Lithium with a traxide system.

[loanrangie]

Thinking out aloud, is there some kind of converter that you could use in conjunction with an existing traxide controller that would charge a lithium keeping the benefits of the traxide ?
So it would something like this - main batt > traxide reg > other device > lithium battery.

[drivesafe]

Hi LoanRanger and if your current vehicle is the D3, you can run a lithium battery as your auxiliary battery without any modifications or additional equipment.

This also applies to the older Defenders.

You need to be careful of your brand of lithium battery.

The size is irrelevant but it must be able to safely tolerate 100+ amps of continuous charging while charging.

Other than that, all should be fine and using a lithium as the auxiliary should not only keep your Lead Acid cranking battery fully charged at all times, but your cranking battery should last quite a few years more than usual.

While this setup works with the older Traxide devices, that are permanently set at SHEARED Mode, but with the newer Traxide isolators, by setting the isolator to IGNITION/STORAGE Mode, will give more protection to what ever brand of lithium battery you get.

SPECIAL NOTE, this setup DOES NOT work with D4s and any newer Land Rover, because of the extreme way the SMART alternator works.

[loanrangie]

Hi LoanRanger and if your current vehicle is the D3, you can run a lithium battery as your auxiliary battery without any modifications or additional equipment.

This also applies to the older Defenders.

You need to be careful of your brand of lithium battery.

The size is irrelevant but it must be able to safely tolerate 100+ amps of continuous charging while charging.

Other than that, all should be fine and using a lithium as the auxiliary should not only keep your Lead Acid cranking battery fully charged at all times, but your cranking battery should last quite a few years more than usual.

While this setup works with the older Traxide devices, that are permanently set at SHEARED Mode, but with the newer Traxide isolators, by setting the isolator to IGNITION/STORAGE Mode, will give more protection to what ever brand of lithium battery you get.

SPECIAL NOTE, this setup DOES NOT work with D4s and any newer Land Rover, because of the extreme way the SMART alternator works.

Awesome, thanks Tim. I think the 100+ plus amps may be an issue.

[drivesafe]

Awesome, thanks Tim. I think the 100+ plus amps may be an issue.

There are a lot of GOOD brands of lithium batteries that will safely tolerate 100 amps and higher.

Have you already purchased a lithium?

[loanrangie]

There are a lot of GOOD brands of lithium batteries that will safely tolerate 100 amps and higher.

Have you already purchased a lithium?

No just thinking about my next aux. battery and thinking that it might be time to look at lithium .
I would have thought that the BMS would regulate the input voltage/amps for charging.

[drivesafe]

No just thinking about my next aux. battery and thinking that it might be time to look at lithium .
I would have thought that the BMS would regulate the input voltage/amps for charging.

Most Lithium Battery internal BMS only regulate the VOLTAGE.

Some have over current protection but even this is for extreme currents, not the continuous charge current.

[scarry]

While this setup works with the older Traxide devices, that are permanently set at SHEARED Mode, but with the newer Traxide isolators, by setting the isolator to IGNITION/STORAGE Mode, will give more protection to what ever brand of lithium battery you get.

SPECIAL NOTE, this setup DOES NOT work with D4s and any newer Land Rover, because of the extreme way the SMART alternator works.

In Storage mode the DT90 will turn off after about 15 minutes and drop power to the accessories output,so basically it will just work as a relay?

To get around this, wire the accessories cable directly to the aux battery,with the appropriate fuse,and a low voltage cut out would suffice.

[drivesafe]

Hi Paul, and with a lead acid auxiliary battery, yes that is how it works, because lead acid batteries settle to a maximum voltage of 12.7v and the DT90 shuts down at 12.9v.

So once the battery voltage settles below 12.9v, the 15 minute timeout begins.

But with lithium batteries, because they have a continuous 13.3v settled voltage for 80% of their discharge cycle, the DT90 will remain on.

The DT90, when set to Ignition/Storage Mode will not Timeout until the lithium battery is discharged down to around the 20%.

So leave the accessories connected to the DT90 ACCESSORIES output and both the cranking battery and the Lithium battery will be protected.

[loanrangie]

So it looks like my 85ah AGM is on its last legs, ideally i'd replace it with a LIPO but 2 issues. 1 is it needs to fit in the under bonnet aux compartment which a 60AH will fit, 2 it needs to work with the existing SC80 but having trouble finding an affordable solution that can handle the higher charge amps.

[BradC]

1 is it needs to fit in the under bonnet aux compartment

I haven't seen one yet that is likely to survive under bonnet temperatures. Interested to see if you come up with anything.