A LifePO cold temp battery on the scene... - Page 3

rob_gendreau · 11-09-2019, 06:07 PM

I considered just doing a drop in, as per Battle Born's specs. But I too was a bit concerned about the alternator, my aging isolator, and even the wiring. That led me to think of a new isolator, etc, and eventually to Greg's excellent installation and the Kisae B2B units. In addition it could mean swapping out my old controller and saving some installation space.

I've got a 2001 SMB and back then I got the small battery inside the van, so the ability to get rid of the venting, the lighter weight, and the better temperatures were all a good fit for lithium.

But the Kisae is what really made it. Alternator charging on my AGMs was always meh. Lots of trips of erratic length isn't exactly conducive to good multi stage charging. But the lithiums? not so much a problem. The Kisae regulates the amperage and voltage (and isolates) so I don't overtax my alternator (I'm set at a conservative amperage) and it fit the existing wiring and fusing. And it works great; a couple of hours and I've pumped in maybe 75Ah. Love it. I like the quicker charging and so the longevity is just icing on the cake.

ShuttlePilot · 11-10-2019, 04:10 PM

Something I thought the group might find interesting.

- Eric

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

hein · 11-11-2019, 10:39 PM

We carry the Battleborn GC2 sized batteries and the Kisae DMT1250 at our warehouse in Hood River, OR. We have had very good success with the combination. Charge rate while driving is fast.

We often place batteries in our under-vehicle battery boxes. In cold climates we put Dorman seat heater elements sealed in two layers of Minicell foam under the batteries and then insulate around and on top with 3M Thinsulate. The seat heater elements are controlled with a digital thermostat.

All the best,
Hein
DIYvan
541 490 5098

ShuttlePilot · 11-16-2019, 12:52 PM

This is for anyone who was thinking of buying a 950$ Battle Born battery and cutting it open to have a look inside. If I was going to go the LiFePO4 one stop/prepackaged route Battle Born would probably be what I would chose, at the moment.

- Eric

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5E30u-66VI

**rionapo** · 09-06-2021, 05:37 PM

Coming up on house battery replacement time so I’m trying to catch up on the LiFe threads. rob_gendreau and capnkurt: You went with BattleBorn. Did you use their 100Ah battery? Did it carry the load in your vehicles? I’m replacing a 4D 200Ah unit, which makes me lean toward the 200Ah LifeBlue. However, BB has a sale right now, placing their 100Ah unit pretty close to a FullRiver 4D, which I understand to be one of the better AGM units these days. Thoughts?

capnkurt · 09-06-2021, 07:49 PM

Hi Don,

The Battelborn batteries have been fantastic for our uses. I installed two of their 100ah units, and they easily handle the loads that we regularly subject them to. I don't have any idea how they will compare to your AGM batteries, as my van only had room for two lead-acid (group 31 size) batteries under the gaucho. When I learned about the Battleborn batteries I figured the claims were too good to be true, but I decided to take a chance and see how they performed. This was based on a lot of experience with LiPo batteries in the hobby industry and how revolutionary they were in that field.

The Battleborns have been in my van for just about three years now and they don't seem to be showing any signs of degradation. Just this past weekend I was camping in Kennedy Meadows, CA where the temps were in the 90s during the day and got down into the 40s at night. As a result, the fridge and furnace (both running on 12V) got some good use. I arrived at camp at 9am on Friday and didn't leave until 3:30pm on Sunday. When I broke camp and headed out, the batteries were showing 36% full on my Trimetric battery monitor. This is the lowest I've ever seen them get. Upon starting the van, the amperage getting to the batteries briefly got as high as 70amps, but within 30 seconds it dropped down to 40-ish and stayed there almost the entire drive back home. I'm still using just the alternator to charge while driving. I had the stock alternator rebuilt at a place in Lemon Grove and so far it's holding up. I realize that I may not be fully charging the batteries and that the alternator might eventually fail. As far as not charging the batteries fully - I see that as a benefit. If I'm able to have enough power to run everything for 54 hours and still have almost 40 capacity left, that covers almost every camping trip we take (mostly just weekends). Not charging the batteries to 100% every time will only add to their lifespan. If the alternator should eventually fail, I'll take that opportunity to install a B2B charger. Since we've installed the batteries, I no longer bother bringing my heavy Zamp solar panel along on trips. I've also not had to plug in the van at home to use the onboard charger since installing them. Driving the van has so far worked at charging the batteries enough for our uses. Of course, this is my experience with Battleborn batteries, and it may be different than what others will see. All-in-all, I cannot recommend them enough: their installation has been a HUGE improvement in the quality of our camping off-grid. I highly recommend them!

Kurt