Safest Lithium Ion technology available

The term Lithium Ion encompasses multiple chemistries, having slightly different compositions of materials. First, please understand that the word ‘lithium’ is very broad and encompasses various chemistries. One can use the analogy of the word ‘fruit’ which includes an apple and an orange; both under the same umbrella but very different. These differences result in variations of energy and power density, lifespan, cost and safety. Mastervolt’s Lithium Ion batteries are based on Lithium iron phosphate, which has an energy density three times higher than that of lead-acid batteries. Although there are materials with an even higher energy density, these are generally considered less safe. Mastervolt’s Lithium Ion batteries are the safest batteries of their kind and up to 15 % more efficient than lead-acid batteries.

The Battery Management System (BMS)

A unique feature of the Mastervolt Lithium Ion battery is their built-in Battery Management System (BMS) that automatically compensates for the imbalance between the cells. This system controls cell voltage and temperature, guarantees optimal safety, and increases the lifespan. The MLI Ultra features an active balancing, matching the high charge and discharge currents that these batteries can supply. The MLS serie is equipped with a passive balancing.

Replacing traditional lead-acid with Lithium Ion

The substantial benefits that Lithium Ion technology offer over lead-acid technology means that using Lithium Ion batteries is becoming an ever more popular choice. When considering replacing an existing lead-acid battery bank by Lithium Ion one needs to take a couple of things into consideration. Although the term ‘drop-in replacement’ is occasionally used in this case, it is actually never as simple as that. The benefits of Lithium Ion require the batteries to be used strictly within the allowed operating conditions. Although the batteries are set up to do this automatically and safely, taking proper care of your new batteries will prevent nuisances during use such as Lithium Ion batteries disengaging themselves (by a safety relay). Things to take into consideration are:

• The charge voltage of the battery bank needs to be checked and possibly changed.
  Where low charge voltage will result in incompletely charged batteries, overly high charge voltage will potentially push the Lithium Ion batteries outside their allowed operating conditions.
• Battery monitoring needs to be shunt (Ah counting) based, not voltage based. Some basic battery monitoring products base the battery status fully on voltage measurement. In case of Li-ion batteries this will result in unreliable readings, potentially leading to deep discharges. Only shunt-based monitoring devices that incorporate a Lithium Ion battery type setting should be used.
• For additional safety, Mastervolt prescribes the use of a relay as mandatory part of the battery installation to protect the system (for MLI Ultra series only).

The MLS products have an integrated safety relay and no integrated battery monitoring. This results in a Lithium Ion battery that is as close as possible to a ‘drop-in replacement’ for lead-acid, as long as the above considerations are kept in mind.