LE300 Lithium extension battery — any experience?

V

Venus1

Well-Known Member
Joined
2 Aug 2014
Messages
151
Visit site
Seeking experience/feedback/revues from people with the LE300 lithium extension battery.
Please, I’m not asking for theory or even opinions (covered in other threads) - just experience from anyone who has used the LE300 ( if there are any). Thanks
 
Hello.
Im sorry, I can’t answer your question. But I would also very much like to hear what people have to say about this. My local, friendly professional guy has recommended this system for me and it looks like it makes a lot of sense for my own personal scenario.
So like Venus 1 above I would be very interested to get any available feedback. Many thanks.
 
Daverw said:
Looks like a lot of money for a 28 ahr battery
Click to expand...
Agreed, but on the upside, no re-wiring, no dc-dc charger etc. and, according to their promotional guff, the lead acid batteries will last much longer since they should remain fully charged more or less permanently. A simple, quick fix ?
 
PaulRainbow said:
Overpriced, smoke and mirrors.

I'm fitting 314Ah Lithium packs with a top quality BMS, assembled, configured, balanced and ready to go for £560

28Ah for similar money...................
Click to expand...
Ok, thanks Paul. Sounds like a complete no brainer. Now, for the tricky bit. I am definitely not an electrician. Do you know any trustworthy people in the Plymouth area that could do this work?
 
Having just done the upgrade, most of the hard work is cutting, crimping cables for fuses, busbars and isolation switches. I used victron stuff and its was so easy to setup.
If you learn how to do the cable stuff, with patience you can save loads of the cost and it’s not more than connecting spaghetti. Look at victron web site and they have lots of info including circuit layouts to get you started.
 
If you connect a LifePO4 and a LA in parallel the loads will all draw from the LifePO4, due to its low resistance. At just 20% SOC the LifePO4 will still be at 12.8V so nothing will be drawn from the LA battery, until the BMS shuts the LifePO4 load down. Loads will then be powered from the LA battery. Hmmm
 
PaulRainbow said:
If you connect a LifePO4 and a LA in parallel the loads will all draw from the LifePO4, due to its low resistance. At just 20% SOC the LifePO4 will still be at 12.8V so nothing will be drawn from the LA battery, until the BMS shuts the LifePO4 load down. Loads will then be powered from the LA battery. Hmmm
Click to expand...
Just like the LE300, but what would happen if you left the LiFePO connected in parallel with a LA battery and charge the lot with an ordinary alternator or solar controller set to a LA profile?

If it would work, I'm rather interested...
 
Stemar said:
Just like the LE300, but what would happen if you left the LiFePO connected in parallel with a LA battery and charge the lot with an ordinary alternator or solar controller set to a LA profile?

If it would work, I'm rather interested...
Click to expand...
If the solar controller is connected to the LifePO4, or a common busbar, with a LifePO4 charging profile it will work. On my own boat, as i live aboard, i have a slightly different charge profile for the solar controller. I don't want it to charge the batteries and then go into float, using the typical LifePO4 float voltage because we'll still be using power and i don't want to waste the solar yield. So i have the float setting a little higher than normal so it keeps the battery almost fully charged, whilst running the loads. I'm aware that Lithium should not be kept fully charged long term, but the SOC starts dropping as soon as the Sun goes down, so the battery still get cycled.

I wouldn't use the same settings for a mains charger, as it's on all of the time (typically) so the battery doesn't get cycled.

I have my alternators connected to the LA battery and the charge current is very limited, typically only 15/18A going into the LifePO4, from 2 x 60A alternators. That's lower than i'd like and i'm also not sure if the alternators are limiting current when the battery is full or the BMS is stopping the charging. I need to do some further testing with the alternator charging but i suspect i'll be fitting DC-DC chargers, i'll likely get more current and a better charge profile. I still want to keep the LA in parallel, it's a useful backup (unlikely to need it) but more importantly i want it as a backup for the engine batteries, i have 2 x 7 litre diesels that can't be started from the LifePO4 batteries.
 
I did get as far as reading the instructions available online, worryingly it specifically mentions it’s not suitable for wet or damp environments.

Then after discussion with my engineer mate…he sent this -

 
Venus1 said:
Seeking experience/feedback/revues from people with the LE300 lithium extension battery.
Please, I’m not asking for theory or even opinions (covered in other threads) - just experience from anyone who has used the LE300 ( if there are any). Thanks
Click to expand...
I have very Good experience with these extension batteries. Have a six pack since 2022. Does what they say about them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top