Quote:
Originally Posted by benjburton
Wow, that's a lot to digest rickst29! Looks like some good advice and things to think about here. I'm going to have to take some time and read through this a few times. Next time the trailer is open, in a couple of weeks, I'm going to have to test to see what my output voltage is in lithium mode. I'm still trying to wrap my ahead around why multiple stage charging for lithium is not good like it is for SLAs. A concern with that is being plugged into shore power for several days at a site, pumping potentially 14.6v into it nonstop. I realize the BMS should shut it down, but I would think it still preferred to have a lower trickle charge like when set for SLAs.
Changing out my already purchased battery isn't an option I'm going to consider, but some good advice for those considering options. Unfortunately, my battery does not have the ability to connect to the BMS to make adjustments, so I'm stuck with what I've got, which is a LiTime 100ha.
One thing I don't quite understand is the need for a 4awg wire, which seems excessive. How is a 10awg wire okay at when the converter will still push 14.4v in boost mode? It seems your saying that even though the converter is capable of 55 amps, the SLA will not accept that current but the lithium will. I'm surprised to hear the battery type can affect the amount of current the converter is pushing. Maybe I'm misunderstanding. As I said, I'll have to read through this a few more times.
Looking at boost mode, maybe an option would be to not put the converter in lithium mode, then just use the pendant to set the output at 14.4v when desired. But then that would require me opening the shells to set my voltage each time I plug in when stored, which is not an option in my garage. Lot to think about!
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If the battery's BMS is no good (neither readable nor controllable from a cellphone), then it (the battery pack) should probably be replaced. I had a pre-built battery like that a long time ago, with a bad BMS: I later ripped the box apart to extract the cells as 'salvage'. I uised those cells in a home-built pack with new bus bars and BMS, I still have those cells in use today.
But its slow to cut into those sealed up plastic cases using a hacksaw. Brand New and BETTER 100A cells only cost about $50-60 each, it isn't worth your time to savage the old ones -- and you should probably go bigger anyway, 200A or larger per cell.