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November 19, 2011   |   Posted in Blog   |   0 Comments

Lithium L series vs. C series

November 5, 2011   |   Posted in Blog   |   0 Comments

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Lithium Pros introduced the L series of lithium batteries in May 2010.  Featuring a patented MOSFET protection system, the L series offered the racing world a fully solid state way of controlling the battery based on several factors.  Because of this system, fully automatic and solid state low voltage protection was finally available as well as over current protection, short circuit protection, over temperature, and high voltage protection in a starting battery.  All of these are automatically resetting when the abnormal condition is corrected.

What does this mean for the race team?  In total loss systems, it means a lot.  The low voltage protection is very important for long battery life.  Lithium batteries are sensitive to being discharged below 80%.  In a 16V battery (5 cells) this is 12.0V.  If there is no system in place to stop the discharge, in theory the battery could drop all the way to 0.0V and this would be very damaging, esp. during recharging.  For this reason, we recommend the L series for applications which are total loss although the L series is also fully alternator compatible.

However, many applications and environments are not total loss.  Alternators are common in racing and once the vehicle is started the battery has done its main job.  It is now there to dampen AC ripple and other electrical noise in the system and to standby for the next starting event.  In these applications the probability of over voltage, short circuits, over current, or low voltage damage is small.  For these applications we have the C series.

The C series is a group of batteries that are lithium ion at their simplest implementation.  They feature individual cell balancing but they do not have the MOSFET protection system included.  Instead all the protection systems are built in at the cell level.  Unfortunately these are non-resetting.   Although they are not fused, you can think of their operation as fuse like.  Once an offending condition happens, the protection system engages and the battery is safely limited from damaging itself further or surrounding components.

In most cases where an alternator is present in the vehicle, operating the battery outside of its comfortable range is improbable.  Therefore when running a properly sized alternator, the C series is what we recommend.  If the battery is in a total loss environment or in an environment where it will not be monitored closely, we recommend the L series.

Considering the cell level protection system in the C series is non-resettable more responsibility is placed on the consumer to monitor its operation.  Therefore the warranty is limited to two years workmanship only.  In contrast the L series features a two years parts and workmanship warranty.  Both are fully alternator compatible.

Try a Lithium Pros battery today risk free!  You will be amazed at how light they are and how well they start what you drive!