Chin 12v 300ah with Renogy Rover 40amp mppt

[roaming ram]

good afternoon fellow off gridders ! upgrading my primitive lead acid system with new technology. i will install a new Chin 12v 300ah LiFePo4 battery with heater and bms, add an additional 200 watts of solar panels in parallel for 400 watts of solar (2 Renogy portable solar suitcases) and upgrade the mppt to the Renogy Rover 40amp mppt. i did use the search but my questions are more specific and i didnt find exactly what i was looking for so my questions are as follows:
1. since i have not gotten the manuals yet and i am way too eager to do this, do i need to drain the chin down before i hook it up to the solar charger ?
2. i understand the rover has a custom user setting. should i use the specs from the battery to adjust the custom settings or use their auto Li setting ?
3. is it true that the optimal usage scenario for most cycles on LiFePo4 batteries is to drain them to about 50% then recharge ?
4. do i need to install a cut off switch between the battery and scc for safety or can the bms be trusted ?
5. i will be running this system in high altitudes 7-11k, hence the heater. i will insulate the battery box as well. are there other factors i should be aware of ?

this forum has been a ridiculously valuable source and wealth of information. I cannot thank everyone enough for their experience and advice so I can engineer a practical system that if done correctly will last a very long time. Thank you for all of your support and generosity ! i am looking forward to using all the bluetooth features to track supply and demand and hopefully provide other users with my own experience in the not too distant future.

 

[camelCase]

1. You do not need to drain the battery first. LiFePo4 batteries do not take a memory like old rechargeable types of batteries. If the battery is full, the MPPT controller will just not charge it.
2. The default Li settings will be safe and I would start with those. Some minor tweaks might be good, but I wouldn't recommend it until you understand what you're doing and have read the documentation.
3. No, that is not true. Just let the MPPT controller do it's thing and charge whenever it can while you are using the batteries. The 50% thing this is only for long term storage. LiFePo4 likes to sit at half charge if you're not going to use it for a long time.
4. Yes, you need a safety fuse between the battery and the system. Many people will install a fuse as close to the battery as possible AND a disconnect/breaker switch to for convenience while working on the system. Please note you should always disconnect the solar panels before disconnecting the batteries from the SCC.
5. The heater will drain the battery gradually, so it would be best to store the battery someplace above freezing when not using it.

 

[roaming ram]

1. You do not need to drain the battery first. LiFePo4 batteries do not take a memory like old rechargeable types of batteries. If the battery is full, the MPPT controller will just not charge it.
2. The default Li settings will be safe and I would start with those. Some minor tweaks might be good, but I wouldn't recommend it until you understand what you're doing and have read the documentation.
3. No, that is not true. Just let the MPPT controller do it's thing and charge whenever it can while you are using the batteries. The 50% thing this is only for long term storage. LiFePo4 likes to sit at half charge if you're not going to use it for a long time.
4. Yes, you need a safety fuse between the battery and the system. Many people will install a fuse as close to the battery as possible AND a disconnect/breaker switch to for convenience while working on the system. Please note you should always disconnect the solar panels before disconnecting the batteries from the SCC.
5. The heater will drain the battery gradually, so it would be best to store the battery someplace above freezing when not using it.