Question – Can you mount LiFePo4 batteries on the side or inverted?
Article By DD @ Solar Power Edge YT channel
Hi folks, this is to start a new series of posts (and videos) about Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries. It’s my favorite battery chemistry of all time, so far. I first started researching and using LiFePo4 batteries before about 2012. At that time there was a lot of resistance to their adoption, mostly due to bad information and rumours of volatility (LiFePo4 is one of the safest and least volatile Lithium-Ion chemistries available).
Introduction – Independent Thinking and Self-Education
I started using LiFePO4 (LFP) batteries over a decade ago and was one of the early adopters of the technology. As an engineer, I wanted to know more about it and spent many hours researching and learning, doing hands on testing. Inevitably I started watching those large “solar channels” on YT. But I found those large channels constantly pushing incorrect information (they pretend to be your friend, but deep down are actually profit-oriented, dishonest, often just plain ignorant and lazy). So I finally gave up… I stopped watching all of them, and relied on my own research and testing efforts. This consumed increasing amounts of time and energy. The experience later drove me to start my own solar channel on YT, linked at the top of this blog.
Batteries And The Big Picture
Because like many others I am concerned about the future and general stability of the world these days, my house is powered by solar. This includes an increasingly large array of self built 100% DC appliances. With all this power consumption, the health and care of my batteries are very important to me. Meanwhile, I fully understand batteries, solar panels, shoes, food, roads, internet, fuel, everything… I mean everything… comes from the grid. So while batteries power my house, I always felt claiming to be off-grid was kind of silly. Sometimes I call it “off electrical utility grid” but in reality even that doesn’t make sense either. Everything I depend on also depends on the grid whether batteries power my house or not. Understanding the big picture is important!
Some of the information here will not match conventional wisdom, popular rhetoric and established dogmas. It won’t match what popular “influencers” say. But that’s OK because truth, facts and reality are so valuable. Thinking for oneself is key to avoiding needless mistakes and misdirection. It is up to the end user to do his own research and hands on testing. Relying on a so called popular figures “influencers” and YT channels to educate you is a recipe for disaster.
Therefore, I encourage you to do your own research, and stop depending on popular figures. It will pay you back for years to come. It’s hard to break away, but I did it over 10 years ago and never looked back.
Now let’s move on to the first question!
Does it matter which orientation LiFePo4 prismatic cells are stored or used in?
Quick Answer:
Yes
Can I mount them upside down, for example?
Answer:
Absolutely not recommended.
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LiFePo4 prismatics – basic internal structure
Note that NOT ALL BATTERIES ARE BUILT THE SAME!!
But generally speaking, there are many layers inside the LFP prismatic cell case (to build up capacity) and they are pressed together and attached at the top to the terminals at the factory. It’s possible some factories build them on their sides, but how do they ship and store them? In almost every case I’ve seen, it’s right side up!
So it’s best to keep them in the orientation they most likely built and stored in – right side up! It’s important not to risk straining or placing any undue forces on junctions where all the layers connect to the terminals of the cells at the top. This ties into vibration, jarring or dropping the cells – absolutely should be avoided if at all possible. Culmulative effects can really add up to internal damage over time.
Limited electrolyte in the cells
And here is another problem. There is usually a very limited amount of electrolyte inside each battery cell case. Little, if any, would be free. But if there is any free electrolyte, naturally it is more dense than the air inside the cell case, and would sit at the lowest part of the interior of the cell case. And it needs to be available to whichever layer needs it, in other words, able to contact any of the layers that might need it. Put the cell on the flat side, only the lower layers in the stack can potentially contact any free electrolyte. That means some layers may become electrolyte-starved!
The electrolyte is pretty expensive, and the manufacturer doesn’t want to use any more than necessary to make the battery cell functional. Otherwise, perhaps there would be more.
If you lay the batteries on their LONG (or shall we call it wide?) flat side, it is absolutely possible for some higher layers inside the case to become Electrolyte Starved over time. It’s simply not worth the risk. We cannot monitor inside of the cell casing to determine what is happening.
Anyone who claims otherwise is welcome to take risks, but with a $10,000+ battery bank – I don’t gamble.
Electrolyte starvation can in fact potentially happen, and it would affect the capacity and performance of the cells.
Correct Orientations
The correct orientations are:
RIGHT SIDE UP (always use this if you can)
LAYING ON THE NARROW side 90 degrees to the orientation of the internal layered structure, ONLY IF YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE NO OTHER OPTION.
As tempting as it is, one should not store or install the cell laying on the widest side, as this places the internal layers in a vertical stack, and so if they need to wick up electrolyte only the layers on the bottom would have access to do so. Neither should LFP cells be stored in any orientation but right-side-up.
Keep in mind not all LiFePo4 prismatics may have the same internal structure, confirmation from the manufacturer might be necessary. Many of them don’t supply internal drawings, so if you are engineering a project and are not sure, contact the manfucturer and ask for assistance.
Potential venting of toxic electrolyte
Furthermore, the safety vents on the batteries should be in a vertical orientation at all times no matter what. LFP cells are very safe when properly handled and operated, but those vents are there for extreme cases and and any pressure relief needed. You don’t want to have anything interfering with their operation. Also, if the cells vent sideways, there is a high risk of electrolyte spraying out – since it is toxic, this is to be avoided at all costs. And if the cell is mounted upside down – and it vents – well I’m sure you get the picture!
In future articles I will address the fact that 99% of people have been operating LiFePO4 battery cells incorrectly, slowly damaging them, and shortening their life. Hey that’s no problem if the goal is to sell more batteries, but it’s a big problem for the average person. It is a fact that the big channels and “influencers” push wrong information about batteries and they are in part responsible for many battery fires, explosions and prematurely failed packs. Their concerns align more with “influencing” the public, gaining views, presenting themselves as experts and making affiliate sales commissions off of their followers – versus a free-will effort to help and inform the public, teach them to think for themselves, and arm them with the correct information. Anotherwords, acting like a true human being and treating others the same. If only humans were treated a little better on the internet these days…
I will further cover concerns about LiFePO4 battery care and use in future blog posts and/or videos on my YT channel (linked at the top of this blog). I hope this article helps someone!
Thanks for reading! -Dave, SPE
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