LiFePo4 Battery

[mvcoller]

So I took the plunge!

We were without power from Monday to Saturday last week in the whole of Bedfordview due to attempted theft of a 132 kv cable. This exposed that my Mercer 24v 1.2kva UPS had a dud battery. One of the two 100ah batteries were shot because I could only squeeze about 3 hours of of the UPS. That meant starting the generator every three ours, for 3 to 4 hours to charge the UPS batteries and run the fridges and deep freeze to keep them cold. Fortunately it is a 7.5 kva unit, so it could run all three at the same time.

I have 3 phase power, so the UPS runs one of the phases, the one with 4 light circuits, and a plug circuit that has the computer equipment, the two plugs in our bedroom and the alarm and electric fence and the gate motor. As a temporary measure I set up the generator to supply the UPS and I also rigged up an extension from the generator directly to the fridges.

Over our Goerapan trip and our Botswana trip two weeks ago, I also found that the two 100ah batteries in the Patrol could only keep the fridge running for about 12 to 15 hours, it used to keep going for 48 hrs in the past. So there was also a dud battery.

Out of four 100AH Deep cycles, two were suspect. I took the two out of the Patrol and connected them to the UPS as well. These were then charged till O got a full 26.2v. I ran the UPS down to about 50% battery life left, disconnected all the batteries and left them for about an hour. I then measures all four batteries for voltage, two of them read 13v plus and two were down to 11v plus some change. I had now identified the two culprits. The two good batteries ended up in the UPS system.

This now presented me with a dilemma: What to buy next for the battery power in the Patrol? Two lead acid !00ah Deep cycle batteries at R5,000 for the 2, or two 100ah GEL or AGM Batteries at R7,000 for 2 of these deep cycle batteries, or one 100ah LiFePo4 Blue Nova battery for R10,000. That last one was a bit steep.

After shopping around I found that Leroy Merlin had 108ah LiFePo4 Blue Nova 1.4 k battery on Special for R7750. I had no option, I could see a Blue Nova battery in my very near future. The Blue Nova was ordered and delivered two days later. https://leroymerlin.co.za/lithium-iron- ... 4k-battery

Fortunately at about the start of the lockdown last year, I had bought a new Orion (Victron) 12|12|18 Smart charger (18a) and a few month later I bought a Victron MPPT 75|15 Solar Charger (15a). These were all in preparation for the day I will inevitably move to LiFePo4 batteries.

One problem with batteries is to accurately determine their State of Charge. Voltage is a very poor indication of SoC, it does not really tell you much of the SoC, the only way to determine SoC properly is to install a shut. If a lead acid style battery drops to below 12.2 volts, you have damaged it and would not last much longer. I was lucky to see that Current Automation's solar division had these on special a few months ago, So I got a Victron Energy 500A Smart Shunt (see here - https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=vi ... &FORM=VIRE)

So when the battery arrived, I was amazed at how light it was, and instead of two 100ah batteries (at 34kg per battery) I now have one 14kg battery!! I fitted it and with some help from a friend, set up the correct charging voltages for the LiFePo4 Blue Nova battery. It wants 14.2v for the bulk and absorption phases and 13.6v during float charging. This was easily enough via the app that I downloaded to my phone from the Victron Website for each device.

Next in line is this AC charger for at home and campsite where mains electricity is available. https://4x4direct.co.za/home-chargers/8 ... 45830.html

Well, I am ready for my December camping in the eastern Freestate, I will report back of how the system worked.....

[Tinus lotz]

cool man gooi some pics

[mvcoller]

I will a bit later, I am first going to 4x4 Direct in Boksburg to get the Victron Blue Smart DC to 12Volt 15 Amp charger this morning, then I will find a place to mount it. Once fitted, I will take and post pictures.

[offroadbiker]

Pleas give feedback on the Shunt, as that is the one thing I do not have in my system and its not cheap ... so would like to know how it works.

Tx

[mvcoller]

So here are the pictures:
The first one is the battery in a box with ventilation holes. It is up against the left rearmost window, above the left rear wheel arch, in what would have been wasted space.

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All this now means is that I have now an empty hole in the engine bay, where the second auxiliary battery used to go. This may be a good place to fit an "On the Road Oven" for slow cooking a roast en-route to our day's destination....