Are your LiFePO4 batteries ready for the falling temperatures

[LithiumConvert]

The rapid approach of freezing weather is a cause of concern for our LiFePO4 batteries.

They do not like being charged when temperatures are below freezing.

There are a number of ways to protect them - but have you thought about it for your particular situation?

 

[Dorwyn]

Now he tells me!

 

[Dorwyn]

Deleted

 

[Lenny HB]

Nope, as all my chargers won't change below 4° & batteries have heaters and won't charge until at 4 or 5°

 

[Antique]

Yep
Disconnected what little is delivered by solar till it warms up.

All the best
And HNY

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[Two on Tour]

Mine sits on a thermostatically controlled heat mat that keeps it above 6 degrees C

 

[oldiesontour]

I built in heat pads when I built the batteries controlled by the BMS's same as fogstar.Not that it matters as they are both off .

 

[AdrianChen]

Yes all good thanks for the reminder

 

[Ditcha]

I'm in Spain no need thanks

 

[MichaelT]

Yes ours have a heater duct pipe blowing on them so will turn heating on when I use the van, not bothered if they don't charge when I'm not using it

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[GerTee]

The rapid approach of freezing weather is a cause of concern for our LiFePO4 batteries.

They do not like being charged when temperatures are below freezing.

There are a number of ways to protect them - but have you thought about it for your particular situation?

Thanks for this, I wasn’t aware that charging lithium batteries at low temperatures was a bad thing. Every day’s a school day . Solar now turned off. Lithium battery was at 6.5c so hopefully no damage done.

 

[ChrisL]

My Fogstar drift is in an external locker and it's currently -1⁰C outside however the app says the battery temperature is 6.9⁰C so hopefully the internal heaters are working as expected.

 

[AdrianChen]

Thanks for this, I wasn’t aware that charging lithium batteries at low temperatures was a bad thing. Every day’s a school day . Solar now turned off. Lithium battery was at 6.5c so hopefully no damage done.

Would have been fine at 6.5°c. If your batteries have heaters, then they will use the solar to run the heat pads before charging starts. Assuming there's enough solar to heat the pads, which with the past few weeks in my area I doubt!

Mine don't have any internal heaters, so all the Victron charge devices are set to stop charging when the battery temp drops below 5°c.

 

[Dall]

Yes mine is ready for winter temperatures.....
It's well below zero in Cumberland today; my OPS280 is inside the van and has no heating pads. The terminal temps are below the low setpoint, so the BMS has switched the leisure charging off. Its also sunny and the Votronic MPPT, (which has a temp sensor on the battery negative terminal to prevent any charge going to the leisure battery when it's too cold), is charging the starter battery only.
Perfect winter condition passive battery charging management!

 

[Figaro]

My Fogstar drift is in an external locker and it's currently -1⁰C outside however the app says the battery temperature is 6.9⁰C so hopefully the internal heaters are working as expected.

I believe the heaters only work if you're actually charging the battery

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[Coolcats]

I know that the BOS LE 300 or BOS S are not what everyone wants but these are good for up to -20c

“Winterproof down to -20°C
Enjoy cozy hours inside the warmth while the battery masters the freezing cold. Thanks to integrated cell heating in combination with a temperature sensor, the LE300 Smart Battery System can be used even in sub-zero temperatures without damage or energy loss.

Furthermore, for overwintering, the Smart Battery System keeps the attached lead-acid battery fully charged for months. This allows the system to be carefree during the winter without causing irreparable damage to the lead-acid battery, due to deep discharge.”

 

[ChrisL]

I believe the heaters only work if you're actually charging the battery

I'm on hookup, so yes they are being charged at storage voltage, in my case 13.62 volts but if It wasn't the BMS should shut off charging if there is insufficient charge current to operate the heaters.

 

[JockandRita]

Mine don't have any internal heaters, so all the Victron charge devices are set to stop charging when the battery temp drops below 5°c.

Our LiFePO4 batteries and Victron controllers are rigged up the same, so no charge from them as the Victron Battery Sense unit was reading 4°C this morning. Although no solar charging was allowed, the Drift Eco BMS did allow a charge from the mains charger, so I'm not sure at what low temperature the BMS prevents charging.
The batteries are now at 6°C.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[AdrianChen]

Our LiFePO4 batteries and Victron controllers are rigged up the same, so no charge from them as the Victron Battery Sense unit was reading 4°C this morning. Although no solar charging was allowed, the Drift Eco BMS did allow a charge from the mains charger, so I'm not sure at what low temperature the BMS prevents charging.
The batteries are now at 6°C.

Cheers,

Jock.

I guess the smartsense being on the outside of the battery reacts to the ambient temp more quickly, than a sensor inside the battery - I compared a smartsense to the battery post mounted Victron sensor, and there was a difference in how quickly the two reacted - of course as the temp rises the smartsense will allow charging a little before a bms with internal sensors would - but I guess at 5°c there's enough leeway to be safe.

 

[haganap]

see we've been conned,,,,,, didn't see this in the sales blurb? I was hoping for 3 months in Syberia?

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[AdrianChen]

see we've been conned,,,,,, didn't see this in the sales blurb? I was hoping for 3 months in Syberia?

Will be fine while you're on the van with it being heated by a nice gas heater the batteries will keep going hapily. Sadly your UK summer diesel will freeze (wax) though so you won't get home, and your towed genset will also not start

 

[Otter Spotter]

see we've been conned,,,,,, didn't see this in the sales blurb? I was hoping for 3 months in Syberia?

Is that near Coventry ?

 

[cyberyacht]

My batteries are at 5 & 6C. Temperature is set to fall to -3 tonight so I've switched my solar off.

 

[AdrianChen]

My batteries are at 5 & 6C. Temperature is set to fall to -3 tonight so I've switched my solar off.

We're supposed to be down to -3, will be interesting to see how low the batts get, currently at 11°c after hitting 14 at midday

 

[Bill-H]

Good call ! I was aware of the low temperature cut off for charging Lithiums. Odd that you can discharge them at lower than you can charge them.
My LiFePO4s are under both front seats, have it hooked to EHU and an oil rad plugged in in the hab area.

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[AdrianChen]

My batteries are at 5 & 6C. Temperature is set to fall to -3 tonight so I've switched my solar off.

Temp inside the van got down to -2.3°c, batteries in the garage seemed to drop 1° every 2 hours or so, ended up at 5° at 7 this morning, they'll go up a bit today with solar charge but tomorrow night I guess will be below 5.....

 

[MichaelT]

Just had a look at the battery temperature this morning as its minus 3 out. The KS one which sits in the actual battery compartment was at 1c the Fogstar which sits above it was atb1.6c

 

[Minxy]

My batteries are at 5 & 6C. Temperature is set to fall to -3 tonight so I've switched my solar off.

Wow ... Have you got lunar solar panels then?

 

[Minxy]

It's good that someone has reminded folk about mollycoddling their lithiums... I'll stick with my gels as hubby would fret endlessly if we changed!

 

[Pausim]

It's good that someone has reminded folk about mollycoddling their lithiums... I'll stick with my gels as hubby would fret endlessly if we changed!

Lithiums don’t need any more mollycoddling than lead batteries. The BMS will stop them charging when too cold. They don’t mind being stored long term when not fully charged, they don’t need 10 to 16 hours of charging (unlike Gel). All batteries need some care, it is just a different type of mollycoddling.

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