Do I need a heated battery ?

[camperw/AC]

Need 24 volt battery for cargo trailer. Will be used in cold weather so I think I need heated battery.
Leaning toward Epoch. 200Amp/hours Should be enough.
Suggestions please. Thank you.

 

[camperw/AC]

Do I need heated battery.

 

[G00SE]

It’s a cheap peace of mind. I’m currently insulating and adding HVAC to my cargo trailer build but even in the dead of winter if I have electronics inside running, they generate quite a bit of their own heat. Likely not “enough”

Really depends on the coldest temps you’ll see

 

[Dave911]

Only if you want to charge your battery when it (the battery itself) is below 32 degrees.
You shouldn't be charging your battery when it is below 32 F. The chemistry in the battery gets weird and the battery degrades.

But you can use the power from a LIFEPO4 battery down to a little below 0 degrees F.
You can buy a battery with low temp charge protection or just add in controls so you can't charge the battery below 32 F. A cheap thermostat (Drok brand) is $11 off Amazon, a power relay is about $10. If the temp is below 32 F, disconnect the charge lead to the battery.

 

[Rednecktek]

Cargo trailer as in not living inside? Get the cold protection, it'll be worth it on that crisp sunny winter morning.

 

[camperw/AC]

thanks and I found this:

 

[camperw/AC]

and this:

 

[Dave911]

and this:

I agree with Will. I have been using "cheap" lifepo4 batteries. $200 or less. The low temp cutoff seems to be unreliable or non existent on these batteries, but the bms is functional otherwise. So I decided to just add low temp charge protection myself via the circuits in my prior attachment. The circuitry costs about $20 and I can test it for functionality instead of risking an early death to a $200 lifepo4 battery.
I thought about adding a heater pad, but if the battery is cold, my fridge is cold and chances are it doesnt need to run. So i really dont need much power when the battery is below 32 degrees.

 

[G00SE]

Someone took apart one of the 50ah 51.2v ecoworthy/DC haus boxed and they looked fairly well put together. They had (I think) JK BMS without display, metal cases, cell separators and end up costing similar to most of the 12v lifepo4s that people are trying to combine
Not sure if you’d be interested in a 48v system.
Alternatively. Ecoworthy does make them in 12v and 24v as well

 

[Luk88]

What loads are you planning to run?

The fact a battery looks fine during disassembly doesn't mean the cells are not 5 years old and were stored in hot climate all the time...

Also, what is your tolerance for risk of getting a bad product? My tolerance is pretty high so I often end up with bad products, but when a friend wanted to do solar at his cabin and asked for something relatively solid I recommended the battery to be the highest quality item in his system. (bought from a local company with good track record and a proper warranty service).

 

[Dave911]

I bought a few ecoworthy balancers for 12 volt batteries and they look nice. Better than I expected. The feedback on Amazon is good and reputable solar outfits are selling them. That said, I have no knowledge of their batteries.
If the balancers dont work Ill let the group know.
Regarding batteries, it can add up pretty fast cost wise. The thing is if a battery goes bad, and some will, how is that dealt with? If its a big battery it may need freight shipping which can be very expensive. And difficult logistically. Get a pallet, strap it down, transport to a terminal, etc.
I have a forklift, but apparently not everyone does.