Testing Cold Charging Protection On Lithium Batteries

[ldsreliance]

I started a video series where I am going to test as many batteries as I can get my hands on to verify that they have working cold charging protection. I can also verify if the internal heater is working, if they have one. I started the video series off by testing my own brand, Jericho Battery Company, and here are the results:



I am going to test a MillerTech battery next. So stay tuned for that.

If anyone would like to propose a battery for me to test and you think the manufacturer would be willing to send me a test battery to do a video, please let me know. Or if anyone is in the DFW area and wants to bring one by for testing that would be cool, too!

[Snakebit95]

Curious to know how these lithium batteries perform in sub-freezing conditions when the big motor is running / charging since many of the starting batteries are advertising NOT to charge below freezing. I fish year-round, and some of those days are below 32°F.

[bobcoy]

The internal battery temp is what counts. Not the water or air temps. Draining the battery during the day also warms the battery. Use below 32 is not an issue.( at least not unless it gets to a -4F battery temp. Normally that is not an issue in a fishing boat. That use will help maintain the battery's temp above 32. JMO Bob

[ldsreliance]

Bob is right, internal temperature is all that matters. If the starting battery does not have an internal heater (which almost none do) then you can use a battery heating pad (something like this https://amzn.to/3EpvJTS) and/or an insulated battery box to help keep the battery from getting too cold inside.

[yam911]

Great video. Thanks for the hard work. Making videos is not as easy as it would appear.

Questions for you.

Does Jericho offer a starting Li battery?

Are there any problems with charging a Jericho battery directly from an outboard motors electrical generation system? Belt driven alternator type or permanent magnet generator type.

[ldsreliance]

Great video. Thanks for the hard work. Making videos is not as easy as it would appear.

Questions for you.

Does Jericho offer a starting Li battery?

Are there any problems with charging a Jericho battery directly from an outboard motors electrical generation system? Belt driven alternator type or permanent magnet generator type.

I am currently testing a lithium starting battery that is identical to the deep cycles except it will not have an internal heater. There are engineering problems with having an internal heating element and the beefed up internals needed for a starting battery. I am going to continue to pursue solving that challenge but for now that is all that is available.

As far as charging from an alternator, the battery will do just fine with that. If the alternator voltage set point is too low, it may not ever get fully charged. But that doesn't hurt a lithium battery. In fact, there are some people that think that prolongs the life of the battery. And we would be talking only about 5-10% of the capacity of the battery, so not the end of the world.

[yam911]

Thanks for the information.

It seems that the BMS' of most Li batteries offer over current protection. Appears that the BMS simply disconnects the power supply from the battery.

Since a starting Li battery cannot be disconnected from the battery, lest the motor shut off, do you know how over current protection is dealt with?

[EdCas]

I had a relion 100 hp battery fail on me. Relion told me that it was likely those first runs on a cold morning and very low load to warm up the battery between runs.
They still took care of it but like the poster above said.. Get a heating pad.

[ldsreliance]

Thanks for the information.

It seems that the BMS' of most Li batteries offer over current protection. Appears that the BMS simply disconnects the power supply from the battery.

Since a starting Li battery cannot be disconnected from the battery, lest the motor shut off, do you know how over current protection is dealt with?

That is one of the challenges with a lithium starting battery. If the BMS shuts off for any reason, the motor dies and/or the alternator has nowhere to send the power and ends up blowing the diodes. There are aftermarket devices made by companies like Balmar that fix these problems and it isn't super common but it can happen.

[DewRonInc]

Sterling also makes a product for that available from compass marine products

[catdude28]

Really appreciated that vid. Cold weather charging ability without damaging the battery is a key concern of mine and one of the reasons keeping me from lithium. Should be interesting as he tests other brands