LiTime (Ampere Time) 12V 100Ah Lithium Iron Phosphate LiFePO4 Deep Cycle Battery
LiTime (formerly known as Ampere Time) 12V 100Ah Lithium Iron Phosphate LiFePO4 battery is a deep cycle battery intended for marine, light industrial, automotive, off-the-grid, and other similar applications.
Thanks to its ultra-light and compact design, the LiTime (Ampere Time) 12V 100Ah LiFePO4 battery is one of the most popular batteries for use as a trolling motor battery, inverter battery, solar battery, RV battery, and similar. But, like any other LiFePO4 battery, it has to be recharged using dedicated 12V lithium battery chargers or chargers with dedicated 12V lithium battery charging mode.
Updated: February 9, 2023.
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LiTime (Ampere Time) 12V 100Ah Lithium Iron Phosphate LiFePO4 Features and Specifications
LiTime (Ampere Time) 12V 100Ah LiFePO4 deep cycle battery features physical dimensions of (L x W x H) 13 x 6.82 x 8.48 inches (~33 x 17.3 x 21.5 cm) and belongs to the BCI Group 31.
Note: battery height with its M8 battery terminals is 9.3 inches (~23.6 cm).
The battery is much lighter than the typical group 31 battery - it weighs just 24.25 pounds (~11 kg) and ensures great weight savings when lead-acid deep cycle batteries are replaced with the battery pack based on this or similar but larger Ampere Time batteries.
LiTime (Ampere Time) 12V 100Ah lithium battery is based on four 3.2V prismatic LiFePO4 cells, monitored and controlled by the built-in Battery Management System (BMS), which protects the battery from overcharge, over-discharge, over-current, and short circuit.
The nominal voltage of the battery is 12.8V, with a maximum charging voltage of 14.6V and a minimum voltage of ~10V.
Note: when the discharge current is kept at ~0.1C (~10 Amps), the output voltage is at least 12.8V for ~95% of the discharge time, leading to excellent energy efficiency. Even when the discharge current is increased to 1.0C, energy efficiency is much better than the energy efficiency of similar lead-acid batteries.
The charging temperature range is between 0°C and 50°C while discharging temperature range is between -20°C and 60°C.
LiTime (Ampere Time) 12V 100Ah lithium battery supports 4000+ charging/discharging cycles - the number of charging and discharging cycles also depends on the battery use, age, average temperature, and similar.
The expected lifetime of the battery is up to 10 years, while the battery itself comes with a very nice 5-year limited warranty.
The maximum continuous discharging current is 100 Amps, with 280 Amps being allowed for 5 seconds. Although such currents are enough even for starting smaller internal combustion engines, such use is not recommended - this is a very finely tuned deep-cycle battery and, as such, should be used.
The maximum continuous charging current is 100 Amps, allowing the user to recharge the battery quickly.
Personally, to prolong the battery life, the maximum charging current should be kept in the 20-30 Amps range - this prolongs the charging time but also decreases the load on the battery.
The built-in BMS also allows the LiTime (Ampere Time) 12V 100Ah lithium battery to be connected in parallel and series - up to 4 batteries may be connected in series (voltage up to 48V - actually up to 51.2V), and up to 4 batteries may be connected in parallel (capacity up to 400Ah).
Note: when connecting the batteries in series and/or parallel, always use exactly the same battery model from the same manufacturer, preferably from the same batch in order to avoid any imbalances and other issues with a newly formed battery pack.
How to Charge the LiTime (Ampere Time) 12V 100Ah Lithium Battery
As said before, the LiTime (Ampere Time) 12V 100Ah lithium battery supports a maximum charging current of 100 Amps. But, to prolong the battery lifetime, a charging current in 20-50 Amps may be used.
LiTime (Ampere Time) offers a dedicated 12V 20Amps lithium battery charger, optimized for charging deep cycle 12V LiFePO4 batteries.
LiTime (Ampere Time) 12V 20Ah LiFePO4 battery charger features an input voltage of 100-240 volts and is a dedicated lithium battery charger - it can't be used to charge lead-acid batteries.
It features a Constant Current/Constant Voltage (CC/CV) charging algorithm with a maximum charging voltage of 14.6V (±0.2V) and several safety features to protect the battery and the charger itself, including over-temperature protection, reverse polarity protection, over-voltage protection, and short-circuit protection.
When charging 12V 100Ah lithium battery, for example, from 80% DoD to 20% DoD, this battery charger requires some 3-3.5h. When the battery is completely discharged and must be completely recharged, this battery charger requires some 5.5-6h to complete the task.
For more information about this charger, feel free to check the LiTime (Ampere Time) 12V 20Ah LiFePO4 Battery Charger Amazon link (link opens in the new window).
However, if charging time is important, stronger charging currents can be used, with charging currents up to 50 Amps, since the manufacturer claims that charging currents of up to 100 Amps are allowed.
There are several suitable 25-50 Amps battery chargers on the market. However, NOCO Genius Pro 25 and NOCO Genius Pro 50 are highly recommended.
Both battery chargers support the charging and repairing of the 6V, 12V, and 24V batteries, including wet/flooded, Gel-Cell, and AGM lead-acid batteries and of course, lithium batteries.
Also, both units support charging smaller batteries with weaker currents (NOCO Genius Pro 25: down to 5A, NOCO Genius Pro 50: down to 10A), come with a set of safety features, both are able to detect deeply discharged batteries, etc.
As such, these chargers are not cheap, but neither are the batteries they are intended to charge.
For more information about these battery chargers, feel free to check the NOCO Genius Pro 25 and NOCO Genius Pro 50 Amazon links (links open in the new window).
LiTime (Ampere Time) 12V 100Ah Lithium Battery As Inverter Battery
With its nominal voltage of 12.8V and 100 Amps continuous discharge current (and 280A for 5 seconds!), the LiTime (Ampere Time) 12V 100Ah lithium battery can be used as an excellent inverter battery.
For example, when a 1000W inverter with 85% efficiency is connected to the battery, the inverter draws ~1180 watts from the battery, which should not be a problem for a new, fully charged Ampere Time 12V 100Ah lithium battery for at least one hour.
Also, thanks to the 280A/5s pulse current, the battery can provide enough energy for power surges up to 3000+ watts.
So, if You have a power inverter with a maximum output power of 1000W and surge output power up to 3000W, consider Ampere Time 12V 100Ah lithium battery as your next inverter battery.
LiTime (Ampere Time) 12V 100Ah Lithium Battery As Trolling Motor Battery
LiTime (Ampere Time) 12V 100Ah battery is often used as a lightweight trolling motor battery, either to power 12V trolling motors or connected in parallel and/or series to create battery packs with larger capacity and/or higher voltage.
With a typical 55 lbs trolling motor requiring up to 50 Amps continuously and up to 25-30 Amps at half throttle, LiTime (Ampere Time) 12V 100Ah battery can power such motor for:
- up to 2 hours at full throttle,
- up to 3-4 hours at half throttle.
Note: If You are using your electric trolling motor at full throttle most of the time, your trolling motor is seriously underpowered and must be replaced with a stronger unit for many reasons, additional safety being just one of them.
Long Story Short: LiTime (Ampere Time) 12V 100Ah lithium battery is a very popular BCI Group 31 LiFePO4 battery - it is a versatile battery that can withstand a large number of charging/discharging cycles and can provide a relatively strong current.
Also, it supports 4P4S connections (up to 4 batteries in parallel, up to 4 in series) for making larger battery packs.
As such, this battery is the preferred choice for applications where an ultralight battery that cycles well is required - trolling motor battery, RV house battery, inverter battery, solar battery, electric vehicles, off-the-grid applications, etc.
For more reviews and recommendations, feel free to check the LiTime (Ampere Time) 12V 100Ah Lithium Battery Amazon link (the link opens in the new window).