{"id":18124,"date":"2019-10-07T15:09:14","date_gmt":"2019-10-07T13:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/?p=18124"},"modified":"2025-06-11T13:53:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T11:53:10","slug":"careful-alternator-charging-lithium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/2019\/10\/07\/careful-alternator-charging-lithium\/","title":{"rendered":"Careful – Alternator Charging Lithium"},"content":{"rendered":"

Charging lithium batteries from an alternator, be that in a boat or vehicle, presents some challenges when compared to the straightforward nature of charging lead based batteries.<\/p>\n

The video in this blog highlights these lithium challenges and shows you what can happen when things go wrong – namely alternator overheating, smoke and an expensive alternator replacement, not to mention the risk of a battery thermal event.<\/p>\n

Challenges when charging lithium with an alternator<\/h3>\n

The two key issues demonstrated in the video are:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Alternator overheating<\/li>\n
  2. Alternator rectifier diodes failing because of over voltage after disconnect by a BMS<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Test rig<\/h3>\n
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    The test rig in the video is by Victron Energy dealer, ATI Energy, Bucharest.<\/p><\/div>\n

    Lithium charging video<\/h3>\n

    In this video, by Jonathan Cecil of Journey with Jono, we put both a traditional and a regulated alternator through their paces.<\/p>\n

    Using different RPM, we charge a 300Ah lithium battery and test the results.<\/p>\n\n\n