How to operate the AIMS power con120ac1224vdc

[carolinabigfoot]

I just received an AmpereTime 24V 100Ah and an AIMS power con120ac1224vdc smart charger which I want to use to precharge the battery before hooking it up to my solar system and which I also might want to use with my back up generator in times of need. After reading the manual for the charger and watching some tutorials on YouTube I still cannot figure out how I can tell when the battery is fully charged and/or ready to be taken off. The manual lists bulk and float charging voltages for LiFePO4 batteries both at 14.4V (in my case 28.8V since I will be charging a 24V battery). AmpereTime recommends a charging voltage between 28.4 and 29.2V and a float voltage of 27.6V.The charger will communicate through LEDs when it is in float stage or "constant current/constant voltage"-stage (absorb stage?). Should the battery come off when in float? (I almost think so.) Is there a danger of over charging the battery (it says it is a "smart charger") or will the BMS ultimately prevent this from happening?

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Make sure you read the last bit at the bottom.

At 28.4V or higher, once your charge current has dropped below 5A, you are fully charged, or you are so close that it doesn't matter (98%+).

That's a good general rule for LFP - 3.55-3.65V/cell charge voltage and 0.05C current. You can over charge them slightly by continuing to charge, but they will clamp down hard on the current and refuse anything but a trickle. Long term and low current or float charging @ 28.4V+ is not a good idea, but doing it every now and then won't impact life.

What will kill the LFP quick is exceeding the peak voltage, and the BMS will prevent that.

Once charged, I would remove from the charger. There's no need to float them. The BMS will pull a tiny amount of current that will eventually discharge the battery after many months, but you can always recharge.

If you don't plan to put it into service soon, recommend discharge 30-60Ah out of it and store it at a lower state of charge. Lithium can degrade when stored at full charge.

Last bit: 2X 12V in series may not be balanced. Best practice dictates that you charge each 12V to full either individually or in parallel before you put them in series. This ensures that they are truly each at 100%. If you just series charge them, they may not end at the same state of charge.

Battleborn recommends that you break down any 12V series bank and fully charge the individual 12V to full once a year to ensure they remain top balanced. I would do this on any "lesser" battery as well.

 

[carolinabigfoot]

Thanks! So I take it that as soon as the LEDs indicate float charging I'm done. Out of curiosity is there a device that, once calibrated, can tell me the SOC of my battery at any time (what is it?), or do I need to guesstemate the SOC by calculating the nominal draw of my loads?

 

[John Frum]

Thanks! So I take it that as soon as the LEDs indicate float charging I'm done. Out of curiosity is there a device that, once calibrated, can tell me the SOC of my battery at any time (what is it?), or do I need to guesstemate the SOC by calculating the nominal draw of my loads?

A shunt based battery monitor like this

SmartShunt - Victron Energy

The SmartShunt is an all in one battery monitor, only without a display. Your phone acts as the display. The SmartShunt connects via Bluetooth to the...

www.victronenergy.com

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Thanks! So I take it that as soon as the LEDs indicate float charging I'm done. Out of curiosity is there a device that, once calibrated, can tell me the SOC of my battery at any time (what is it?), or do I need to guesstemate the SOC by calculating the nominal draw of my loads?

I would have to guess that's true given the nature of that charger since it floats at the same voltage it absorbs. It must have some time or current criteria to determine when to drop to float.

You're looking for a battery monitor. Will has a couple on his website.

 

[carolinabigfoot]

Thanks guys!

 

[Niskibum]

I wish I would have read this before buying this charger. It would be nice if you could set the float voltage you want so you don't have to keep checking it. I think I'll take the restock hit and send this back and get a Victron.

 

[MIFARMS]

I wish I would have read this before buying this charger. It would be nice if you could set the float voltage you want so you don't have to keep checking it. I think I'll take the restock hit and send this back and get a Victron.

I pondered this for a while before purchasing this unit, but in the end... it's a great charger, offers lots of flexibility 12 and 24 volt, and you can charge Lead Acid Batteries if needed... it's a great tool to have in the toolbox. Long term I plan to run a MultiPlus inverter charger, but I wanted a standalone charger on hand anyway, and this is a pretty good one.

 

[tittiger]

My experience with this company and this product (that will not charge 24 volt lithium ion batteries)

AIMS Power CON120AC1224DC - on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07N1K43NQ
First of all this is NOT AIMS power selling this. It is a 3rd party.
At the top of the page they clearly indicate that it is a 24 volt charger.
Then in the 2nd bullet point: "This model only supports charging 12 volt DC batteries. Not suitable for 24 volt DC"
They say it is not for use for 24v applications!

When you contact AIMS tech support - they admit a charging problem with 24 v batteries and then tell you to fill out an RMA.
When you wade through their badly coded RMA page you discover that you can not look up this model of charger.
When you call AIMS they are quick to point out that you bought it from a 3rd party seller (that is pretending to be AIMS and lying about the capabilities of this charger)

Even though they have admitted the defect they refused to do an RMA for me.

The 3rd party seller's lies are OK with Amazon - and I have for 3 days tried to get an Amazon return authorization!

AIMS is one screwed up company IMHO.

They admit to producing a defective product -- yet they will not deal with you.... they put all of the responsibility on 3rd party sellers that I wish to point out did not make the defective product they only sold it.

I have 3 days and hours tied up just in getting AIMS to accept responsibility.....
Buyer beware!!

AIMS has zero respect for the time or money of people that buy their products.... you can not even find this model charger on their RMA site.
https://aimspower.returnsportal.net/RequestRMA/
Then when you call them they waste your time and won't tell you how to get the model looked up, they tell you to go pound salt and go to the 3rd party seller that you thought was AIMS in the first place.