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Old 02-09-2019, 10:03 AM   #1
Drifty1
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Lifepo4 battery review

It’s time for a update on the installation of 600ah Lifepo4 batteries used with our solar system. I installed 4- 150ah batteries in early December and after a couple of months I am very happy with the outcome. We are able to run everything in the trailer without worrying if we are going to run them down below 50% SOC. For a test we let them run down to 20% SOC with no noticeable difference on how my Magnum Inverter preformed. The weight saved with these batteries comes out to 222# which helps with my pin weight.
These 4-12v Grenergy batteries do take up about the same space as my 6- 6v batteries but you have to figure that I have about twice as much usable capacity which is great in my opinion.
 
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Old 02-09-2019, 12:00 PM   #2
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If I had spent over $4000 just on batteries I damn well had better be happy with them
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Old 02-09-2019, 12:56 PM   #3
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I paid $2,500 delivered to Quartzsite. I guess if a person doesn’t dry camp it would not make much sense to buy good batteries. But since we are in our trailer 7 months at a time and dry camp when we can I think it is worth it. But that is just our opinion.
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Old 02-09-2019, 01:20 PM   #4
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$2500, if they allow you to dry camp for 10 months you would have them paid for. vs paying for sites.
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Old 02-09-2019, 02:45 PM   #5
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Drifty,

I have read that neither your standard converters or solar charge converters work well with Lifepo4 as they can overcharge easily. What has been your experience? $2500 seems pretty reasonable for 600ah when that is probably equal to 800 or 900ah with AGM batteries.
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Old 02-09-2019, 04:23 PM   #6
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Tell us about your converter and the batterys.
Thanks Lynwood
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Old 02-09-2019, 04:54 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Drifty1 View Post
I paid $2,500 delivered to Quartzsite. I guess if a person doesn’t dry camp it would not make much sense to buy good batteries. But since we are in our trailer 7 months at a time and dry camp when we can I think it is worth it. But that is just our opinion.
Drifty,
That looks like a good price for the batteries with delivery included. My previous comment was if I spent that kind of money on anything, batteries or whatever, I should be happy with it. i.e. would be a shame if I was unhappy. I was not commenting on the amount you chose to spend, that is your business.

What kind of warranty did you get and how would you use it if needed since they came to you.

When I use the LiPo batteries on my power tools they do not run down like regular batteries going slower and slower, they just quit instantly. Do yours do that also, like the lights go dim slowly, or do they just go out when the battery goes down?

Some LiPos have a circuit board and other electrical monitoring things under the case. Do yours have that type of circuitry?
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Old 02-09-2019, 05:15 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by AZ Traveler View Post
Drifty,

I have read that neither your standard converters or solar charge converters work well with Lifepo4 as they can overcharge easily. What has been your experience? $2500 seems pretty reasonable for 600ah when that is probably equal to 800 or 900ah with AGM batteries.



The good thing about that perceived short coming is that most lithium installations take advantage of an aftermarket inverter/charger since the stock PD distribution centers do not invert. Most solar charge controllers I have researched either have lithium specific settings or their settings can be changed to support the charge characteristics of most lithium formulas. If not simply match the bulk and eq voltage settings to your lithiumj manufacturer's specs, reduce the absorb time to the minimum possible and set the float as close to or higher than the bulk settings. LiFePO4 don't want to float. Lastly set your rebulk voltage settings based upon your DOD.



PD website indicates that they now offer a line of lithium compatible distribution centers. You would still need to purchase an inverter to take advantage of the battery capacity so to me it doesn't make sense.
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Old 02-09-2019, 09:09 PM   #9
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Drifty,

I have read that neither your standard converters or solar charge converters work well with Lifepo4 as they can overcharge easily. What has been your experience? $2500 seems pretty reasonable for 600ah when that is probably equal to 800 or 900ah with AGM batteries.
I have a Midnite Classic 150 charge controller that allows me to set what charging settings the battery manufacturer wants for their batteries to charge for best preformance.
I have my onboard converter disabled so that unit is completely out of the picture. As for overcharging I have watched my charge controller putting 60+ amps at 14.5v into my batteries and continue doing that up to 95% SOC at which time it starts to back off on the rate until it reaches 99% SOC. Later in the day the charger will read about 598ah capacity which is very close to my 600ah.
Zac I hope this answers your questions.
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Old 02-09-2019, 09:34 PM   #10
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Drifty,
That looks like a good price for the batteries with delivery included. My previous comment was if I spent that kind of money on anything, batteries or whatever, I should be happy with it. i.e. would be a shame if I was unhappy. I was not commenting on the amount you chose to spend, that is your business.

What kind of warranty did you get and how would you use it if needed since they came to you.

When I use the LiPo batteries on my power tools they do not run down like regular batteries going slower and slower, they just quit instantly. Do yours do that also, like the lights go dim slowly, or do they just go out when the battery goes down?

Some LiPos have a circuit board and other electrical monitoring things under the case. Do yours have that type of circuitry?
The batteries have a 2 year warranty and as for how do I use it I guess I would have to approach my contact person through Alibaba.com. The good manufacturers on Alibaba are very concerned about about making the customers happy so I would have to rely on Alibaba help with this process.

As for how the batteries operate when approaching the lower voltage, yes the Inverter would shut down when the low voltage set point is reached and stays at that point for 60sec. But this would not be of concern since I can watch my Amp Hrs or SOC on the charge controller. So I would be able to line up a difference power source if needed to supplement my solar. An example would be if we had a cloudy couple of days and my SOC was say down to 10% then I might be concerned about dropping my Inverter. Today for example we only made it back to 82% SOC so tomorrow AM we will be down to about 45-50% so if we have a couple more cloudy days I would need to start my Honda 2000.

All Lifepo4 batteries need circuits to control overcharging, over voltage and low voltage conditions. They also limit the amps the batteries will safely. My batteries have this circuitry built into the case.
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Old 02-09-2019, 09:51 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by PNW Fireguy View Post
The good thing about that perceived short coming is that most lithium installations take advantage of an aftermarket inverter/charger since the stock PD distribution centers do not invert. Most solar charge controllers I have researched either have lithium specific settings or their settings can be changed to support the charge characteristics of most lithium formulas. If not simply match the bulk and eq voltage settings to your lithiumj manufacturer's specs, reduce the absorb time to the minimum possible and set the float as close to or higher than the bulk settings. LiFePO4 don't want to float. Lastly set your rebulk voltage settings based upon your DOD.



PD website indicates that they now offer a line of lithium compatible distribution centers. You would still need to purchase an inverter to take advantage of the battery capacity so to me it doesn't make sense.
PNW Fireguy is very knowledgeable on Lifepo4 batteries and has graciously let me follow his solar and battery install from the start. Thanks Derek.

The only item that I need to address on my system is the 125amp charger built into my Magnum Hybrid 3012 Inverter. At this time I put this charger on standby when plugged into shore power because I want to let my solar panels do all the battery charging. If I need to use this charger to bring my batteries up I have the charging voltage and amps set a little below my solar charger so I should not have any problems with the 2 chargers fighting each other.
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Old 02-09-2019, 10:21 PM   #12
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Drifty,

Thanks. Where did you buy your batteries?
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Old 02-10-2019, 01:13 PM   #13
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I bought them though Alibaba.com right from the manufacture which is also a trading company. Alibaba acts like a escrow account and the manufacturer handles all the tariffs and shipping logistics. It took about 10days or so to be delivered. The whole process went smooth and I would do it again.
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Old 03-26-2019, 10:00 PM   #14
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Drifty thanks for the kind words. As you have shared more than a few bits of knowledge with me I am only happy to know that I may have been able to share something useful with you.



Since my lithium install has been based upon prismatic cells and separate BMS I am still tweaking things within my environment. Like you I have set my Magnum to standby and have been allowing my solar system to do all the charging since we have been in an area with much more winter sun than western Washington. After leaving Quartzite we found ourselves in some below freezing temps a few nights. This prompted me to use some insulation along with a thermostat controlled 3D printer bed heater to keep my cells nice and warm through the several nights of 26F temps. I monitored the battery cell temps via installed thermistors. I don’t believe the cell temps got below 35F. My BMS is also programmed to disallow charging at 32F but I plan to put a low draw MOSFET relay in place to physically disconnect the charging source(s) at 32F as a backup.

Couple of partly sunny days and our 700AH are fully charged before lunch.
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Old 03-26-2019, 11:30 PM   #15
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Thanks for posting a update Derek. It looks like your system is running like a well oiled machine when it’s pumping out at least 78 amps or 1086 watts. I was wondering if you set your controller to back off around 655ah as to not charge the batteries over a certain SOC? I imagine you can get around 1300 watts from your panels since I can get 1200 from my 1305 available. Nice setup. You gotta love the Midnite Classic 150!
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Old 03-27-2019, 07:44 AM   #16
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Thanks Larry. Yes, I have programmed my Orion Jr so that my cell max and min voltages are below the 100% SOC and above the 5% DOD points on my specific charge curve. So like Battleborn and other drop in replacement batter manufacturers when my meters indicate 100% I actual have a safety margin built in. In addition per the manufacturer's recommendation I have redundant means of performing the role of charging and discharging functions. The BMS software controls when the battery can discharge via a MOSFET relay however the Magnum LBCO provides a backup means. My Midnite Solar controller has the whizbang Jr shunt so I have set an appropriate ending amps within the advanced charge parameters. In addition the BMS via another MOSFET relay also can remove the charging source. In my case these redundant means are programmed within no more than a tenth or two amps apart. So far I am really pleased with the Midnite Solar Classic charge controller.
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