Battle Born Batteries

[Toyman]

I've been on the fence about Lithium batteries for a while. The more I looked at these the more interested I got. The size is perfect for the under step location on my Forester, and I nearly double the available power, with half the weight.

I ordered 4 to use in my Foretravel, when I return from Alaska I'll put 2 of them in the Forester.

My experience so far.....These are some of the BEST people that I've dealt with. I (we) wanted to make sure that my inverter/charger, Morningstar solar controller, and Trimetric were set correctly, they (BBB) contacted the companies to get the proper settings to best match their batteries. Never before!

I'm excited to get these, they'll get a good workout going to Alaska! I have both a residential Refer and chest freezer in the FT....going fishing this time up there.

[JCDMeyer]

Have fun. Let us know how the lithium works out. I'm a newbie to the RV world and have been watching hours of videos on solar power, batteries and controllers. From what I've seen, Lithium is a bigger investment but will payoff in the long term. Good luck and watch out for the Bears.

[SLOArmada]

Just thought I would chime in here. I have four of the BattleBorn 100-Ahr lithium batteries. A few weeks ago, I upgraded from the stock WFCO 55-amp charger and two 6-V 235-Ahr golf cart batteries to these batteries and a Victron Multiplus inverter/charger (with up to a 120-Amp charging current).

The performance difference is night and day!
The biggest advantages I appreciate of the lithium batteries are: (1) fast recharge times, and (2) very little voltage sag for heavy loads.

We like to camp in areas that typically don't have hookups (state & national parks, etc.), and don’t like to run our generator endlessly for hours. Just a couple hours (at max) in the afternoon/evenings is what we desired. With the lead acid batteries I was frustrated that only 35% of our batteries capacity was replaceable in a couple of hours a day. That’s going from a low state of charge of 50% (as to not damage the longevity of the batteries) to 80-85% SOC. Above 80-85% SOC, lead-acid batteries have that annoyingly low current acceptance rate during the absorption phase. It doesn’t matter how much current the charger can provide, the batteries will only accept a “trickle charge” for that last 15%. So, if you are boondocking and you want more than 85% SOC you just have to endlessly run your generator for hours and hours.

These BattleBorn batteries (or any Lithium batteries) are awesome. They will accept as much current as you can provide, and do so all the way up to ~100% SOC. The maximum recharge rate is 1C (or 100 Amps for a 100-Ahr battery), and a recommended max of 0.5C for battery longevity. So, even at the recommended “low” current, a completely drained battery can be recharged in just under 2 hours.

With my previous lead-acid setup, I was happy if I saw a recharge current of 40-ish Amps which usually dropped to 20-something in short time and then just kept slowly falling as the hours passed by. With these BattleBorn batteries I have seen recharge currents of up to 150-ish Amps!! (120 A from the Victron and 30-ish Amps from my solar setup). I just love how fast they can recharge.

The low voltage sag for high current loads is also pretty cool. I have pulled over 210 Amps out of my batteries (running the microwave and a toaster oven at the same time) and the voltage drop was still only a couple of tenths of a volt. Combine that with the higher resting voltage of the batteries (13.6 V when fully charged) and it is amazing to see over 200 Amps coming out of my bank and still maintaining at least 13.0 Volts.

The folks over at BattleBorn also provide excellent service. I have called them a few times and they patiently walked me through setting up the programmable charging algorithm and charge settings in my Victron Multiplus.

for the folks at BattleBorn and their awesome batteries.

[TitanMike]

I almost went that route with my new trailer but the price (with equip mods and all) kind of put me off of them for now.

I know that all the smaller devices I have that use Li-Ion batteries certainly charge quickly and don't loose power until the very end of the charge (my cordless drill just shuts off rather than running slower and slower when end of charge).

I have learned, both by researching and from our local airplane mfr, that Li-Ion batteries can get pretty nasty if subjected to damage or internal failure. When that happens they discharge through the short and even if only small at first it cascades until you have a major fire. I'm sure the automotive type have protection against this but you would think that batteries for aircraft backup/ground power would have too.

From "Vaping" devices, hoverboards, cell phones, and even a few computer batteries, there certainly is justification to be careful and protect them from damage even more. Especially impact.

Keep on letting us know how they are doing. When it's time to replace my current batteries I'll probably go that route. From what I've read they have a charge/discharge cycle life of around 5,000 versus 1/10th that with Lead Acid Deep Cycle.

[Kenny kustom]

The batteries being sold for automotive ( Rv, boat) use are of different chemistry than the ones in your vape or iPhone. ( or note 4 )

I’m almost ready to purchase lithium, but have yet to find the perfect alternator voltage regulator to use.
Lithium does not like to be charged when at 100%.
They cannot be “ held” there. The charge process needs to stop at 100% SOC.

Toy man.. have you changed anything with your alternator?

[SLOArmada]

Originally Posted by Kenny kustom

Lithium does not like to be charged when at 100%.
They cannot be “ held” there. The charge process needs to stop at 100% SOC.

Both of my Victron chargers (the Multiplus if incoming 120 VAC is available, and the Blue Solar for solar DC input) have charging algorithms which drop from the bulk/absorption voltage of 14.4 V down to their float voltage of 13.6 V once the current stops; in other words, when the batteries reach 100% SOC the chargers automatically drop to the programmed float voltage.

[Kenny kustom]

The issue isn’t the higher end chargers.
It’s the alternator.
You left that part out of the quote.

[JLeising]

A possible straightforward workaround would be to use the vehicle power (alternator and battery) to power an inverter; plug an appropriate Li Ion rated charger into the inverter and use that charger to charge the Lithium Ion cells while driving. The Li Ion cells then never see the alternator output.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by Kenny kustom

The issue isn’t the higher end chargers.
It’s the alternator.
You left that part out of the quote.

There are BMS for lithiums that have an alternate cut off that you can use to stop charging from the alternator. I read about someone doing it just the other night...

More info from here:
https://www.thefitrv.com/rv-tips/our...-and-inverter/

"This alternator also came with a voltage regulator attached."

"The second important feature of the voltage regulator is that it has a control circuit on it which will allow the NeverDie Battery Management System (BMS) on the Lithionics battery to “turn off” the alternator when it decides it’s full. This did require running a control wire from the battery to the voltage regulator, but it works – I’ve seen it in action."

With more details here:
http://www.elitepowersolutions.com/d...up%20Guide.pdf

BUT- I don't know how this all fits into a system like the Battle Born drop-in replacements.

[ependydad]

In other news, I'm "this" close to buying 3x100 AH batteries from Battle Born.

[szabla]

I know this may be obvious to some but from what I have read here some don't realize there are 2 different types of Lithium Batteries.
Here is a site that discusses the difference.
Face-Off: Lithium Ion vs Lithium Iron Battery
I am happy to see the LiFePO4 are coming down in price. I will wait until they are around $200.00 for a 100 amp hour battery. The battle born are the safer lithium (LiFePO4).

[Kenny kustom]

Originally Posted by ependydad

In other news, I'm "this" close to buying 3x100 AH batteries from Battle Born.

I am too.

I just read that same article last night.
I do like the dual alternator idea.
Leave the first one for the chassis.
Wire the second one with an external regulator for the coach.

[SLOArmada]

Originally Posted by Kenny kustom

The issue isn’t the higher end chargers.
It’s the alternator.
You left that part out of the quote.

Sorry, I wasn't thinking of motorhomes (where alternators are a significant charging source) when I dropped that part out of the quote. There are various solutions to stop charging the battery when it is full as others have pointed out. Here's another possible solution: use a programmable battery monitor. (One that I know of which would work is the Victron BMV-700)

Many MHs have a solenoid which connects the house battery to the alternator, triggered by a 12-V ignition wire. A battery monitor with a built-in programmable relay can open and close a relay for a desired battery SOC.

So, one could find the 12-V ignition lead on the solenoid and then wire in series with that the programmable battery monitor relay. That way the alternator will be connected to the house battery if two conditions are met: (1) the MH's ignition is turned on, AND (2) the battery SOC is below the set % (say set it to 95%, or so).

[jedidieah]

That's awesome! I recently purchased and installed two of these with an Ames inverter. I am impressed. So nice to be able to have all that power available, and the weight is impressive. I made a couple videos with my install, and real world usage. Love it that I can go days without charging. Thanks

Install

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZvJrX7G_lQ

Real world usage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNE7uL2r7TQ&t=10s