At Battle Born Batteries, we understand the importance of proper winterization to maintain the longevity and performance of your lithium batteries. As temperatures drop and winter approaches, taking the right steps ensures that your batteries remain in optimal condition for the next season. Here’s a detailed guide on how to winterize your Battle Born Batteries effectively.
Preparing for Winterization
Before you begin the winterization process, it’s crucial to have your batteries fully charged using shore power, a generator, or a lithium charger. This step ensures that the batteries are at their maximum capacity, ready to withstand the colder months without significant discharge.
Steps to Winterize Your Battle Born Batteries
- Disconnect Solar PV Inputs: Start by disconnecting any solar photovoltaic inputs from the charge controllers to prevent any unintended charging during the winter storage period.
- Disconnect Power Sources: Next, disconnect the batteries from shore power, generator, or lithium charger. This prevents any potential electrical activity that could drain the batteries over time.
- Isolate Batteries from System: Use your disconnect switch or remove the positive main battery cable to completely isolate the batteries from the rest of the system. This step ensures no residual power draw from connected devices.
- Power Down System Loads: Ensure all system loads, including smoke and CO detectors, are powered down to minimize any parasitic drain on the batteries during storage.
- Special Considerations for Heated Batteries: If your Battle Born Batteries are equipped with a heat-enable wire, disconnect it from the positive main terminal to prevent unnecessary heating cycles during storage.
- Extreme Cold Protection: If temperatures are expected to drop below -10°F (-23°C) where your batteries are stored, consider relocating them to a warmer environment to prevent potential damage.
- Use of Battery Guardian: For comprehensive protection, especially if storing the entire system, employ a battery guardian that automatically disconnects the batteries from parasitic loads once their voltage drops to 11.5V.
Why Winterization Matters
Winterization is crucial because Battle Born Batteries have a low self-discharge rate, typically around 2-3% per month. Storing them properly ensures they retain their charge and performance capabilities throughout the winter.
- Temperature Considerations: Storing batteries in temperatures below -15°F (-26°C) can lead to structural damage and increased self-discharge rates, potentially compromising battery life.
- Impact of Discharge Levels: Allowing batteries to discharge excessively during storage can damage their cells and void the warranty provided by Battle Born Batteries.
Additional Tips for Winterizing
- Capacity Loss in Cold Temperatures: Batteries may experience temporary capacity loss when discharged in temperatures below 30°F (-1°C), but this is recoverable once the batteries warm up again.
- Avoid Charging in Extreme Cold: Charging batteries in extreme cold conditions can lead to lithium plating, a hazardous condition that Battle Born Batteries protect against with their integrated safety features.
Advanced Insights from Battle Born Batteries
Our commitment to innovation and safety is exemplified in our industry-leading studies, such as our White Paper on cold temperature charging. This research demonstrates how Battle Born Batteries consistently outperform traditional AGM batteries even in challenging conditions.
