At what SoC (State of Charge) should you store your Lithium batteries?
Hi Mike,
Regarding lithium batteries, my understanding is that they should NOT be stored at 100% charge, as doing so can damage them. The recommendations I’ve seen from manufacturers is that they should be discharged to ~50% before storage and preferably be kept between 20% and 50% SOC. Have you heard something different? – Brian N.
Hey Brian,
Every manufacturer I’ve talked to directly has recommended storing Lithium batteries at 100% SoC. But I have heard of the few manufacturers that recommend storage at 50% SoC.
Since there are dozens of Lithium Battery manufacturers out there, I’ll pull together a list of manufacturer SoC storage recommendations. But I need your help…
What brand Lithium batteries do you have in your RV?
Please leave your Lithium battery brands in the comments below, and I’ll contact each of them to create a master chart on recommended SoC storage. If you’ll help create the list I can create a SoC storage chart in a few weeks.
Let’s play safe out there… Mike
MasterVolt batteries.
Renogy
Very often the manufacturer says for “Long Term” storage to have the battery at 50 %. But never seen the definition of long term storage. To me it would be a year or more. For my seasonal storage I want the battery at 100%,because they are my emergency power for Hydro failure.
Michel, you raise a great point. What is the optimum way to store if one wants to use their battery for back-up power? What kind of charger do you use and do you feel comfortable keeping your battery at 100% SoC?
My camping off season is about 6 months. I want maximum power from the battery in case of a power outage. At home I have 2 Lithium compatible chargers, a bulky Noco 26A & a small low price 20A. Since lithium are generally rated at about 10 years. I do not really care about that longevity, if I do 5 years I fell I have plenty for the money, the rest is bonus.
I have Expion 360 batteries. From talking to tech support there, they recommend storing at about 60-70%. It’s currently 17° outside. I dropped my batteries down to 70% several months ago. I check the SOC every couple of weeks and they are still at 70%. I disconnected the solar and disconnected the batteries from any use in the trailer. I turned off the converter but the trailer is still plugged in to keep the Dish box current.
I have Time USB which recommends long term storage at 50% with a recharge every 90 days. I’m assuming that means recharge to 100% then discharge back to 50.
I have 6 Battle Born batteries! I keep them 100% charged all the time
Battle Born 4 x 100ah kept at 100% SOC with solar
I have four Lion Energy UT1300
Battle Born; 3 years; always store at full charge
Dakota Lithium.
I have Lion Energy batteries in my Airstream.
Hi Mike, I have SOK , they say charge to 100 percent for storage.
Renogy
I have a Battle Born 100 A-hr. My charging routine, which I ran by them when I purchased it, is to charge it to 100% before each use (for camping) and leave it sit at whatever SoC it is when I return which is typically around 40% -75%. I then repeat this process each time I use it. This minimizes the number of charge discharge cycles and time spent at 100% SoC on my lithium profile charger.
I found this on Battle Born’s FAQ’s:
“You can use any standard charger, solar or wind charge controller to charge our LiFePO4 deep cycle battery.
There are some chargers and controllers that are programmable to ensure full usage out of your battery, but most will have an AGM setting which normally bulk charges about 14.4 volts and float at 13.6 volts. These levels are great for your Battle Born battery.”
This implies that it is ok to float them at 13.6V (presumably at 100% SoC) but I didn’t see anything about leaving them on a charger with a lithium setting (e.g., 14.4V). I have found that my battery continues to draw 1-2A while sitting fully charged on my Progressive Dynamics lithium profile charger. I can’t see how it is a good thing to pump 13-26 Watts into it continuously so I disconnect it once it is fully charged, after which it drops to 13.3V or so. I haven’t observed it over long periods at full charge but I’d be interested to hear how much current others have seen their batteries draw when left at full charge on their chargers for many hours, days, etc.
Boss 302 from Lithionics. Revision 7 of the Storage Procedure recommends a fully charged battery for up to 3 months (aka short storage). For Long term storage (3 months to 6 months max) they recommend 50% +/- 10% SOC.
2 SOK 206 amp hour, self-heating batteries. Side note: An article about how to manage/use the app bms for these batteries would be helpful.
Lion Engery lithium 12v batteries for SoC information. Thanks Mike
I have Life Blue in my fifth wheel and Renogy in my truck camper. My Polaris RangerEV has aftermarket Allied Lithium’s batteries
Two Battle Born 100 Ahr. Stored at 100%
Renogy REGO 12V 400Ah Cold Weather LiFePO4 Battery
I have Battleborn Batteries-12 volt 100 amp hour.
Li Time, 12v 100ah, total of four
Just now came off the road and store my Renogy 180 Amp Hr batteries at 100%
NewtiPower 500ah
Renogy 100ah 12v x 2. I am a full-timer so sometimes draw down to 50% SOC when batteries drop below 32°. I then use the Renogy Rover Li 40 to bring them back to 100%. Sometimes the PD9145L or my Ford V10 alternator depending on hookups or driving day.
Renogy 100ah 12v x 2. I am a full-timer so sometimes draw down to 50% SOC when batteries drop below 32°. I then use the Renogy Rover Li 40 to bring them back to 100%. Sometimes the PD9145L or my Ford V10 alternator depending on hookups or driving day.
EG4 LifePower4 from Signature Solar. Thanks!
I have a 200aH plus LiFePO4 battery from Redodo. My solar array isn’t installed yet, so I charge with a NOCO Genius smart charger when I have access to AC power and use a disconnect switch when we aren’t camping.
Two 100 Ah BattleBorn stored with initial 100% SoC, then disconnected with a disconnect switch.
Alberta Lithium. From Canada. I have 2x280ah12v batteries. They are to be stored at full charge and can tolerate down to -25*C as long as they are disconnected according to Mike at their tech desk.
CALB in the RV, and they recommend longest life by storing at 50%.
Note that in our Volvo XC40 Recharge, the manufacturer states don’t even regularly charge to 100% but rather 90%. They also recommend a 50% charge level for long-term storage.
Weize. 2 100Ah. But I don’t really store them. I leave a few things running (about 60W draw) and have a solar panel that’s covered by the RV cover. So the SOC slowly drops. Once it gets below 20% I recharge with a Victron 15A charger.
Lion Energy 1300 Safari 105Ah (non bluetooth) This is directly from their website manual.
“Discharge and recharge to 80% (or 13.35 volts) periodically, at least once every 6 months if not being used.”
Lion Energy
I was told it did not matter the internal management system would take care of it!
Two each of the Expion 360 AH “cube” batteries in our triple slide truck camper with 720 watts of solar. We travel in it for 4-6 months at a time & then store it for 3-4 months at a time. Each summer we’re at a full hook up site where it’s maintained at 100%, & when in storage, the solar keeps it at 100%. the other months of the year, while traveling, the SOC fluctuates.
Lithiionics? Same brand as Winnebago uses in their RV’s.
Ionic lithium 125AH heated battery. Brand new.
I have two battleborn 270a batteries. One year old. Near 100% charge.
2 LifeBlue 200 AH; use full time with 630 watt solar panels.
Battleborn Batteries X 6, 4 years old. I live in Alaska, I charge them to 100% then pull them from the motorhome and store them in the basement at 60° F from October to March without charging them. It can get down to -30° F and not taking any chances with 6 Battleborn batteries. My two lead acid starting batteries stay connected in the motorhome with a battery maintainer. No problems yet.
Dr. Prepare
LifeBlue batteries: (From their data sheet)
Recommended Storage Method: 50% SoC; <75% RH, Test Voltage every 90 days and charge if below 13.0V
Recommended Storage temperature Range: 20°F~95°F (cooler is better).
Related question: when storing Battleborn batteries with the heater feature, should the heater be turned off? (will the heater lead to self discharge?)
SOK 12v 206ah. 2 1/2 years old. 2 batteries, thinking of adding a third. I’ve heard you should mix ages of flooded or AGM batteries.does this apply to lithium as well?
Victron 200ah. I usually keep them somewhere between 13.3V and 13.7V while is storage. The docs say they only balance when the voltage is higher than 13.6V so that’s why I go to 13.7V, or else I would keep them at 13.3V to reduce aging. They are kept charged by solar on the roof.
Renogy 100 amp heated
Renogy batteries have a way to put them in active mode or off mode which is best.
Battle Born
SOK
Renogy Smart 100aH lithium, not self-heated.
Hi Mike!
TIA!
We have 300ah Redodo LiFePo4.
Thanks for doing this Mike. We have KS2 L2 4X200 in a 2019 Roadtrek Etrek.
I have a 304Ah SFK battery on the way.
Power Queen. 2.5 years old. Always stored at full charge over the winter.
SOK 206 Ah
We use 2 of Lion Energy UT 1300 105 ah batteries
Lithionics: Between 45% to 75%
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://lithionicsbattery.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Storage-Procedure-Rev-07-WEB.pdf
I’m receiving 2, 400 amp hr LiTime lithium batteries in a few days and really am looking forward to accurate info in storage
Two Renogy 100A pre-heater technology batteries. 4 Renogy 100w panels in a series-parallel array and a Renogy 50A DC-DC Charge controller.
Easily powers 2 cpaps overnight and fully recovered by mid morning. Running engine compensates for cold or clouds
1 430 ah Vatrer
Two Renogy 100 Ah smart batteries
I got this reply from Weize:
WEIZE
Hi, Thanks for your message. When long-time storage, the battery SOC should be at 30% ~ 50% , high-SOC storage will accelerate the battery capacity degradation. The battery needs to be charged and discharged every 6 months. Any other questions,please contact us again. Best Regards
4X100ah Chins. Topped up to 100% with solar.
I have Vatrer 100ah LifePO batteries. (Amazon) I was unable to find any information regarding recommended SoC storage. I purchased these because the BMS uses a low temp charge protection. You may want to discuss why that’s important for Lithium batteries. Would also like to understand how 100% SoC is calculated. My batteries voltage can vary quite a bit and still show 100% SoC. I’ve also had them charged to 14.4 volts and show below 50% SoC. These are measurements I’m getting from a Victron inverter and their app, via bluetooth connection.
Battleborn 270ah x 2