LiFePO4 Batteries

That's a vote of one... for using a fuse on the battery.

Bought the Tenergy because of recommendations of fellow glider pilot friends and good customer service. Actually, I was intending to pay a little more for the K2, but at Batteriesinaflash.com, the customer service guy told me that they weren't available from the company for up to 45days. Batteriesinaflash.com doesn't carry the Tenergy because "...the K2 is a better battery". The next day, I received a return call from the company rep, K2... and as it turned out could have picked one up from them or WingsAndWheels. K2 says that their BMS is better quality and same for the battery all the way through. Of course, it's a little more expensive. Based on WingsAndWheels and David Springford's business, it appears other have come to the same conclusion that the K2 is a better battery.

Let's hope infant mortality on my Tenergy BMS won't show up for awhile. The price on the Tenergy 12.8V 10ah with free charger was $160 minus $19 discount before taxes and shipping. So, it appears that they are discounting them a bit... probably because of more failures.

Walt Rogers WX

Correction... two for two voting for a fuse on the battery.

Walt WX

Personally I fit a Klixon 7277, 7.5A circuit breaker right next to the
terminal. Same principle, but if it trips for a good reason I can find,
I'm not searching for a spare fuse just before take off.

Same idea, different solution.

At 00:58 15 June 2014, WaltWX wrote:
Correction... two for two voting for a fuse on the battery.

Walt WX

On Saturday, June 14, 2014 6:39:13 PM UTC-4, Marcin S wrote:
The battery and charger are made by tenergy. I got it January of last year and the battery started to fail at the end of last season.

Most recently, the battery voltage goes down to 5 volts under 1 amp load.

I called temergy and they told me the pcb is bad.

This failed PCB is the component that protects the battery from other (very) bad things? Is flying with a half-broken LiPo battery different than flying with a Tost hook that has only one broken spring?

DEFINITELY have a fuse or circuit breaker right at the battery. Make sure the battery terminals are well protected too. If you're using a PS-1270 size battery the Walter Dittel battery box does both those things and makes fitting the battery for flight quick easy and secure. If only they used a connector more solid and suitable for heavier gauge wire than those goofy DIN plugs.

My ASW-15 has the battery installed in the control compartment and the only protection was a fuse on the panel. I changed that pretty soon after buying it. I also just installed a K2 battery in the Dittel box because I upgraded the vario/computer and installed PowerFLARM - figured I would need more capacity. The club gliders where I fly all have a plastic enclosure epoxied to the top of the battery covering the terminals and wires. There's either a fuse or breaker on the box and a 3 pin XLR chassis jack matched by a 3 pin XLR plug on the glider wiring and the chargers. Seemed kind of odd to me as XLR connectors aren't made for power delivery (well, except for phantom power) but the setup seems to be effective and foolproof. The XLR's are a hell of a lot more rugged than the DIN connectors our DG-505 has.

http://www.powerwerx.com/anderson-powerpoles/

Battery installed with 5ah FUSE on battery. Working fine. Since the BMS units can fail... and have failed on the Tenergy, it's best to fuse it on the battery.

Right now I'm testing this Tenergy LiFePo4 12.8v10ah unit on my CBA III load device. Set up to discharge at 0.8 amp. Will report tonight on how it does with a graph.

Walt Rogers WX

On Saturday, June 14, 2014 1:15:51 PM UTC-7, WaltWX wrote:
Just bought a Tenergy LiFePO4 12.8V 10ah + Charger from all-battery.com



It has the Battery Management System (BMS) with short circuit, over charge and under discharge protection.



QUESTION: Any recommendations from other glider pilots on whether I should ALSO add a fuse on the battery before installing the connector for my ship?

On Thursday, June 19, 2014 5:04:52 AM UTC-7, son_of_flubber wrote:
http://www.powerwerx.com/anderson-powerpoles/

Or http://www.astroflight.com/electroni...onnectors.html

These are more compact than the Powerpoles and make very reliable high current connections.

On Thursday, June 19, 2014 5:04:52 AM UTC-7, son_of_flubber wrote:
http://www.powerwerx.com/anderson-powerpoles/

should have provided this link. sorry
http://www.astroflight.com/electroni...ctors/525.html

On Thu, 19 Jun 2014 08:52:49 -0700, Craig Funston wrote:

On Thursday, June 19, 2014 5:04:52 AM UTC-7, son_of_flubber wrote:
http://www.powerwerx.com/anderson-powerpoles/

should have provided this link. sorry
http://www.astroflight.com/electroni...ctors/525.html

Wouldn't the type 527 be more suitable? I haven't seen them in person,
but the 527s would appear to have their contacts entirely inside the
housings (so less chance of shorting on anything metallic) and of course
the housing shapes will prevent reverse polarity connections.


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martin@ | Martin Gregorie
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