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Lithium ion batteries

I saw this on a friends site.


We just saw that Balqon now has pre-packed energy storage units with built in battery management.
12V / 700Ah version - $3,350
24V / 700Ah version - $6,650
And this new $1100 1250Ah cell.

Balqon Electric Vehicle Manufacturer

WRe: Lithium ion batteries

Reply #1 –
John,
Looking good, my question, when & how many will you install in place of your 4 8D Gel cells ?
It would be possible to mount in my coach, 3 in place of the existing 4 8D Gels due to the larger size of the new design size.
Dave M

Re: Lithium ion batteries

Reply #2 –
Yup the next time I change batteries. I bought one battery in Nac for 800 bucks so in a few years these will be cheaper.

Re: Lithium ion batteries

Reply #3 –
Currently, my plan is to get 4 of the 1000AH cells (I've been planning this for nearly a year, but the price has been fairly steady during that time). Apparently, ordering from this company is an exercise in patience as described on the Newell forum (considering that you need BMS and the proper interconnecting links for the set up), somebody is already beat me to the punch there. I'm not going to do hours until I get the solar controller, panels, new inverter, Alternator to battery charger system up and running with the current batteries before I go for the large investment of a 1000 AH lithium iron phosphate battery bank. Four of these thousand amp hour cells will weigh in at around 368 pounds and take up about the same amount of space as two 8D AGM batteries, although taller at nearly 14". It is a bit of a gamble, because if you screw up charging or run them down to zero, you just trash them. However, properly maintained and balanced, you will make your money back over the life of these batteries and have much greater boondocking capacity to boot, FWIW...
Don

Re: Lithium ion batteries

Reply #4 –
Quote from: John S –
I saw this on a friends site.

We just saw that Balqon now has pre-packed energy storage units with built in battery management.

I saw that request for comment on Technomadia's FB page as well.  Looks like they are asking if anyone knows anything about the company or the product:

Technomadia:  We have no personal experience with Balqon and can't personally endorse or recommend these cells - but it is awesome to see Lithium getting to be actually cheaper than AGM batteries now!

Has anyone here tried these Balqon cells? Chime in!

Re: Lithium ion batteries

Reply #5 –
Yes I realize they have not used them but Liberty has a couple years of experience with them and the owners seem to like them.  Also a friend who just left his bus for a boat used them. I saw a couple other prevosts with them too worked well but very expensive a few years ago. 

Re: Lithium ion batteries

Reply #6 –
Quote from: John S –
Yes I realize they have not used them but Liberty has a couple years of experience with them

With Balqon?  I thought that was the gist of the Technomadia post - not LiFePO4, per se (with the appropriate change of inverter/charger), but "did anyone know anything about Balqon specifically?".  I'm fairly certain Zephyr (Technomadia's converted vintage bus) has LiFePO4 already Lithium Ion Batteries for RV Motorhome House System - LFP / LiFePO4 | .

I believe their interest was piqued by the comparatively lower pricing of the Balqon product line compared to the much better-known brands.

Re: Lithium ion batteries

Reply #7 –
Here is the thread which turned up in a search a few months back and was referenced on Technomadia's site... So far as I can tell, it is the only documented RV install of this particular company's product and there isn't a lot of detail on the performance aspect, but the poster is happy so far.
Lithium battery install
Don

Re: Lithium ion batteries

Reply #8 –
Quote from: acousticart –
Here is the thread which turned up in a search a few months back and was referenced on Technomadia's site... So far as I can tell, it is the only documented RV install of this particular company's product and there isn't a lot of detail on the performance aspect, but the poster is happy so far.
Lithium battery install
Don

Great link, Don!  Thanks.  Looks like Balqon is not quite ready for routine retail purchases, but could be interesting to watch for in the future.

Re: Lithium ion batteries

Reply #9 –
Prices from Balqon have come down further to the point that they are much less than AGM or Gel and close to the price of cheaper flooded batteries.  I've seen quite a few articles from boaters who are now using them.  Has anyone here jumped on the bandwagon yet. 

Balqon Electric Vehicle Manufacturer

700ahr for $700.  1250ahr for $1100 and weighs under 100lbs. 

My house batteries are acting up and this is incredibly tempting.

Edit:  includes the battery management system.

Balqon Electric Vehicle Manufacturer

Re: Lithium ion batteries

Reply #10 –
Looks mighty interesting, I could replace my three 8Ds with enough Lithiums to go a week without charging.

The individual cells are too low a voltage for our use, so would need to be wired in series, and even then the voltages appear to be odd.  They do show 12v marine applications, but I wasn't able to find any useful information.

My AGMs should last me another 6-10 years, by then these will probably be a drop-in replacement item at Camping World.

Re: Lithium ion batteries

Reply #11 –
I use a 16v Lithium Pro battery in my race car.

Pros.  Very light  5 lbs vs 45 lbs.
          Strong transfer of power.
          Very short charging time.

Cons.  Do not like to be drained.  My 16v battery could be damaged if it drops below 13.5 volts.
          Requires a special charger.
          They are prone to thermal run away.

I (in error) left my shut off switch in the on position for a week, when I noticed, it was down to 6 volts.  Put the charger on all day and battery came back to 14.5 volts, charger shuts off at 18.2 volts.  No heat in battery so I went in for the night and left charger on (another big error). Came out to my shop the next morning and the battery had a thermal run away and gassed a 2" hole in the top of the battery and my shop was in a fog bank of semi lethal chemicals.  Took me two weeks of washing and cleaning everything in the shop and any exposed bare metal looks like it's been rusting for years.

Lithium Pro replaced my 20 month old battery under warranty (even though it was my own fault) and it spins my supercharged 540 like its a stock 4 banger.  But as their paper work cautions, never let battery drop below a certain level and never, ever leave the battery while on a charger.

Now I would assume a Lithium battery designed for deep cycle motorhome use would be made to with stand above abuse but my $1500 racing battery is not.

Steve

PS your not supposed to leave your cell phone lithium battery on charger because the same thermal runaway can happen to them too.  (Always do, never a problem)