Aux Battery

[DaveInDenver]

@stusic, those look very promising for the price. At least $200 than I was figuring to DIY.

Just an FYI I believe Renogy has models with and without self-heating, so when shopping be sure to read the fine print.

When the battery has it it'll usually turn on automatically only when you put a charging source on it. This only means that you may have to anticipate charging since the cells may not start immediately until they warm up, so the actual time on the charger might be longer than just doing A-hr x time.

Say you took out 50 A-hr and have 10 A for charging. You'd need 5 hours to return the energy but if it takes 30 minutes at 2A to warm up all the cells you have to plan on 5.5 hours of sun, driving, etc.

Also, depending on your charging source, you might have to account for that heating. Not a big deal with solar but might be if you're using another battery via DC-DC or fuel-driven like idling your truck or a generator.

None of it is insurmountable by any means, just details to keep in mind. It'll probably be almost unnoticed since the battery only has to reach usually 32°F before it's safe and that's not likely if the battery is inside the cab.

 

[stusic]

@stusic, those look very promising for the price. At least $200 than I was figuring to DIY.

Just an FYI I believe Renogy has models with and without self-heating, so when shopping be sure to read the fine print.

When the battery has it it'll usually turn on automatically only when you put a charging source on it. This only means that you may have to anticipate charging since the cells may not start immediately until they warm up, so the actual time on the charger might be longer than just doing A-hr x time.

Say you took out 50 A-hr and have 10 A for charging. You'd need 5 hours to return the energy but if it takes 30 minutes at 2A to warm up all the cells you have to plan on 5.5 hours of sun, driving, etc.

Also, depending on your charging source, you might have to account for that heating. Not a big deal with solar but might be if you're using another battery via DC-DC or fuel-driven like idling your truck or a generator.

None of it is insurmountable by any means, just details to keep in mind. It'll probably be almost unnoticed since the battery only has to reach usually 32°F before it's safe and that's not likely if the battery is inside the cab.

Mine only runs my fridge, so winter conditions haven't been an issue yet.

And yes, some don't have the self heating, but I remember the price difference being negligible.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Mine only runs my fridge, so winter conditions haven't been an issue yet.

And yes, some don't have the self heating, but I remember the price difference being negligible.

It looked like the one with heating and Bluetooth was $30 cheaper even.

 

[J1000]

Can you expand on which cells or battery you used, BMS situation, size, etc.

I'm looking at rolling my own LiFeMbPO4, if I ever accumulate enough money at one time anyway to afford enough cells for a decent bank. I also haven't solved the cold charging without using a heater, so I'm curious what you're doing. If you meant lithium-ion for the cold performance, but I'm trying to avoid going that way.

Check out my post here where I detailed everything. The BMS is integrated into the batteries.

What have you done to your rig today?

I've spent about two months now with all of my stuff out of my garage covered by a tarp in the backyard but I think it's finally going to be worth it! I put down the first coat of Rocksolid floor coating in metallic blue and it's looking sweet!

risingsun4x4club.org