Just to be clear I don't have an issue with my 12v battery but I'm sure one day it will have to be changed regardless. M
Just to be clear I don't have an issue with my 12v battery but I'm sure one day it will have to be changed regardless. My question is for you smart cookies in attoland can the 12v lead acid battery be swapped for a lithium battery assuming the onboard charger is suitable?
Lead acid and Lithium share some similarities in their charging profile but should not be interchanged. A lead acid has 3 basic charging stages.
1. Constant current unitil a specified voltage is reached.
2. Constant voltage until another specified voltage is reached.
3.Float charge at yet another voltage.
A Lithium battery uses the first two charge stages but with no float stage.
The problem arises with the "specified voltages", they are different for lithium.
The rule is to never substitute lithium for lead. A lithium charger also has a number of safety features not used with lead.
1. Constant current unitil a specified voltage is reached.
2. Constant voltage until another specified voltage is reached.
3.Float charge at yet another voltage.
A Lithium battery uses the first two charge stages but with no float stage.
The problem arises with the "specified voltages", they are different for lithium.
The rule is to never substitute lithium for lead. A lithium charger also has a number of safety features not used with lead.
Modern drop in lithium replacement batteries have on-board BMS that will normally compensate for the lead acid charging profile. However, from what I've seen of the Atto 3 charging system, the computer 'talks' to the battery to see it's charged state then charges as required. Would the lithium BMS confuse the computer?
A decent 12v lithium CAR battery can manage itself as a regualr battery with onboard BMS. But even LFP lithium ,still have risk due to impact and other factor . So I think this is not good idea . If you do replace 12v lead battery every 3 years, for long term it should be similar cost vs lithium .