LiFePO4 Batteries: Discussion Thread

[fxr]

Here's the simple way I'm planning on hooking up my 280Ah battery when it arrives:

_________________
Jim Crowther
1984 1.9l EJ22 Westy Wolfsburg Edition
Vespa GTS 300

[shagginwagon83]

[izzydog]

Thanks!

So... after the smaller battery charges up, the two batteries will "equalize" - is that correct?

I am planning on adding a second, 50AH BattleBorn to my existing 100AH BattleBorn. No issues with the two BMSs being connected together?

[fxr]

[kguarnotta]

Wow, $500 for 310ah...that is insane...that has to be the infinite battery...

I was also confused by that ad...a lot of those alibaba ads can be confusing - with contradicotry info. I've found - if you reach out to the company (ie via email) they get back pretty quick with decent/clear answers.
_________________
-Kevin
Lincoln, MA

'86 Triple Knob Syncro w/EJ22
'78 Westy
'69 Single Cab
'65 Kombi - EZ-Camper

[Vanuber]

[izzydog]

[Howesight]

Despite all the reasons for not laying prismatic LiFePo4 cells on their side, the Battleborn is made up of many round cells and can operate with no power or longevity issues laying on its side. Is it possible to lay 2 100Ah BB's on their side in your existing space? The two batteries would then be 13.75" high, stacked on their sides.
_________________
'86 Syncro Westy SVX

[izzydog]

[WestyWayne]

Hi - I am hoping for some advice on which of 2 roads to travel down for further planning and research regarding a battery that will fit under the driver's seat (GoWesty's LiFePo4 50Ah or deep cycle). Please forgive me for very beginner understanding.

I am going to be upgrading from the original Dometic to the TF49 Truckfridge soon. (the wife is against the lower drawing ARB fridge/freezer option b/c of space limitations) I also run a few LED lights, sink pump, and occasionally a fan and the car stereo off the aux battery. I am leaning towards keeping it simple and just sticking with a deep cycle aux battery under the driver's seat, and accept that I am limited to using the fridge to only when I have shore power hook-ups. We rarely do more than 1 day/night without hookups.

But, if the LiFePo4 50Ah under the driver's seat would provide a significant upgrade in capacity such that I might camp 1 day/night with the fridge on battery that would be significant. The factory specs on the TF49 say 2.0A p/h draw. And, maybe if the eventual addition of a 110W foldable solar panel from GoWesty could expand that capacity down the road?

Any advice for a newb at an early stage of aux battery upgrade planning is appreciated.

83 Westy air-cooled

[dobryan]

[pnwkayaker]

[kourt]

Dual BattleBorn 100AH batteries in my van. They fit perfectly under the bench seat, stacked like this.

kourt

[izzydog]

Anything thing different about those BB 100AH other than the shape?

[kourt]

The BB 100AH batteries pictured are the same ones sold here--the standard shape. They are simply set on the short side. I hope this helps.

kourt

[pnwkayaker]

kourt, very nice setup! Is that a Propex/heater outlet what shows to the left of the batteries? If so, where is the heater located relative to the batteries?
_________________
87 Syncro Westy EJ25 ("Tardis")

Seattle Meetup at Marymoor (link)
A collection of Simple Useful Mods (SUM) (link)

[kourt]

Yes, that is a Propex heater outlet. The heater itself is the HS2211, which is designed to be mounted outside/underneath the vehicle. All the noise, combustion risk, and space consumption are moved to the underside of the van. It only requires two holes (one for cold cabin air, another for warmed cabin air) to be drilled through the floor.

The smaller hoses for combustion input air and combustion exhaust remain completely outside the van (pictured below).

This has been an excellent heater. We were down to 8 degrees this week in Austin, with no power. I used the Propex to heat up the van for shelter use, and to heat up the cabin to overcome the 25 degree Battleborn BMS minimum charge temperature requirement. The cabin was around 50 degrees within one hour, and the solar panels were then able to charge the lithium battery bank.

kourt

[fxr]

[kourt]

We were without power for about 50 hours.

My house has 5kw of solar panels on the roof, but they had 6" of snow on them.

To get the gas furnace blower/igniter in the house to run (and heat the main house, where interior temps were down to about 37 degrees) I built a 120v romex extension out the to van, turned on the van's inverter (connected to the two Battleborn batteries pictured earlier) and ran the house gas furnace blower/igniter from the van.

That bought me some time and comfort to get the house solar panels mostly uncovered and thawed. Once the 5kw house solar came online, I took the same 120v romex extension and connected it to the household inverter's emergency power circuit (which only runs when the sun shines).

At that point the van became the laptop/phone charging station.

I really got my money's worth from the LiFePO4 batteries this week. The big takeaway is that you need to be able to heat the batteries to overcome the BMS restrictions in order to recharge them.

(Note: I could not just start the engine and charge from the alternator this week, because I have the power steering system open for repairs. I couldn't complete that work before the weather went bad.)

kourt

[4Gears4Tires]

You could have taken off the ps belt.

Awesome that the van worked as a little power bank/generator.
_________________
'87 Syncro
Ferric Oxyhydroxide Superleggera Edition