Lithium Battery to replace AGM

I should also add that if you try to draw too many amps from any battery it can also explode. The explosion is just a runaway chemical reaction. The nice thing with conventional lead acid battery's is that unless you short the terminals it's basically impossible to cause an explosion. The battery is built for the amperage and it's not difficult for companies to do so. Lithium batteries are a different story. They love to supply amperage, so much so that even a normal surge can cause a run away reaction. Remember the Samsung Note 7 fires? Those were faulty Lithium batteries that shorted for a split second and lit on fire. The Boeing 787 groundings you might of heard about a few years ago were from normal use Lithium batteries on the plane getting a couple of degrees too hot and then undergoing a runaway reaction to a fire. Putting a lithium motorcycle battery in a Tacoma and then asking more amps from it than it was designed for is a sure way to at the least cause the battery to swell and lose it functionality, at the most cause it to eventually fail catastrophically and burn the truck to the ground.

 

The most reliable battery, if reliability is your primary concern, is a standard flooded lead acid battery with removable caps, that is periodically inspected and topped up with water. This is what is still used by telecom and critical infrastructure sites in 2020.

Sealed lead acid batteries (“gel” and AGM ) all suffer from loss of electrolyte over time that cannot be replaced. Their only advantage is being non-spillable, which has its merits, but does not increase reliability.

A good quality flooded lead acid battery, with proper plate bracing to resist vibration, is the most reliable option out there.

The lithium batteries are amazing, but suffer from the fact a 12V nominal voltage is not “native” to their chemistry, so they all require internal electronics and management circuits when hooked to a standard vehicle designed for a 12V lead acid cell.

The Toyota OEM battery is fine. Luckily, it has removable caps so you can add distilled water to extend its life. I’ve had to do this after a hot summer.

 

X2power 27f in my truck. It’s been great. I’ve stuck it on a charger a couple times but its really not as big of a deal as people make it out to be.

if you top it off monthly, you might get an extra 6 months of life out of it.

running fridge, lights, etc off mine.

 

WOW, I thought..........I don't remember typing this or replying to this thread, LOL. My exact problem on my 2017..........with everything you mentioned on the expensive dual battery kit I am now replacing, actually already ripped it all out and bought a CTEK DC/DC charger to redo my setup.

 

The lithium batteries for RC cars are lithium polymer. I have several for my cars and my RC boat. They are not really made to for automotive applications.
You are correct about them having limited charge cycles. Not to mention when they melt down it isn't pretty.
I have seen that some manufacturers are adding graphene to LiPo batteries to to enhance stability and output.

 

If your considering an upgrade like that, I’d buy a Dometic PLB-40, 40 AHr LiFePo battery, built in charger (8A just plug it into your cigarette lighter), also has a built in solar charger for an external (usually portable) panel.

I am running one in my Wife’s Rav 4 with a ARB fridge and it works flawlessly. I have Northstar AGM’s (starting and House) in my Taco and they’re fine but WAY heavier and not anymore powerful, since LiFePo can’t fully discharge and they obviously don’t include all the chargers ext, I have full CTek in my truck for that. Bottom line to install a fridge it’s REALLY hard to beat an all in one unit like the PLB, and if you want to move it to another vehicle it takes only a second. It’s a much more modern and viable option than old school battery tech.

FWIW, when my house (Camper) battery gives out I’ll prob replace that one with a BattleBorn LiFePo but they’re in excess of $1000 and require me to upgrade my charging system as well. Just my thoughts but definitely something to consider.

 

I got 2 years on my NorthStar. Stock TRD alt; nothing special in the charging circuit.

 

Yea but...global warming

 

My F80 M3 had a lithium battery. Only crazy thing is the cost to replace... I figure they'll all go towards them eventually.

 

Let’s hope not.

 

I have read a few of your posts last week and i am having same issues with the agms. I haven't decided on what route i am going to go with. I currently am waiting for an email back from ctek on the D250SA, Smartpass 120S or a combination of both which may be overkill and require full rewiring. There is also the Redarc brand which can be placed underhood but the ctek has more options with the smartpass.

My only issue is that if the truck sits beyond a couple days i gotta somehow plug it in to keep the starter battery up due to a draw from a few things. (Alarm, Dashcam(could put on service battery with fridge) cellular component for remotestart,

$659 sp9100 switch pros SP-9100 8-switch panel power system with concealed mounting hardware

sp9100) Small draws that seem to be adding up along with an undercharged AGM.

Have you decided where exactly you are going to mount the CTEK?

 

Undercharging an AGM will kill it in no time from build up on the internal electrode. Sadly I haven't heard of a solution on the third gens to easily provide the 14.4 volts an AGM needs to clean up internally other than hooking up an external charger, either wall or solar. All batteries fail when improperly maintained either intentionally or unintentionally, simply taking a Lithium battery outside of it's usable voltage window will cause it to swell and quickly fail.

 

Check out https://redarcelectronics.com/products/dual-input-25a-in-vehicle-dc-battery-charger

I’m using this in my 2018 to charge the start AMG battery and a house lithium battery.

 

Lead Acid requires different charge levels/rates than most other batteries. AGM/GEL/ various Li batteries need a different charging system to maximize the power available while not diminishing the life cycle of the battery.

Dual battery systems ideally will have a means to separate the batteries so one will not discharge the other or both under different uses, be able to sustain the charge necessary to start the vehicle from the charging battery, and be able to properly charge the batteries as needed.

A couple of outstanding devices to help do that, include the REDARC listed above or some Renology units - https://www.renogy.com/12v-dc-to-dc-on-board-battery-charger/, or https://www.renogy.com/dcc50s-12v-50a-dc-dc-on-board-battery-charger-with-mppt/

An alternative includes devices like https://www.goalzero.com/shop/portable-power/power-stations/

 

Not exactly apples to apples, but I’ve been running them in my dirt bike for years in all conditions. Freezing cold nights, 100+ hot days in Moab and the battery never faltered. Sometime my bike sits for 6 months and fires right up, I don’t even own a charger for it.

 

I am relocating my second battery to the bed. Decided I am going to mount a panel in the bed attached to the back rail. Going to mount everything on it...........CTEK, USB plugs, breakers, etc. I ripped all the dual battery stuff out and have one Northstar as my starter and have the other Northstar sitting on the trickle charger until I mount and wire everything up. Still in the planning stages and need to order wiring , beakers etc. I am going to paint the plywood panel I mount everything on with lineX or something similar. Here is what my engine bay looks like currently with everything removed. To keep the new one topped off and not run into any issues, I mounted a battery tender quick connect with a 6 foot extension and have it coming out near the bumper and super easy to plug in.................

 

I have been wondering about what kind of charger that is good for AGM while still hooked up in the truck. I have a NOCO genius 7200 charger with agm mode but after watching it with a multimeter pulsing up to 15 volts i worry about the electrical system of the tacoma. What type of battery tender is it?

 

I just use these.......I use them on my ATV's , motorcycle, mower. I have used them for years and never had an issue.

http://products.batterytender.com/Chargers/Battery-Tender-Junior-12V-0-75A.html

 

https://carbuzz.com/news/what-caused-this-koenigsegg-to-suddenly-catch-fire-in-china

 

The conversation did help make my mind up. I ultimately decided to go with a X2 24f AGM for $218 after core and rebate. I wasn’t ready to dump serious coin towards a product that has somewhat an unproven track record for a starting battery. Maybe the X2 will need to be replaced in the next couple of years but for that price I am not stressing about it.

On a side note, I am glad I replaced the stock battery before a 3 week road trip coming up. Even with my 1.5 yr old battery sitting without starting for 3 days, nothing plugged in other than scan gauge, the CFX 50 would not fire up being set to med on the low voltage mode. I believe the battery voltage was at 11.8. I don’t think I could have made it the whole trip without issue running a fridge and even moving every day.