Lion Energy Lithium Batteries - A No-brainer

[luvrbus]

What was the overnight temperature? Big effect on length of run time.

I have that feeling this is going to get deep,the Liberty Prevost conversion have been using these batteries for several years now on their total electric conversion I have friend with one,His will not run 4 hours running 2 AC units with 8 batteries,the great part about the batteries they hold voltage till the end where flooded batteries fall off   

[muldoonman]

What happens to them at temps below 32*? Do they just quit and not come back. My Lifeline 8D's are 7 years old and still a cranking but fixing to replace. Have a new 2800 watt Magnum Inverter and wonder if it would work with these. Need to call Magnum and check.

[richard5933]

My understanding is that attempting to charge lithium batteries below the proper temp will cause permanent damage to them.

[ccbmster]

I am leaning towards ordering 32 280a LifePo4 cells.

Will make 4 24v batteries and cable them together in parallel.

probably have around $3,300.00 in the whole thing when I am done....that is a bit on the high side of what it should be but you never know what you will run into.

[luvrbus]

I bought 3 100amp/hr Battle Born Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries for $2,700. 31lbs apiece, made here on the West Coast and am very pleased with them. 10 year warranty. Good Luck, TomC
[/quote

I spoke with the guy at Copper State and he says the Battle Born only has a 3 year warranty and I don't recall the guy in Reno telling me they had a 10 years warranty

[windtrader]

The way a lithium battery is charged, discharged, and ambient temperature have great impact on how long they will last. Charge rate matters, lower is better. Discharge rate matters, lower amps is better. Not topping off or drawing down hard is better. You charge hard and fast, battery lasts fewer cycles. Same with discharging rates. Depending on how you use and care for the pack, it can last 6 months or 10 years.

[luvrbus]

The way a lithium battery is charged, discharged, and ambient temperature have great impact on how long they will last. Charge rate matters, lower is better. Discharge rate matters, lower amps is better. Not topping off or drawing down hard is better. You charge hard and fast, battery lasts fewer cycles. Same with discharging rates. Depending on how you use and care for the pack, it can last 6 months or 10 years.

The guy who takes care of cell towers I do work on the generators tells me the DOD ( depth of discharge ) affects the life of the ION batteries over 70 % DOD really shorten the life.Their batteries live in a controlled environment both heated and cooled but are replaced every 2 years anyways even with the BCM I think he called it   

[ccbmster]

Probably not a BCM...Probably a BMS, which stands for battery management system.

It tracks the individual cells individual, keeps them balance, and shuts down the charging or the discharge if the battery reaches too high or too low a level.

[Dave5Cs]

New Liths don't have the fire hazard anymore unless you throw them in water. The Battle Borns have their own BMS inside the case which keeps them all the same and monitors their amp, volts etc of each battery within that case. They have a lifetime free replacement warrentee.

Build your own Lith battery. Lots of people are doing it now. You buy 3.6 volt or whatever you need to make up your bank of batteries on line and connect them all in Series Parallel for lots of power. and a lot cheaper.

Most solar parts that are any good come from China now and have for awhile.

[windtrader]

Fire hazard depends on the lithium chemistry. LFP (LiFePo4) are more, actually very stable while lipo (lithium polymer) or Lithium-Ion do have greater risk of catching fire. There have been many houses burnt down when ebike batteries go wrong.

[luvrbus]

Fire hazard depends on the lithium chemistry. LFP (LiFePo4) are more, actually very stable while lipo (lithium polymer) or Lithium-Ion do have greater risk of catching fire. There have been many houses burnt down when ebike batteries go wrong.

I saw some Battle Born they were trying to determine why they caught fire best they could find was the monitoring system was faulty( BMS) those are adjustable and people can change the setting Gary Hatts Lion batteries have those too.

has any one heard how the bank is doing the 2  nomads built years ago ? they were blazing new trails for the DYI crowd 

[thomasinnv]

I saw some Battle Born they were trying to determine why they caught fire best they could find was the monitoring system was faulty( BMS) those are adjustable and people can change the setting Gary Hatts Lion batteries have those too.

has any one heard how the bank is doing the 2  nomads built years ago ? they were blazing new trails for the DYI crowd

If you're referring to Chris and Cherry (technomadia) they recently had to replace their bank due to a prolonged power failure in their storage facility. The bank discharged to below the cutoff point of the BMS, which requires a manual reset on their system. Nobody was around to perform the reset so the bank was left fully discharged for months.  They were able to recover the bank once reset, but they felt it would be wise to replace it anyway. I think they went with battleborn but I could be wrong.

Fyi, their bus had been in storage for quite some time because they bought a boat.

[luvrbus]

If you're referring to Chris and Cherry (technomadia) they recently had to replace their bank due to a prolonged power failure in their storage facility. The bank discharged to below the cutoff point of the BMS, which requires a manual reset on their system. Nobody was around to perform the reset so the bank was left fully discharged for months.  They were able to recover the bank once reset, but they felt it would be wise to replace it anyway. I think they went with battleborn but I could be wrong.

Fyi, their bus had been in storage for quite some time because they bought a boat.

I don't follow anyone on U tube I just remember they built their battery bank the first time

[freds]

I actually enjoy the seasons. We like to camp as early in the season as possible, and same for stretching out things till we have to worry about salt on the roads.

I guess it's possible to insulate the battery box to help keep things warm, but it would require some fail safes to prevent charging with too-cold temps.

Actually the battery BMS should protect the battery from the freezing charging scenario and lithium battery's at freezing can still be discharged with more power available then lead acid batteries. There is also a lot less mass in a more compact space that needs to be warmed. If you can keep water from freezing, doing the same for the batteries is not much more difficult.

Also if you go with a Victron solar charge controller you can add a temperature sensor and it will also help protect the batteries.

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

My understanding is that attempting to charge lithium batteries below the proper temp will cause permanent damage to them.

Not sure about other lithium batteries, but the BMS (Battery Management System) in the Lion Energy batteries have a circuit that shuts them down when the temperature gets too low to protect them and they come back on again after the temperature rises so not to worry.