Is the cutoff exactly 32°?
In theory it's when the internal temperature reaches that point. Most LiFeP04 batteries with cold weather charging protection have their cutoff a bit higher, around 40 degrees F. They'll deliver power down to -10 or -20F, they just can't charge until they warm up above freezing.
I discovered the hard way it was a mistake to put a LiFeP04 12V battery in my Tesla for that reason. It is often below 40F here in Reno and when the Tesla is being charged, the 12-v LiFeP04 battery can open. Then I have to go through a 20-minute procedure to get rid of the error message. The message stays forever after I once get the message to replace the 12-volt battery, even when the battery comes back to life with a full charge.
Good catch. When I purchased this battery a year ago shipping was free. I have no idea if this battery has low temperature cutoff because I'm never in a cold enough spot to test it.
Thanks Lou! Our golf cart is going to need batteries soon. Four of those at that price is less than six 8 volt flooded wet cells. (Though a new charger will balance the cost.) The golf cart lives about an hour south of Tampa, so the charging temp will not be a factor.
I replaced the (6) 6 volt batteries in my 36 volt golf cart with (3) Chins 12 volt 100 a/h batteries last year. At $300 each the cost was almost a wash. I was able to tweek my existing charger to provide the 43 volts (14.4 volts per battery) needed to reach 100% SOC. The Chins (now Ampere Time) work great, but you need a shunt based battery monitor to keep track of how much charge remains in the batteries. Lithiums don't gradually fade out like lead acids so a voltmeter isn't much help, they give close to full performance until they're empty and then stop, like a car running out of gas. Caught me once before I added the monitor.
Good tip on the battery monitor… thanks!
