Re: Bioenno Battery Charger

[J. Wolf-2]

I previously bought a LiFePO battery from Bioenno along with one of
their wall wart chargers. I wasn't happy with the setup because the wall
wart had no user configurable parameters for charging, discharging, or
cycling. Instead, I tried to use my Turnigy Accucel-6 charger with
parameters set the way I wanted them to prevent overcharging and balance
the cells. It wouldn't work because of the internal circuitry built into
the battery pack. When I contacted Bioenno about this, they affirmed
that I would have to use their wall wart. Since this was unacceptable to
me, I sold the battery and charger to someone who wasn't bothered by the
limitation. I bought a 4200AH battery from Hobby King which is perfectly
compatible with the Turnigy charger (also from Hobby King) and have had
no problems since. My advice: If you want control over battery charging
and maintenance, Bioenno's LiFePO batteries may not be for you because
of the charger limitation.
73,
Jeff, K6JW
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[Clay Autery]

Just need to know the specs on their internal circuitry...  This project
is working its way up to the top of my list...

Looks like I need to give them a call...

Or, I'll simply dissect my battery when it gets here...

______________________
Clay Autery, KY5G
MONTAC Enterprises
[phone]

On 7/12/2016 4:11 PM, Jeffrey Wolf wrote:

> I previously bought a LiFePO battery from Bioenno along with one of
> their wall wart chargers. I wasn't happy with the setup because the
> wall wart had no user configurable parameters for charging,
> discharging, or cycling. Instead, I tried to use my Turnigy Accucel-6
> charger with parameters set the way I wanted them to prevent
> overcharging and balance the cells. It wouldn't work because of the
> internal circuitry built into the battery pack. When I contacted
> Bioenno about this, they affirmed that I would have to use their wall
> wart. Since this was unacceptable to me, I sold the battery and
> charger to someone who wasn't bothered by the limitation. I bought a
> 4200AH battery from Hobby King which is perfectly compatible with the
> Turnigy charger (also from Hobby King) and have had no problems since.
> My advice: If you want control over battery charging and maintenance,
> Bioenno's LiFePO batteries may not be for you because of the charger
> limitation.
> 73,
> Jeff, K6JW
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> Elecraft mailing list
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[David Corsello]

My goal was extended, off-grid, portable capability with LiFePO4 and solar
charging.  I believe I have achieved this with the Bioenno 4.5 Ah battery,
PowerFilm R28 rollable solar panel and Genasun GV-5 solar charge
controller.  (This combination works, but there are some caveats that I
won't get into now.)  The main component that makes this a viable solution
is the the battery's internal management board, which protects against
over-charging and over-discharging and balances the cells

Bioenno isn't the only manufacturer that provides internal cell balancing.
For example, any LiFePO4 battery that's sold as a drop-in SLA replacement
also offers this.  (I recommend Bioenno for their customer service--Kevin
is a HUGE asset to this company--and because their 4.5 Ah battery is more
ideally suited for portable QRP operation in terms of size and weight (1
lb.) than any other LiFePO4 battery I found.)  I mention this to make the
point that internal balancing circuits are now commonplace.  I assume they
are trustworthy, and so far, experience confirms this--I see no degradation
of the battery after multiple charge cycles.

Jeff, for my education would you please explain the advantages of using a
balancing charger with a non-self-balancing battery over using a
non-balancing, LiFePO4-compatible charger with a self-balancing battery?

--Dave
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[Todd]

Jeff,

I'd like to hear/see the advantages as well.  I've been using a
batteryspace.com battery for the past
4 years now on many SOTA activations,  a handful of NPOTA activations,
and just all around
out in the field operating.  I have two 10W roll up solar panels fed
into the buddipole charge controller
and seems to work.   I also just picked up Bioenno's 12V 6ah LiFePO4
battery to accompany this
set up.   I'll be up in Glacier Nat'l Park later this week for some
NPOTA fun!

David:   What caveats?  If you don't mind sharing off list?


Thanks.

73, Todd KH2TJ


David Corsello wrote:

> My goal was extended, off-grid, portable capability with LiFePO4 and solar
> charging.  I believe I have achieved this with the Bioenno 4.5 Ah battery,
> PowerFilm R28 rollable solar panel and Genasun GV-5 solar charge
> controller.  (This combination works, but there are some caveats that I
> won't get into now.)
>
>
> Jeff, for my education would you please explain the advantages of using a
> balancing charger with a non-self-balancing battery over using a
> non-balancing, LiFePO4-compatible charger with a self-balancing battery?
>
> --Dave
>
>    

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