time for me to get a new battery, since shipping batteries to Alaska can be difficult. I am planning on using one of my old batteries as a starting battery for my Tacoma, since it was struggling last winter. Plus it will be good to remove battery weight from the camper.
Here is some info from the Lifeblue site on how the heating works.
+++++
https://www.lifebluebattery.com/ewExternalFiles/Low Temperature.pdf
Irreversible damage can happen to any Li-ion battery that is charged when frozen.
LiFeBlue PCLT and HCLT model batteries have an internal heater and controller that is managed by the BMS.
How It Works
When you begin to charge the battery and the cell temperature is below 26°F, charge current is diverted to the heater and cell charging is inhibited. The Event page will display "Low-Temp when charging”.
After the cells reach a safe temperature to begin charging, current is redirected to the cells.
No current for the heater is taken from the battery during Standby or Discharge modes.
Each battery in parallel requires a minimum amount of power for the heaters.
The heater will attempt to power on but if current is too low, the BMS will start a 5 minute delay and then retry.
This will continue until the following power levels are available to each battery:
12V100Ah: 78W (about 6A)
12V150Ah: 96W (about 8A)
12V200Ah: 128W (about 10A)
12V300Ah: 192W (about 15A)
Standard Batteries
All other LiFeBlue Battery models have freeze protection built in. If the cells are below 26°F, charge current will be inhibited until the cell temperature is safe to recharge.
Thanks for all of your input!
I am in the market for a lithium battery and I am interested in some of the newer low temp batteries that have internal heaters. I see a couple of different manufactures offer them. Relion, LifeBlue, maybe Battleborn? Anybody know of any other ones?
The video talks a-lot about low temp charging. I thought that charging below freezing was a hard no on LiFeP04 batteries, but battleborns will charge down to 25F.
Anyway, I'll be in the lesser 48 this winter, so it is a great time for me to get a new battery, since shipping batteries to Alaska can be difficult. I am planning on using one of my old batteries as a starting battery for my Tacoma, since it was struggling last winter. Plus it will be good to remove battery weight from the camper.
Here is some info from the Lifeblue site on how the heating works.
+++++
https://www.lifebluebattery.com/ewExternalFiles/Low Temperature.pdf
Irreversible damage can happen to any Li-ion battery that is charged when frozen.
LiFeBlue PCLT and HCLT model batteries have an internal heater and controller that is managed by the BMS.
How It Works
When you begin to charge the battery and the cell temperature is below 26°F, charge current is diverted to the heater and cell charging is inhibited. The Event page will display "Low-Temp when charging”.
After the cells reach a safe temperature to begin charging, current is redirected to the cells.
No current for the heater is taken from the battery during Standby or Discharge modes.
Each battery in parallel requires a minimum amount of power for the heaters.
The heater will attempt to power on but if current is too low, the BMS will start a 5 minute delay and then retry.
This will continue until the following power levels are available to each battery:
12V100Ah: 78W (about 6A)
12V150Ah: 96W (about 8A)
12V200Ah: 128W (about 10A)
12V300Ah: 192W (about 15A)
Standard Batteries
All other LiFeBlue Battery models have freeze protection built in. If the cells are below 26°F, charge current will be inhibited until the cell temperature is safe to recharge.
Thanks for all of your input!