Anyone Using a Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery?

Scoota · Postby **Scoota** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 3:56 pm

Hi Folks.

I'm considering a Lithium Iron Phosphate battery for my club-day NA6. Anyone using one of these in their race car?

They're super-light, but also pretty expensive. They're not as volatile as the old Lithium Polymer batteries that have been popular in radio-control gizmos for a while now. They appear to be stable enough for me to consider it as a good option.

If I was rich I'd get a Braille ML9C Micro-Lite, with carbon fibre body and low resistance terminals, but at US $950 they're a bit steep.
http://www.braillebattery.com/index.php/batteries/ml9c/

I'm looking at a product from Lithium Batteries Australia. http://lithbattoz.com.au/ Much better price and a pretty good looking product. I've got a qurey in with them at the moment, and it all looks positive so far.

Is there anyone out there using a Lithium Iron Phosphate battery in their MX-5? If so, what capacity is it (amp-hours and cranking capacity)? Any feedback or comments would be greatly appreciated.

oztrackdays · Postby **oztrackdays** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 5:18 pm

I have one been waiting to get it wired up. will let you know after it's done if it's epic fail or not.

950 Gram Car Battery seemed like a good idea at the time.

Scoota · Postby **Scoota** » Wed May 04, 2011 1:09 am

Okay, so my new battery arrived in the mail last week. WOW, it's small, and LIGHT!! I have yet to try it in the car but it certainly looks the biz. It was supplied by LiFeTech (Li = Lithium, Fe = Iron, get it). $291 Registered Post to my door in Eastern Victoria. Nicely packaged with an invoice included... Very professional and nicely done. Armin (the boss) is really responsive and answered my questions both over the phone and via e-mail.

It's currently holding 13.3V and is sitting on my bench. I haven't put it on the scales yet, but my guess is about 1.2 kg. I need to get some new terminal lugs fitted to my battery leads, and then I'll see how it goes.

I'll post more details after I've done some testing.

Sailor · Postby **Sailor** » Wed May 04, 2011 10:19 am

At 8Ah, it'll be interesting to see if it'll turn the motor over.

deviant · Postby **deviant** » Thu May 05, 2011 11:16 pm

Sailor wrote:At 8Ah, it'll be interesting to see if it'll turn the motor over.

I'm no expert and I wish Scoota the very best of luck with it......I think though that this battery will be awesome if the car always starts on the button. If it gets grumpy when it is hot for example it might struggle to keep up with lots of cranking. I will be interested to see how Scoota gets on with it

surok · Postby **surok** » Fri May 06, 2011 10:04 am

although not directly relevant, i am subscribing to this thrtead to see if it cranks over.
have a look at pulse batteries too

deviant · Postby **deviant** » Fri May 06, 2011 10:12 am

I have used a Pulse battery in the past with no issues. I got it from Batteryworld, they are half the price of an Oddesy that was the same in appearance and specifications and the guys in the store assured me the only difference was the price. It was a sealed gel type battery so it could be mounted any which way and did not need any venting.

Scoota · Postby **Scoota** » Sat May 07, 2011 2:46 am

Yeah, I hear you fellas. I'm still sceptical, and I won't know for sure how effective it is until I try it. I'm doing a bit of R & D for us all!

The battery you see in the picture has 4 cells. I'm hoping this is enough, but if it's not I can easily strap on another 4 cells, and then I'll have loads of capacity. I'm hoping that the little 4-cell jobbie is enough to allow me to do hill-climbs and sprint days etc. In future, when I have four big Hella's strapped to the front bar, then I'll definitely go for another 4 cells.

oztrackdays · Postby **oztrackdays** » Mon May 09, 2011 3:06 pm

It started my car a dozen times in a row, after disconnecting my fuel injector fuse it cranked
the car for 30 seconds straight.

Mine Weighs 900 Grams. The Hard part was done by a Mechanic Friend of mine.

Has done three track outings and seems fine.

900-gram-Car-Battery.jpg

bruce · Postby **bruce** » Mon May 09, 2011 3:21 pm

But what are the downsides of this battery? I guess it can't be used for a street car, and perhaps longetivity?

Scoota · Postby **Scoota** » Sun May 22, 2011 11:22 pm

Okay, I have some test results....

I connected the battery today. It was still holding 13.3V before I connected it. After making the connection I started the car, no sweat. There was no hesitation, and it cranked easily, as per any other battery I have ever fitted to the car. Awesome!

I then let it run for a few minutes. It was charging at 14.4V. Happy days.

I then turned the car off and did ten starts in about 2 minutes. Each was just as strong as the last, and the final one was cranking just as hard as the first. The battery hadn't changed temperature at the conclusion of this test. Happy days.

After I turned the car off I checked the battery again... It was holding 14.4 V. I then had to go to work, so I don't know how quickly it came down. I'll check it again tomorrow afternoon (I'm on nightshift). I suspect it won't stay at 14.4V, but I guess we'll see.

So, initial test results are very encouraging. I'm satisfied enough to put it into service permanently. Now I just need to fabricate a nice cradle for it and I'll be ready for Rd 1 of the MX5 Club series at Phillip Island in June.

gslender · Postby **gslender** » Mon May 23, 2011 7:12 am

How much does it cost Scoota?

SKYHI · Postby **SKYHI** » Tue May 24, 2011 2:35 pm

gslender wrote:How much does it cost Scoota?

He said in the 4th post that it cost him $291 delivered.

Shambler · Postby **Shambler** » Wed Jun 22, 2011 3:51 pm

How did this end up? I'd love to do this to mine, although I do run a small amp + the CarPC so my power requirements may be slightly more than standard NB8A...

Postby **NitroDann** » Wed Jun 22, 2011 4:35 pm

To the above and to op.

You both made comments about getting a bigger one due to hella lights and a stereo.

Unless you plan to use these with the engine off a bigger battery will not help. Once its started the battery just sits there charging. You can remove it entirely from the car once its started. Its the alternator that may need upgrading. But i doubt it very much.

Dann