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Modified JK TechTech related bulletin board forum regarding subjects such as suspension, tires & wheels, steering, bumpers, skid plates, drive train, cages, on-board air and other useful modifications that will help improve the performance and protection of your Jeep JK Wrangler (Rubicon, Sahara, Unlimited and X) on the trail.
PLEASE DO NOT START SHOW & TELL TYPE THREADS IN THIS FORUM
I really debated about the LiFePO4 route myself. At the end of the day I wasn't willing to have a battery taking up space in the back anywhere. ...
These days, you can get 100AH in a 19 pound package that fits in a space 9" x 5-1/4" x 10-1/4". That's a whole lot smaller than what was available a few years ago & the BMS is built in. I wonder if I could fit that under a front seat? https://www.amazon.com/Litime-LiFePO...ry%2Caps%2C213
Y, but still gotta put it somewhere, fab up a nice way to mount it that is out of the way, buy converter for it. at the end of the day it's bout the same money, bout the same ah, and it's not tucked away nicely under the hood. I totally don't disagree with the idea. I have a buddy that is using LiFePO4 battery on his bass boat for trolling motor and loves it, and we talked about it a decent bit in regard to running fridge off one. If I wasn't top-off most of the time, I think mounting something like that in the back by the rollbar would be an option, but that would never work when the top was off. One of those things that could work really well for some people though depending on use.
One area I think I might end up going this route is in my little camping trailer. Right now I have 2 AGM batteries that take up a ton of space, weight a lot, and really just aren't worth it. A good LiFePO4 battery would be less than have the space and weight, and provide the same performance for me.
Last edited by resharp001; 07-19-2024 at 10:45 AM.
... If I wasn't top-off most of the time, I think mounting something like that in the back by the rollbar would be an option, but that would never work when the top was off. ....
You have me scratching my head here. What's the issue with having the top off?
You have me scratching my head here. What's the issue with having the top off?
Oh, just something specific to my build and where i'd have to mount a battery in the rear, which would be on top of the wheel well or back behind the rollbar. Basically those locations a battery would be sticking up above the body's cargo rail with the top off.
Oh, just something specific to my build and where i'd have to mount a battery in the rear, which would be on top of the wheel well or back behind the rollbar. Basically those locations a battery would be sticking up above the body's cargo rail with the top off.
Maybe mount a battery box? The lithium batteries don't need to be mounted in a specific orientation. The one I listed is less than 6" in one direction. Options seem to exist. ...but your existing install is very nice. If it's doing the job, I wouldn't touch a thing.
The nicest thing about the lithium, is that when they say 100ah, you can actually get that much out of them if you have to & drawing 80% doesn't shorten their life appreciably. With lead, if you go down past 50% of stated capacity, the battery gets damaged. The AH rating on a lead battery is false advertising. It's always been that way.
The biggest downside to lithium is the fire risk, There is also the temperature sensitivity & the sensitivity regarding overcharging. Lithium doesn't like very hot or very cold temperatures. It doesn't like to sit at 100% capacity & it really doesn't like extra charge being poured into it after it hits 100%. That's a good way to damage them. ...and if the BMS drops out at an inconvenient time, bad things can happen. Lithium is not a problem free option. I would NOT want it for a start battery. ...but you get a lot of capacity in a small space, reduced weight, a flatter voltage curve, faster acceptance rate for charging, and a battery that doesn't get damaged from never being brought up to full charge, so it's a situation where you need to pick your poison. Different priorities & different situations will make different choices appropriate. You can't just spend more money & get the one thing that does everything best. They're all dogs. They just have different fleas.
Did you have the engine running while airing up? The alternator should keep up with an air compressor.
I run a Genesis dual AGM set up to keep the fridge going without killing my starting battery.
I did have the engine running on subsequent attempts to fill the tires. I still had trouble.
I have now run a second feed off the battery. I was going to use AWG 2, but I had some 1/0 UL1426 tinned copper laying around, so I used that instead. It goes to a Anderson SB175 connector through a Buss 187 style breaker with a manual test trip & manual reset. The compressor runs normally off of that feed with an adapter from SB175 to SB50 using a short piece of AWG#6 between them. I am now able to fill a 31" tire from 15psi to 35psi in just about a minute.
I recently added an air/water separator to the rig. Here in moist south Florida, that seems necessary. I'm guessing that if I was still in AZ, I would not have needed it.
The Original SB-50 feed was a piece of AWG6 copper going through a breaker I got off of Amazon. Either 8 feet of #6 has too much resistance, or the Chinese breaker has excessive internal resistance. It's a type of breaker I haven't used before, so I may jump it out & see if that makes a difference.
When I installed the bigger feed, I also ran 1/0 directly from the battery to the ground point at the SB-175, so a poor ground is not the issue. All connections are with hydraulically swaged lugs that are made of heavy gauge tinned copper. I feel pretty good about them.
07-19-2024, 10:38 AM
