Winterizing LiFePO4 Batteries
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A starter battery, also called a car battery, is designed to provide a large burst of current for a short period of time. This surge of current turns the engine over during the starting process then the alternator takes over. The burst of energy only discharges the battery 1- 3% then is topped off by the alternator. Under normal use your car battery may go through its entire life without ever being drained more than 20 percent of its total capacity.
Starter battery = single bust of energy
For starting your car, motorcycle, or other gasoline engine. Since this battery is used for starting the engine only we recommend a basic lead acid starter battery. Lithium batteries have much higher capabilities then a lead acid starter battery. But those capabilities are not needed for starting engines. Most of the power for the car comes from the gasoline engine, and not the battery. This is a scenario where a lead acid battery is an adequate choice.
A deep cycle battery is designed to provide a steady amount of current over a long period of time. A deep cycle battery is also called a house battery, a marine battery, or a SLA battery. A deep cycle battery is also designed to be deeply discharged and charged over and over again without shortening the lifespan of the battery. Dakota Lithium batteries can be drained to 10% of their total capacity before needing to be recharged and are good for 2000 to 5000 discharge/charge cycles.
Deep cycle battery = steady, continuous power for a long time
When you need continuous power for a long time. Dakota Lithium lives in the deep cycle. A Dakota Lithium battery will last twice as long as a sealed lead acid battery on a single charge, giving you double the usable power. Plus it weighs half as much, and lasts 5x longer.
In addition, if you are looking to store solar power, Dakota Lithium iron phosphate batteries (LiFePO4) are the most efficient battery chemistry for solar energy. 96% of the solar energy collected is able to be used when stored in a Dakota Lithium battery, vs. 76% for a sealed lead acid battery.
Dakota Lithium specializes in creating high capacity deep cycle 12 Volt lithium batteries ranging from 10 amperes hours to 170 amperes hours and beyond for a variety of applications and devices that require a long steady charge. Dakota Lithium does not manufacture starter batteries for cars or motorcycles.
A dual purpose battery provides both cold cranking amps for starting engines and deep cycle performance. For example, the Dakota Lithium 12 volt, 135 Amp Hour battery has 1,000 cold cranking amps of engine starting ability and 135 amp hours of deep cycle capacity. The battery can be used for starting an engine or any deep cycle application.
You can use a dual purpose battery for any application where you would use a car battery or a deep cycle battery. The advantage to dual purpose batteries is the battery is versatile. You can use it for a trolling motor on a boat and then jump start an engine if your starter battery dies. Dual purpose batteries are a good choice if you ever think you might change your electrical system in the future since they are easy to re-purpose for other application. Dual purpose batteries also have the advantage of providing a lot of amps, making them ideal for high power applications like running a winch, powering a trolling motor on the max power setting all the time, or powering heavy machinery.
