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List:       elecraft
Subject:    Re: [Elecraft] [OT] Note from a skeptic
From:       Al Lorona <alorona () sbcglobal ! net>
Date:       2022-06-29 23:52:51
Message-ID: 357718388.163498.1656546771043 () mail ! yahoo ! com
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A couple of people have asked me for more detail.

The failure mode was interesting. The battery is, in fact, charged. The no-load \
terminal voltage is 13.5 V. However, as soon as you put a load on it -- even just 1 \
mA current draw... actually, even pressing your fingers onto the terminals to draw a \
few microamps-- the voltage starts dropping, eventually reaching zero at some \
current. Somewhere inside that pretty ABS case is a fully-charged LiFePO4 imprisoned \
by the very circuit that is supposed to keep it healthy and available. I think that's \
what makes this so tragic.

Al  W6LX/4


On Wednesday, June 29, 2022 at 04:22:38 PM EDT, Richard Hill <nu6t.rich@gmail.com> \
wrote: 





There is a good chance your battery came with, or should have, advice to
charge the battery every six months or less to keep it alive.

I know we hate to read instructions...but in this case it is an expensive
avoidance.

Had my education.

Nu6t

On Wed, Jun 29, 2022, 1:15 PM Drew AF2Z <pubx1@af2z.net> wrote:

> Batteries have their place but in general I hate the things. Anyone who
> has had to maintain a battery systems does. Now I have them scattered
> all around the house in various states of charge or dying...
> 
> Oh sure, they're great for one or two portable devices that you use
> frequently. But here I am again, back in the battery maintenance role
> and not even getting paid for it... Yeah, in general I hate batteries.
> Having a battery-based energy distribution system is just plain nuts.
> 
> 73,
> Drew
> AF2Z
> 
> 
> 
> On 06/29/22 14:57, Al Lorona wrote:
> > Late last week, I pulled my two-year-old LiFePO4 battery out for Field
> Day prep and found that it had failed. Efforts to reset the battery
> management system didn't succeed. I got to use this battery on exactly two
> Field Days, which means it cost me almost $200 per Field Day! Sad, very,
> very sad.
> > 
> > The dealer is honoring the warranty and a new battery is on the way, but
> I've become a LiFePO4 skeptic. I don't care for battery management system
> electronics that can fail where I can't get to them: sealed up inside the
> battery case.
> > 
> > If stuff like this starts happening to everybody's electric car... oh
> boy, look out!
> > 
> > 
> > Al  W6LX/4
> > 
> > 
> > 
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