road-runner wrote:
A statement from the linked article:
"Raw Low grade lithium can be as much as 220% lower in cost than high grade refined lithium."
Is it possible for something to be more than 100% less? Isn't "100% less" equal to zero?
The article is not technical. He probably meant 2.2 times lower cost than high grade refined lithium. The point was - with many sources you don't know what you're buying. Low-grade Lithium will affect performance tremendously. 2 or 3 times difference in cycle life between good ones and bad ones is not unheard of.
Mex: There are "some" data on cycle life vs DOD, not much. Relion is one of bigger players - or more aggressively marketed, and by the appearance of their Manual I don't feel like trusting it.
Last graph on the last page.
3,000 cycles at 90% DOD and 4,000 at 80% DOD before capacity drops to 80%, if I understand it correct.
In total AH per $ over battery life it looks like Li is already ahead of flooded. Or so the advertisers say.
Top charging voltage affects life even more than DOD, there isn't much about this in marketing materials and I don't see programmable 115V chargers that would stop at desired adjustable 14x voltage (or switch to 13.6, same thing with Li) when it's 85-90% full. Average solar controller will do a better job.
Annual capacity loss (3-4%, more when hotter?) is usually missing from marketing materials too.
Itinerant: light weight is important to me because this is a trolling motor in a light boat. My RV is happy with 70 lbs AGM, they are not moved.
