vIdEo -34 celsius yesterday... A123 saved dead car battery

[Doctorbass]

Hey guys,

That's pertty cold here these days!..

some around Quebec have -40 some -52.. and us "just" -34.. :lol:

My car battery suffered from that and my engine didn't want to start.. a old OEM 9 years old 55Ah Honda battery.. that is still the stock battery on my car!.. but now i think i'll need to repalce it!..

Anyway, I jumpstarted it yesterday and tried with 4x A123 (4s1p) only... and that worked!!! My voltage indicator in the car indicated ony 10.4V no load when i turned the key... then oi connected the 4 cells on the 12V batt and tI remember seeing the dome light becoming brighter.. and the voltmeter stepef to 11.9....

The engine finally started after 5 to 8 sec of hard work!.. I mean.. oil viscosity would be very high and pistons had difficult to travel !..

A123 are the best!

Doc

 

[dogman dan]

Very cool, no pun intended. A toasty warm lead acid battery would have done the same thing, while also busting your back carrying it. I bet the a123 pack was nice and easy to carry out to the car!

 

[Anonymous]

.

 

[Doctorbass]

Guess what... this afternoon, I had the same surprize!.. it didn,t want to start again!!

-21.4degree today..... but.. I decided to capture this for you with my camera!

i'll put that on youtube tonight

I'm still very very impressed!!! this little battery of the size of a baseball ball ! delivering more than 1000W


Video coming tonight i hope!

here is some pics:

Doc

 

[GGoodrum]

Yipes! I have no comprehension of what that must be like. ou guys do know there are places in the world where it doesn't do that, right?

Actually, we have the opposite "problem" out here in California. For the last week, or so, we've had summer-like temps in the 80s and 90s (27-32C...), due to our recurring Santa Ana wind conditions. Not complain' though...

 

[Doctorbass]

Ah.. Believe it or not...

Another time tonight i needed to jumpstart my car... right in the parking of my job...I was lucky to brang my battery with me..!

-31 again !... that time my engine did not started on a quater turn.. it took five long starting time.. around 4-5sec each!
I have to say that i did not recharged it since the first time i tested it!

Ouch.. these battery gaved their maximum ! .. the got hot ... just enough to warm my froozen hands after it started...

I also tested it on my 0.6 ohm 1200W heavy load resistor.. I measured 160A at 10.1V.. so it's 1616W out of this 300g battery !

 

[rkosiorek]

as soon as i saw the title of this thread i knew who started it without even looking.

WOW! i am impressed with the cold weather performance of these batteries. Question, how cold where the A123 cells at the start of the test? were they also at -34C? or were they almost room temperature because you had just taken them outside?

rick

I'm worried about DoctorBASS. the way his neigbors, the Quebecois like to protest against anything and everything, i'm sure some of them are setting up the SPCLB. that would be the Society for the Prevention of Cruely to Lithium Batteries. i can see them getting ready to picket in front of the doctors residence as well as Phostech headquarters (also in Quebec). Ypedal could help with the french version of the name

 

[Doctorbass]

as soon as i saw the title of this thread i knew who started it without even looking.

WOW! i am impressed with the cold weather performance of these batteries. Question, how cold where the A123 cells at the start of the test? were they also at -34C? or were they almost room temperature because you had just taken them outside?

rick

I'm worried about DoctorBASS. the way his neigbors, the Quebecois like to protest against anything and everything, i'm sure some of them are setting up the SPCLB. that would be the Society for the Prevention of Cruely to Lithium Batteries. i can see them getting ready to picket in front of the doctors residence as well as Phostech headquarters (also in Quebec). Ypedal could help with the french version of the name

!!!!

From now I just saw a cat from my neibourhood crossing our parking... still no croud...

To answer your question, the test was done with A123 coming from my house.. and they stayed around 10 minutes outside.. so i guess their temp droped to around 0-10 degree C..

this tehst was to show how hard they can supply power on a very cold engine... maybe i should leav them in my car and test again...

Doc

 

[ejonesss]

incredible!! considering that a cold car can draw 100's of amps .

it is overdue time for a new battery.

before winter comes it is good idea to have battery load tested and before summer comes have air conditioner checked along with engine cooling system checked .

all of witch is often overlooked in today's "set it and forget it world".

Hey guys,

That's pertty cold here these days!..

some around Quebec have -40 some -52.. and us "just" -34.. :lol:

My car battery suffered from that and my engine didn't want to start.. a old OEM 9 years old 55Ah Honda battery.. that is still the stock battery on my car!.. but now i think i'll need to repalce it!..

Anyway, I jumpstarted it yesterday and tried with 4x A123 (4s1p) only... and that worked!!! My voltage indicator in the car indicated ony 10.4V no load when i turned the key... then oi connected the 4 cells on the 12V batt and tI remember seeing the dome light becoming brighter.. and the voltmeter stepef to 11.9....

The engine finally started after 5 to 8 sec of hard work!.. I mean.. oil viscosity would be very high and pistons had difficult to travel !..

A123 are the best!

Doc

 

[Anonymous]

.

 

[Doctorbass]

Finally.. Here is the famous video ( at -21.4 Celsius this time... Mother nature decide...)

[youtube]qcvmvrmTMMk[/youtube]

 

[Ypedal]

Awsome Doc !!! way to go !

Have you had the chance to see how many mah was used on the M1's ?

My friend was over the other day with his Ford Bronco, has 2 x 12" Kicker subs and a Rockford amp, great way to get freezing rain off the windows !! hehe..

ps: I fnially got a few psi cells and one 12ah LFP cell boxed up.. shipping on monday ! :wink:

 

[rkosiorek]

12Ah LFP cell? what is that?

rick

 

[Doctorbass]

12Ah LFP cell? what is that?

rick

Ypedal will send me some cells for test. LFP = L i F e P O4

Doc

 

[AussieJester]

Yipes! I have no comprehension of what that must be like. ou guys do know there are places in the world where it doesn't do that, right?

Actually, we have the opposite "problem" out here in California. For the last week, or so, we've had summer-like temps in the 80s and 90s (27-32C...), due to our recurring Santa Ana wind conditions. Not complain' though...

haha same cept bump that top temp from 32c to 40-41 LoL Doesn't drop below 27c some nights this time of year...I can't get over how cold it is in North America and people willing live there WHAT THE!@#!!@?!#!?@ :-|

Nice work with the A123s Doc...You have any of these for sale like the Konions you have? If so whats the going rate for a pack?

Kim

 

[Doctorbass]

Yipes! I have no comprehension of what that must be like. ou guys do know there are places in the world where it doesn't do that, right?

Actually, we have the opposite "problem" out here in California. For the last week, or so, we've had summer-like temps in the 80s and 90s (27-32C...), due to our recurring Santa Ana wind conditions. Not complain' though...

haha same cept bump that top temp from 32c to 40-41 LoL Doesn't drop below 27c some nights this time of year...I can't get over how cold it is in North America and people willing live there WHAT THE!@#!!@?!#!?@ :-|

Nice work with the A123s Doc...You have any of these for sale like the Konions you have? If so whats the going rate for a pack?

Kim

Sometimes just look at the "Item for sale" section.. I have oftem sales of these used cells.

I still have 14 used cells but i keep them for tests and experiments.

Doc

 

[paultrafalgar]

So when is someone going to market these "emergency cold-start" battery packs? I see a big market for them in northern climes. Could you recharge that 4-cell pack with a standard car battery charger? If the market gets big enough we could maybe develop an ebike adaption by using 3 or 4 in series for 36V or 48V power supplies. :wink:

 

[dontsendbubbamail]

Docbass,

Your fame is spreading. This thread has been picked up by diydaily.com and hackedgadgets.com.

Bubba

 

[Chom]

Hi Doc,

Good work!

Would you be able to post a circuit diagram of the connections, and let us know how you charge them? Last thing I want to do is blow up my limited supply of A123s

Thanks

Chom

 

[Doctorbass]

Docbass,

Your fame is spreading. This thread has been picked up by diydaily.com and hackedgadgets.com.

Bubba

Hello Bubba,

Thanks for advising me!.. I already know.. I sent them this little article by myself :wink:

Doc

 

[bbsux]

Doc,

What motor oil weight do you use up there? Here in Nebraska it got to -10 F and I always use 5w30 (used to use 10w30). It starts a lot easier!

 

[Doctorbass]

Doc,

What motor oil weight do you use up there? Here in Nebraska it got to -10 F and I always use 5w30 (used to use 10w30). It starts a lot easier!

I presently have the 10W30 from the last automn season.. I do my oil replacement service every 5000km and i just did 3000km since last few months.

5W30 is better I know.. I should consider to replace it soon.

Doc

 

[ohyea]

bbsux, where in NE do you live?

 

[bbsux]

Lincoln

 

[olaf-lampe]

Good Job doctorbass,
I do the same with 4s 2.5Ah peakbatteries for nearly a year now. But other than you I just put them parallel to the lead acid block and leave it there! No BMS, no extra charging. And they still had 2.3Ah a few weeks ago with 0.2V difference between the cells.
Our temperature is only -14 C but my peakbatteries still crank it up every morning

cheers
Olaf