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LiFePO4 Batteries



 
 
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  #1  
Old April 28th 14, 03:55 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
vontresc
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Default LiFePO4 Batteries

So I am in the market for a new battery for my Libelle. I was thinking it might be time to upgrade to a LiFePO4 battery.

Any recommendations/reviews from the community? I've seen people using the K2 and Stark Power batteries. Any preference between the two?

Thanks

Peter
  #2  
Old April 28th 14, 04:12 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Tony[_5_]
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Default LiFePO4 Batteries

On Monday, April 28, 2014 9:55:16 AM UTC-5, vontresc wrote:
So I am in the market for a new battery for my Libelle. I was thinking it might be time to upgrade to a LiFePO4 battery.



Any recommendations/reviews from the community? I've seen people using the K2 and Stark Power batteries. Any preference between the two?



Thanks



Peter


Hey Pete, I bought the battery and charger that Knauff sells. Has worked very well for my 3 long flights in the Cirrus this season. Still lots of Volts left even after 6.5 hrs of radio, vario, and transponder use. Lightweight too!
  #3  
Old April 28th 14, 05:16 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Andrew[_14_]
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Default LiFePO4 Batteries

I recently got the Starkpower 12V 9Ah battery from Knauff. I've put it through one test charge/discharge cycle so far. I found...

1. It took about 10Ah when I charged it from 9V resting to full voltage (14.4V while charging for a 4 cell LiFeSO4). I imagine the advertised 9Ah rating accounts for aging after many load cycles.

2. It supplies 13.0V to 13.2V for a very long time under a 0.5A load. I'd like to see how it does under a 2A to 4A load.

3. The built-in Battery Management System (BMS) does terminate any charging attempt past 14.6V

4. The BMS does not terminate discharging at 10.5V as Starkpower's website advertises. I only brought the pack down to 9V, but other sources indicate the BMS terminates discharge at 8.2V.

On Monday, April 28, 2014 10:55:16 AM UTC-4, vontresc wrote:
So I am in the market for a new battery for my Libelle. I was thinking it might be time to upgrade to a LiFePO4 battery.



Any recommendations/reviews from the community? I've seen people using the K2 and Stark Power batteries. Any preference between the two?



Thanks



Peter


  #4  
Old April 28th 14, 06:12 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
MQ
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Posts: 17
Default LiFePO4 Batteries

I am happy with my pair of Tenergy 12.8VDC 10Ah LiFePO4 batteries and have used over a dozen larger 12.8VDC LiFePO4 battery packs from batteryspace for other projects with good results too. I called Tenergy in California and these Tenergies do have the under and over voltage protection built in. If you shop around, you can get them on special with chargers included but a constant voltage power supply works fine too.

The weight is nice, the charge cycles are awesome, how long it holds its charge is really awesome and the steady output makes a big difference for radios and such. They dislike freezing temperatures more than some other options if that is an issue.

You can use your trickle charger (as long as it doesn't have an auto desulfate mode) but it is not the best idea for reasons listed and explained on here and all over the internet. Also, these are LiFePO4's so you can blast them to a charge in no time compared to a lead acid.

I wire them to the glider with inline fuses and the same connectors that I have on my chargers for convenience. Then I cover the terminals with hot glue and make handles with packing tape as my glider is a very tight fit for two 10Ah batteries. You can pull them out by the wiring (not recommended) or the slim tape handles (recommended) when needed.

LiFePO4's are starting to get very developed and produced by some bigger manufacturers so it is pretty hard to go wrong as long as they fit and meet your power needs. There are some good discussions and links on doing a power budget for your glider around too.
  #5  
Old April 28th 14, 06:14 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
MQ
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Default LiFePO4 Batteries

On Monday, April 28, 2014 11:12:01 AM UTC-6, MQ wrote:
I am happy with my pair of Tenergy 12.8VDC 10Ah LiFePO4 batteries and have used over a dozen larger 12.8VDC LiFePO4 battery packs from batteryspace for other projects with good results too. I called Tenergy in California and these Tenergies do have the under and over voltage protection built in. If you shop around, you can get them on special with chargers included but a constant voltage power supply works fine too.



The weight is nice, the charge cycles are awesome, how long it holds its charge is really awesome and the steady output makes a big difference for radios and such. They dislike freezing temperatures more than some other options if that is an issue.



You can use your trickle charger (as long as it doesn't have an auto desulfate mode) but it is not the best idea for reasons listed and explained on here and all over the internet. Also, these are LiFePO4's so you can blast them to a charge in no time compared to a lead acid.



I wire them to the glider with inline fuses and the same connectors that I have on my chargers for convenience. Then I cover the terminals with hot glue and make handles with packing tape as my glider is a very tight fit for two 10Ah batteries. You can pull them out by the wiring (not recommended) or the slim tape handles (recommended) when needed.



LiFePO4's are starting to get very developed and produced by some bigger manufacturers so it is pretty hard to go wrong as long as they fit and meet your power needs (We used to set the under and over voltage with solar charging units and analog circuits and laugh at the construction of some of the cells). There are some good discussions and links on doing a power budget for your glider around too.

  #6  
Old April 28th 14, 10:18 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
[email protected][_2_]
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Default LiFePO4 Batteries

We have delivered many of these batteries with no complaints. They hold a charge extremely well. Our Duo has all the fancy electronics including transponder, etc, and we tested using only one battery for more than 6 hours, still showing full voltage. We actually have two batteries installed, so it is doubtful we could ever drain the very light weight batteries even on long ridge flights.

The required charger recharges in about two hours.

Tom Knauff
www.eglider.org
  #7  
Old April 29th 14, 01:24 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
[email protected]
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Default LiFePO4 Batteries

I have been using a K2 9.6AmpHr battery for three years in my LS-8. Compared to lead it is amazing. Very light. Holds 13 volts even in cold soak conditions like flying for hours at 17,000 feet. My lead batteries routinely drop below 11.5volts under short cold soaks. The lead battery in my ship is off to the recycle yard at the end of this year.

  #8  
Old April 29th 14, 10:35 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
glidergreg
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Default LiFePO4 Batteries

On Monday, April 28, 2014 9:55:16 AM UTC-5, vontresc wrote:
So I am in the market for a new battery for my Libelle. I was thinking it might be time to upgrade to a LiFePO4 battery.



Any recommendations/reviews from the community? I've seen people using the K2 and Stark Power batteries. Any preference between the two?



Thanks



Peter


Peter I ordered mine from these folks. Have used it for a year now and very happy with it. Make sure you get with the built in BMS typefrom whoever you order from.

http://www.bioennopower.com/collecti...epo4-batteries
  #9  
Old May 17th 14, 07:47 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Ramy[_2_]
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Default LiFePO4 Batteries

On Monday, April 28, 2014 2:18:09 PM UTC-7, wrote:
We have delivered many of these batteries with no complaints. They hold a charge extremely well. Our Duo has all the fancy electronics including transponder, etc, and we tested using only one battery for more than 6 hours, still showing full voltage. We actually have two batteries installed, so it is doubtful we could ever drain the very light weight batteries even on long ridge flights.



The required charger recharges in about two hours.



Tom Knauff

www.eglider.org


So I am considering replacing one of my batteries with LifePO4 and keep the Gel Cell as my second battery, at least for another season or two. My question is if I can cause any damage when operating them in parallel. My batteries operate in parallel for short time when switching from one to the other, as well as at the end of long flights to get enough power from two weak batteries. Will this be an issue when mixing batteries?

Ramy
  #10  
Old May 17th 14, 08:17 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
[email protected]
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Posts: 83
Default LiFePO4 Batteries

Because of the grossly different voltages under load/discharge, I would not recommend running them in parallel. LifePO4's voltage falls off later and very abruptly as they run out of charge so it's unlikely you'd get anything extra out of it anyway.
On Saturday, May 17, 2014 4:47:58 PM UTC+10, Ramy wrote:
On Monday, April 28, 2014 2:18:09 PM UTC-7, wrote:

We have delivered many of these batteries with no complaints. They hold a charge extremely well. Our Duo has all the fancy electronics including transponder, etc, and we tested using only one battery for more than 6 hours, still showing full voltage. We actually have two batteries installed, so it is doubtful we could ever drain the very light weight batteries even on long ridge flights.








The required charger recharges in about two hours.








Tom Knauff




www.eglider.org




So I am considering replacing one of my batteries with LifePO4 and keep the Gel Cell as my second battery, at least for another season or two. My question is if I can cause any damage when operating them in parallel. My batteries operate in parallel for short time when switching from one to the other, as well as at the end of long flights to get enough power from two weak batteries. Will this be an issue when mixing batteries?



Ramy


 




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