How to maintain your Lithium Deep Cycle battery

Firstly, if you’ve just purchased your Lithium batteries, always leave them in their original packaging until you’re ready to install them. This is a no-brainer – the packaging will keep the batteries properly protected.

Before using your brand new Lithium batteries they must be fully charged. This is because Lithium batteries are typically stored and transported at a 40 – 60% state of charge for safety reasons.

Once you’ve got your Lithium setup up and running, it pays to regularly check the following items:

• Keep an eye on the external condition of the batteries. The top of the battery and terminal connections should be clean, dry and free of corrosion.
• Check battery cables periodically and ensure that all the connections are firmly secured. This is particularly important for batteries in 4x4’s or caravans, which are often subjected to knocks and vibrations from rough roads – you’ll be surprised how nuts and bolts can work their way loose.
• Check the state of charge of your Lithium battery regularly. For long-term storage, Lithium batteries like the Century Lithium Pro will self-discharge if left for extended periods as all batteries do, but lithium pro self-discharges at a much lower rate than AGM batteries. The self-discharge rate is as little as 2 % per month and they can be stored as low as 40 to 60% of their state of charge. There is no need to fully charge them prior to storage as you would with other battery types. This leads to longer storage periods without the need for checking and recharging in fact they can be left up to 4 - 6 months with no need for a charge and can be allowed to go as low as 30% state of charge in storage. This is due to the battery entering a sleep mode to reduce the self-discharge rate. You can easily check the state of charge via the Bluetooth app at any time you just need to wake the lithium pro from its sleep mode by applying a lithium charger with a wake-up function.
• If you’re running multiple Lithium batteries in your setup, connected in series or parallel, you may find that occasionally the batteries aren’t equally charged. If you ever need to rebalance the string, it is recommended to maintenance charge each battery individually at periodic intervals.
• Speaking of charging, you can use a charger like the Century CC1212-XLi for this purpose. Lithium batteries should be fully charged before their first use, and before they’re put back into use following long term storage. The charger shouldn’t exceed the battery’s maximum charging Voltage which is 12.6V but 12.4 v is preferred and a maximum current of 100amps in this case – otherwise it may trigger an alarm for over voltage or over current protection in the battery management system (or BMS). Which will cut the charging process off as a safety feature.
• Charging should be carried out in temperature between 0 and 45c , and for a maximum of 24 hours at a time. And always using a charger which has a dedicated Lithium mode. Chargers for lead-acid batteries can cause damage to your Lithium battery.