No Solar!

[DryFly]

I plan on buying a 100AH Lifepo4 battery and using it as my house battery; when it needs recharging I’ll use my generator to top it off. No solar.
So, I’m interested in finding out real world experience with one of the drop in Lifepo4 batteries, preferably from people who are using them without solar backup. Are any of you using a Lifepo4 battery this way? What do you think of your decision, given the fact you probably paid somewhere around $1,000 for the battery? How long does it take to recharge your Lifepo4 using your generator when it’s depleted, and how far do you run it down before recharging? Any concerns you have? Any recommendations (besides solar)? Any battery drain while towing?

[Crackerman]

With a lifepo4 you don't want the TV to charge the battery, it can cause irreparable damage to the battery if it is not charged correctly. Different manufacturers have different absorbtion rates and times.
You will enjoy the capacity, but recommend a better charger/converter or inverter/charger.

[daleyocum]

I’d talk to the folks at Battle Born and see what they recommend as a minimum in terms of charger. Lithium’s get cranky if not charged at the right voltage. Some, like Battle Born’s have electronics built in to handle some of the issues but they still need enough volts coming in.

Lithium can be charged at very high currents, probably more than your charger can deliver. So, without knowing what charger you’ll have we can’t say how fast it will charge.

If you are going to charge off the tow vehicle you’ll probably also need a voltage converter/booster. Ask them about that as well.

I’d still recommend getting a portable solar panel to go with your spiffy battery. Even a 100w portable will go a long way towards keeping you in juice if your needs are modest.

[mythbuster88]

Originally Posted by DryFly

I plan on buying a 100AH Lifepo4 battery and using it as my house battery; when it needs recharging I’ll use my generator to top it off. No solar.
So, I’m interested in finding out real world experience with one of the drop in Lifepo4 batteries, preferably from people who are using them without solar backup. Are any of you using a Lifepo4 battery this way? What do you think of your decision, given the fact you probably paid somewhere around $1,000 for the battery? How long does it take to recharge your Lifepo4 using your generator when it’s depleted, and how far do you run it down before recharging? Any concerns you have? Any recommendations (besides solar)? Any battery drain while towing?

I am doing an installation of two BBs right now.
But to answer your question about charging time we need to know more about your setup.

Do you have a converter? If so which one.
That will determine your charging time.
For me I went from 25% C to 100% C in about two hours.
Where C is battery capacity. But I have a huge converter/battery charger.
In any case the charging time for LiFePO4 is a fraction of lead acid charging time.

[SilverHouseDreams]

Originally Posted by Crackerman

With a lifepo4 you don't want the TV to charge the battery, it can cause irreparable damage to the battery if it is not charged correctly. Different manufacturers have different absorbtion rates and times.
You will enjoy the capacity, but recommend a better charger/converter or inverter/charger.

Can you explain your concerns? Lithium batteries can easily charge at very high charge rates, the wiring from TV is /really/ unlikely to be capable coming close to peak charge rate...

BattleBorn batteries have internal battery management that maintains health of the battery.

You aren’t likely to damage the battery, if you read my posts on the subject it is just more likely that you won’t have 100% capacity due to voltage difference between the TV and TT batteries, and if anything you could damage the battery in the TV.

[Crackerman]

Yes, we offer several different lifepo4 battery setups for customers.
On all of them they are very specific in charge rates, absorbtion time and float charging voltages. As well as some temperature ranges. A tow vehicle outputs voltage all the time no matter what.

For instance, if they are charged at 14.7v for a TV for a 6 hour trip, but their specific charge rate is 14.3v for 10 minutes after 100% charge is reached, then you can easily start degrading battery life.

Charge strategies for agm and flooded batteries do not apply at all to lithium batteries. Some manufactures also recommend NOT charging at a high current (lifeblue is 60a with an 80a max).

We have a 300ah lifeblue in a trailer now, and even at 60amp charge limitation, it went from 50% to 100% in about 2.5 hours. Yes, it also has its own bms built into the battery, but we still follow mfr recommend rates.

So, while spending twice as much on a lithium is great, take 2 more minutes to disconnect charge line from battery, keep charge parameters is manufacturers specified range (and no, a progressive Dynamics charger won't exactly do it properly) and get the most capacity and life out of your investment.