Goal Zero Yeti 1250 – Great platform for drop-in LiFePO4 upgrade

[invento123]

Holy cow. I would not trust that. I have a hard time trusting 30A fuses in that size..

HOLY SMOKES HEY WILL!!! Love your videos! I personally had no issues with the fuses in the 6 years I've owned my 1250. Granted the most I ever pulled out of the chaining port was probably around 130 amps when I used it to run a 1.6kw Northern Tools inverter as the 1.2kw inside wasn't enough for a time.
But I agree. Even though in theory Goal Zero tested the 50 amp fuses and they must have performed fine, pushing a combined 200 amps through 4 of those standard fuses probably isn't great, another reason I lowered them to 30 amp fuses when I replaced them.

 

[curiouscarbon]

"50A" ATC size

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30A, Maxi size

Bussmann MAX-30 Maxi Blade Fuse - 30 Amp, Regular: Automotive Fuses: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

Bussmann MAX-30 Maxi Blade Fuse - 30 Amp, Regular: Automotive Fuses: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

www.amazon.com

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50A, Maxi size

Bussmann MAX-50 Maxi Blade Fuse - 50 Amp: Automotive Fuses: Amazon.com: Tools & Home Improvement

Bussmann MAX-50 Maxi Blade Fuse - 50 Amp: Automotive Fuses: Amazon.com: Tools & Home Improvement

www.amazon.com

 

[curiouscarbon]

I lowered them to 30 amp fuses when I replaced them.

good call!

 

[Dfloyd02]

I was happy to see your post on retrofitting a Yeti 1250 with a LiFePO4 battery, as my AGM batteries don't last long :-(

I was curious to see what Goal Zero thought about the upgrade, so I contacted their technical department to see what they thought about it.

What are your thoughts/comments about their reply below?

***** Email Reply from Goal Zero *****
Thanks for sending that article and information over to me. I had a conversation with our engineers, and they confirmed that we do NOT recommend going from Lead Acid to any sort of lithium battery. This can cause damage to the Yeti 1250 itself since these units were originally created for Lead Acid batteries. With our X-line units you can go from Lithium to Lead Acid using what we call the Yeti Link Expansion Module but there is no way to go from Lead Acid to Lithium.

Let me know if you have any questions, thanks!

Best Regards,

Solution Center Representative
***** Email Reply from Goal Zero *****

 

[Bob142]

What are your thoughts/comments about their reply below?

Welcome to the forum!

That kind of reply is expected from a vendor that has most likely never tried to retrofit one of their legacy units with an LFP battery. There is really no incentive for them to try it out or to support it in any way. They are more interested in selling their newer units.

Ultimately I trust the facts on the ground of my own upgrade and those of several others.

Bottom line: this DIY upgrade works and I haven't heard of anyone who has a unit that was "damaged" in any way by changing the battery from AGM to LFP.

 

[Daedalus]

I take the response from GZ with a pinch of salt. Lithium is different technology, however the lithium BMS is key here within the Lithium pack replacement, The SLA charge board within the Yeti's has a cut-off voltage designed for SLA, i agree there. As long as the SLA Yeti board doesnt "brainfart" when the lithium unit is swapped and the charge of the lithium BMS halts at correct lithium voltage i dont see a problem.

There are already SLA replacement Lithium units out there for exactly this solution. I looked at similar for my tiny yeti 150 (bioenno 15ah lithium cell) was a drop in unit and a guy on youtube (link in my other posts) did conversion.
The 150/400/1250 are way out of warranty so there is limited if anything to comeback on GZ, and we are not in kansas anymore dorothy with the amount of modding done in this forum to the units

 

[Ely]

I put a LFP in one of my little 150. It runs without issues, the charge status display is a bit crazy because the discharge/charge behavior (voltage) is different from SLA. The cut off is the same and the LFP can be charged with a SLA charger (and any solar charge controller for SLA).

 

[corerolla]

I was happy to see your post on retrofitting a Yeti 1250 with a LiFePO4 battery, as my AGM batteries don't last long :-(

I was curious to see what Goal Zero thought about the upgrade, so I contacted their technical department to see what they thought about it.

What are your thoughts/comments about their reply below?

***** Email Reply from Goal Zero *****
Thanks for sending that article and information over to me. I had a conversation with our engineers, and they confirmed that we do NOT recommend going from Lead Acid to any sort of lithium battery. This can cause damage to the Yeti 1250 itself since these units were originally created for Lead Acid batteries. With our X-line units you can go from Lithium to Lead Acid using what we call the Yeti Link Expansion Module but there is no way to go from Lead Acid to Lithium.

Let me know if you have any questions, thanks!

Best Regards,

Solution Center Representative
***** Email Reply from Goal Zero *****

I haven't had any issues either as others have mentioned. Here is the build I have just completed: https://diysolarforum.com/threads/280ah-lifepo4-goal-zero-yeti-1250.36995/

 

[Daedalus]

I put a LFP in one of my little 150. It runs without issues, the charge status display is a bit crazy because the discharge/charge behavior (voltage) is different from SLA. The cut off is the same and the LFP can be charged with a SLA charger (and any solar charge controller for SLA).

Thats cool you took the plunge, I did wonder if the increase in capacity makes the (highly inaccurate ) LCD display go a bit wayward, i had a 14ah from factory, then threw a 15ah in and it seems to hit 60% way sooner than it used to. What brand did you get?

 

[Ely]

Thats cool you took the plunge, I did wonder if the increase in capacity makes the (highly inaccurate ) LCD display go a bit wayward, i had a 14ah from factory, then threw a 15ah in and it seems to hit 60% way sooner than it used to. What brand did you get?

I got this one (Germany). It‘s very good, a little more Wh as expected.