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diy solar

Replace car battery with LiFePO4?

Texas-Mark said:
Yes, but those do not draw that much. The lights would probably be the biggest drain outside of the starter, but still nowhere near 100 amps.
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You'd think that, but you'd be wrong.

Look under the dash of your car, add up some of the fuses in there... my sprinter has 80A fuses 140A fuses, several 40A, 60A, gobs of 20A, 10A 30A, it's amazing how much most of the stuff draws.
 
None of these concerns worry me in my application. My NOCO Lifepo4 400 cca battery is in my 1974 MGB. No "electronics" to worry about and since it is set up as a fair weather convertable, I won't be starting it at below freezing (it does actually freeze here in Florida on occasion). It does have low, high charge-discharge protection as well as over-under temperature protection with it's built in management system. It is desighned for motorcycle charging system which pretty much system as my car. Plus, my battery is not mounted in the hot engine compartment.
 
Supervstech said:
You'd think that, but you'd be wrong.

Look under the dash of your car, add up some of the fuses in there... my sprinter has 80A fuses 140A fuses, several 40A, 60A, gobs of 20A, 10A 30A, it's amazing how much most of the stuff draws.
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Just the 400W inverter alone will be close to 40A.
 
JWLV said:
Yes, I am asking about replacing the starter battery for an internal combustion engine.

Perhaps I should have disclosed my reason for asking this question. I live in Las Vegas where the summer temperature is consistently 115+ F daily for 2 or 3 months. People in certain parts of Arizona, Texas, and New Mexico experience the same thing. This always kill SLA batteries. Whenever my car battery is nearing 2 or 3 years old, I know it will be time to replace it soon. With SLA batteries in the $125 - $150 range these days, a $400 LiFePO4 battery start to make a lot of sense. Especially knowing that you won’t have to go through the hassle of replacing the battery every 3 years or the possibility of getting stuck somewhere one night when the battery is dead.
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Yes, I am also interested in replacing the AGM Lead-Acid battery of my X5 with a LFP asd I don't drive regularly which makes my Lead acid to only last less than two years and many stories say LFP is not recommended but two LFP battery manufacturers in China claimed that it is possible and that they have been installing them in high end cars for many years now without any problem between the alternators and the batteries and they are cranking perfectly well cars.

These are their sites. You folks may want to visit and check their products out and read more about them.

www.lifepo4battery-factory.com

12V LiFePO4 Starter Battery, Lithium Cranking Battery, 100Ah Automotive Battery

Consider replace your lead acid/ gel starter battery with lifepo4 starter battery?Lifepo4 cells deliver higher power in smaller weight and have longer life
www.lifepo4battery-factory.com

www.hounypower.com

Industrial Lithium Ion Battery Packs

With Perennial years export experiences, our Lithium Battery Pack has been welcomed in international markets. Welcome contact us.
www.hounypower.com www.hounypower.com

They might have perfected the LFP technology for cars.

Regards.
 

Attachments

We have started our truck and powered the RV for 9 years with a single battery.
Faultless so far.

Click link below for my last post:
diysolarforum.com

Who is still building DIY batteries

Ok. There are plenty of discussions on UL ratings and cost comparisons of DIY vs prebuilt batteries. What I want to know is who is still doing DIY and the reasons you chose this approach. I will go first. At first it was the only thing going. Later it was for the challenge and satisfaction...
diysolarforum.com diysolarforum.com
 
Last edited:
SholaRolla said:
Yes as claimed by this Chinese manufacturer:

www.lifepo4battery-factory.com

12V LiFePO4 Starter Battery, Lithium Cranking Battery, 100Ah Automotive Battery

Consider replace your lead acid/ gel starter battery with lifepo4 starter battery?Lifepo4 cells deliver higher power in smaller weight and have longer life
www.lifepo4battery-factory.com

Please check it out and ask them question if you can.

Regards.
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Most likely the cells are NOT protected by bms... just a balance and low voltage disconnect...
 
just commented in another similar thread here where a member is using a solenoid to part bypass the BMS during cranking. seems like a good idea

diysolarforum.com

Suggestions for starter motor use with JK BMS

I have installed 8 EVE 280AH LFPs in 2p4s with a 200A (max 300A) JK BMS. All is good. However, the starter motor is around 1400W or 120A but presumably draws a lot more on start up (cranking a 3cyl diesel on my boat). It is presumably going over 300A because the BMS is triggering a SCP (Short...
diysolarforum.com diysolarforum.com
 
xagijon said:
I have an 11 reg Hyundia i10 which I keep in my garage overnight and a few weeks ago due to my grandson not shutting a door properly an interior light was left on until the battery went flat. I managed to jump start it then went my 2 miles to get some shopping, made my wife do the shopping while I sat outside with the engine running then when I got home I put the car in the garage and put the battery on a charger overnight and the next day it started OK. Someone, there's always someone, says that as the battery is now 10 years old I should replace it but I never have problems with the car starting because I keep it in the garage, I've still got a 10 year old can of de-icer. At the moment my weekly mileage is about 10 miles but I've been charging the battery once a week and never had any bother starting the car. So should I replace the battery or not?
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This isn't exactly the best place to ask this question. A new thread would have been better.

But short answer, yes, its time to replace it. Getting 10 years out of a car battery is a feat in-itself. Your grandson not shutting the car door was the last nail in the coffin.
 
I suggest instead to install a solar trickle charge and desulfator. Even trickle charger by itself should slow down sulfation as sulfation only develops when battery is discharged. Permanently attached desulfator will keep breaking up fresh sulfation from daily driving. It wont break down the old hardened sulfation.
 
Where I live, batteries go out in 2 years like clockwork, but they still warranty them for the same time that they do everywhere else, so you get half (or so) of the price back when you replace it as long as you get it from the same place you bought the old one from. I cant imagine putting an expensive lithium battery in to replace it.
 
I ran a LiFePO4 in my motorcycle for a couple years. That was as long as it lasted. This was many years ago before I knew anything about them. I live in Reno NV where it gets below 32deg F in the winter and I rode all year long. I knew nothing about BMS or charging below freezing then. The battery was advertised as a straight over swap for the stock lead acid battery. I still have the old battery and may try a slow charge to restore it now that I know more about LiFePO4 characteristics.

But the short answer is - NO, it's not a good fit for most starting batteries on a gas powered vehicle.
 
Substrate said:
Many sla's in hot climes are even more prone to sulfation than normal and need additional charging believe it or not.

The is particularly seen in vehicular applications where they aren't driven regularly, or only taken for short trips of less than 10 minutes or so. By not being fully charged, the high heat advances hard sulfation.

So, if you can, consider a maintenance charger that you can open the hood and put on the battery as often or as convenient as possible.

BUT BUT - and this is big, especially in those high heat areas: The maintenance charger needs to be TEMPERATURE COMPENSATED (not just temperature protection shutdown), where the charge voltage is lowered as determined by the temp sensor.

One brand that comes with temp-sensors is Battery Minder (different than battery tender) compare car battery prices on autobatteryprices.com. Model 2012-agm comes to mind. No, it is not your $20 el cheapo at the parts store. But it might pay for itself if you place it on your battery as much as you can.
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Has anyone bought a battery recently? Checked mine yesterday and it was 12.02V. Perhaps time for a new one.... Just want to get ideas of cost etc.. Thanks.
 
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