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Renogy LiFePo4 Issue

mspenc45

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Joined
Sep 24, 2019
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Hi guys and gals, just wanted to share an issue I just had with my Renogy LiFEPo4 batteries purchased in May of 2019. These are not the new version they just released with cold temp protection. Anyway, I use these in a parallel setup with the Victron BMS-712 in our Arctic Fox 811. I use an old modified sine wave 2KW to power our microwave and our really cool one cup Keurig maker. Anyway, I've noticed twice now that my batteries, which are usually fully charged at the end of a return trip home as I have the Redarc https://redarcelectronics.com/products/dual-input-40a-in-vehicle-dc-battery-charger powered from the truck charging system while driving. This supplies a good 40A, or 20A per battery charge while driving. Soooo, twice now, The batteries have lost their charge, I mean lost, all the way down to 10.2VDC, or just above the automatic low voltage cut off from the Renogy internal BMS. I looked for parasitic loads and found none, so I suspected one battery might be loading down the other. I went ahead and manually recharged the the pair and then watched the voltage closely and it began to drop almost immediately. To trouble shoot I disconnected them from each other and while one was at 13.2VDC, the other remained at 10.2VDC. The later would not charge as my smart charger would immediately ramp the DC voltage up as if the battery was nearing full charge I am thinking it did this because the current draw of the battery only reached 0.2A. I tried several different chargers I have and all pretty much did the same with the final voltage only 10.9VDC. Renogy just sent me a pre-paid UPS label and the battery is on its way back to them. They say they'll need to confirm my findings, but suspect an "open" cell. I really had no issue with them as far as their service, only took a day or two to get the RMA and shipping label. We'll see what they do, but I am hopeful of good service. Any ideas of what might have happened here, I am open to comments for certain! Attached is the Victron monitoring results, the start is with both batteries and the change is when I remove the good battery from the pair and leave the bad battery charging.

Charging with and without.png
 
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Your battery temp says its 39 degrees now. Where you charging them when they were colder? From everything I have read its very bad to charge LiFePo4 batteries when they are near 32 degrees and the renogy's don't have a low temp protector from what I have read. -Bill
 
Your battery temp says its 39 degrees now. Where you charging them when they were colder? From everything I have read its very bad to charge LiFePo4 batteries when they are near 32 degrees and the renogy's don't have a low temp protector from what I have read. -Bill

Ah, that's the outside temperature being reported to my phone through weather service. It is much warmer in the hangar where I store the camper.
 
Maybe you got a defective one then. Hopefully they replace it with a new one. I just ordered 4 of them for $1080 each from Amazon today!
 
Maybe you got a defective one then. Hopefully they replace it with a new one. I just ordered 4 of them for $1080 each from Amazon today!
You must mean their larger model? I believe 170AH? the 100AH is $799 at Renogy directly.
 
Yes, I just bought four of the 170ah Renogy batteries. I looked up that Redarc DPS1240 as I was unfamiliar with that device. But what I found is, Its only a 12v power supply. That's not a battery charger. What do you use to charge those batteries? They would want 14.x volts to actually charge them, not the 12 volts that would put out. If your not using a Li battery charger, that might have something to do with your issue.

Bill
 
Yes, I just bought four of the 170ah Renogy batteries. I looked up that Redarc DPS1240 as I was unfamiliar with that device. But what I found is, Its only a 12v power supply. That's not a battery charger. What do you use to charge those batteries? They would want 14.x volts to actually charge them, not the 12 volts that would put out. If your not using a Li battery charger, that might have something to do with your issue.

Bill
Sorry Bill, This is the unit I use. https://redarcelectronics.com/products/dual-input-40a-in-vehicle-dc-battery-charger Also, remember, one battery charges just fine and they are in a parallel setup, so both batteries are seeing the same charge profile. The only variable is that one battery charges and the other does not.
 
Ah, thats a different model number than whats in the first thread. Should be good then.
 
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