Charging Lithium in cold weather

[Alshymer]

Hi
Normally I have no problems with my battery being charged with the solar panel but over the last week it has been too cold, so the shut off on the Victron solar charger has been set to 6 degrees to prevent charging the battery causing damage to the battery.
What happens if I place the van on hook up or take the van for a spin?
Will this damage the lithium battery?
Would appreciated information.
Best wishes to all.
Alshymer

 

[wildebus]

Hi
Normally I have no problems with my battery being charged with the solar panel but over the last week it has been too cold, so the shut off on the Victron solar charger has been set to 6 degrees to prevent charging the battery causing damage to the battery.
What happens if I place the van on hook up or take the van for a spin?
Will this damage the lithium battery?
Would appreciated information.
Best wishes to all.
Alshymer

Potentially yes, for sure.
The settings on the Solar Controller will have no bearing on either the Split Charge system or Mains Charger. If neither of those have cold temp shutoff (and it is very very unlikely they do) and the Lithium Battery BMS does not have internal cold temp charge disconnect (unlikely it does - most don't), you run the risk of seriously damaging the battery.

 

[Alshymer]

That’s what I thought. Can I turn off the charging system? What about the red button on the distribution/charging system? Will that stop the battery charging from the engine running?

 

[molly 2]

Have you considered disconnecting yout battery lithiam have a very low self discharge rate . Should be fine free standing for a few months if the van is not used .

 

[trevskoda]

Warm them well with a hair dryer and then take it for a long drive.

 

[xsilvergs]

Why not add a heater mat? There's loads on the internet.

 

[wildebus]

Why not add a heater mat? There's loads on the internet.

That is the approach I would take.
One simple way could be to fit a heater mat and setup a temp controlled relay so when under the set temp, the power goes to the pad and when up to temp, relay clicks and the power goes to the battery (and once the batteries start to charge, they will start to warm up further.

I saw a guy on Youtube fit some pads on his batteries - Brian from RV with Tito. I'll link the relevant section of the video below but as an aside the whole video is worth watching - some excellent work IMO.

 

[Alshymer]

Thanks for your replies.
So, it is still cold here and the battery temperature is 1degree. The solar is set to charge at not lower than 6 degrees.
I need to use the van, so don’t want the leisure battery to charge from the alternator or from electric hook up until the garage temperature has risen.
I assume that if I turn off the internal battery charger switch, the battery won’t charge at all.
Obvious question but just thought I would check.

 

[Admin]

Some brands lithium batteries like Relion can be charged at 10% of their capacity below 0c. (100Ah charges at 10A)

 

[Alshymer]

Thanks Phil. As per your recommendation I did fit the Relion 100HP batteries together with Victron SmartSolar 75/15 MPPT and Batterysense. All of which I am delighted with.