EarthX Lithium Battery Charging
Do not leave a battery, lead acid or lithium in a discharged state or the cells will be permanently damaged (anything below 13.28V is a discharged state for the batteries used in 12V application and 26.56V for batteries used in a 24V application). Charge immediately if this happens. EarthX batteries can sit on the shelf for up to a year without the need to charge due to the low self discharge rate (which is about 2% a month, compared to a lead acid battery which is approximately 30% per month). Even a “brand new” battery left in the box for a year will discharge with time. If you have the battery in a vehicle that has a constant draw such as a Harley, and you don’t ride for a month, you will need to put the battery on a charger. After about 6 months of no use, check the voltage and if it is less than 13.28V, or 26.56V (depending on 12V or 24V battery model) you should charge it, especially before start attempt.
charge your battery with a lithium (lifepo4) charger or a lead acid charger that does not have a desulphate, reconditioning or pulse mode. make sure your lead acid charger follows these guidelines:
- A smart lead-acid battery charger that is not older than 10 years old (older chargers have crude voltage regulation)
- Does not charge above 14.6V for the 12V models or 29.2V for 24V models
- Will automatically turn off when the battery is fully charged, based on volts
- Does not have a de-sulphate/reconditioning/pulse mode (these can all mean the same thing, depending on your manufacturer). Do not use any charger with voltage that pulses above 15V or 30V, depending on 12V or 24V models. When in doubt consult the charger’s manual
- For chargers with a maintenance mode, the mode should be between 13.3 – 13.9V or double for 24V batteries . Please read the manual that comes with your charger.
If your battery is at or near zero volts
EarthX ETX-Series batteries have over discharge protection which will disconnect the battery from the active load (drainage)when approximate 95-98% which is typically around *10.5-11V (double for a 24V battery) to protect the cells from damage. At this point, there are only seconds left of runtime left, which is equivalent to running out of fuel.
This leaves approximately 2-5% of energy left which will continue to discharge with time and you have roughly 4 weeks after the disconnection to recharge the battery before we permanently lock the battery from accepting charge current. This is an important safety feature as the cells have been damaged and should not be used at this point.
When the battery is “disconnected” a voltmeter will read no voltage (or near zero) at the battery terminals.
*(These numbers vary slightly due to the differences in temperature and rate of discharge)
- The ETX-Series lithium battery will automatically reconnect itself if you disconnect the negative battery cable (referred to as a BMS reset). After doing this, connect the alligator clips to charge it.
- Do not force the battery to accept a charge as it can be dangerous and result in cell rupture and vapors.
- If the battery will not reset and charge, do not continue to use or charge as the cells could be damaged. Do not attempt to charge or jump start a battery that is swollen in appearance.
List of Charger manufacturers
The table below shows a list of chargers and if they are safe or not to use. This is not an all inclusive list. We recommend the Optimate lithium chargers: TM-391 and TM-275 for the 13.2V batteries or the TM-281 for the 26.4V batteries as they are designed to charge, maintain, and reset your battery if needed and have been designed to work with the EarthX brand of batteries. If you have these chargers, they do have a BMS reset button that you can hold for 3-5 seconds and it will engage charging without the need to disconnect the negative battery cable.
- Model: 1206S60CC
- Safe to use: NO
- BMS Reset: NO
- Suggestion: Do not use, as full time de-sulfating mode will damage a lithium battery
- Model: 1000, 2000, or 4000
- Safe to use: YES
- BMS Reset: NO
- Suggestion: Use as a charger and maintainer , but will not reset EarthX’s BMS over-discharge protection
- Model: Any model
- Safe to use: NO
- BMS Reset: NO
- Suggestion: Do not use, as full time de-sulfating mode will damage a lithium battery
- Model: Any model
- Safe to use: NO
- BMS Reset: NO
- Suggestion: Per the manufacturer, they state it is not safe to charge a lithium battery with any of their models
- Model: All models
- Safe to use: NO
- BMS Reset: NO
- Suggestion: Use as a charger and maintainer, but will not reset EarthX’s BMS over-discharge protection
- Model: Lithium US
- Safe to use: YES
- BMS Reset: YES
- Suggestion: Use as a charger, maintainer, and it will reset EarthX’s BMS over-discharge protection
- Model: All lead acid charger models
- Safe to use: NO
- BMS Reset: NO
- Suggestion: Do not use, as full time de-sulfating mode will damage a lithium battery
- Model: Battery Tender Jr
- Safe to use: YES
- BMS Reset: NO
- Suggestion: Use as a charger and maintainer, but will not reset EarthX’s BMS over-discharge protection
- Model: Battery Tender (original or plus)
- Safe to use: YES
- BMS Reset: NO
- Suggestion: Can be used for charging only. Maintenance voltage is too low
- Model: All models
- Safe to use: NO
- BMS Reset: NO
- Suggestion: Do not use, as full time de-sulfating mode will damage a lithium battery
- Model: Duraboost 750, 1000
- Safe to use: YES
- BMS Reset: NO
- Suggestion: Can be used for charging. Can not find a maintenance voltage so if it less than 13.3V, it is too low
- Model: Duracell Ultra SLC10002
- Safe to use: YES
- BMS Reset: NO
- Use as a charger and maintainer, but will not reset EarthX’s BMS over-discharge protection
- Model: Tender Jr
- Safe to use: YES
- BMS Reset: NO
- Suggestion: Use as a charger and maintainer, but will not reset EarthX’s BMS over-discharge protection
- Model: Tender Jr
- Safe to use: YES
- BMS Reset: NO
- Suggestion: Use as a charger and maintainer, but will not reset EarthX’s BMS over-discharge protection
- Model: 10/2A Automatic
- Safe to use: YES
BMS Reset: NO- Suggestion: Use as a charger and maintainer, but will not reset EarthX’s BMS over-discharge protection
- Safe to use: YES
- Model: All models
- Safe to use: NO
- BMS Reset: NO
- Suggestion: Do not use, as full time de-sulfating mode will damage a lithium battery
- Model: All models (except the lithium specific one)
- Safe to use: NO
- BMS Reset: NO
- Suggestion: Do not use, as full time de-sulfating mode will damage a lithium battery
- Model: NOCO Genius Lithium
- Safe to use: YES
- BMS Reset: NO
- Suggestion: Use as a charger and maintainer, but will not reset EarthX’s BMS over-discharge protection
- Model: Ultimizer
- Safe to use: YES
- BMS Reset: NO
Suggestion: Use as a charger and maintainer
- Model: 400 or Digital 1200
- Safe to use: NO
- BMS Reset: NO
- Suggestion: Do not use, as full time de-sulfating mode will damage a lithium battery
- Model: Xtreme XC100
- Safe to use: NO
- BMS Reset: NO
- Suggestion: Do not use, as full time de-sulfating mode will damage a lithium battery
- Model: PP-12-L
- Safe to use: NO
- BMS Reset: NO
- Suggestion: Do not use, as full time de-sulfating mode will damage a lithium battery
- Model: Charge Master CM6A, CM12A
- Safe to use: NO
- BMS Reset: NO
- Suggestion: Do not use, as full time de-sulfating mode will damage a lithium battery
- Model: JA0512, 1212, 2512
- Safe to use: YES
BMS Reset: NO - Suggestion: Use as a charger and maintainer
- Safe to use: YES
- Model: Any lead acid model
- Safe to use: NO
- BMS Reset: NO
- Suggestion: Do not use, as full time de-sulfating mode will damage a lithium battery
- Model: Lithium TM-290, TM-281, TM-391, TM-471, TM-485
- Safe to use: YES
- BMS Reset: YES
- Suggestion: Use as a charger and maintainer, and it will reset EarthX’s BMS over-discharge protection
- Model: All lead acid charger models
- Safe to use: NO
- BMS Reset: NO
- Suggestion: Do not use, as full time de-sulfating mode with damage a lithium battery
- Model: 4cell LiFePO4 Smart Charger
- Safe to use: YES
- BMS Reset: YES
- Suggestion: Use as a charger and maintainer, and it will reset EarthX’s BMS over-discharge protection
- Model: Smart Shot 900
- Safe to use: YES
- BMS Reset: NO
- Suggestion: Can be used for charging. Can not find a maintenance voltage in manual so if it is less than 13.8V, it is too low
- Model: Smart Shot 1.5mA
- Safe to use: NO
- BMS Reset: NO
- Suggestion: Do not use, as full time de-sulfating mode will damage a lithium battery
