New Lithium battery down to 1.22 volts

[Vic]

A little frustration this morning as I head out to the garage to grab something out of the camper and no lights. I tried to connect to the Victron and no luck, so I threw a volt meter on the battery and got a whole 1.22 volts. Hmm. Not a good start to the day.

The battery has only been in for about a month and I've been checking the Victron every few days, was at 87% earlier this week as I was watching the impact of the LPG and CO monitors (only draw). Not sure why it tanked in the last 48-72 hours.

Have to dive into it this weekend but not even sure where to start. I will call Battle Born and see if they have any suggestions on recharging from such a deep discharge

Glad it happened in the garage and not the woods!

-Vic

 

[Happyjax]

1.22 or 12.2???

 

[rando]

Try charging it - it may just be that the BMS has gone into shutdown and it will come right back.

How do you know it was 87% earlier?

 

[Wallowa]

What did your controller show? I assume the Victron you referred to was the BMS... history and type of battery?

 

[Vic]

So this one has been a learning experience! Indeed it was down into the single volts and the BMS has shut it down...just like it was supposed to. Found out I had a couple of issues going on that I'll record just incase another newbie like me finds themselves in this spot.

And a great shout out to the fine folks at Battle Born who patiently walked me through waking up the battery and deducing some of the factors.

So below ~10.0v, the BMS put it to sleep to avoid any further damage, and what my volt meter was seeing was just the residual. Now why did it go there in the first place? I know I set up my Victron when I installed it for 1 100ah battery, but for some reason it still was thinking I had 2 - so I was not getting an accurate reading. So as I was watching it drop, my baseline was all off.

Also, when I was plugging it back in to get a full charge, I found I had a blown 30 amp fuse so its questionable that I ever had it to a real 100% originally when I put it in last month, but the Victron though I had.

Onward!

 

[buckland]

Wow steep learning curve Vic... So when you went from 2 batteries to one... were you supposed to manually change the Victron presets ...it did not sense it on its own? Not clear... you set it up for one?

 

[rando]

Glad you got it all sorted, I am sure it was frustrating.

Not that this helps in your situation, but this is one of the reasons that a LiFePO4 battery with a bluetooth BMS is a good idea. That way you can tell exactly why the battery is doing what it is doing, and what you need to do to fix it. Without any interface with the BMS you have a black box on your hands with no info on what is going on inside.

So this one has been a learning experience! Indeed it was down into the single volts and the BMS has shut it down...just like it was supposed to. Found out I had a couple of issues going on that I'll record just incase another newbie like me finds themselves in this spot.

And a great shout out to the fine folks at Battle Born who patiently walked me through waking up the battery and deducing some of the factors.

So below ~10.0v, the BMS put it to sleep to avoid any further damage, and what my volt meter was seeing was just the residual. Now why did it go there in the first place? I know I set up my Victron when I installed it for 1 100ah battery, but for some reason it still was thinking I had 2 - so I was not getting an accurate reading. So as I was watching it drop, my baseline was all off.

Also, when I was plugging it back in to get a full charge, I found I had a blown 30 amp fuse so its questionable that I ever had it to a real 100% originally when I put it in last month, but the Victron though I had.

Onward!

 

[Vic]

Actually the Victron came preset assuming 200 ah. I installed it when I replaced my lead acids with this lifepo last month. I was sure I set it for 100 ah but for some reason it didn't take (likely user error). Battery is happily resting now at 13.32 v - a little lower than I was expecting @ 13.5 but this weekends project will be to pull the camper into the drive and run the fridge/furnace and see how we do with solar charging. I have 200w on the roof.

-Vic

 

[steve whiteside]

It is funny how we muddle through these issues and then we are a bit smarter the next time out. I have my own learning curve going, haha.

It is nice that with the Battle Born batteries someone actually answers the phone!

Steve

 

[ri-f]

Actually the Victron came preset assuming 200 ah. I installed it when I replaced my lead acids with this lifepo last month. I was sure I set it for 100 ah but for some reason it didn't take (likely user error). Battery is happily resting now at 13.32 v - a little lower than I was expecting @ 13.5 but this weekends project will be to pull the camper into the drive and run the fridge/furnace and see how we do with solar charging. I have 200w on the roof.

-Vic

A BB resting at 13.32 is excellent. You have very lofty expectaions at 13.5 : )

 

[kmcintyre]

A BB resting at 13.32 is excellent. You have very lofty expectaions at 13.5 : )

My LifePO4 battery build pack rests at about 13.3. I've been using it quite a bit (furnace) and so far it's been great. We don't use much power (refrig is on propane) and we just did a 3 night trip with only a slight drop due to the furnace usage in the morning (dropped to 13.2). Other usage is so low that it doesn't even register (led lights).