Lithium 12 volt battery Is there a clear leader?
Stick the battery in Connect the wires And the battery has a management system built in Is there a favorite?
Forum Discussion
Battle Born suggests the adjustable voltage PowerMax be used in its adjustable voltage mode set to 14.4v. They do not say, but of course at some point soon after reaching a full charge you would crank the voltage down to 13.6. Timing for that is not automatic.
Battle Born also wants their batts to have 20-30 minutes of absorption time, suggesting that time be set on chargers that have such timers (like some solar controllers and the fancier chargers in inverter/chargers).
The Bulk stage ends and Absorption begins about when battery voltage reaches charger voltage and amps then taper. However with Li batts AFAIK, this moment is not so obvious at all, and amps remain near charger max to a very high battery SOC.
I don't know how you can tell where you are at so you can note when to start the clock for the 20-30 minutes. Or indeed, how an automatic charger or controller can tell.
I also don't know how you can tell the battery is fully charged. It might have to do with the cell balancing gizmo. Not clear on what I read there, but it might give some indication it has done its trick at the end of a recharge. ??
Anyway, there seems to be a lack of information on just how you would be able to tell what you are doing when recharging an Li bank. It may be that I just haven't seen it.
EDIT--this is good! Note full charge is when amps taper to 3-5% of AH.
https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_lithium_ion_batteries
Looks like you could get by ok with a charger set to 14.4v and on a timer for its 120v once you know from experience how long it takes to get to where you want to be for SOC.
That would let you do a recharge without having to be there to stop the charge before it is too late and you go into an overcharge.
Battle Born also wants their batts to have 20-30 minutes of absorption time, suggesting that time be set on chargers that have such timers (like some solar controllers and the fancier chargers in inverter/chargers).
The Bulk stage ends and Absorption begins about when battery voltage reaches charger voltage and amps then taper. However with Li batts AFAIK, this moment is not so obvious at all, and amps remain near charger max to a very high battery SOC.
I don't know how you can tell where you are at so you can note when to start the clock for the 20-30 minutes. Or indeed, how an automatic charger or controller can tell.
I also don't know how you can tell the battery is fully charged. It might have to do with the cell balancing gizmo. Not clear on what I read there, but it might give some indication it has done its trick at the end of a recharge. ??
Anyway, there seems to be a lack of information on just how you would be able to tell what you are doing when recharging an Li bank. It may be that I just haven't seen it.
EDIT--this is good! Note full charge is when amps taper to 3-5% of AH.
https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_lithium_ion_batteries
Looks like you could get by ok with a charger set to 14.4v and on a timer for its 120v once you know from experience how long it takes to get to where you want to be for SOC.
That would let you do a recharge without having to be there to stop the charge before it is too late and you go into an overcharge.
