Having issues with an AGM deep cycle holding charge, so I might change to a Lithium battery down the road. I run a fridge and a water system off the AGM house battery at the moment. Will be adding lights and solar later on. Problem is my winch is also connected to the house battery. Does anyone have any real world experience running a winch off a lithium battery?
Winching with Lithium battery. (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter jgranthevagrant
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No such direct experience. But most house lithium batteries that I have or know about have a BMS that controls the max current it can provide. The ones I've seen give nowhere close to the hundreds of amps that a winch may require under a hard pull. OTOH, I would think that a lithium starter battery would allow large currents, though. So I'm guessing that there may be a big difference in how much current is possible depending on the type of battery, and I would look carefully at that before getting one.
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- #3
Thanks for the reply e9999. I did find one video on Youtube where a guy was testing his Lithium battery with his winch. He seemed to think it was fine, but it was not a lot of evidence to go on. The BMS would be a problem with the increased draw of winching for sure. I have asked Renogy what their opinion is. They are looking into it. I would experiment myself but blowing up batteries is an expensive habit.
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- #5
So far Renogy has been good about replying. They expressed reservations about using Lithium Iron Phosphate due to the big draws of a winch at startup. I think they just looked at specs to determine that. I don't think they went outside and destruction tested their batteries with a bunch of winches. Technically, my winch is connected to the house battery, which is charged by its own alternator, so as long as the engine is running, the battery should be able to withstand the draws. Battery is a deep cycle agm that is no longer under warranty, so I am trying to revive it before finding the money for a lithium battery.
What group is your AGM? Isn’t standard house 31 and we can go up to 35?
Also curious how you run your fridge (directly from the battery?) and for how long you run it? I’ve been pondering a fridge for my 200 series but don’t want to get into the weeds and expense of an aux battery.
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- #7
My house AGM is a group 31. Powered by its own alternator. According to the shop I bought it from, I let the AGM deep cycle sit too much without a maintainer, and then drew it down too far on a trip this summer. There is no solar attached to feed it yet, just the alternator. Fridge is run off a Blue Sea fuseblock located in the engine bay. When healthy, the AGM would run the fridge for up to 5 days, depending on where parked, ambient temperature, etc. It looks doubtful that I can revive the AGM, so I will probably switch to lithium, and run the winch off the starting battery.
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- #8
From what I can tell, and based on replies from two battery companies, it does not seem advisable to run a winch off the lithium batteries. Might work base on the Youtube video I found, but it seems like the battery management systems would shut down the battery if current draw were too high, which it could easily be with a winch. I have never actually put a clamp meter on the winch to see what it draws, so maybe I will try that sometime.
They exist, reviews look good, but I'm still hesitant to throw lithium in my engine bay. One of those reviews is a video showing it winching over a rolled patrol, can't be all bad. Does mention 10s on 30s off winching intervals.
Obviously this is an Aussie battery, and shipping 8.5kg couldn't be too expensive, but I wonder what the go is with air freight for totally-safe-for-engine-bay-temps lithium batteries is.
itechworld.com.au
Obviously this is an Aussie battery, and shipping 8.5kg couldn't be too expensive, but I wonder what the go is with air freight for totally-safe-for-engine-bay-temps lithium batteries is.
Lithium Battery, Solar & Power Generation Experts - iTechworld
Power your next adventure with our lithium batteries, jump starters, power stations & more. Buy online for fast delivery or visit our Perth store in Burswood.
itechworld.com.au
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- #10
Thanks for the link ^ Gerry. The specs are very interesting, for sure. The cold cranking amps are in line with what we use in B.C. (Canada) in the winter. I notice they didn't mention how it charges at below zero temps, as that is an issue with lithium. I am definitely looking at lithium batteries that have built in heating circuits (Battle Born has these) as my truck does not fit in the garage. The garage is not heated either, so the batteries will be outdoor pets, unless I pull them out and bring them in to a heated space.
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- #12
Yes, Battle Born and Renogy both have those. Definitely a factor in any battery I'm looking at. Camping and charging below freezing is one of the parameters, even if it is just for a cold morning. The heating feature seems to add about $100 to an already expensive battery.
