Lithium pre install charge advice.

[Dazzola]

Good evening!
I'll be taking delivery of a pair of AOlithium 100ah batteries in a few days to replace lead acid.
I imagine they will need to be charged to 100% before I fit them?
Would an aldi autoXS charger be sufficient to do this? It has lots of modes but no specific lithium from what I can see?
Like this one
Broken Link Removed

 

[Tombola]

Fraid not

 

[headlight]

It says not suitable for lithium batteries.
Tombola beat me to it.

 

[Dazzola]

I saw that but wondered why?
If you can use different settings like gel to "get you through" why wouldn't it be suitable for a single charge?
Obviously it's no good long term but would it work for just a one off charge?

 

[Tombola]

I saw that but wondered why?
If you can use different settings like gel to "get you through" why wouldn't it be suitable for a single charge?
Obviously it's no good long term but would it work for just a one off charge?

you can sometimes but in this instance I cant really say as it doesnt say how many amps or charge voltage. I have one of them for my motorbike, but wouldnt use it on my van.

read this

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[Dazzola]

OK Tombola looks like i need a new charger then, do you have any recommendations for a budget one?

 

[Otter Spotter]

OK Tombola looks like i need a new charger then, do you have any recommendations for a budget one?

Why not fit one in your van, install battery then hook up and charge. The charger will be needed in the van in the future. Consider Victron expensive but worth the money

 

[headlight]

Dazzola Fogstar were doing their 20amp lithium charger for £40 last week.

 

[Raul]

I saw that but wondered why?
If you can use different settings like gel to "get you through" why wouldn't it be suitable for a single charge?
Obviously it's no good long term but would it work for just a one off charge?

How do you intend to re charge after you fit it in the van? Fit it and charge in the van if you already have the means.

 

[StillGoing]

Dazzola Fogstar were doing their 20amp lithium charger for £40 last week.

A lot of people have been reporting the Fogstar charger is very noisy.

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[headlight]

A lot of people have been reporting the Fogstar charger is very noisy.

It is very noisy, I have one.
Far to noisy to fit in my van but I only bought it to give my new batteries their initial charge at home.

 

[Tombola]

Dazzola Fogstar were doing their 20amp lithium charger for £40 last week.

Good shout.
20amp

LiFePO4 Charger (Fogstar Drift) - 12V 20ADefault Title

Our user-friendly 12V 20A LiFePO4 charger is packed with extensive protective features, and are of a high seismic grade, ideal for using during your off-grid adventures.

www.fogstar.co.uk

Or 40 amp

LiFePO4 Charger (Fogstar Drift) - 12V 40ADefault Title

Our user-friendly 12V 40A LiFePO4 charger is packed with extensive protective features, and are of a high seismic grade, ideal for using during your off-grid adventures.

www.fogstar.co.uk

 

[Lenny HB]

A lot of people have been reporting the Fogstar charger is very noisy.

So are Victron ones.

 

[Dazzola]

How do you intend to re charge after you fit it in the van? Fit it and charge in the van if you already have the means.

I have solar and a 30 amp b2b to recharge after fitting, I won't be on hookup for a good few months and only ever stay on a site for a couple of days so I don't really need to fit an on-board charger.

 

[Two on Tour]

So are Victron ones.

My Victron IP22 charger makes no noise, which ones are you saying are noisy? or maybe I'm not working mine hard enough.

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[Tombola]

My Victron IP22 charger makes no noise, which ones are you saying are noisy? or maybe I'm not working mine hard enough.

Neither does mine...unless I'm.deaf

 

[Lenny HB]

My Victron IP22 charger makes no noise, which ones are you saying are noisy? or maybe I'm not working mine hard enough.

The 30 amp IP22 I fitted in Tam's van was very noisy when charging at 30 amps, a bit of buzzing and a noisy fan when running full plet

 

[Guigsy]

So are Victron ones.

I've got the Victron IP22 20A. If you leave it on a few hours, the fan kicks in. It's not too bad, but it's not silent. If you're plugged in overnight though, 10A mode is fanless.

 

[Steve N Tracy]

I have just fitted 2 Aolithium battery's to mine, but I used the motorhome charger to charge them singly before connecting them in parallel.
I will say that the Aolithium app is pretty dire so I use Xiaoxiang 3.1.1026 but be warned it does give you access to all parameters so if you don't know what your doing it is possible too mess up the BMS settings, alternatively they are quite happy to connect using the Fogstar Drift app which gives better information on one screen then the Aolithium app and nothing can be altered without the Fogstar password.

 

[Two on Tour]

I've got the Victron IP66 20A. If you leave it on a few hours, the fan kicks in. It's not too bad, but it's not silent. If you're plugged in overnight though, 10A mode is fanless.

Not sure which Victron charger you mean, as they do not have an IP66 and the IP65 is fan-less, do you mean the IP22?

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[Raul]

I have solar and a 30 amp b2b to recharge after fitting, I won't be on hookup for a good few months and only ever stay on a site for a couple of days so I don't really need to fit an on-board charger.

I have just finished to build another battery, this last weekend. I have no charger and not intending to charge it up. The cells came charged at about 3.287v, so the whole battery sits now at 13.15v. My van leisure batteries are low, barely over 13v. Each day when I drive, the b2b puts a little in. As soon as the leisure bats. creeps up to 13.15v or a tad above, I will be wiring the new one in parallel to the existing. Then I will let the solar and b2b to do the charging.

 

[Dazzola]

I have just finished to build another battery, this last weekend. I have no charger and not intending to charge it up. The cells came charged at about 3.287v, so the whole battery sits now at 13.15v. My van leisure batteries are low, barely over 13v. Each day when I drive, the b2b puts a little in. As soon as the leisure bats. creeps up to 13.15v or a tad above, I will be wiring the new one in parallel to the existing. Then I will let the solar and b2b to do the charging.

So it would be OK to charge each one with the b2b and then link them up at some point, say at 80% and use as normal?
I won't be using the batteries for a couple of weeks so plenty of time to charge them while driving, which I do everyday.

 

[Tombola]

So it would be OK to charge each one with the b2b and then link them up at some point, say at 80% and use as normal?
I won't be using the batteries for a couple of weeks so plenty of time to charge them while driving, which I do everyday.

yes, in general.

purists wont like it but yes you can

what b2b do you have,

 

[Tombola]

where abouts are you driving, I see you are Sheffield way.... i have a business literally just off J7 M62 I can leave my Victron smart 3 stage there if you want to borrow it, if heading this way

 

[Raul]

So it would be OK to charge each one with the b2b and then link them up at some point, say at 80% and use as normal?
I won't be using the batteries for a couple of weeks so plenty of time to charge them while driving, which I do everyday.

Not each one, both in parallel at once, that way you have equal voltage right from the start.

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[bigtwin]

Not each one, both in parallel at once, that way you have equal voltage right from the start.

They’ll have equal voltage at the end of charging but not necessarily at the start of charging.

Ian

 

[Otter Spotter]

My Victron IP22 charger makes no noise, which ones are you saying are noisy? or maybe I'm not working mine hard enough.

I have that one and it is very quiet

 

[StillGoing]

So are Victron ones.

My Victron one isn’t noisy.

If you want to hear noisy, join the Fogstar Owners Group on FB and listen to some of the videos of Fogstar chargers posted by owners. Now they are noisy.

Some owners have also reported the Fogstar charger stopping before the battery is full.

 

[headlight]

Dazzola do the AOlithium batteries have a built in heater ?
I read the spec which said cold protection, but it didnt say whether that protection was just that the BMS wouldn't allow charging at cold temps or the battery had a heater ?

 

[Dazzola]

Dazzola do the AOlithium batteries have a built in heater ?
I read the spec which said cold protection, but it didnt say whether that protection was just that the BMS wouldn't allow charging at cold temps or the battery had a heater ?

No they don't, I imagine it's like you say and the bms will just shut them down, but they are crazy cheap at the moment so I can live without heating, I can always use a vivarium pad if it becomes a problem!

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