Charging LiFe battery with Buck boost converter CC

[jmamcarson]

I recently came across a fully functional 16s 18ah LiFePo4 battery for free! Big score.

I am very unfamiliar with the this battery and its differences to standard Li-ion batteries. I was looking into how to charge them and saw apparently you need a 2 stage charging process with a CC and a CV stage to properly charge.

I've always just charged my batteries using a homemade "charger", just a boost converter with voltage and current control. I set it to my required voltage and whatever current I need depending on how fast I want it to charge.

Would I be able to charge my LiFe battery using such a system? Would it do any damage to the battery to charge it this way?

I normally do not spend money on things but would be willing to shell out for a proper charger as I really want to take care of this battery.

Also any general tips on caring for LiFe batteries, such as minimum voltage to discharge the cells to and proper full charge voltage would be much appreciated!

 

[Sajeel]

I am very unfamiliar with the this battery and its differences to standard Li-ion batteries. I was looking into how to charge them and saw apparently you need a 2 stage charging process with a CC and a CV stage to properly charge.

I believe that is no different than Li-ion charging. CC mode when charging and CV towards full capacity, tapering the current when the voltage differential is small.

Nice score on the battery!

 

[jmamcarson]

Thanks for the reply!

Thats great. I'll just charge it with my current system. It hasn't given me any issue so far in terms of damaging Li-ion's

Got it free from a customer of mine, really nice guy. And yeah I've never had a battery of such capacity. Its great to be able to just head out and not worry about if there's gonna be a headwind :lol: