RELiON Cold Weather Lithium Batteries RB100-LT 12V 100ah LiFePO4 Battery

[ValpoMike]

I was thinking of using BB batteries in my RV but then the cold weather topic (Lithium batteries don't like cold temps) became known to me. I did some research and found these RELiON batteries that are supposed to be OK down to -20 C (-4 F) These have a built in heater that warms the cells internally without any other external connections or other devices needed. The heating element is controlled so that the cells don't get over heated, these batteries aren't cheap but when you add up the cost of a BB battery and the BB heating pad the price is pretty close without needing any extra deices or connections. That's a Big + +
My question is does anybody (Will hopefully) know anything about these batteries? Does anybody have any experience with them or the company RELiON?
Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[Picasso]

I like the idea of them, putting the heating system in the box so to speak. Can't use them in series, and I needed something in 24v at the time. Depending how many batts your trying to fit...it is super easy to keep your batts nice and temp happy in an ice chest and a simple 30watt plant heating mat. Those BB heating mats are a little on the $$ side, but price will come down I'm sure.

 

[Jayp676]

I was thinking of using BB batteries in my RV but then the cold weather topic (Lithium batteries don't like cold temps) became known to me. I did some research and found these RELiON batteries that are supposed to be OK down to -20 C (-4 F) These have a built in heater that warms the cells internally without any other external connections or other devices needed. The heating element is controlled so that the cells don't get over heated, these batteries aren't cheap but when you add up the cost of a BB battery and the BB heating pad the price is pretty close without needing any extra deices or connections. That's a Big + +
My question is does anybody (Will hopefully) know anything about these batteries? Does anybody have any experience with them or the company RELiON?
Thanks in advance for the help.

It would be helpful if a tear down of the RELiON battery would happen. Showing their BMS design and cell construction reliability are the key to the extra expense.

I agree 100%! I'm still hoping to see a dissection of a RELiON

BTW- their technical support is very supportive.
Thanks
Jayp676

 

[ValpoMike]

Seeing a tear down of one of these batteries would be great but at the price point they have I sure as hell can't do it. I was hoping that someone or maybe a few folks with first hand experience with RELiON batteries would comment on their overall impressions of quality, performance in real world applications. That would be very helpful!

 

[ytwytw]

for that price, I would buy Battle born + their heater as their warranty and good reputation

just keep in mind, you still need to buy other expensive components to ensure low temp cut off (like victron charger + temp sensor)

 

[electric_banana]

I purchased the LifeBlue low temperature battery for just this reason. The way it works is when the cell temperature reaches 33 degrees, the current is diverted to the internal heater and blocked from charging the cells. After a safe temperature is reached, charging of the cells is restored. The heater in the 100 Ah battery draws about 5 amps (64 watts). No current is taken for the heater in standby or discharge modes.

As a side benefit the bluetooth connection to the battery allows me to monitor not only the SOC, but also current, voltage and temperature. I am in the process of testing the batteries ability to block charging and heat itself in below freezing temperature.

 

[Steamboater]

I purchased the LifeBlue low temperature battery for just this reason. The way it works is when the cell temperature reaches 33 degrees, the current is diverted to the internal heater and blocked from charging the cells. After a safe temperature is reached, charging of the cells is restored. The heater in the 100 Ah battery draws about 5 amps (64 watts). No current is taken for the heater in standby or discharge modes.

As a side benefit the bluetooth connection to the battery allows me to monitor not only the SOC, but also current, voltage and temperature. I am in the process of testing the batteries ability to block charging and heat itself in below freezing temperature.

Keep us posted, would love to hear how are these performing so far. What's the coldest ambient temperature you have used? Thanks!

 

[electric_banana]

Keep us posted, would love to hear how are these performing so far. What's the coldest ambient temperature you have used? Thanks!

I have tested the low temperature LifeBlue battery (100 AH) down to 15 degrees F. In this case, the heater comes on and draws about 6 amps. It took 18 minutes for the internal battery temperature to reach 35 degrees F, which is when it began charging at about 20 amps (this was with the alternator, but I also tested it running off the generator through the charger.) The heater current stayed at 6 amps or so until the internal battery temp reached approximately 50 degrees F (another 10 minutes or so), then the heater current dropped to 3 amps and it maintained that temperature.

I have found that the battery allows itself to be charged down to 25 degrees F. I also learned that you must have at least a 10-12 amps charge current in order for the heater to kick on. The built-in SOC, ammeter and voltmeter all work well. I am able to access it via my phone anywhere in the MH, and 30-40 feet away from it outside as well. The battery is behind a door in a slide out tray, and it open to the outside on the bottom.

LifeBlue has been extremely helpful, as I have traded 20-30 emails with them all with good response.

 

[Steamboater]

Awesome, thanks for the info!

 

[Bill Taylor]

An interesting point about the LifeBlue batteries. When the charge current is being diverted to the heater, the internal battery monitor sees this and doesn't count those as amp hours as charging into the battery. It doesn't begin counting charge amps until the current is actually charging into the battery. No one else does that, as far as I know. Having the battery monitor system built into the battery and using Bluetooth seems like a far superior system to me. With an external battery monitor, any current sent to the heating plates would count as charge current and eventually would render any capacity readings completely inaccurate. Just sayin....

 

[ValpoMike]

I have another question regarding these batteries and their BlueTooth, when someone has two or more of these batteries and you want or need to see what's going on with each individual battery how does that happen? Anybody know? Have experience with this?

 

[Bill Taylor]

Sure. With the LifeBlue batteries, you open the app and check one battery. And then flip over to the other battery and check it. Each battery has its own screen on the app. They operate independently. When you have multiple batteries and one battery monitor, there's no way to tell what each battery is doing on its own.