Thinking of going to a Lithium Iron Prosphate (LiFePO4) Battery

[bullet bob]

As the title says, looking at making the jump. Been running a 'conventional' battery for several years now, on a battery maintainer 100% of the time, but when she dies I'm kinda thinking maybe giving one of these a whirl. 2017 Gravely HD ZT 60" 991156. Other than the higher cost, any reason not to run one? And if not, maybe what size? Looks like they make them from 4a to 30a.

 

[StarTech]

Might want to read up on this before trying as damage to the battery could occur when using the lead acid charging system.

How To Charge Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) Batteries - Power Sonic

A complete guide on how to charge lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries. Learn about the charging of a lithium battery from Power Sonic

www.power-sonic.com

 

[7394]

And forget about the battery maintainer. I would think as well.

 

[bullet bob]

I just bought a Noco lithium for my motorcycle and really like it. Still strongly considering one for the Gravely. Plus, all my chargers are Noco, which make it easy to charge both lead-acid and LiFePO4 batteries. Guess the next step is to start contacting manufacturers... Anyone already tried one?

 

[slomo]

Are they safe? As in bouncing around in 100 plus temps? Later burning the property down to the slab? Is it worth it? Mowers aren't the smoothest vehicles to operate. People living out in the sticks that wait an hour for the fire dept to arrive beware.

Put the OEM style in when at all possible.

 

[bullet bob]

Are they safe? As in bouncing around in 100 plus temps? Later burning the property down to the slab? Is it worth it? Mowers aren't the smoothest vehicles to operate. People living out in the sticks that wait an hour for the fire dept to arrive beware.

Put the OEM style in when at all possible.

They run them in off-road adventure bike all the time. If they can handle that, they should be able to handle my lawn......

 

[mcspeed]

They run them in off-road adventure bike all the time. If they can handle that, they should be able to handle my lawn......

IMO a lawn mower is more demanding in terms of environment. Mower has no suspension in most cases. Slower moving with less air for cooling too. I run lipo batteries in my 1986 EZGO golf cart but have had no reason to switch other equipment. I also use a Noco maintainer on my LA batteries and I’m on my 3rd year with the Kubota ZT. I installed a battery cut off switch as well. Without the maintainer in the off season (which is short here in TX) the battery would fully discharge and die in a year.

 

[bullet bob]

"Without the maintainer in the off season (which is short here in TX) the battery would fully discharge and die in a year."
But this would be true regardless of the battery type..........

 

[mcspeed]

"Without the maintainer in the off season (which is short here in TX) the battery would fully discharge and die in a year."
But this would be true regardless of the battery type..........

True however most lipo batteries have bms which better protects the battery from total discharge unlike LA which will go totally dead and do damage. In this situation lipo has an advantage but I don’t think it is worth the extra cost due to the harsh environment and the following….. lipo will not get a full charge from a LA designed charging system. Internal cells never get balanced and shorten the life. Just some well know differences in battery chemistry.

 

[bullet bob]

lipo will not get a full charge from a LA designed charging system.
Hmmmmmmmm..... Seems to work fine for years with motorcycles, which were originally set-up for SLA batteries.......