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My generator battery froze

R

Randij

New Member
Joined
May 13, 2021
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65
Location
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
The temperature here goes below -20C and as a result my generator battery freezes.
‘Now what I’d like to do is use my off grid lithium 24v batteries to start my generator.
I figured I could use a step down transformer to reduce the voltage to 12v for the generator.
I was wondering if I could use a dual battery isolator “in reverse “ to allow the current to come from my 24v batteries
‘and allow 20A go the the generator battery at startup. Then stop when the generator alternator stops.
Any ideas, suggestions etc?
 

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Put your generator battery on a maintainer. Ours lasted 11 years that way. In the end I replaced it before it quit. Starts the generator weekly for exercise.
 
bring frozen battery inside,
let battery warm to 50F
charge battery
take battery outside
start generator
check battery charging function on generator with multimeter with battery installed - check volts and amps
as said above you need a trickle charger or to bring and store your battery inside if you are not running regularly.
you can also get a battery warmer/blanket that wraps the battery AFTER you get a charger/maintainer
 
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also in your attached diagram, top left tab

Is this clown recovery, followed by the next tab - liberal motor control? Are you in the politics biz? This is a joke, we still make jokes in canada eh? Or maybe we don't and I didn't get justins memo.
 
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welnat said:
bring frozen battery inside,
charge battery
take battery outside
start generator
check battery charging function on generator with multimeter with battery installed - check volts and amps
as said above you need a trickle charger or to bring and store your battery inside if you are not running regularly.
you can also get a battery warmer/blanket that wraps the battery AFTER you get a charger/maintainer
Click to expand...
Good way to totally destroy battery.....

NEVER.....attempt to charge frozen battery.....it will be totally destroyed....not if and or butt...

Correct method to attempt to recover frozen battery

1) bring battery to warmer space

2) let battery warm up to room temp, at least 50 degrees F so that the frozen core is well above freezing

3) attempt SLOW charge, trickle charge it, DO NOT FORCE.....

4) chance of recovery is not great but this is the only way to recover

Native Alaskan here, been there, done that, more than once......
 
sunshine_eggo said:
Your battery froze because you didn't keep it charged. A fully charged battery won't freeze until about -50°C.

Charging lithium below freezing will destroy it.

Simple solution seems to be keeping the battery charged.
Click to expand...
No the battery is fully charged. It’s a small battery. A battery warmer keeps it sufficiently warm to avoid this proble.
Tecnodave said:
Good way to totally destroy battery.....

NEVER.....attempt to charge frozen battery.....it will be totally destroyed....not if and or butt...

Correct method to attempt to recover frozen battery

1) bring battery to warmer space

2) let battery warm up to room temp, at least 50 degrees F so that the frozen core is well above freezing

3) attempt SLOW charge, trickle charge it, DO NOT FORCE.....

4) chance of recovery is not great but this is the only way to recover

Native Alaskan here, been there, done that, more than once......
Click to expand...
Did this
 
welnat said:
bring frozen battery inside,
let battery warm to 50F
charge battery
take battery outside
start generator
check battery charging function on generator with multimeter with battery installed - check volts and amps
as said above you need a trickle charger or to bring and store your battery inside if you are not running regularly.
you can also get a battery warmer/blanket that wraps the battery AFTER you get a charger/maintainer
Click to expand...
I have done this
 
Randij said:
No the battery is fully charged. It’s a small battery. A battery warmer keeps it sufficiently warm to avoid this proble.

Did this
Click to expand...
Ok, so describe what froze on the battery...
If it was fully charged, it wouldn't have actually frozen.
Do you mean it didn't have enough power to crank your generator?
 
welnat said:
also in your attached diagram, top left tab

Is this clown recovery, followed by the next tab - liberal motor control? Are you in the politics biz? This is a joke, we still make jokes in canada eh? Or maybe we don't and I didn't get justins memo.
Click to expand...
What’s your point? It’s not a joke! My battery does get too cold to start the generator at -35C .
solution so far is warm the battery in the generator. Waste of power when you are off grid.

i have a complete source of 24v batteries in the house so they never get low enough not to start the generator so , why not use them. The concern is the current drawn over about 100ft to the generator. Is it too much . And turning the system on demand.

An idea, in a diagram, was left in my proposal. Constructive help would be nice.
thank you
 
Randij said:
What’s your point? It’s not a joke! My battery does get too cold to start the generator at -35C .
solution so far is warm the battery in the generator. Waste of power when you are off grid.

i have a complete source of 24v batteries in the house so they never get low enough not to start the generator so , why not use them. The concern is the current drawn over about 100ft to the generator. Is it too much . And turning the system on demand.

An idea, in a diagram, was left in my proposal. Constructive help would be nice.
thank you
Click to expand...
The system is now completely automatic, but if the generator won’t start ……
 
Ahh! I understand now. You want to START the generator off your 24v pack.

Gotcha.
Likely it will start fine with a 24v battery, fast cranking though.
Getting a step-down to do it at 12v would take a 300+ amp step down... hard to find.
And you would need some LARGE cable to do it.
 
If your Gen is just outside of power shed, extend battery cables inside and keep battery warm like mine.
 
Supervstech said:
Ahh! I understand now. You want to START the generator off your 24v pack.

Gotcha.
Likely it will start fine with a 24v battery, fast cranking though.
Getting a step-down to do it at 12v would take a 300+ amp step down... hard to find.
And you would need some LARGE cable to do it.
Click to expand...
If you looked at the diagram, I have put a step-down transformer in. Although mine is only 20 Amps as there is a 15 Amp fuse in the generator which I assumed was for the starter. Also I changed the voltage sensor to a Victron Smart battery protect 65Amp. The current battery is a YTZ14S 11.8 Ah (20 HR) 223CCA . So is it 300 amp because of the 223 CCA?
 
If you have a Honda Gen, the 15A fuse may be your charging circuit and the 20A for control unit/WiFi, etc.
If your starter pulls 150A, running 60’ using 6ga conductors, the 24VDC would be approx 15VDC at the other end during cranking. You’d have to test it yourself. Then, no buck converter needed for the starter, although you may need one on that 20A circuit going to the ECU. Better yet, just keep a 1A trickle charger on it, keep connections clean and protected from corrosion. Replace battery every 4 years.
 
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A possible solution would be to attach a super ( sometimes called ultra) capacitor in parallel with the battery. It can deliver brief pulses of massive current independent of temperature. Your battery probably still has enough volts just no amps at the cold temperature.
But finding a quality, 16v dc, environmentally sealed super cap might be challenging and / or expensive. One could DIY one, but that is a whole other project at least as hard as DIY batteries.

this one might work, I can’t vouch for it
 
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