Hail call to DuBob or Mildog

[wiperhunter2]

Right now everyone is switching to Li batteries and it is the busy season, especially for boat owners.  I bet if you wait until fall, you will see some big price drops with the Li batteries.  Now if they just would behave better in cold weather storage I might consider them.  But I've had two different friends back in MI switch back from Li to lead acid since they store their boats outside under car ports and the cold temps wreak-havoc on the Li batteries.  Wish I had heated storage.

What is the average temps in MI during the Winter. You would think inside the boat it would be warmer than just sitting outside but I guess I'll find out. Do they make heaters for batteries?

[SkunkedAgain]

I think I screwed up my new Lithiums by trying to charge them when it was around freezing last winter, didn't know at the time, but sounds like stuff freezes up inside and it's really not good to try and charge them in that condition... One day my batteries seemed to drain in about 3-4 hours of steady trolling with them. The next day after a charge, they seemed to go for 6-8 hours and never lost power, so I'm not sure if they are tweaked or if it has to do with my charging, but I'm using an auto Li charging cycle so I think it should be doing what it's supposed to... Anyway I sure hope I didn't ruin them and I'll start trying to use them more per mfg recommendations... I read that LITime is supposed to have blue tooth monitoring, but I didn't see anything about that in my info that came with them... Does anyone have tips on how to use that? Thanks J

[Mildog]

Some of the new batteries are self heating but I’m guessing they would drain if left out In cold for storage? Also not sure how much power heating consumes so not sure how they would last in cold usage
From what I’m seeing most can be used down to zero ish! But can’t take charge at below 32 degrees
I’m planning to take my batteries out in winter and store in garage or basement During off season .

[wiperhunter2]

Some of the new batteries are self heating but I’m guessing they would drain if left out In cold for storage? Also not sure how much power heating consumes so not sure how they would last in cold usage
From what I’m seeing most can be used down to zero ish! But can’t take charge at below 32 degrees
I’m planning to take my batteries out in winter and store in garage or basement During off season .

With them being so much lighter, they will be easier to remove but last Winter we only had two weeks of the whole Winter when we did not take our boats out. In that case, it will be a hassle to take them out and put them back in every week or two but I guess we will see what happens. The other option would be to have two sets of batteries, one set of lead acid batteries for the Winter and the lithium for the rest of the year, when temps are above 32 degrees.

[Mildog]

I think I screwed up my new Lithiums by trying to charge them when it was around freezing last winter, didn't know at the time, but sounds like stuff freezes up inside and it's really not good to try and charge them in that condition...  One day my batteries seemed to drain in about 3-4 hours of steady trolling with them.  The next day after a charge, they seemed to go for 6-8 hours and never lost power, so I'm not sure if they are tweaked or if it has to do with my charging, but I'm using an auto Li charging cycle so I think it should be doing what it's supposed to... Anyway I sure hope I didn't ruin them and I'll start trying to use them more per mfg recommendations...  I read that LITime is supposed to have blue tooth monitoring, but I didn't see anything about that in my info that came with them...  Does anyone have tips on how to use that?  Thanks J

Skunked, not all of the li time or other lithium  for that matter have Bluetooth monitoring there is a free app you can download. But battery must have feature built into it. If Your phone has
blue tooth turned on,the batteries will show up in Bluetooth settings . You have to get the app to monitor them. Works great, if the models you have have it built in.

[dubob]

I think I screwed up my new Lithiums by trying to charge them when it was around freezing last winter, didn't know at the time, but sounds like stuff freezes up inside and it's really not good to try and charge them in that condition...  One day my batteries seemed to drain in about 3-4 hours of steady trolling with them.  The next day after a charge, they seemed to go for 6-8 hours and never lost power, so I'm not sure if they are tweaked or if it has to do with my charging, but I'm using an auto Li charging cycle so I think it should be doing what it's supposed to... Anyway I sure hope I didn't ruin them and I'll start trying to use them more per mfg recommendations...  I read that LITime is supposed to have blue tooth monitoring, but I didn't see anything about that in my info that came with them...  Does anyone have tips on how to use that?  Thanks J

Jeff,


The Li Time batteries have a battery monitoring system (BMS) built into the case.  The BMS varies by battery and when it was manufactured.  The latest BMS will allow the battery to operate down to -4*F, will not allow charging below 32*F, and will Bluetooth to your smart phone with a downloaded free app from Li Time.  If your battery has the Bluetooth function, there will be a decal on the case that says ‘SMART’.

As to storing the battery in the boat over the winter goes, the general consensus would be that this is a bad idea.  Check out this link: Can You Leave Lithium Batteries in The Cold - Safety Tips. 
_______________________________________________________________________

To all y’all,

The biggest problem with lithium batteries is that most folks don’t understand that they are a totally different technology than lead acid/AGM technologies.  And since the price for lithium batteries can exceed the price of conventional batteries by as much as 10-fold, the cost of learning lessons the hard way can get expensive real quick.

If you have switched, or are thinking about switching, to lithium batteries for your marine applications, do your homework and research the technology.