LiFePO4 charging in cold weather

coglesby

Senior Member
Joined
May 2, 2024
Messages
340
Location
TX and NM
So should one move the battery location to the basement of a 5VR from the front bay when converting to LiFePO4 since they can’t be charged below freezing?
 
I put mine in the basement. I don’t plan on being in cold weather. Some LiFePo4s have a built in heating element. I don’t know anything else about them.
 
How do you get the cables from the battery into the front bay for connecting to the original power or are you saying you just left them in the front bay?
 
How do you get the cables from the battery into the front bay for connecting to the original power or are you saying you just left them in the front bay?
I put the battery on the other side of the wall from where the battery was. The cables were long enough to reach. I just put a hole through the wall for the cables.
 
I put the battery on the other side of the wall from where the battery was. The cables were long enough to reach. I just put a hole through the wall for the cables.

thanks for the explanation

Did you change your converter? If so what did you get
 
How do you get the cables from the battery into the front bay for connecting to the original power or are you saying you just left them in the front bay?
So should one move the battery location to the basement of a 5VR from the front bay when converting to LiFePO4 since they can’t be charged below freezing?
It is definitely an option. A very good one if you are often camping in freezing temps. A couple other options are a temp sensor by the battery to cut off charging when cold or heat trace/heat pad in the battery box or area. What is the best option is up to you.
Remember, if you move the battery into the basement area, you can use the wire that used to feed from the battery to the charger to connect the battery to the power distribution in the front storage. Then run a shorter wire between charger and battery.
 
Last edited:
It is definitely an option. A very good one if you are often camping in freezing temps. A couple other options are a temp sensor by the battery to cut off charging when cold or heat trace/heat pad in the battery box or area. What is the best option is up to you.
Remember, if you move the battery into the basement area, you can use the wire that used to feed from the battery to the charger to connect the battery to the power distribution in the front storage. Then run a shorter wire between charger and battery.
Unfortunately there is no wire directly from the charger to the battery. There’s 10’ of #6 wire from the charger to the power distribution panel then 20’ of wire from the power distribution to the battery. So with the original design there is 30’ of #6 from converter to batteries therefore so much voltage drop to the LA batteries the converter doesn’t realize how low the batteries are and doesn’t even go into bulk mode. In addition, in absorption mode there’s 0.6V drop from converter to batteries. GD needs to fire their electrical dude and get one that knows what he’s doing.

My plan:

1. totally disconnect the 20’ run from power panel to battery disconnect in the front bay

2. Put the new LiFePO4 battery next to the converter behind the basement panel where the converter is.

3. Run #2 from the new battery location to the battery disconnect in the front bay.

See any issues with this?
 
Aren't most basements heated now?

I don't/won't camp when the temperature gets that cold. I do have thermo protection, but I doubt if I will ever need it.
 
Aren't most basements heated now?

I don't/won't camp when the temperature gets that cold. I do have thermo protection, but I doubt if I will ever need it.
Mine is and that’s part of the reason for putting the new LiFePO4 battery in the basement area whereas now the batteries are in the unheated front bay.
 
I gutted my basement and routed the wiring and plumbing to look a bit better. Installed a few components in different places so I could put 1200ah of batteries and a 3k inverter. There is plenty of space once you route the wiring/plumbing better.
 
So should one move the battery location to the basement of a 5VR from the front bay when converting to LiFePO4 since they can’t be charged below freezing?
I moved it last weekend. Extra bonus since the battery is now wired directly to the converter, I'm getting full 55A charging from the converter instead of 10A before.
 

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