YouTube The Rules of LiFePO4: The 3 Most Common Causes of Failure and General Guidelines for Long Term Use

[Neal]

 

[JBright11]

Holy crap. I've been intimidated by the perception of much "complexity" with these batteries. This video dispels much of that.

Thank you for posting.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

The real questions this video brought to the surface is!

How suitable is this tech for full-time, off grid use?

Those living that dream may have caught the pitfalls, but if not educated on charging, may have missed what he said.

So let me explain the highlights of the video, as well as my experiences.

I have had three (3) lithium batteries on my bench that failed with dead cells. One a rack mount battery, the other two (2) battle born batteries. This fact classified them at the top of the heap.

The rack mount had a good BMS. And 3 bad cells. Because this was backup power for a computer system my thought is the cells failed with proper maintenance. So cells do in fact fail when properly maintained.

The battle born batteries are another story. They were used from new to the time they failed in an RV. Why did they fail! Both had a build up of condensation within the box that houses the cells. The seams had gaps in the glue. That water build up was over the 5 year life of the batteries. The actual box that contained them was sealed and well built, with no signs of water damage. Both batteries suffered this problem. Because they are the only battle born batteries I have had experience with, that sample equals a 100 percent failure rate due to water issues.

But there is more! One unit had a BMS failure due to a corroded circuit board. Thus the reason for the cell failure. This was the battery that had the greatest amount of standing water.

The other battery had a working BMS. so why the dead cell?

Possible causes;

Not fully charging the battery, and insufficient charge time for the BMS to do it's magic.

A bad cell with no other explanation.

So I have formed my opinion.

I would never consider lithium for off grid use (boondocking) charging with a generator. Why? Because people see an idling generator as a waste of good fuel.

I would never consider using lithium without charging equipment having a lithium setting (per the video). The BMS needs 100% charge to work it's magic

If only charging via solar, the amount of solar would need to be large enough to allow plenty of time for equalization.

This would require either a small battery bank, or a roof covered with silicone (solar panels).

Most full-time, off grid RVers I know, are not setting up for the above scenario. People who have enough solar power, quickly find things to use that power, so would need to add even more solar panels to accommodate the needs of the lithium batteries.

So in conclusion, if you didn't understand what I was saying, or didn't catch what the video said! "Play it again Sam".