Luis, How are you regulating alternator charging current to the battery? What type of alternator? What size battery leads (round-trip length and wire gauge)?
LiFePO4 batteries are superbly energy efficient and can deliver lots of power at very stable voltages right down to the last few percent of charge. There is one major downside, resistance does not increase with current/charge level like a lead-acid battery does. This means a LiFePO4 battery will accept all that your alternator can give right up until it melts down (conventional alternator) or the battery is totally full and the BMS disconnects charging. This is more of a concern in deep-cycle applications, but should be considered. This would actually be advantageous if you’re running a permanent magnet (dynamo) alternator like the Corvair uses as it will take all of the charge and cause less heat output from the alternator regulator until it’s full. The answer would be to use an external smart alternator that has a set charge profile for lithium and alternator temperature sensing and protection. I’ve done a lot of marine installs of LiFePO4 batteries and this is how we do it by using a smart external alternator regulator, DC-DC charger, or both. LiFePO4 batteries are far superior to lead acid in almost every respect, you just need to make sure your system is designed to work with it so there are not unforeseen problems like the day you start with a fairly discharged battery and it destroys your conventional automotive-style alternator if that’s what you’re using. Adam Deem On Mon, May 13, 2024 at 10:55 PM Luis Claudio via KRnet < krnet@list.krnet.org> wrote: > I've been having battery issues to the point that I am on my second > battery (thank you John Schaffer for your help troubleshooting the last > one). My engine does not have a magneto, I depend on two electronic > ignition modules which then requires me to have a good electrical source > along with my alternator... > > My previous batteries were lawn and garden 330 CCA type, both failed with > 6 months of service. I finally bit the bullet and bought an Earth X LiFoPo > battery (a little pricy but...) I installed it today and will test it out > tomorrow. > > Does anyone have experience with the Earth X batteries or did I jump from > the frying pan into the fire? > > Luis > -- > KRnet mailing list > KRnet@list.krnet.org > https://list.krnet.org/mailman/listinfo/krnet >
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