One thing to keep in mind with this particular battery brand (Ampere Time) is that it's BMS does not contain a low temperature charging cutoff. Lithium cells cannot be safely charged below freezing. If you charge them below freezing it can cause permanent damage. Some of the nicer batteries have a BMS that will not allow charging current to flow when the cells are below freezing. This battery however does not contain this protection. So if your solar charge controller supports it: You should see if you can configure your charge controller to not charge below around 35-40 degrees F. If not: Just be careful not to leave it connected to a solar panel on a cold winter day. Alternatively: Buy from a higher end battery brand. Dakota Lithium, for example, makes batteries of a similar size that cost a little more but do have this protection built in. They also have a much longer warranty (11 years vs 3 years for Ampere time) and they are based in the USA so if you need warranty service they are much easier to deal with.
Awesome! I built my solar box using your custom plate and it’s still going strong. I’m on my second or third battery and now this lithium unit will be next. Thanks for the update!
Benjamin, thank you for a simple video. I have built a similar box as you. When I started the project, I had not found your version. My box is a combo of John from JDS Outdoors, Jeremy at Ice Hole Power, my spin, and your version as previously mentioned. My boxes maintain water proofing as much as possible, as you do, asethetics same as you, as I created a plate inside as well. I switched from lead acid to Lithium in my second build, both have solar. The Solar Charge Controller on first build was only for lead acid batterys, so had to get one lithium compatable for the second build. I am currently doing the video for the build. Good stuff, would just mentioned, to check the SCC to ensure it is lithium compatable. Thanks. T3.
Nice video and a cool, simple solution. With the reduced weight of the LiFePO4 battery, it looks like you could easily fit two of them in there, more than tripling the original capacity of the lead-acid battery.
Make sure to take a look at the specs on the battery before buying. the 12AH battery has a relatively low current draw. You may want something with a little higher power output. Check the specs of your motor controller vs the batteries.
With "Lead Acid Replacements" like this lithium battery, YES. You may still want to double-check your charge settings and tweak them as needed. See this part of the video: th-cam.com/video/bQCJFK-Yzb0/w-d-xo.html
Hi I'm wondering if the LiFePO4 battery can be replaced by a "basic" Lithium-Ion 12V battery. Lifetime will be much less I assume but price is also much less... They are usually equipped with some PCB to protect and manage charging/discharging, can it be compatible with the solar charger showed?
If you wanted to build your own lithium battery pack to work with this project, you certainly could, but it's beyond the scope of this project, which was just designed to introduce people to the basics of solar, DC power, and storage. A custom lithium battery would require knowledge of pack design, welding cells, including a proper BMS, and more. You would also likely want to use a higher-priced solar charge controller, which would be designed specifically for other lithium voltages.
You're talking about Lithium NMC or NCA battery chemistry cells, which have a higher nominal voltage of 3.7 volts. This makes them poorly suited for building a 12v battery, although they make an excellent 24 volts, in a 7S configuration.
@@BenjaminNelsonX Thank you I'm checking it out. I been looking for Lipo4 replacements for mine. However all the ones I found are fake. I hope this one is not.
Here's a project for you that you can possibly make alot of money on. I have 4 motorcycles, and I'm constantly plugging them into a battery tender, and its a pain. So how about a "quality" solar cell to plug into the trickle charger wire? You will save millions of bikers the dredded cluck click cluk
Vw had this. Would it be an assumption that most people that would have one would have to keep the bike outside unless you ran a dc cable into garage from solar
One thing to keep in mind with this particular battery brand (Ampere Time) is that it's BMS does not contain a low temperature charging cutoff. Lithium cells cannot be safely charged below freezing. If you charge them below freezing it can cause permanent damage. Some of the nicer batteries have a BMS that will not allow charging current to flow when the cells are below freezing. This battery however does not contain this protection.
So if your solar charge controller supports it: You should see if you can configure your charge controller to not charge below around 35-40 degrees F. If not: Just be careful not to leave it connected to a solar panel on a cold winter day.
Alternatively: Buy from a higher end battery brand. Dakota Lithium, for example, makes batteries of a similar size that cost a little more but do have this protection built in. They also have a much longer warranty (11 years vs 3 years for Ampere time) and they are based in the USA so if you need warranty service they are much easier to deal with.
Awesome! I built my solar box using your custom plate and it’s still going strong. I’m on my second or third battery and now this lithium unit will be next. Thanks for the update!
Benjamin, thank you for a simple video. I have built a similar box as you. When I started the project, I had not found your version. My box is a combo of John from JDS Outdoors, Jeremy at Ice Hole Power, my spin, and your version as previously mentioned. My boxes maintain water proofing as much as possible, as you do, asethetics same as you, as I created a plate inside as well. I switched from lead acid to Lithium in my second build, both have solar. The Solar Charge Controller on first build was only for lead acid batterys, so had to get one lithium compatable for the second build. I am currently doing the video for the build. Good stuff, would just mentioned, to check the SCC to ensure it is lithium compatable. Thanks. T3.
Good stuff! Thanks for sharing.
Nice video and a cool, simple solution. With the reduced weight of the LiFePO4 battery, it looks like you could easily fit two of them in there, more than tripling the original capacity of the lead-acid battery.
I would love to see a 17' box truck conversion to EV.
Thanks ben,
Have a old 24v sealed lead acid using ebike that needs a lifepo4 boost.
Make sure to take a look at the specs on the battery before buying. the 12AH battery has a relatively low current draw. You may want something with a little higher power output. Check the specs of your motor controller vs the batteries.
@@sophiesstuff1083 good point.thank u
What about low or high temp cutoff for the battery when charging? Is that available on that battery bms itself?
Great information!!
Can you use the same charge controller for lead acid and lithium
With "Lead Acid Replacements" like this lithium battery, YES. You may still want to double-check your charge settings and tweak them as needed.
See this part of the video: th-cam.com/video/bQCJFK-Yzb0/w-d-xo.html
Question- we are having a problem with battery drain, to the point that the batteries won’t recharge. What are we doing wrong?
Since the Lithium batteries are so light could you put both of them in the box and double (ish) your capacity?
Yes. 2 batteries of this size, whether lead or lithium would fit fine. A lot easier to carry when it's lithium though!
Hi I'm wondering if the LiFePO4 battery can be replaced by a "basic" Lithium-Ion 12V battery. Lifetime will be much less I assume but price is also much less... They are usually equipped with some PCB to protect and manage charging/discharging, can it be compatible with the solar charger showed?
If you wanted to build your own lithium battery pack to work with this project, you certainly could, but it's beyond the scope of this project, which was just designed to introduce people to the basics of solar, DC power, and storage.
A custom lithium battery would require knowledge of pack design, welding cells, including a proper BMS, and more.
You would also likely want to use a higher-priced solar charge controller, which would be designed specifically for other lithium voltages.
You're talking about Lithium NMC or NCA battery chemistry cells, which have a higher nominal voltage of 3.7 volts. This makes them poorly suited for building a 12v battery, although they make an excellent 24 volts, in a 7S configuration.
Do you hav a link to where we can find the battery at?
Link is right in the video description. Here it is again: amzn.to/3GpLHPi
@@BenjaminNelsonX Thank you I'm checking it out. I been looking for Lipo4 replacements for mine. However all the ones I found are fake. I hope this one is not.
Here's a project for you that you can possibly make alot of money on. I have 4 motorcycles, and I'm constantly plugging them into a battery tender, and its a pain. So how about a "quality" solar cell to plug into the trickle charger wire? You will save millions of bikers the dredded cluck click cluk
Vw had this. Would it be an assumption that most people that would have one would have to keep the bike outside unless you ran a dc cable into garage from solar
I didn’t think that controller was compatible with lithium Batterys ? Or you have to change the settings?
The lithium battery 🪫 s a “drop in replacement” but I just made a minor adjustment to the stock settings of the controller.
You can google how to say any word and it will give you a button telling you how to pronounce it