LiFePO4 heating pad for cold temperatures

[Sanwizard]

No cost for the heating pads. Just shipping. I will package them up in a box. PM me with your full address. What service? Air Force?

You can get two of them for around $66 on Amazon. Not sure if shipping cost would be lower.

Facon 7-1/4"x25" 12V RV Holding Tank Heater Pad, CW-ST725, use with Up to 50 Gallons Fresh Water/Grey Water/Black Water Tank, 2Packs Heating Pad with Automatic Thermostat Control https://a.co/d/eYH6LZ6

 

[gotbeans]

How did you insulate your battery box? I'm about to put together a system for my father & stepmother that'll run the garage door openers, but have been trying to figure out what type and how much insulation to use building the box.

Rock wool / mineral wool at most any hardware store (assuming you are USA then lowes / home depot)
They're made from left over slag from steel production / mineral stuff respectively.
both are basically stone and do not catch fire.. until like 4000 degrees
All foam will melt at not that high temps some catch fire, so I don't use around any batteries.

If you want you can get concrete board internally of the battery box and surround it with rock wool.. which is what I do. If I had a fire it likely wouldn't leave my box at all, even if all the batteries went up in flame

 

[Skid]

I live in tropical areas so this doesn’t affect me. For a while I had two small independent systems because of a big load a few times a day on a large inefficient inverter and another using a Victron 12/800 to power essentials 24/7. Each had their own battery and panel because of voltage difference.

For this situation would it work to have a small AGM configured to power only a 15w heating pad keeping the LFPs warm?

 

[HRTKD]

For this situation would it work to have a small AGM configured to power only a 15w heating pad keeping the LFPs warm?

I don't see why not. As long as you have a way to keep the AGM charged.

 

[100 Proof]

How did you insulate your battery box? I'm about to put together a system for my father & stepmother that'll run the garage door openers, but have been trying to figure out what type and how much insulation to use building the box.

Like many here, I used 1" EPS foam board. I believe it goes by "Foamular" at Home Depot.

 

[Daddy Tanuki]

for some strange reason this thread has popped up i y feed four times indicating it was a new answer... each time it was @100 Proof talking about his insulation (good to go Bro, no complaints on you.) is the forum screwing up... are the ods messing up? whats up folks. i read this on the day it was originally posted...

 

[Supervstech]

Could have been spam post pinging your inbox, we deleted.

 

[cubish]

If you are trying to use a lifepo4 battery in freezing cold temperatures, battle born just released a 12v heat pad for keeping the batteries warm without melting the case. This pad should work for any standard lifepo4 battery. Just slap it under your batteries and connect it to 12v and you are done.

I think it is over priced though. It can be found here: Click Here for battle born heater pad


If you cannot afford the battle born pad, you can use a septic tank heater pad. It works in the same way but may possibly melt your battery case if you are not careful. You can avoid this by adding some protection or a way to distribute the heat across your entire battery bank. I would personally put the batteries in a insulated container, then add a thin sheet of conductive material like sheet aluminum over the pad so that the heat it produces can warm up your entire battery bank.

Cheaper heater pad source: Click here for heater pad

Hello sir. After watching your numerous videos on Trophy batteries, I was curious if you ever took one apart down to the heater and looked to see what they were using (style, brand, etc)? My Trophy batteries work flawlessly and in very extreme temperatures.

 

[pseudo]

Hello sir. After watching your numerous videos on Trophy batteries, I was curious if you ever took one apart down to the heater and looked to see what they were using (style, brand, etc)? My Trophy batteries work flawlessly and in very extreme temperatures.

Curious to get more info on your usage conditions for the Trophys.
How extreme are the temps? Any interruptions to charging while they heat up in the morning?
I'm considering them and live where it can occasionally get to 0⁰ F and wondering how much insulation and extra heating pads I might need to add if they were in an uninsulated compartment at the back of my bus. Thanks!

 

[Horsefly]

Curious to get more info on your usage conditions for the Trophys.
How extreme are the temps? Any interruptions to charging while they heat up in the morning?
I'm considering them and live where it can occasionally get to 0⁰ F and wondering how much insulation and extra heating pads I might need to add if they were in an uninsulated compartment at the back of my bus. Thanks!

I used Trophy's for an install I did for a neighbor near our cabin. This is at a little under 9,000 ft elevation in the Colorado mountains, so it get's cold there in the winter.

I went with Trophy in part because of the built in heating, but also because of the reputation of the guy who runs the company. He lived up to - and exceeded - my expectations. We got stuck on getting the batteries to correctly report SoC to the Victron Cerbo GX, and he spent a total over probably close to an hour in three phone calls to help us get it working. Awesome guy.

One thing I didn't really like is the way the Trophy's manage the heating, which unfortunately seems to be the way all the batteries that do have heaters manage their heaters. The heat doesn't turn on until the temperature falls to the point where the BMS cuts off charging. You asked if there was an interruption to charging while the batteries heated up, and this design almost guarantees that there would be an interruption. I think the logical way it should work is that the heaters should be turned on TO PREVENT the BMS having to cut of charging. To correct for this I augmented the battery box with the same thermostat-controlled heating pads that I used previously. Two pads on the sides of each Trophy battery case, set to turn on whenever the temperature of the case got to something like 38°F (I can't remember now exactly where I set it). When I talked to the neighbor in late January he said that whenever he went into the cabin the batteries were generally around 40°F, even though the outside temp was closer to 10°F.

 

[robbertwilliams]

I used Trophy's for an install I did for a neighbor near our cabin. This is at a little under 9,000 ft elevation in the Colorado mountains, so it get's cold there in the winter.

I went with Trophy in part because of the built in heating, but also because of the reputation of the guy who runs the company. He lived up to - and exceeded - my expectations. We got stuck on getting the batteries to correctly report SoC to the Victron Cerbo GX, and he spent a total over probably close to an hour in three phone calls to help us get it working. Awesome guy.

One thing I didn't really like is the way the Trophy's manage the heating, which unfortunately seems to be the way all the batteries that do have heaters manage their heaters. The heat doesn't turn on until the temperature falls to the point where the BMS cuts off charging. You asked if there was an interruption to charging while the batteries heated up, and this design almost guarantees that there would be an interruption. I think the logical way it should work is that the heaters should be turned on TO PREVENT the BMS having to cut of charging. To correct for this I augmented the battery box with the same thermostat-controlled heating pads that I used previously. Two pads on the sides of each Trophy battery case, set to turn on whenever the temperature of the case got to something like 38°F (I can't remember now exactly where I set it). When I talked to the neighbor in late January he said that whenever he went into the cabin the batteries were generally around 40°F, even though the outside temp was closer to 10°F.

what heating pads did you use?

 

[Horsefly]

what heating pads did you use?

I've actually purchased several different pads of the years, all 12V and either 10W or 12W. For the 24V batteries I've built, I just used two in series under the aluminum plates. For the two Trophy batteries, I used four in series, with one on each side (left and right) of each battery.

I know I've purchased some from Amazon, and these were in my order history from three years ago: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0794V5J5H

If you can wait for the shipment from China, there are lots of silicone heating pads on Aliexpress: https://www.aliexpress.us/w/wholesale-12V-heating-pad.html

I know I've purchased several from Aliexpress and most have been good quality. I may have gotten some on EBay too.

In my mind, the key is to have relatively low watts so as to not "cook" the cells. The guy who now has the two Trophy batteries in his cabin says that when he has gone up there this past winter the batteries were always above 50°F. He has a somewhat insulated box around the two Trophy batteries, in his otherwise unheated cabin at 9,000 ft elevation.

 

[Emeryd]

Curious to get more info on your usage conditions for the Trophys.
How extreme are the temps? Any interruptions to charging while they heat up in the morning?
I'm considering them and live where it can occasionally get to 0⁰ F and wondering how much insulation and extra heating pads I might need to add if they were in an uninsulated compartment at the back of my bus. Thanks!

I have two Trophy batteries in my uninsulated "shed" in Montana. Got down to -30F twice this winter. When the sun hits the solar panels in the morning, all the electricity is used to heat the batteries up. No charging occurs until the batteries get warmed up, usually takes an hour or so. The only insulation on my batteries is the 1-inch foam packing that the batteries came in (top and 3 sides).

 

[SoggyShoes]

One thing I didn't really like is the way the Trophy's manage the heating, which unfortunately seems to be the way all the batteries that do have heaters manage their heaters. The heat doesn't turn on until the temperature falls to the point where the BMS cuts off charging. You asked if there was an interruption to charging while the batteries heated up, and this design almost guarantees that there would be an interruption. I think the logical way it should work is that the heaters should be turned on TO PREVENT the BMS having to cut of charging. To correct for this I augmented the battery box with the same thermostat-controlled heating pads that I used previously. Two pads on the sides of each Trophy battery case, set to turn on whenever the temperature of the case got to something like 38°F (I can't remember now exactly where I set it). When I talked to the neighbor in late January he said that whenever he went into the cabin the batteries were generally around 40°F, even though the outside temp was closer to 10°F.

This is the way JK BMSs heating pad controller works. I agree with you that you should be able to turn on the heating pad a few degrees above the low temp shut off so the system can keep running without interruption. It seems the way the BMS are controlling the heating pad is only good for protecting the cells while in storage.

This is making me think I want a separate control for the heating pad like you ended up doing.
I saw in a later post you shared heating pads that you used. Thanks! What did you use for the temperature switch/controller?