GENERAL
This section is the same for Safe Power, Bluetooth and Artic.
Our batteries can all be mounted in any direction, even upside down. Since there is no liquid in them and they are solid the battery will work however you mount them.
Before use it is preferable to fully charge them, then connect.
Q Do I need a special charger for lithium ion batteries?
A No. You can use a lead acid charger on a lithium battery if you want, as long as you can set the maximum voltage of the charger to 13 volts, or below, and as long as the charger does not have an automatic equalisation mode enabled. HOWEVER, you must NOT use a lead-acid charger if it has an automatic “equalisation mode” which cannot be permanently turned off.
Some very old chargers may have been designed with a fast charge and/or a desulphurisation mode sometimes referred to a rejuvenation setting. It is important to ensure these settings are never used since this could result in damage over time to the battery.
The alternator will charge the new Lithium ion battery the same as it charges the lead acid batteries. Moreover, trickle charging is not required.
What is the best way to charge your lithium ion battery?
The recommended way to charge a Li-ion battery is to provide a ±1% voltage-limited constant current to the battery until it becomes fully charged, and then stop. Methods used to determine when the battery is fully charged include timing the total charge time, monitoring the charge current or a combination of the two.
Unlike lead acid, Lithium ion batteries do not lose much charge by sitting unused, maybe 1%– 2% per month.
You can connect up to five batteries in parallel. If you want to series connect, then the BMS needs to be customised during production at the Factory, and the extra cost is £12 for each battery/BMS. This has to be specially ordered, thre may be a delay.
As well as being 100% recyclable Freedom Lithium batteries are 100% waterproof.
SAFE POWER
Safe Power batteries have the Battery Management System (BMS)
What is BMS in lithium batteries?
A Battery Management System is the intelligent component of our battery pack responsible for advanced monitoring and management of your Safe Power.
It is the brain behind the battery and plays a critical role in its high levels of safety, performance, charge rates, and longevity; which means that you will not encounter the dead battery situation ever. There also is a protection circuit that prevents them from over draining.
It is totally automatic in operation, working to parameters pre-set in the factory that will give you your 10 years of guaranteed performance.
BLUETOOTH
Our Bluetooth batteries have the Battery Management System (BMS) installed, but in addition there is a Bluetooth connection to the BMS that allows you to read key information about your battery on your mobile phone, tablet, laptop or PC.
Android devices simply go to Play Store and search for “Smart BMS” download & install
Apple devices simply go to iStore and search for “Smart BMS” download & install
When installed choose your battery (you must be in BT range of your battery, circa 10 meters)
If your battery is not displayed then the Bluetooth unit has probably gone into sleep mode, to ‘Wake’ it simply charge the battery for a short period. When your battery is displayed, click on it and your Smart phone/tablet etc will connect.
- The top section shows state of total charge, and rate of discharge/charge
Scroll down and across for other settings.
ARCTIC
The BMS function in Artic is identical to that in Bluetooth
In addition Artic has heating pads installed that are automatically operated by the BMS which switches them on as 0°C approaches and off again once it climbs back up; this ensures smooth uninterrupted battery function when all other non-heated batteries will have closed down to prevent their being damaged. Freedom Artic gives you true freedom to go anywhere at any time of year. Sadly an increasingly wider problem with Climate Change.
We at Freedom Lithium are passionate about helping to reduce CO2. Our long life batteries mean that their production CO2 footprint is 30% of an equivalent Lead Acid or AGM, on top of all this our batteries are 100% recyclable. 