Bluetooth Functionality
What is it ? Do I need it ? Just a gimmic ?
DC - DC Chargers
Cant I just connect my lithium battery directly to the car ? What benefits does a DC-DC Charger give me ?
Inbuilt Battery Management
How important is a 'BMS' system ? Is under / over charge protect really important ?
Bluetooth Gizmos
How the awesome tech of bluetooth lets you know whats happening in your battery.
Have you ever seen the famous TV Series “Vikings” ? Do you remember “King Harald” ? Well believe it or not, but the name for this cool little wireless technology comes from him!
Legend has it, he had a bad tooth that was grey / blue, and that earned him the name King Harald “Bluetooth” Gormsson. The B part of the bluetooth symbol is actually his initials. Crazy huh ?
Ok, so what does this all mean for you? The intrepid potential buyer of a fancy new 12v lithium battery for your caravan , camper, 4wd or car.
As you know by now, lithium batteries need to be looked after, they cant really be abused as much as lead acid batteries. (If you don’t know, I suggest heading over to the “Battery Technology” section and having a quick read!)
Being able to see exactly what your battery is doing from your phone or tablet certainly makes life easier.
Checking the SOC or ‘State Of Charge’ of a battery is great, when at camp you can check how long you could potentially run before having to move, or check to see how much current your solar panels are outputting.
When on the road, it’s great to see how charged the batteries are, and how long it might be until they are full.
Some batteries like the very popular DCS Lithium will show you voltages on each of their cylindrical cells, this can be handy for making sure that balancing system is working correctly.
Some batteries even allow a configurable cut offs, letting you tell the battery to effectively turn off once it hits a certain level or charge. This can be super handy is using single lithium as a starter and house battery for your vehicle, so even if you end up with warm beer, you can at least start the car to get more!