Best deals on 100ah LiFeP04 batteries?

[Ninelitetrip]

Have a look at Sun Fun Kits down in Louisiana.

kits and pre built.

Sun Fun Kits DIY LifePo4 Lithium Battery Kits & Ready Made AGM / Lead Acid Replacement Batteries for RV, Golf Carts, Solar Storage, Back Up Power, Hurricane Outage . Made in Baton Rouge, LA, USA Ready to Ship out no overseas delay! Sunfunkits.com

Sun Fun Kits DIY LifePo4 Lithium Battery Kits & Ready Made AGM / Lead Acid Replacement Batteries for RV, Golf Carts, Solar Storage, Back Up Power, Hurricane Outage . Made in Baton Rouge, LA, USA Ready to Ship out no overseas delay! Sunfunkits.com

www.sunfunkits.com

 

[DirtWhiskey]

Shouldn't that be charged while frozen?

Sorry. Corrected.

 

[VP44]

One reason I advocate getting multiple batteries in parallel VS one larger battery as you can increase the amperage available that way.

Right on. And it gives you options for ballast placement!

 

[Hegear]

I have 2 heated Sok 200amp. I’ve ran them for over a year now. Just wanted to say that so far the heater has never switched on. Mine are located inside my camper. I’ve found even with just a little use the battery’s create their own heat through the discharge process. I’ve never seen them drop below 50 degrees, even when just running my fridge in way below freezing conditions.

 

[fratermus]

how hot does the pan have to be for the top (where the Lithium temp probe is) of the steak to reach/maintain 5C (40F)?

IMO the reach and maintain approaches require different levels of heat

• reach is seen with self-heating batteries that wait for charging to do their work. The batts are allowed to freeze (overnight, typically) then are heated when charging power becomes available. If we want to start actual bank charging in a reasonable amount of time firmer heating must be applied.
• maintain is seen with external warming setups. The minimum temp is held constantly so the batts are never allowed to freeze. This is not a time-limited operation so warming can be gentler.

Example: I keep 150Ah of LFP at 50F in ~freezing temps with 16w warming pad underneath. The pad gets slightly warmer than body temp if set out with nothing touching it. I do snowbird to avoid hard freezes, but still got caught in a 19F ice storm once. The temp controller was still cycling the mat off regularly to avoid exceeding the 50F setpoint. This suggests it could have handled colder conditions even if I (and the plumbing) couldn't.

SOK's self-heating appears to be "4A for each 100Ah battery, 7A for each 206Ah battery" (source). Extrapolating from that we might say ~70W for on-demand heating a 150A bank like mine.

I suspect the choice is one of preference or convenience for the average LFP owner. People scrapping for every watt (offgridders, boondockers, etc) might find one or the other best suits their use case. I threw together a few thoughts on the matter elsewhere. Horses for courses, pick your poison and all that.

 

[Alloy]

IMO the reach and maintain approaches require different levels of heat

• reach is seen with self-heating batteries that wait for charging to do their work. The batts are allowed to freeze (overnight, typically) then are heated when charging power becomes available. If we want to start actual bank charging in a reasonable amount of time firmer heating must be applied.
• maintain is seen with external warming setups. The minimum temp is held constantly so the batts are never allowed to freeze. This is not a time-limited operation so warming can be gentler.

Example: I keep 150Ah of LFP at 50F in ~freezing temps with 16w warming pad underneath. The pad gets slightly warmer than body temp if set out with nothing touching it. I do snowbird to avoid hard freezes, but still got caught in a 19F ice storm once. The temp controller was still cycling the mat off regularly to avoid exceeding the 50F setpoint. This suggests it could have handled colder conditions even if I (and the plumbing) couldn't.

SOK's self-heating appears to be "4A for each 100Ah battery, 7A for each 206Ah battery" (source). Extrapolating from that we might say ~70W for on-demand heating a 150A bank like mine.

I suspect the choice is one of preference or convenience for the average LFP owner. People scrapping for every watt (offgridders, boondockers, etc) might find one or the other best suits their use case. I threw together a few thoughts on the matter elsewhere. Horses for courses, pick your poison and all that.

Your warm to the touch bottom heat is perfect.

What isn't perfect are cells bracketed in metal (transfer cold to the cell) with 60°C heating pads between cells and one temp sensor at the top.