CHINS LAF48100 48V 100Ah LiFePO4 Smart Bluetooth Battery
CHINS LAF48100 48V 100Ah battery is a large, powerful, and surprisingly lightweight Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) deep cycle battery intended for high-power applications that require a robust and reliable high-energy battery.
CHINS LAF48100 battery comes with a smart, Bluetooth-enabled Battery Management System, which protects the battery from unwanted events and enables direct communication with a smartphone via CHINS App.
Published: June 26, 2023.
CHINS LAF48100 48V 100Ah Battery Features and Specifications
CHINS LAF48100 battery is based on Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) chemistry and features a nominal voltage of 51.2V and a nominal capacity of 100Ah (0.2C, 5120Wh).
The physical dimensions of the battery are 20.47 x 10.59 x 8.66 inches (~52 x 26.9 x 22 cm), and it weighs ~87 pounds (~39.4 kg) - the battery also features a pair of handles, allowing TWO adults to carry it to shorter distances.
Due to its dimensions, the battery belongs to the 8D Battery Group.
The battery also features a pair of M8 battery terminals, ensuring a firm connection with battery wires.
Also, the battery comes with a smart Battery Management System (BMS), ensuring Bluetooth communication up to 5-10 meters (depending on the obstacles) and protecting the battery from overcharge, over-discharge, over-current, and short circuits.
To protect the battery further, the battery's temperature limits are:
- Charge: 32°F to 122°F (0°C to 50°C),
- Discharge: -4°F to 140°F (-20°C to 60°C),
- Storage: 14°F to 95°F (-10°C to 35°C).
As a Lithium Iron Phosphate battery, CHINS LAF48100 48V 100Ah battery supports at least 2000 charging/discharging cycles down to 80% DoD, with 100% DoD charging/discharging cycles being allowed with no (significant) adverse effects on the battery longevity.
Also, the battery is able to provide 100 Amps continuously, with a peak discharge current of 300 Amps for up to 3 seconds.
Note: when the CHINS LAF48100 48V 100Ah battery is used as trolling motor battery, it is recommended that the maximum discharge current is 50 Amps or less. Personally, this is an unusual limitation and probably has something to do with BMS design and how it handles electric motors as load. Also, we often recommend users not stress their lithium batteries with more than 0.5C discharge currents, so maybe the CHINS company is just being honest about their product - no marketing exaggerations when promoting their product.
For users that consider connecting CHINS LAF48100 48V 100Ah battery in series and/or parallel - series connections are not supported, and connections in parallel up to 4 batteries are supported (up to 400Ah), if the batteries are of the same type/capacity/brand and the batteries are within six months of age.
Note: if You plan on connecting CHINS LAF48100 48V 100Ah batteries in parallel, get exactly the same batteries at once, preferably from the same batch, and connect them as recommended by their manufacturer. Never, but really never mix old batteries, batteries of different capacities, chemistry, model, or brand.
The maximum continuous charge current is 50 Amps, with 30 Amps being recommended. Maximum charging current should be between 56.8V and 57.6V - the battery should be charged with a lithium battery charger.
Obviously, the CHINS LAF48100 48V 100Ah battery is an excellent deep cycle battery that should be used as such, and not as starting battery, not even for very small gasoline engines.
How To Charge CHINS LAF48100 48V 100Ah Battery
As previously said, CHINS LAF48100 48V 100Ah battery supports:
- maximum continuous charging current: 50 Amps,
- recommended continuous charging current: 30 Amps.
Also, the battery must be recharged using dedicated lithium battery chargers or advanced battery chargers that feature a dedicated lithium battery charging mode.
There are several suitable battery chargers on the market, one of them being the NOCO Genius GX4820 48-Volt 20 Amp Smart Onboard Battery Charger, which supports charging of various lead-acid (AGM, Flooded, Gel, Deep-Cycle, etc.) and lithium batteries.
Also, it can repair damaged and sulfated lead-acid batteries and can even be used as a power supply.
To increase safety, the NOCO Genius GX4820 battery charger also comes with its own set of safety features, including overcharge protection, spark protection, and reverse polarity protection. Also, it features an IP67 rating, with most lithium batteries featuring IP56 or similar ratings.
NOCO Genius GX4820 battery charger features 92% energy efficiency, which is an excellent result for such a unit.
Obviously, this is not a cheap battery charger, but neither are the batteries this charger is intended to charge - after all, if the CHINS LAF48100 48V 100Ah battery is discharged down to 80% DoD, NOCO Genius GX4820 battery charger will recharge the battery in ~4 hours, without overstressing the battery with strong charging current.
Note: If You are looking for a dedicated lithium battery charger, the NOCO Genius GX4820 battery charger is perhaps overkill, so please, before getting a battery charger for CHINS LAF481000 48V 100Ah, do your own due diligence. Also, the maximum recommended charging voltage for the CHINS LAW48100 battery is 57.6V, and the NOCO Genius GX4820 battery charger features a maximum charging voltage for lithium batteries of 58.4V - this is just 0.8V (0.05V per cell) difference, but it must be noted.
NOCO Genius GX4820 battery charger features a long list of additional accessories that should be separately purchased to adapt the charger for different situations GCP AC Port Plugs, Anderson SB Connectors, Club Car 3-Pin Round Plug Connector, EZ-GO 3-Pin Triangle Plug Connector, EZ-GO Powerwise D-Plug Connector, Yamaha 2-Pin Plug Connector, AC Cables for United States, United Kingdom, European Union, and Australia, etc. Also, it accepts input voltages between 100 and 240 volts.
For more reviews and recommendations, feel free to check the NOCO Genius GX4820 48-Volt 20 Amp Smart Onboard Battery Charger Amazon link (the link opens in the new window).
Long Story Short: CHINS LAF48100 48V 100Ah (@0.2C) battery is a lightweight deep cycle battery that supports a large number of charging/discharging cycles and can provide 100 Amps continuously and 300 Amps for up to 3 seconds.
Also, it may accept up to 50 Amps continuously, with up to 30 Amps continuously being recommended.
Since it is a Lithium Iron Phosphate battery, it doesn't suffer from a strong self-discharge rate and a strong capacity loss as the discharge currents approach 1C.
As the manufacturer recommends, do not run trolling motors stronger than 50 Amps using just one battery - fortunately, the battery supports connecting up to 4 batteries in parallel for a maximum capacity of 400 Ah.
Personally, due to such limitations, do not use a single battery to power electric vehicles with motors stronger than 2400-2500W and power inverters stronger than 4000-4500W.
For more reviews and recommendations, feel free to check the CHINS LAF48100 48V 100Ah LiFePO4 Smart Bluetooth Battery Amazon link (link opens in the new window).