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I have a Stanley PPRH7DS battery charger that came originally with a 12 V, 19 Ah lead-acid battery. This battery has since given up the ghost and I am looking to replace it.

Last summer I constructed a battery box with 4 LiFePO4 batteries within it for the use with a trolling motor and other electrics on a small boat of mine and the idea occurred to me to swap out that lead-acid battery in the battery charger with a LiFePO4.

Some research seems to indicate that a Lithium-titanate battery would be better suited than LiFePO4 if I was doing this exchange for a vehicle, so I am curious if that would also apply in the case of the Stanley battery charger.

As I understand it, the Stanley battery charger and others like it "bleed" off a charge fairly quickly and need to be recharged every few months anyway, but I am not sure if that is due to the nature of the charger's design or because there is a lead-acid battery within. I bring this up because LiFePO4 do not like to be fully charged and sitting unused for long periods.

Any insight/clarification on this subject would be greatly appreciated.

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    \$\begingroup\$ What charger measurements have you taken? Cell voltage Minimum discharge voltage = 2.5 V Working voltage = 3.0 ~ 3.2 V Maximum charge voltage = 3.65 V \$\endgroup\$
    – D.A.S.
    Commented Jan 23, 2022 at 18:43

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I must preface this response by saying that I am NOT an expert in this field.

From everything that I have read and confirmed by own measurements, you can safely replace a standard 12 V lead-acid (6 cells) with a 4-cell LiFePO4 battery.

I am hoping that someone more competent than myself can elaborate on this topic.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ was that for SLA or flooded cell? \$\endgroup\$
    – D.A.S.
    Commented Jan 23, 2022 at 18:45
  • \$\begingroup\$ Flooded cell battery. However, the charging requirements for SLA are so similar that I don't see a problem with substituting a 4-cell LiFePo4 battery for a 6-cell SLA. \$\endgroup\$
    – Dwayne Reid
    Commented Jan 23, 2022 at 19:04
  • \$\begingroup\$ SLA's have a temperature compensation curve for charging \$\endgroup\$
    – D.A.S.
    Commented Jan 23, 2022 at 19:05
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    \$\begingroup\$ Close, but you want to cut off charge current completely where the lead acid charger would switch into float mode. \$\endgroup\$
    – user16324
    Commented Jan 23, 2022 at 19:55

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