Battery charger for liFEPO4 battery bank

[glennjr1]

I think I had asked this question before but got no response. Can I hook a battery charger up to my 400AH liFEPO4 lithium batteries while it is hooked to my charger inverter? The charger on the inverter/charger doesn't seem to do the job and any recommendations for a charger? Thanks >)

 

[42OhmsPA]

Yes.

Charging from multiple sources

One can have as many independent charging sources running concurrently as they like provided they are programmed properly for the voltage of one's battery bank. Examples (some or all at once, even multiples of a single type, different brands, etc.): Solar PV via MPPT Solar PV via PWM AC-DC...

diysolarforum.com

What voltage? If 48V you can build your own pretty inexpensive with a used R48-3000e3 rectifier.

 

[glennjr1]

Yes.

Charging from multiple sources

One can have as many independent charging sources running concurrently as they like provided they are programmed properly for the voltage of one's battery bank. Examples (some or all at once, even multiples of a single type, different brands, etc.): Solar PV via MPPT Solar PV via PWM AC-DC...

diysolarforum.com

What voltage? If 48V you can build your own pretty inexpensive with a used R48-3000e3 rectifier.

OOPS, I forgot to mention the voltage. It's a 12V battery bank.

 

[42OhmsPA]

OOPS, I forgot to mention the voltage. It's a 12V battery bank.

Can't help with recommendations for 12v.
I'd probably look at bench power supplies for the multiple use cases.

 

[mikefitz]

Can I hook a battery charger up to my 400AH liFEPO4 lithium batteries while it is hooked to my charger inverter?

Yes, Victron IP 22 range,

https://www.victronenergy.com/chargers/blue-smart-ip22-charger.

If the charger section of the charger inverter is malfunctioning then the issue should be fixed as it may effect other areas of the units operation.

Having looked over your previous posts it seems that the charge voltage is not increasing as you wish. You have settings on the inverter to select battery type and thus charge voltage. Setting 3, for lithium is 14.6 absorbtion and 13.7 float. This is perhaps too agressive and may cause issues, setting 2 at 14.1 charge and 13.4 float may be a useful alternative.
If view of your charging issues note that the batteries have low temperature protection and will not charge in cold conditions. You location suggests that you have this situation.

When charging to absorbtion voltage at 14 + volts, for the majority if the charge bulk period, the volts will be around 13.5 volts, only reaching the 'target ' absorbtion volts when the battery is almost full.
If you have a battery monitor then monitoring charge current will give a useful indication of the charge process, good or poor.

The graph shows the cell volts ( X4 for a 12v battery) under charge. For most of the charge period the voltage per cell is 3.3 to 3.4 volts and only exceeds 3.5 volts , (14.0 volts for a 4 cell battery) near fully charged .

My guess is that with poor solar, and perhaps no charging due to low temperature, your batteries are heavily discharged and no sucessful charging is taking place. It possible that there is nothing wrong with the inverter charger.

Mike

 

[glennjr1]

Yes, Victron IP 22 range,

https://www.victronenergy.com/chargers/blue-smart-ip22-charger.

If the charger section of the charger inverter is malfunctioning then the issue should be fixed as it may effect other areas of the units operation.

Having looked over your previous posts it seems that the charge voltage is not increasing as you wish. You have settings on the inverter to select battery type and thus charge voltage. Setting 3, for lithium is 14.6 absorbtion and 13.7 float. This is perhaps too agressive and may cause issues, setting 2 at 14.1 charge and 13.4 float may be a useful alternative.
If view of your charging issues note that the batteries have low temperature protection and will not charge in cold conditions. You location suggests that you have this situation.

When charging to absorbtion voltage at 14 + volts, for the majority if the charge bulk period, the volts will be around 13.5 volts, only reaching the 'target ' absorbtion volts when the battery is almost full.
If you have a battery monitor then monitoring charge current will give a useful indication of the charge process, good or poor.

The graph shows the cell volts ( X4 for a 12v battery) under charge. For most of the charge period the voltage per cell is 3.3 to 3.4 volts and only exceeds 3.5 volts , (14.0 volts for a 4 cell battery) near fully charged .
View attachment 192208
My guess is that with poor solar, and perhaps no charging due to low temperature, your batteries are heavily discharged and no sucessful charging is taking place. It possible that there is nothing wrong with the inverter charger.

Mike

Mike,
Thanks for the info. Maybe everything is OK. The batteries are not in a cold environment because they are indoors ambient temperature is around 55 degrees even if the outdoor temperature is in the teens. No sun to speak of. Welcome to the North East.