Anyone running heated lithium batteries? From the little I’ve been looking at them they are basically a heating pad inside the battery case to bring the battery up to temp so it can start to charge. So how cold can they go and for how long? My boat is outside all winter. Anyone have experience with these batteries?
Thanks.
Doing some research on them. I found that they can be used in Temps down to about 0 Deg F. That said I believe the battery must be above 25 Deg. F to safely charge them. I believe like most all batteries colder temps really lessens the amount of usage time
I don’t have any experience with them. Cold and batteries have never been a good combination. I always pull any battery on items stored outside over winter. I have destroyed lithium battery by leaving it connected and that device had a slow drain I didn’t know about. Some batteries have circuits in them to protect against this. Hope your batteries are not damaged. It has been a mild winter this year.
Be sure to check the temp they can be charged at based on the specific battery. Some cannot be charged below freezing which is 32 degrees.
I can’t comment on how well or long the battery heaters work. I’m sure someone will chime in with their experience.
I have a heated start battery (ionic lithium 125 amp). Most of the better lithium’s have management systems that don’t allow them to charge until they get up to temp. If they do run below that temp it messes with their chemistry. My boat sits in an unheated garage over the winter and I haven’t had any issues. I have only had it for a year now though.
I have 2 Epoch 12V 100ah heated lithiums for electronics batteries in 2 separate boats. The one is about a year old and has a on off switch on top, the other was purchased in Dec 23 and has been used a bunch since. The newer battery has no on/off switch. Both have been stored and charged in an unheated garage with no problems. May switch trolling batteries when replacing down the road.
I know norsk has a heated option.
Lot of NWT guys got burned last year when it was below freezing and there batteries wouldn’t charge.
I wish a person could see what is the best bang for your buck. Some of the big guys and industry first make a top-quality product. But it is a top quality price. I’m sure some out there are as good for a lot less money, but how does a person know with it all being so new and so many companies popping up.
You got that right. After searching a little online yesterday my Fbook feed is full of lithium battery companies.
I thought hard about lithium’s as I was in the market this summer . I figured I’d go another round of lead acids and let some of these companies phase out and merge together . It wouldn’t surprise me if 90 percent of them are using the same china distributer for the lithium cells and throwing them in a different case with a different mother board on them . Time will tell .
I have and currently have found this. I run the Epoch heated 100ah batteries and have had good luck with them, but a learning curve. 1) Via internet search, I have found they need more than 10 amps to activate the internal heater in lithium batteries (I assume most companies use the same heater pads). My MK 212 (6 amps per bank) and Noco (5 amps per bank) both charged the battery fine above 32 degrees, but would not cooperate with the batteries BMS under 32 degrees. In conversation with MK tech dept, they noted smart chargers reduce their amperage below 32 degrees and my MK 212 was probably putting out 3-4 amps – my guess the Noco was putting out less than that. It’s charger temp that matters in that case, not battery temp. You could wrap the battery with a battery blanket, but that defeats the purpose of the heated battery. I purchased the Epoch 15 amp charger and it worked perfectly, activating the heater when battery temp was 25 degrees. Would a MK PCL at 15 amps per bank work- I do not know. I do know hooking both leads of the MK 212 to the lithium battery when below 32 degrees (in hopes of getting 10 amps) did nothing.
Bought a pair last fall to go between my fish house and boat –
Link if I’m allowed :
Worked good the twice I got out in house.
Time will tell the rest of the story…
I have and currently have found this. I run the Epoch heated 100ah batteries and have had good luck with them, but a learning curve. 1) Via internet search, I have found they need more than 10 amps to activate the internal heater in lithium batteries (I assume most companies use the same heater pads). My MK 212 (6 amps per bank) and Noco (5 amps per bank) both charged the battery fine above 32 degrees, but would not cooperate with the batteries BMS under 32 degrees. In conversation with MK tech dept, they noted smart chargers reduce their amperage below 32 degrees and my MK 212 was probably putting out 3-4 amps – my guess the Noco was putting out less than that. It’s charger temp that matters in that case, not battery temp. You could wrap the battery with a battery blanket, but that defeats the purpose of the heated battery. I purchased the Epoch 15 amp charger and it worked perfectly, activating the heater when battery temp was 25 degrees. Would a MK PCL at 15 amps per bank work- I do not know. I do know hooking both leads of the MK 212 to the lithium battery when below 32 degrees (in hopes of getting 10 amps) did nothing.
Good real world info thanks for sharing.
I have and currently have found this. I run the Epoch heated 100ah batteries and have had good luck with them, but a learning curve. 1) Via internet search, I have found they need more than 10 amps to activate the internal heater in lithium batteries (I assume most companies use the same heater pads). My MK 212 (6 amps per bank) and Noco (5 amps per bank) both charged the battery fine above 32 degrees, but would not cooperate with the batteries BMS under 32 degrees. In conversation with MK tech dept, they noted smart chargers reduce their amperage below 32 degrees and my MK 212 was probably putting out 3-4 amps – my guess the Noco was putting out less than that. It’s charger temp that matters in that case, not battery temp. You could wrap the battery with a battery blanket, but that defeats the purpose of the heated battery. I purchased the Epoch 15 amp charger and it worked perfectly, activating the heater when battery temp was 25 degrees. Would a MK PCL at 15 amps per bank work- I do not know. I do know hooking both leads of the MK 212 to the lithium battery when below 32 degrees (in hopes of getting 10 amps) did nothing.
Minimum amps for internal heater – I have not heard this before but makes sense.
Thank you for the info
As I consider upgrading to lithium batteries and read a bit more. On the Chins lithium website they state “The charging current of the low temperature heating battery is at least 5A.” Sounds like minimum 5 amp for the heating element but not worded as clear as I would have written this statement.
Anybody else want to provide what they are finding on this subject?
I ran my li time batteries on rainy for 2 consecutive 13 hour days of spot lock in that wind. When I plugged them in Saturday night they were between 25 and 50 percent charge according to my charger. That’s almost 30 hours of run time on the river in 20mph winds. I used a heated blanket to keep them warm for the charging process and it worked great. I’m very pleased with them so far.
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