Lithium FAQs
Author: The 12 Volt Shop Date Posted:1 January 2023
Can I straight swap my AGM battery for a lithium battery?
Provided the system has Lithium compatible chargers or profiles, yes.
No Lithium Battery is a straight "Drop-In" Replacement despite some manufacturer's claims
There are no Lithium BMS or similar on the market that are capable of modifying charge currents or voltages.
Do I need a specific charger for my battery?
While a non Lithium specific charger will not damage any of our Lithium batteries, you will require a specific charger to get a reliable and well functioning system. Failure to use a lithium charger can lead to undercharging, poor recharge restarts or a lack of capacity comparative to claimed.
Can i charge my Lithium Battery with a normal Lead-Acid Charger?
While a non Lithium specific charger will not damage any of our Lithium batteries, you will require a specific charger to get a reliable and well functioning system. Failure to use a lithium charger can lead to undercharging, poor recharge restarts or a lack of capacity comparative to claimed.
Do I need a Shunt for my Battery?
A shunt is highly recommended for any Lithium battery systems as accurately judging SOC based on the voltage of the lithium system is practically impossible in standard use. A shunt/battery monitor measures the current in and out of a system and consistently tracks this against the known full capacity to give you a reliable and accurate state of charge (SOC)
Can I parallel batteries?
Provided they are the same make, capacity and relatively close in age, you can parallel up to 4x. It is to be noted that we highly recommend 1x larger battery than 2x smaller units and keeping the value of batteries lower in quantity. While this would seem like an increase in redundancy this is only to a point and beyond 2x batteries you are actually just adding a greater value of failure points in the system. You cannot series and parallel, you must only do one or the other
Can I series connect batteries to achieve higher voltage?
Provided they are the same make, capacity and age, you can series up to 4x. You CANNOT run a lower voltage appliance off the midpoint of the batteries this will cause imbalances and can lead to over/undercharging of batteries in the system or tripping bms.
Why does the BMS App not show my Batteries as 1 when multiples are connected in Parallel or Series?
The Deligreen BMSs actually do have this functionality in their app and can be shown as such. But the most accurate way to track batteries in combination is with a shunt which will measure the cumulative of the system and not a singular battery individually
SOC% is out, How do I reset this?
If you have a Deligreen BMS you will need to install a shunt, unfortunately the recent iterations of the product have been particularly poor at registering small values of current and thus “drift” off the expected percentage very easily. If you have a JBD bms product and your percentages are significantly out comparative to a secondary device, it is more likely that the secondary device, be it a shunt or battery monitor is incorrectly configured than an error of the bms, these have proven to be consistently reliable in their measures through our testing.
Before connecting the batteries in parallel or in series or in series-parallel, are there any principles to follow to make the battery pack charge and discharge balanced?
It is best practice to charge all batteries individually, on a charger built for their nominal voltages before connecting them in any combination of series parallel. If you must connect them in final configuration immediately just make the first charge longer and to a higher voltage 14.6v @ overnight or voltage equivalents. This will equalise the battery pack in operation
Can I use this battery with other brands of batteries in series or in parallel or in series-parallel?
You must not parallel or series ANY lithium of a different brand with ANY other brands lithium, this is as true for our batteries as it is for any other brand. Not all 100Ah batteries are made with the same components, even putting aside brands that may be dishonest about their capacity you could have as little as 4x cells or as many as 108 to make the average 100Ah battery, these will charge differently and they will fall out of equilibrium
What size DCDC charger would I need?
Depends mainly on needs of system than anything else, be it 30AH or 1216Ah a lithium battery is super efficient to charge and will charge at as low as 1A, it will just take longer. So if you have a very big system or very large battery you will want a very large DCDC 50+, or if you drive very little or infrequently and need to recharge in a much smaller time frame you will want a very large DCDC. Basic systems with adequate driving times or solar support though, can still get away with 25A or less as their main recharge value.
Can I charge my Lithium Battery direct from my Alternator?
Charging lithium batteries from an alternator, be that in a boat or vehicle, presents some challenges when compared to the straightforward nature of charging lead based batteries. Unlike a lead-acid battery the internal resistance and corresponding voltage of a lithium battery does not rise until it is nearly 95% fully charged. This can cause alternators to run longer at full output which can cause alternator burnout. The length of a time a lithium battery can draw a constant current at or above the alternators max output can exceed the design parameters of the alternator. This can cause the alternator to over heat and burn-out. Alternators are internally cooled by a fan on its rotor. Lithium batteries will draw a high charge current at all times meaning alternators are prone to burn-out at low RPM when charging lithium batteries at high currents. Even a heavy duty alternator may need current limiting as well temperature compensation to avoid premature failure.
Can I use my battery with an inverter?
Provided the max load of the inverter (largest appliance) is below the maximum continuous load of the inverter, it will handle it easily
What is the recommended charging voltage for the 12 Volt Shop Lithium Battery?
Our recommended voltages for any lithium battery are 14.2v Bulk charges and 13.5v float voltages
What is a maximum discharge voltage of a deep cycle lithium battery?
Your Lithium battery will automatically cut itself off at 10v, if you do not have a charger capable of 0v wake up, we would recommend keeping the battery above 11.5v to allow excess voltage to operate these devices.
My Battery Appears to be dead or asleep, What can I do?
If you have fully discharged a lithium battery then you will need to “wake it up” this is done by applying charge. Some chargers (such as Victron Energy products) have a 0v wake up functionality and will do this automatically as soon as their input source becomes available. Other chargers require voltage on their output lines in order to begin charging, these systems will require you to jump start the Lithium battery either from another battery or a portable jump starting device
My Battery no longer charges, What can I do?
Ascertain why, if the battery is at a full state then it won’t take any more current, they aren’t like lead acid which will continue to take some current even as they are full. If the battery is consistently plummeting to 0% even with working charge sources available, check the app firstly to make sure the charge function has not bee disabled on the battery, if that isn’t the case then contact us for further support and we will run through your system.
How safe are Lithium Batteries, Can your lithium batteries blow up?
In normal operation there is 0 potential for a lithium explosion, these are not the same chemistry of battery that are used in electrical vehicles, phones or power banks. Which do have issues with certain circumstances like overheat, fire and puncture causing rapid conflagration
What is the life of a lithium battery?
Depending largely on the temperature and load it’s consistently subjected to, most lithiums should last beyond 10yrs
Can I mount my battery inside of a car engine bay?
Provided the battery is waterproof and designed for it, such as our 163Ah and 105Ah Small batteries you can mount them in the engine bay. Please note this will reduce the expected cycle life of the battery by up to 40%, this is a result of the LiFePO4 chemistry and is not unique to our brands, we just tell you about it…
Can I mount my battery on its side?
All of our batteries can be mounted on their large sides, not all of our batteries can be mounted on both of their short sides (105M, 105SL, 105S, 163S, 163SL, 304M)
Is there anywhere I can’t install my battery?
General rules apply, don’t install the battery anywhere where it is consistently or constantly submerged, where it is consistently greater than 60~70C, where there is significant concerns of corrosive liquids, poorly restrained around conductive surfaces
Lithium Battery Operating temp states max 45°c - How will that go in summer when the inside temp of my car will go beyond that?
The lithium batteries are capable of up to 70C in normal operation (Internal temperature) this is typically fine even in a hot vehicle as the consistent loads in these temperatures are not typically high (running a fridge or similar) in most circumstances where there is consistently high current (charging, inverters etc.) people tend to be in the vehicle with air conditioning or open air for access to their accessories.
How do I store this battery long term?
We typically recommend a Victron Energy smart charger device as they have appropriate storage modes for long term storage, if you don’t have such a charger then just charge it full and put it away with nothing running, then charge it once every 3 months and it will adequately maintain itself.
What is the self-discharge rate of this battery?
Depending mainly on capacity the self discharge is as much as 6% on the 105Ah batteries and as little as 2% on the 608Ah batteries, this scales relatively linearly.
Are your Batteries IEC:62619 Certified?
The industry positon on this is that the internal components used in the batteries all comply with IEC:62619 standards so therefore the battery complies with IEC:62619 Standards. Very few if any wouldve actually had additional compliance testing undertaken on the battery to provide certification to this effect.
Our Battery packs have an Integrated Battery Management Safety Systems that projects against the following as requried by Clause 5.4.12.3.3 in AS/NZS3001.2:2022 Standards
- Over and Under Voltage (at Cell LeveL)
- Over and Under Temperature
- Over Current
The Lithium Cells inside the 12v Shop Battery packs comply with IEC:62619 as required by Clause 5.4.12.3.1 of the Standard
- The 12v Shop Battery Packs have Bluetooth connection and via the App you can view the State of Charge (SOC) % as required by Clause 5.4.12.3.4 along with Current, Temp and Voltage of the Cells. If connecting multiple packs in parallel to increase your battery bank capacity, or in series to increase your battery bank voltage, we recommend the additional use of a standalone Battery Monitor designed to work with Lithium like the Victron BMV-712 or Smartshunt, or enerdrive ePro Plus or Simarine Battery Monitor
What are the transportation requirements for Lithium Batteries?
As a consumer this is not a great concern unless you are arranging couriers, despite their safety as a chemistry and product these are considered a DG with a UN3480 designation, for couriering they will require the applicable DG paperwork and informing the courier in turn.