LiFePO4 recommendation?

Ned Loh · Postby **Ned Loh** » Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:40 pm

My lead acid battery which came with the car has died, and i’d Like to replace it with a lightweight battery. Car is track only. Battery will be isolated and trickle charged when not dríven.

Looking for something that works with the stock charging system and google is leading me towards LiFePO4 over Li-ion. Most of the battery brand and model recommendations on the net are US based and not available here.

What are people using in Aus???

Magpie · Postby **Magpie** » Wed Dec 12, 2018 3:07 pm

Look at a SSP Lithium 600CCA. Odessy do make one the same size and CCA but is 10 times the weight.

https://superstart.com.au/lh16c-b-high-performance-lithium-ion-phosphate-motorcycle-battery.html

And in stock https://www.thebatterystore.com.au/lh16c-b-12v-battery.html

DSCN5064 by Eipeip, on Flickr

Odessey alternative
http://www.batteriesdirect.com.au/shop/product/4368/odyssey-ucr-agm-pc545mj.html

plohl · Postby **plohl** » Thu Dec 13, 2018 8:19 am

https://www.lithiumax.com.au/shop

I have the 450cca one and it's pretty good, super light too

bruce · Postby **bruce** » Thu Dec 13, 2018 2:27 pm

Those prices make my eyes water.

GR124 · Postby **GR124** » Thu Dec 13, 2018 4:06 pm

The Lithium type batteries are the best if your chasing less weight. I didn't buy one for two reasons, price and I was concerned about it's shelf life.
So I just grabbed a Full River HC20 it's a AGM type 6.6KG and $180 I've heard they are pretty reliable, for a track car that sold me.
I may end up with a 1.7KG Lithium when this one dies.

just guessing, I recon the standard lead acid MX5 battery would weigh about 14KG??

If this was for a road car I would bother chasing weight loss, however a track car is different

Postby **beavis** » Thu Dec 13, 2018 10:02 pm

I run a pair of RC car LIFEPO4 batteries in my car. Well, in fact I was so happy with them that I have put them in 2 of my cars.

I run TWO 4S lifepo4 Zippy Flightmax 4200mah batteries in parallel, around $60ea from Hobby King.
Running the two aids in battery life, spreads the demand of the amperage over two sets of cables, and improves life... at the detriment of added weight. That said, together they weight about 1 kilo.

I don't run any additional battery management, but I do frequently balance charge them. Since they worked so well in my NB, i also added a pair to my NA.

Here's how the car went when I first installed just one... since then upgraded to the pair.

93_Clubman · Postby **93_Clubman** » Thu Dec 13, 2018 11:55 pm

GR124 wrote:just guessing, I recon the standard lead acid MX5 battery would weigh about 14KG??

NA-NB OEM Panasonic battery weighed 9kg.

manga_blue · Postby **manga_blue** » Fri Dec 14, 2018 9:27 am

beavis wrote:I run a pair of RC car LIFEPO4 batteries in my car. Well, in fact I was so happy with them that I have put them in 2 of my cars.

I run TWO 4S lifepo4 Zippy Flightmax 4200mah batteries in parallel, around $60ea from Hobby King.
Running the two aids in battery life, spreads the demand of the amperage over two sets of cables, and improves life... at the detriment of added weight. That said, together they weight about 1 kilo.

I don't run any additional battery management, but I do frequently balance charge them. Since they worked so well in my NB, i also added a pair to my NA.

I've seen a single one of those batteries used on an MX5 on a training day at Winton. It worked all day without a problem. Pretty amazing because it was a really stop/start sort of day.

Postby **beavis** » Fri Dec 14, 2018 6:18 pm

manga_blue wrote:
beavis wrote:I run a pair of RC car LIFEPO4 batteries in my car.....

I've seen a single one of those batteries used on an MX5 on a training day at Winton......

Possibly a white NA with orange bits?
I ran one battery alone, it worked, but two is... stronger. And if one does fail, I have some redundancy.

The Zork · Postby **The Zork** » Sat Dec 15, 2018 7:27 am

beavis wrote:I run a pair of RC car LIFEPO4 batteries in my car. Well, in fact I was so happy with them that I have put them in 2 of my cars.

I run TWO 4S lifepo4 Zippy Flightmax 4200mah batteries in parallel, around $60ea from Hobby King.
Running the two aids in battery life, spreads the demand of the amperage over two sets of cables, and improves life... at the detriment of added weight. That said, together they weight about 1 kilo.

I don't run any additional battery management, but I do frequently balance charge them. Since they worked so well in my NB, i also added a pair to my NA

What is their CCA spec equivalent?
I run SSP 450 CCA. No more slow cranking on my SE. Wheighs 1.7 kl

manga_blue · Postby **manga_blue** » Sat Dec 15, 2018 10:09 am

beavis wrote:Possibly a white NA with orange bits?
I ran one battery alone, it worked, but two is... stronger. And if one does fail, I have some redundancy.

It was a long time ago, probably when you still had that blue NA6. It was white and stripped but I can't remember if it had orange bits. The odd thing was the battery was just loose on the boot floor, held only by the cables. I would have adapted something as simple as a downpipe clip to hold it, though strictly speaking just gaff taping it to the aerial frame would have worked.

Ned Loh · Postby **Ned Loh** » Sat Dec 15, 2018 4:18 pm

Thanks for leads. Speaking to few battery sellers compatibility with automotive may vary with the particular battery. Some may cope but not perfect with full current from alternator. Mosfet equiped may do better.

Hoolio · Postby **Hoolio** » Sat Dec 22, 2018 4:56 pm

beavis wrote:I run a pair of RC car LIFEPO4 batteries in my car. Well, in fact I was so happy with them that I have put them in 2 of my cars.

I run TWO 4S lifepo4 Zippy Flightmax 4200mah batteries in parallel, around $60ea from Hobby King.
Running the two aids in battery life, spreads the demand of the amperage over two sets of cables, and improves life... at the detriment of added weight. That said, together they weight about 1 kilo.

I don't run any additional battery management, but I do frequently balance charge them. Since they worked so well in my NB, i also added a pair to my NA.

Here's how the car went when I first installed just one... since then upgraded to the pair.

Did you change to two in parallel because one was marginal for cranking?

I tested one in one of my road cars for a few months. Is an old Charade with the 1 Litre 3-cyl engine, so not the most demanding application for cranking, but it has been faultless.

I then installed it in my race car and found that it won't crank the engine fast enough for it to start (normally aspirated race engine). Cable losses are not the problem; I made new cables and they are super short.

Hoolio · Postby **Hoolio** » Sat Dec 22, 2018 5:20 pm

Ned Loh wrote:Thanks for leads. Speaking to few battery sellers compatibility with automotive may vary with the particular battery. Some may cope but not perfect with full current from alternator. Mosfet equiped may do better.

You will get a variety of answers about compatibility with a standard alternator charging system. The correct answer is that LiFePO4 cells have a charging current limit, and this will be exceeded by a car alternator. People are using them like this and it does work, but it will shorten the life of the cells.

The charging current limit depends on which cells the battery manufacturer has used but the automotive battery manufacturers don't publish this information because it is not useful to the average user, who has no control over charging current. All else being equal the larger batteries will tolerate a higher charging current, but those of us using or intending to use very small batteries should be considering modifying the charging system. I'm experimenting with some electronics to do this…