How to Fix Self Heating Batteries that Won't Self Heat LiTime AmpereTime

[ADDvanced]

I deleted my original post. You need to DISABLE low temp charging protection on victron smart solar. Then it will give the batteries juice at low temps, which turns on the battery heaters, and then accepts a charge.

 

[BryceFreeman]

Let's see how they would react to the "self heating" battery...and have you got the new battery? Wanna know if you have this issue solved.

 

[AmpD]

I read this thread on self heating batts I’ll pass and build something to heat them instead.

 

[mikefitz]

something as 'self heating' when they don't heat themselves.

The heat energy is derived from the chargers not the battery itself. If the chargers are configured to inhibit changing at low temperatures then the heating will not occur. Have you considered this may the cause of ithe problem?

 

[NimrodthePixieWrangler]

Does the battery charger have a low temp cut off that prevents charging on its own? Is the charger designed to handle a "heater only" load while the batteries warm themselves? or does it stop trying to charge if it sees no big current flowing while attempting to charge? Crazy number of variables here, no way to know what is going on for sure without crazy amounts of trial and error, obviously not fun when its freezing cold.

According to anecdotal evidence it seems the batteries only accept enough current to heat until they are warm enough to accept big charging amps. The tiny internal heaters might take a long time to warm up.

 

[AmpD]

Does the battery charger have a low temp cut off that prevents charging on its own? Is the charger designed to handle a "heater only" load while the batteries warm themselves? or does it stop trying to charge if it sees no big current flowing while attempting to charge? Crazy number of variables here, no way to know what is going on for sure without crazy amounts of trial and error, obviously not fun when its freezing cold.

According to anecdotal evidence it seems the batteries only accept enough current to heat until they are warm enough to accept big charging amps. The tiny internal heaters might take a long time to warm up.

The thread I linked above will give you some answers on that.

The term “self heating” is a misnomer and marketing gimmick. They can’t heat themselves without an external power source.

 

[ADDvanced]

Edited original post, the issue was my victron system had a low temp charging protection ENABLED by default. Once I turned it off I no longer need to externally heat the batteries.

 

[BryceFreeman]

The thread I linked above will give you some answers on that.

The term “self heating” is a misnomer and marketing gimmick. They can’t heat themselves without an external power source.

I read the thread you linked. So self heating is actually a pointless misnomer?

 

[mikefitz]

So self heating is actually a pointless misnomer?

Not really. The battery management built into the battery diverts charger energy into the heaters, so in effect is in control of the heating effect. It would be pointless for the battery to use its stored energy for heating. Perhaps 'heating control built in' would be a better description. Consider that the term 'self heating' may have suffered in translation from Chinese.

 

[BryceFreeman]

Not really. The battery management built into the battery diverts charger energy into the heaters, so in effect is in control of the heating effect. It would be pointless for the battery to use its stored energy for heating. Perhaps 'heating control built in' would be a better description. Consider that the term 'self heating' may have suffered in translation from Chinese.

Thank you for the very reasonable explanation. Learned a lot from this thread

 

[AmpD]

I read the thread you linked. So self heating is actually a pointless misnomer?

Imo if a battery is spending your light producing hours trying to heat itself instead of charging it is pretty pointless.

I do see the point of not draining the battery overnight trying to heat itself but there are better options than purchasing a “self” heating unit.

I do agree a lot can get lost in translation but functionality isn’t something i prefer to lose ?

 

[Texas-Mark]

Imo if a battery is spending your light producing hours trying to heat itself instead if charging it is pretty pointless.

Only a small percentage of the "light producing hours" would be used.

..there are better options than purchasing a “self” heating unit.

One way or another, you will still be using energy.

 

[AmpD]

Only a small percentage of the "light producing hours" would be used.

If you get 4 good hours on a negative 20 below zero winters day I doubt you want to spend much of that waiting on batts to heat up.


It would make more sense to have a thermal on off sensor. Then add a timer that kicks on an hour or so before the sun comes up. Imo a person is better off building a “self” heating battery storage box that requires batteries to power it.