LiFePo4 lithium battery charging questions
TL DR – I have some questions related to charging 12V LiFePo4 lithium batteries: *How to best use my solar to charge batteries? *Assuming I usually keep the lithium batteries at a partial SOC, what ...
Forum Discussion
As an admitted (lol! :) ) former GC Lead Acid user, I would always strife to get to 100% SOC - this, primarily for two reasons:
1) Due to a relatively narrow usable capacity of say approx. 100% to 50% SOC…
2) And to chemically restore plate sulfates back into their sulfuric-acid soup via charging…
Having said that, in the case of a LFP ‘working battery’ (discounting a storage scenario) I know of no such caveat that suggest avoiding 100% SOC…However, once fully charged the best practice is to avoid continued charging for extended periods - to do so overtime could lead to the formation of damaging dendrites…
However, because of LFP’s deeper discharge potential (i.e. greater ‘usable’ capacity), and because I mostly rely on off-grid harvest, attaining an actual 100% SOC is seldom *my priority, yet harvest availability and weather conditions might factor in…FWIW, It’s generally accepted (with all battery types…) that avoiding the extreme-ends of a batteries capacity envelope will help extend battery life…JMO
* Typically, 100% SOC strictly for occasional cell-rebalancing and meter re-sync, then discontinue harvesting..
3 tons
1) Due to a relatively narrow usable capacity of say approx. 100% to 50% SOC…
2) And to chemically restore plate sulfates back into their sulfuric-acid soup via charging…
Having said that, in the case of a LFP ‘working battery’ (discounting a storage scenario) I know of no such caveat that suggest avoiding 100% SOC…However, once fully charged the best practice is to avoid continued charging for extended periods - to do so overtime could lead to the formation of damaging dendrites…
However, because of LFP’s deeper discharge potential (i.e. greater ‘usable’ capacity), and because I mostly rely on off-grid harvest, attaining an actual 100% SOC is seldom *my priority, yet harvest availability and weather conditions might factor in…FWIW, It’s generally accepted (with all battery types…) that avoiding the extreme-ends of a batteries capacity envelope will help extend battery life…JMO
* Typically, 100% SOC strictly for occasional cell-rebalancing and meter re-sync, then discontinue harvesting..
3 tons
