It’s something that really depends on your system. In this video’s example, our COO Sean explains how if you had a 200 watt solar panel on your RV and in about a day’s worth of sun, you could recharge one of our 100 amp hour batteries. You can typically count on getting about six hours of power collection out of the panel, as it is 1,200 watts. As your solar panel system and battery bank grow, it will take longer to recharge. If you have more solar, you’re going to recharge faster. All in all, it’s variable based on your system’s size.

Our team gets this question daily, and we have a blog post that helps address that topic. There are three main ways to charge a system: solar, alternator, and shore.

Battle Born Batteries only sells accessories from brands we know produce quality products. One such company is Victron Energy. Battle Born is a master dealer of Victron components because they are reliable and well-built. They even offer the Victron Connect phone app where you can view all the details of your Bluetooth capable devices. Our team also recommends components from Progressive Dynamics and Magnum. We have plenty for purchase, so check out our store if you’re looking for more power!

One component we often recommend is the Victron Energy SmartSolar MPPT charge controllers for systems equipped with solar. With Solar Charge Controllers we recommend the following settings:

bulk and absorption: 14.4 volts

float: 13.6 (this setting will depend on the size of solar incorporated into your system)

We also frequently suggest Victron’s IP-65 Blue Smart Charger because it’s waterproof, Bluetooth compatible and has a charging profile for lithium batteries and other battery chemistries. This device connects directly to the battery and is meant for single-battery charging. It’s great for those with trolling motor applications or those with battery systems connected in series.

For alternator charging, we often recommend using a DC-to-DC charger or battery-to-battery charger. The Victron Orion-TR Smart DC-DC isolated charger is an adaptive, three-stage charger with algorithms for bulk, absorption, and float options. You also can mix battery chemistries safely with this device, such as your AGM starting battery to your lithium house bank. Aim for a range between 14.2V and 14.6V with bulk and absorption stages and for the float stage, 13.6V is best. While lithium technically doesn’t need to be floated, a good majority of the devices out there still have a float charge mode. The batteries naturally float at 13.6V but reaching 14.6V is ideal and needs to happen in order to engage its balancing mechanisms.

Yes, they are safe to incorporate into your system for a number of reasons. The chemistry of lithium iron phosphate is thermally stable and does not easily undergo thermal runaway. We also incorporate an internal battery management system, or a BMS, that protects against any errant voltages, currents, or temperature extremes that would prevent the cells from operating outside of spec. The BMS will prevent any sort of current from exiting or entering the battery if this occurs. Lastly, our standard model, the BB10012, is comprised of 120 individual cylindrical cells. Each one of these cells has a burst cap, so if anything happens to a cell the burst cap will activate and take that single cell out of the system. Even though there are a lot of cells in each battery, they aren’t actually physically touching each other, so if something happens it cannot even propagate to a nearby cell. https://youtu.be/pOIM–Kmyqw

Alternator charging is a common method to recharge lithium batteries. Charging from your alternator is a great option, however, you will need some extra equipment, like a battery isolation manager (BIM). a well-known industry tool, this component is programmed specifically to run with our batteries. It helps with simultaneously monitoring the house and starter bank and has high internal resistance. It can certainly take more power from the alternator when compared to lead-acid batteries. the BIM provides an extra layer of safety to make sure you don’t damage your system of three or more lithium batteries when charging from the alternator during a long drive. If you have less than three of our batteries in your system, a BIM isn’t exactly required and instead you can use a standard isolator. They can regulate the current up to 220 amps and prevent damaging the alternator during a long drive. Sterling Alternator Protection devices (APD) are also available in our store to prevent damage from surges. These devices turn on with a small resistive load of milli-amp hours to reduce a possible increase in voltage due to cables breaking or any other issues. If the increase is excessively rough, it can lead to serious APD damage, but your alternator, batteries, and regulators have been protected. https://youtu.be/pOIM–Kmyqw

Yes, you can use a portable solar panel to recharge one of our batteries. Our team is also always available to help assist with building out a system and calculating how many additional panels you will need for your system.

+ What are the charging parameters for 12V, 24V, and 48V batteries?

Our charging parameters consist of the following:

Bulk/absorb = 14.2 – 14.6 V

Float = 13.6 V or lower

No equalization (or set it to 14.4 V)

No temperature compensation

Absorption time is 20 minutes per battery (if it’s an option)

12V:

Bulk/absorb 14.2 – 14.6 Volts (we usually recommend 14.4) float 13.6 Volts or lower

No equalization (or set it to 14.4 V), no temperature compensation and absorption time is 20-30 minutes per battery (if it’s an option).

24V:

Bulk/absorb 28.4 – 29.2 V (we usually recommend 28.8 V) float 27.2 V or lower

No equalization (or set it to 28.8V), no temperature compensation and absorption time is 20 minutes per battery (if it’s an option).

48V:

For a 48V system, we recommend a bulk and absorption rate of 57.4V and floating it at 56.5V to 57V. Sometimes, one of the batteries may trigger a high voltage disconnect in your system. The battery’s internal BMS will help handle a high voltage disconnect. Our team wants to emphasize that, overall, there’s no harm in playing around with charge rates to optimize your system.

We work closely with Victron devices and our team always recommends their Smart Solar MPPT Charge Controller. It can be connected via Bluetooth and can program through an app. It shows the amount of power you’re getting from the solar panels, in addition to the voltage current and charging state of the batteries. In this video, we walk you through a step by step way to incorporate these settings into your system.