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Lithium Ion Battery & Charger Experiences?

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#61 ·
Out of curiosity, I see LiTime offers a battery marketed towards trolling motors, which isn't the bluetooth version. From what I read in their literature, it seems the TM version has been "ruggedized" for environmental conditions. Have folks found this to be a concern, having to worry about a specially built version for their boats? Personally, I'm a fair weather lake fisherman and don't hammer the waves hard, so I don't think its a concern, but I'm open to others inputs.

As far as capacity goes, if I remember correctly, a Lithium battery can be ran for the full amp/hour ratings, whereas a lead-acid battery only gets about 50% of the rated discharge capability (in a lead acid battery, it's spec'd as Reserve Capacity, which is the time to drain the battery to 10.5 volts at 25 amps). So a 100Ah lithium battery can deliver 100 amps for an hour, 50 amps for two hours, 25 amps for four hours and so on, correct?

I just plan on using my Noco10 battery charger for this, as it is what I already own. I know there has been a great amount of discussion around this topic in the past (by Jeb et al), with the Noco10 being middle of the road.
 
#65 ·
Buying the BT model for my house battery. Today I went 5 hours on the two non bt models for my 24v troller, used to nav around the bear cr arm of prineville and constant spot lock in 5-6 mph wind, they charge in 20 min. These batteries and that spot lock motor were worth every dollar.
 
Discussion starter · #66 ·
WapitiBob said:
Buying the BT model for my house battery. Today I went 5 hours on the two non bt models for my 24v troller, used to nav around the bear cr arm of prineville and constant spot lock in 5-6 mph wind, they charge in 20 min. These batteries and that spot lock motor were worth every dollar.
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They are fantastic batteries. I trolled the HOC and Kelly Point from 8:30am to 12:15pm Saturday morning. 45% throttle. I still had just over 70% charge when I headed home. This was a slower troll with herring and flasher but still really good. I hope the BMS is made with automotive grade electronics to withstand the temp extremes and vibrations. So far so good.
 
Discussion starter · #69 ·
ChinookSlayer said:
I pulled the trigger for the group 24 12v bluetooth version of the LiTime last night, and then ordered a Terrova bowmount trolling motor through Amazon today, I should be set when all this stuff shows up!
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Sweet. Did you get the quick disconnect bracket for the motor? Don't forget to put a circuit breaker near the battery positive post. I got the 60amp model from Blue Seas: 285-Series - Blue Sea Systems
 
#70 ·
joeer77 said:
Sweet. Did you get the quick disconnect bracket for the motor? Don't forget to put a circuit breaker near the battery positive post. I got the 60amp model from Blue Seas: 285-Series - Blue Sea Systems
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Yeah, I got the quick disconnect bracket too, I didn't want to leave the motor on the boat all the time. This way I'll put it before I go fishing, and take it off again when I come home. My boat is already wired for the motor plug, inside a storage area are the battery connections and tray.

Thanks for the note on the circuit breaker, that'd be a mishap to have that much power shorted out through your aluminum boat!
 
#75 ·
In the spirit of keeping this thread informative...

I know many of you purchased and installed a shunt. That is a big thumbs up. And I want to explain why.
A good shunt is going to give you the best accuracy of total current used and will give you significant visibility into what your State of Discharge is. In comparison, the internal BMS is not always accurate. A lot of these knock off batteries are all using the same BMS's or the chips and firmware are very similar.

I want to give you an example.

What is wrong with this output on a 100Ah battery?
Image




If you answered, the calculated capacity...you are correct. That is because the software does NOT use a hard set value. It tries to use the full cycle count to 'calculate' the total capacity. And if you do not ever fully cycle the battery at least 5 or so times (that is, you do not fully discharge the battery and then recharge it) then the BMS has some screwy calculation. Why? Its because they use the same BMS in multiple batteries for multiple vendors. There are merits to doing the software calc this way...I'm not going to go into detail in this thread.

But you need to be aware of the fact that just because your BMS in your battery pack says it has 100% capacity or 70% or whatever...do you REALLY know for sure if that is the case? What is the calculated capacity its using? Unless you do a capacity test...you really do NOT know.

Having an inline shunt...you are going to know what you REALLY consumed. And therefore, if you trust that your batteries are going to give you rated capacity (such as 100Ah)...then your shunt will let you know if you have used 20% or 50% or whatever. Its inline...therefore...all current must pass through this device. For you engineering folks..this relates to Kirchoff's current law.


Additionally...I know I've stated this on multiple battery threads (specifically on LiFePo4 batteries) you must do a capacity test to confirm your battery will provide the capacity that its rated for. One of these low cost battery load testers are perfect for this use case.

You can dial in the load and let it roll. It will give you a nice read out showing the total Ah and thus you'll know if you have 100% capacity or with Grade A cells you might find you have 105 or even 110% capacity. But you will never know until you do this. Additionally....this allows you to easily do the full cycles needed to get the BMS in a more accurate state.

Image
 
Discussion starter · #76 ·
Thanks Jeb! I'm still using the built in bluetooth shunt on both batteries. I'm finding they are dead nuts accurate. I did a full charge, discharge, full charge when I first got them. Out fishing I discharge them down to 60-70% remaining power. When I get home the quoted charge time in the LiTime app has been accurate.

I fished for over 6 hours Sat in the Columbia pike minnow fishing. Combination of spot lock and moving the boat every 20 minutes. I still had 63% state of charge when I got home!
 
#77 ·
I've been using lossigy batteries for a few years now. Actually their older non bluetooth versions. in 280ah and 200ah.

They actually have a good sale on their 100ah bluetooth batteries. 26 a pop normally 399 on amazon. They often toss some of their bigger batteries on good sales as well. I've been happy with the non bluetooth versions. They were using prismatic cels last time I read about one getting opened up.

 
#78 ·
Jeb said:
The only other thing I'd add; I would definitely do a capacity test when you get the battery --- i.e. fully charge and discharge to BMS disconnect to make sure you are getting full 100Ah capacity. You'll also want to do this a few times to make sure the BMS balances out the cells. A battery capacity tester is the easiest and best method...

But, if you buy the SmartShunt, you can use that to measure your Ah usage and put a resistive load on it (like a headlight, or anything with a decent current draw). Its not 100% accurate (I think spec is 1% accuracy for the Victron SmartShunt)...but its going to get you close enough to make sure your battery is good. Every once in a while, you can get a bad battery. I did...and had to ship it back. But Amazon Prime...no issues...

Out of 7 LiFePo4 batteries in the last 2 years for various projects...I got one bad one that did not test to full capacity. It was actually at 80%...so sent that sucker back.

-J
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Thanks for the advice J. Do you have a recommendation on battery capacity testers?
 
#80 ·
I tried out my new Terova 36 volt with three of the LiTime blue tooth 100 amp batteries fishing halibut out of Newport yesterday.

Spot locked for about 10 hours with a 22 foot boat. The wind was 10 to 15 mph out of the north with a strong north to south drift. The motor had to work to hold position. I checked the charge when I got home and was surprised to see I had drained all three batteries down to 1 percent.

Re-charging the batteries with a Minnkota 3 bank 15 amp charger went exactly as expected with each battery taking 15 amp hours per hour for a total charge time of about 6.5 hrs. It certainly creates a new sense of awareness having the blue tooth and actually knowing what is going on with my batteries.
 
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