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diy solar

LiFePO4 heating pad for cold temperatures

Has anyone tried the new Volthium lithium batteries? They are made in Quebec Canada, and have low temp cut off, but also are self heating. Just wondering how well they are built.
 
This morning my battery temp was 0 degree "C".
My battleborn heat pads were not working. I thought they came on at 34 F (1C).
If I jumper the ground to bypass thermostat they work great.
Kind of disappointed. tomorrow am it should be -1C.
Will see if this makes a difference. :-(
 
This morning my battery temp was 0 degree "C".
My battleborn heat pads were not working. I thought they came on at 34 F (1C).
If I jumper the ground to bypass thermostat they work great.
Kind of disappointed. tomorrow am it should be -1C.
Will see if this makes a difference. :-(
Where does the heat pad get the temp from to know to start warming?
 
This morning my battery temp was 0 degree "C".
My battleborn heat pads were not working. I thought they came on at 34 F (1C).
If I jumper the ground to bypass thermostat they work great.
Kind of disappointed. tomorrow am it should be -1C.
Will see if this makes a difference. :-(

The thermostat you're using looks exactly like the one that came with my kit from Ultra Heat. The first one was flaky. Sometimes it worked, mostly it didn't. The replacement thermostat wouldn't come on until below 30° F and off at 44° F. The range is supposed to be 35° F to 45° F for that thermostat. Given the results I saw, I bailed on using their thermostat and switched to using my own.

Disclaimer: My temperature observations were made with a temperature probe for a Fluke 325 meter. The probe was taped to the side of the thermostat. The Fluke probe may be more sensitive than the thermostat.
 
My thermostat is mounted on the battery side, under the heat pad right below the notch for the battery strap.
HRTKD what thermostat did you switch to. Its getting cold enough tonight the battery should be below -2C.
If the thermostat does not come on then I will need to do something else.
 
My thermostat is mounted on the battery side, under the heat pad right below the notch for the battery strap.
HRTKD what thermostat did you switch to. Its getting cold enough tonight the battery should be below -2C.
If the thermostat does not come on then I will need to do something else.

I used this thermostat:

The nice thing about is that you can see on the readout the temperature that it is observing from the probe, as well as the target temperature.
 
The wiring diagram on amazon is confusing to me. The K0 and K1 connections.
How would I hook up the pads.

UPDATE: there was a diagram in the reviews
 
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The K0/K1 is sort of just a relay. Run your power source negative wire to K0, then a negative wire from K1 to your load. You could do it with positive if you want to I suppose.
 
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At about $220 for the Battlborn heaters with substandard thermostat,
it is looking that a 12v heating pad and decent thermostat is the way to go.
 
This morning my battery temp was 0 degree "C".
My battleborn heat pads were not working. I thought they came on at 34 F (1C).
If I jumper the ground to bypass thermostat they work great.
Kind of disappointed. tomorrow am it should be -1C.
Will see if this makes a difference. :-(
Would be interesting to hear what Battleborn has to say about this.
 
Update: This morning the bat temp was -1C. No power to the heating pads.
So I spliced in the spare temp switch (thermostat) and bingo I get 3.5 amp draw.
I start to put things away and the amp draw stops. This is exactly what happened to the first sensor.
It ran for about 90 seconds and failed. I have gone over my wiring a dozen times. It all works perfect when I jumper the ground to the pads.
I will call Battleborn today and see what they say.
 
My thermostat is mounted on the battery side, under the heat pad right below the notch for the battery strap.

Where exactly is the thermostat located? It has to be away from the pad. My pads are on the side of the battery and the temperature probe is on the top of the battery.
 
The original and the second were both positioned on the side of the batteries under the pad.
 
Yes, its clearly in the battleborn instructions that the temp sensor goes between the heating pad and the battery.
So I called Battleborn 30 minutes ago, and they said that the sensor goes on top of the battery. I pointed out what there instructions said and they replied that they need to be updated. Its 29 degrees in my van and three different thermometers (one laying on the batteries) are right on 29. The heating pads should be on. I put the sensor between two ice packs and held them there until my hands were frozen. It finally (3 minutes) turned on, so I layed it on top of the batteries per the tech's instructions. 90 seconds later the sensor turned off. These sensors are junk !!
I called them back and expressed my concerns about the inaccuracy of the sensors. They are sending me new one's, but I do not have much faith in there sensors. I ordered the Electronic thermostat that HRTKD suggested from Amazon.
NOTE: My invoice shows I paid $39 a peice for the Battleborn sensors.
 
I tried the crushed ice pack test on my Ultra Heat thermostats and got the results I mentioned earlier. I tried cubed ice and that didn't work as well. I shifted to using a frozen gel pack and that worked as well or better than the crushed ice.
 
I used this thermostat:

The nice thing about is that you can see on the readout the temperature that it is observing from the probe, as well as the target temperature.
Thanks,
I ordered the unit you suggested and a 12v printer heating pad.
Cannot be any worse than the "good" stuff.
 
My Thermostat arrive today. Wired it up and Bingo it works perfectly.
Thanks HRTKD for your posts and help.
 

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Here is the Temp Switch supplied by Battleborn.
 

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