Vin Posted June 27, 2022 Share Posted June 27, 2022 Due to all the load shedding my gate motor batteries are taking a beating. I put in a Forbatt gel battery a few months ago and its already on its way out. I am considering replacing the battery with something like this :https://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/559987360/Hoselect_LifePo4_LA127_Lithium_7_2ah_12_8v_Rechargeable_Battery.html?gclid=CjwKCAjwquWVBhBrEiwAt1KmwtN88odwCkn8ORAUQlxg8c1W_3Ty-9WzCaf0qnp3uShalDSbxBECohoCYi8QAvD_BwE is this even possible? Has anyone has done this before. Can the standard built in charger charge the lithium battery? Supergeek 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacques Ester Posted June 27, 2022 Share Posted June 27, 2022 Change 2 of my gate motor batteries to lithium. Working fine, no issues and outlasting standard battery by far. Supergeek 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorp007 Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 22 minutes ago, stok said: It has a 7.2 amp discharge rating, my gate motor (centurion D3) draws 15amps the 1st meter and about 10 amps the rest of the way. not sure if 7.2amps will be enough for your gate? It should be fine provided the battery can provide 3 x C for 10sec. Some can only provide 1C. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sc00bs Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 I bought some gate batteries of BOB and so far no issues https://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/560229319/Lithium_Ion_battery_pack_12V10AH_120W.html?gclid=CjwKCAjwzeqVBhAoEiwAOrEmzUytsAM2Vc67TWGgx-S3E0Xw5O1jf3PgNyp69ncqfBmzUU5qGd5O9hoCKbMQAvD_BwE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vin Posted June 28, 2022 Author Share Posted June 28, 2022 1 hour ago, Sc00bs said: I bought some gate batteries of BOB and so far no issues https://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/560229319/Lithium_Ion_battery_pack_12V10AH_120W.html?gclid=CjwKCAjwzeqVBhAoEiwAOrEmzUytsAM2Vc67TWGgx-S3E0Xw5O1jf3PgNyp69ncqfBmzUU5qGd5O9hoCKbMQAvD_BwE Thanks. Just out of curiosity how did you connect the lithium battery charger to the battery? Did you have to retain the existing power supply unit and board to battery wires just added the lithium charger to the battery? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorp007 Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 2 hours ago, stok said: will need to confirm if the BMS allows for 3c for 10 seconds burst and if the physical construction of the battery can support 21 amps... I bought a 40ah 12.8v locally manufactured battery pack that is rated by the maker at 35a constant discharge, I did not test this claim and I am glad I did not. I opened the battery and found that the 32650 cells was in a 8p4s configuration with a tiny bms that is marked 30A, first red light, after removing the barley paper wrapping I was astound to find they used 5mm x 0.1mm Nickle strips, (actually it looks like the used 10mm x 0.1mm strips that they cut in half not straight either, the thickness varies between 3mm and 7mm) they used four strips per series connection. Assuming it is pure Nickle that size strip is only good for max 4.2A and if it is Nickle plated steel it can only do 2A. 4.2A x 4 = 16.8A max. you never know the shortcuts taken to give you lifepo4 batteries at a good price. Thanks for this alert. Yes we never know what we are buying until we see a failure. The one point that would concern me is that the lithium can charge very fast. If the gate motor power supply has a small fuse like some have the fuse might blow when the lithium charges. I had a client with such a problem. The PSU was designed with lead acid in mind. Just something that one will find out with trail and error on the actual charge rate. zsde 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyD Posted July 10, 2022 Share Posted July 10, 2022 I used a Blue Nova BN 13V-8-104Wh 10C drop in replacement in a D5 for 8 month with load shedding before we moved from that house - saw no degredation at all in that time, using the D5 standard circuits. It's a bit pricey (and I see TakeALot are out of stock again) but if you can get them, they are worth it IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electronmonkey Posted July 10, 2022 Share Posted July 10, 2022 Been using the Blue Nova for a couple of months now with no problems for my gate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vin Posted August 17, 2022 Author Share Posted August 17, 2022 Thanks Thor. Good to know. I have been looking for lithium batteries for a while now and most places are out of stock due to the recent load shedding. I wouldnt mind giving this a try for my gate motor. The price is also quite good compared to the Blue Nova Thor 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobster. Posted August 17, 2022 Share Posted August 17, 2022 (edited) On 2022/06/27 at 10:13 AM, Vin said: Due to all the load shedding my gate motor batteries are taking a beating. I put in a Forbatt gel battery a few months ago and its already on its way out. I am considering replacing the battery with something like this :https://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/559987360/Hoselect_LifePo4_LA127_Lithium_7_2ah_12_8v_Rechargeable_Battery.html?gclid=CjwKCAjwquWVBhBrEiwAt1KmwtN88odwCkn8ORAUQlxg8c1W_3Ty-9WzCaf0qnp3uShalDSbxBECohoCYi8QAvD_BwE is this even possible? Has anyone has done this before. Can the standard built in charger charge the lithium battery? Put your gate motor on the backed up side of the DB. Load is not great, and your lead-acid batteries will not be running flat. Edited August 17, 2022 by Bobster. Gramour zsde and Scorp007 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McAllstar Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 do garage motors and gat motors normally use the same batteries? Yes i'm clueless Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobster. Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 1 hour ago, McAllstar said: do garage motors and gat motors normally use the same batteries? Yes i'm clueless Usually, but I don't want to say always. Obviously they will use standard size batteries. Take the covers off and have a look. Take photos being sure to get the markings on the battery and the connections to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McAllstar Posted September 21, 2022 Share Posted September 21, 2022 (edited) do garage motors and gat motors normally use the same batteries? Yes i'm clueless 23 hours ago, Bobster. said: Usually, but I don't want to say always. Obviously they will use standard size batteries. Take the covers off and have a look. Take photos being sure to get the markings on the battery and the connections to it. thanks for the reply. Here is a pic of the battery. guys are saying it's better to take 2 x 12v 7ah batteries and pair them and apparently it will work well and last longer. Edited September 21, 2022 by McAllstar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKRandburg Posted September 21, 2022 Share Posted September 21, 2022 What about putting 2 7Ah Lead Acid GEL in parallel? I'd like to understand the difference, cost wise it seems about the same. And how will an alarm system/gate/garage motor charge/discharge cycles affect a lithium ion battery? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McAllstar Posted September 21, 2022 Share Posted September 21, 2022 2 hours ago, MKRandburg said: What about putting 2 7Ah Lead Acid GEL in parallel? I'd like to understand the difference, cost wise it seems about the same. And how will an alarm system/gate/garage motor charge/discharge cycles affect a lithium ion battery? exactly what i'm going to do now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenMan Posted September 21, 2022 Share Posted September 21, 2022 (edited) You will need to put the 2x 7AH batteries in series - not parallel. Battery in the pic is 24V Also remember with the same charger it will take longer to charge the 2x 7AH batteries to 100%. Should not be a huge problem unless we get to Stage 20 Loadshedding... Edited September 21, 2022 by GreenMan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McAllstar Posted September 21, 2022 Share Posted September 21, 2022 16 minutes ago, GreenMan said: You will need to put the 2x 7AH batteries in series - not parallel. Battery in the pic is 24V Also remember with the same charger it will take longer to charge the 2x 7AH batteries to 100%. Should not be a huge problem unless we get to Stage 20 Loadshedding... thanks a mil, yes I saw that i realised that i need to connect them in series and was also made aware of the longer changing time. Any idea where i can get the cables to bridge the batteries? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKRandburg Posted September 21, 2022 Share Posted September 21, 2022 Hang on, if it's in series, the voltage goes up but the Amps stay the same - so no benefit for loadshedding. You need to put 2 24V batteries in parallel to get benefit of more Amps. Series - voltage goes up - Amps stay the same. Parallel - voltage stays the same - Amps go up. I believe. 9 minutes ago, McAllstar said: thanks a mil, yes I saw that i realised that i need to connect them in series and was also made aware of the longer changing time. Any idea where i can get the cables to bridge the batteries? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenMan Posted September 21, 2022 Share Posted September 21, 2022 Installed battery is 2.4AH (see the printing on the battery). The proposed battery is 7AH i.e. approx 3x the capacity of the installed one. 2x 7AH batteries in series gives you 24V with 7AH capacity. MKRandburg 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorp007 Posted September 21, 2022 Share Posted September 21, 2022 5 hours ago, MKRandburg said: Hang on, if it's in series, the voltage goes up but the Amps stay the same - so no benefit for loadshedding. You need to put 2 24V batteries in parallel to get benefit of more Amps. Series - voltage goes up - Amps stay the same. Parallel - voltage stays the same - Amps go up. I believe. Interesting to see how many guys have batteries past the sell by date. LS just highlights this fact. We repair tens of PCB for gates everyday. Keeping a year old 7Ah on a gate motor with the 230V AC switched of for 24 hrs. A very long LS event. After the 24hrs the SOC was still at estimated over 50%. BritishRacingGreen and zsde 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKRandburg Posted September 22, 2022 Share Posted September 22, 2022 12 hours ago, Scorp007 said: Interesting to see how many guys have batteries past the sell by date. LS just highlights this fact. We repair tens of PCB for gates everyday. Keeping a year old 7Ah on a gate motor with the 230V AC switched of for 24 hrs. A very long LS event. After the 24hrs the SOC was still at estimated over 50%. Now that I've done my deep dive into inverters... it's starting with batteries. What kind of battery was this? Are those kinds of batteries supposed to be replaced yearly? I woke up this morning to the lovely sounds of are alarm panel beeping after the 4 hour LS we had from midnight to 4am. Our plan is to replace it with a bigger Ah battery (2 x 8Ah Lead Acid GEL). This is why I hate batteries! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorp007 Posted September 22, 2022 Share Posted September 22, 2022 5 hours ago, MKRandburg said: Now that I've done my deep dive into inverters... it's starting with batteries. What kind of battery was this? Are those kinds of batteries supposed to be replaced yearly? I woke up this morning to the lovely sounds of are alarm panel beeping after the 4 hour LS we had from midnight to 4am. Our plan is to replace it with a bigger Ah battery (2 x 8Ah Lead Acid GEL). This is why I hate batteries! I have seen 12V 7Ah lasting 5yrs on gate motors. My own garage door 24V 4Ah lasted 6 years but that is just that it was not used a lot during LS times. If a good quality battery and the charger does not overcharge(no 1 enemy) the can last an easy 2-3years. That being said if on an alarm then it works a damn lot harder than on a gate motor. Current draw for the gate motor PCBs we work on is in the order of 50mA from the battery when idle. This is lower than a weak LED light. Also a open and close on a 3m gate uses less than 2Wh. A 7Ah has a 84Wh total capacity of which we don't want to discharge to lower than 50% SOC for lead acid This gives a few days for our gate motors without being charged. Gel is a better option but Lithium is the winner. For alarms 2x 8Ah will surely help and also prolong the life of the batteries. Electric fences also draw about 10 times the standing load of a gate motor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorp007 Posted September 22, 2022 Share Posted September 22, 2022 (edited) 20 hours ago, Scorp007 said: Interesting to see how many guys have batteries past the sell by date. LS just highlights this fact. We repair tens of PCB for gates everyday. Keeping a year old 7Ah on a gate motor with the 230V AC switched of for 24 hrs. A very long LS event. After the 24hrs the SOC was still at estimated over 50%. Update. After 47 hrs the battery is still above 50% SOC on 12.1V So now its time to charge it after the 47hrs. Started charging @970mA. 10min later charging 410mA. After 20min current dropped to 300mA. After 60min charge current went up to 400mA. Estimated SOC is 70%. It might continue charging at this rate for 8 or more hours before it will be at 100% SOC. This shows that prolonged discharge needs quite some time to reach 100% again. Edited September 22, 2022 by Scorp007 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mhargo Posted December 13, 2022 Share Posted December 13, 2022 hi Guys, Can i use a deep cycle battery on my gate motor? Its a 12v 105ah Royal battery. it obviously wont fit into the case, but if its a workable solution, i am happy to put it in an external casing. Any advice will be useful. https://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/573073914/Royal_1150K_100ah_Deep_Cycle_Battery_105ah_12V_2022_model.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vrystaat Posted December 14, 2022 Share Posted December 14, 2022 If you use a separate charger for that battery, you may have to disconnect your existing battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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