Battle Born Batteries are very safe, and one feature that helps protect people and their batteries is Low-Voltage Disconnect (LVD). This safety feature prevents you from completely depleting your lithium battery and destroying it. But if you don’t know your lithium battery has LVD protection, you might think your battery is dead. So, let’s talk about Low-Voltage Disconnect and what you can do to “wake up” your battery so you can get out there and stay out there longer.
We got a request to talk about Low-Voltage Disconnect from one of our brand partners: professional angler Matt Shura. His friends love running our 50Ah 12V batteries in their boats all day on the water, but by the time they get back on dry land, their batteries are drained and go into Low-Voltage Disconnect (LVD) mode.
Low-Voltage Disconnect is a feature of our internal Battery Management System (BMS), which comes inside all Battle Born batteries and has lots of other safety features programmed into it to protect your investment and preserve the life of your battery. When fully depleting a Battle Born battery, the BMS detects when the battery’s voltage falls below 10V, and it will disconnect the battery. This prevents any charge from leaving the battery to protect it from damage. Many people will think their Battle Born battery is dead, but it’s just in LVD and not sending out a charge.
When a battery enters Low-Voltage Disconnect, it needs to be jumped with another 12V source to “wake up” the battery. It’s important to jump the battery within 5 days of the battery going into LVD mode to preserve its lifespan. Leaving the battery at a 0% charge for too long can damage the battery and void your warranty.
Fully depleting any battery can ruin it. That is why our internal BMS is so essential to protect your battery. Many people who buy lithium batteries that don’t have an internal BMS usually buy an external one to monitor them. Lead-acid batteries often lack this protection and are vulnerable to complete ruination.
Many chargers must detect a voltage of more than 5V coming from the battery to charge it, but many chargers are different, so be sure to check their user manuals for charging requirements. But in Low-Voltage Disconnect, a voltmeter will only read 0-5V from the battery because the BMS has disconnected it. So, sometimes you have to jump the battery before charging it, depending on the charger.
The most low-tech method to getting a battery out of Low-Voltage Disconnect is to jump it with another 12V source. Just connect your Battle Born battery to a starting battery from a boat or car, and jump like you would a car battery, leaving them connected for a few minutes and up to an hour. This should wake up the Battle Born battery, and if you have a voltmeter, you should be able to read a voltage above 10V coming from the battery. Then you can charge it normally.
There are a few products that can make waking up your battery easier. The best choices include using a lithium jumper pack or a Victron Blue Smart IP65 Charger. Jumpstarters are portable packs used to jump car batteries and are a great way to wake up a Battle Born battery in Low-Voltage Disconnect.
Victron is a brand that we often recommend and sell in our online store. The IP65 and IP67 Chargers have a program that recovers deeply cycled batteries. They also connect to smartphones to give you extra control when charging your batteries. You can learn more about the Victron Blue Smart Chargers and how they work on Victron’s website.
Low-Voltage Disconnect is a critical protection for your Battle Born batteries, and understanding it can save you a bit of head-scratching and a lot of money. If your batteries are going into LVD often, it may be a sign you should expand your battery system. If you have a Battle Born 50Ah 12V LiFePO4 battery, our 100Ah 12V battery is a great upgrade. Or you can buy another 50Ah battery and connect it in series or parallel, depending on your needs.
Have a specific question? Our Reno, Nevada-based sales and customer service team is happy to answer questions and help you build your system. Call them at (775) 622-3448.
Also, join us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to learn more about how lithium battery systems can power your lifestyle, see how others have built their systems, and gain the confidence to get out there and stay out there.
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25 thoughts on “All About Low-Voltage Disconnect”
If you have 2 100ah batteries can one go into LVD or will the other one wake it up?
Hi Jim, great question! We advise that you only wake the other battery out of LVD with the other battery only if it is over 12 volts. If it doesn’t wake up then, you will need a more powerful jump, like with a car battery with the engine started. If you have any additional tech questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out and give our team a ring at 855-292-2831.
At what voltage does the LVD disconnect ? Is it suitable to use on the discharge side of two AGM house batteries, say, between the house batteries and the control box to ensure the house batteries don’t get below 50% ie 12.06 volts
Hi Brian, thanks for reaching out! The Battery BMS LVD will shut off the discharge at 10.0v. Our team also recommends that you do not put our batteries in parallel with any other battery type. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to give our sales and tech team a call at 855-292-2831.
I have a fully charged battery, but during high-power usage, it triggers a low-voltage disconnect. But the battery is still fully charged, how to fix this problem? Buy more batteries and connect them in parallel?
Hi Stanly. You are likely not experiencing low voltage disconnect, but the BMS shutting the battery down to protect it. Depending on exactly how you are utilizing your battery, will determine the solution to this issue. Please contact our technical sales team for specific troubleshooting at (855) 292-2831 (M-F 8:00am-4:30pm (PDT)).
Will a solar charger wake up the batery from lvd. (I have 4 in series with midnite solar charge controler)
Hi Austin, our team suggests using another 12V source for about 5 to 10 minutes to get the battery out of low voltage disconnect. This process is similar to jumping a dead car battery and will “awaken” the battery. After the battery receives a charge in this way, it should register above 10V and will be able to accept a charge from a normal charger. If you need any assistance with the troubleshooting process, our team can walk you through the steps at 855-292-2831.
I can answer this one, as I just experienced this. My solar charger (GoPower) does not operate with out at least some voltage detected from the battery, so in my case, no solar was of no help until I jumped it with a portable car jumper box. My entire coach had no power for about a week (even though plugged in to 30amp service) due to me trying to figure out this little hick-up. Just got it back up and running thank fully it was an easy fix, just took a while to figure it out.
Hey guys, I have 3 100amp/hr batteries in my trailer and I need to jump start them. The most positive battery is loaded up with various cordage to the DC/inverter/cerbo etc. to jump the battery I would assume I need to unhook all connectors and put the cables directly on the most positive / negative of the battery?
Would I keep the large 4/0 cable that connects the various batteries connected?
Do I jump just one battery or do I have to jump each one?
Thanks!
Hi Andrew! Thanks for your questions and I apologize for the delay in getting back to you. It would be best to either utilize a disconnect switch or remove the cables from the battery bank when jump starting. You would only need to jump the batteries that have gone into this mode. If you need any additional information, please give our technical sales team a call at 855-292-2831 or send an email to [email protected].
So to wake up your 24vdc battery does require 20vdc? I have never and plan not to ever go into a disconnect state but…Thanks
Hi Richard, we note that in order to get a battery out of low voltage disconnect mode, simply take the battery out of the system, connect it to another 12V source for about 5 to 10 minutes. This process is similar to jumping a dead car battery and will “awaken” the battery. After the battery receives a charge in this way, it should register above 10V and will be able to accept a charge from your normal charger. You can refer to this blog on troubleshooting for any additional tips and tricks: https://battlebornbatteries.com/faq-9-troubleshoot-batteries/
Thank you for reaching out and please let us know if there’s anything else you need!
If I plug my inverter into shore power will that wake up my batteries?
Hi Amy, great question! When the battery enters LVD, it requires a direct 12v source to wake it back up. This can be from an appropriate charger or another 12v battery. The trouble with a lot of chargers or inverter/chargers is that they require a particular voltage to begin charging. When the Battle Born is in LVD, the voltage on the battery terminals may only be 2 or 3 volts so the charger doesn’t even recognize that the battery exists.
If your charger continues to say Low Battery and doesn’t charge the batteries when you plug into shore power, you may need to use a different 12v source to wake the batteries back up. Having a low voltage protection device in your system for your 12v (our team suggests a BGA or Battery Protect), and setting the Low Voltage Cutout on your inverter can help you to not run into this situation.
Please let us know if you have any additional questions and we would be more than happy to assist with the troubleshooting process.
Low Voltage Disconnect is designed to protect the battery, but hitting it is still outside the normal range?
How many times can I accidentally hit it before losing say a year of battery life? I’ve hit it 3 times this year, and I feel bad for it each time.
The worst was this morning, when it was charging by solar and I was getting cabin lights flashing and my diesel heater going crazy by the endless battle of power vs drain.
Hi Neil, good question! There is no lasting effect to the battery if it goes into LVD, the LVD protection is implemented to make sure the battery is not too discharged too far and creating damage. Please let us know if you have any additional questions!
I have two battle born 12v 100ah batteries in series. I just received the batteries and hooked them up to my Grape Solar 12/24vdc 40 amp charge controller with 600 watt solar array. Ive set my settings on the charge controller to the recommended settings per battle borns youtube channel x2 based off the 24v system but my voltage never gets above 26.3 is this normal? I had lead acid batteries on the system that would charge to 28vdc. I have plenty of solar coming in… Not sure whats going on
Hi Luis, please give our team a call at 855-292-2831 so we can troubleshoot and figure out what’s going on with that 26.3 voltage. Thank you and I apologize for the delay in getting back to you.
Under higher loads I’m seeing that the voltage seen at the shunt drops. I’m also experiencing issues consistently starting the generator at lower battery charges. Given that the battery is naturally at a lower voltage at lower levels of charge, could that temporary voltage drop be triggering LVD? The lower-charge battery might be running at 11 volts, but when the higher-amp load kicks in the voltage drops below 10 and LVD shuts the battery down?
Hi Luis,
Is there a charge current limit when the battery wakes up?
Victron’s Blue Smart Charger recovery “will attempt to recharge a fully discharged battery with low current and resume normal charging once sufficient voltage has developed across the battery terminals.”
It seems like connecting a battery with a higher SOC could cause an over-current condition.
Would the BMS limit the charge current when another battery is connected or there is a charger with a higher output current connected when waking up the battery from LVD?
Does it matter that in the event a car lead acid battery is used to jump the liFePO4 battery.
Another 12V source, such as a car starting battery will wake up your LiFePO4 battery.
If my battle born battery is reading 0.000Volts does that mean it’s dead, dead?
I tried jumping it with a small portable lithium jump pack, and that didn’t work, I’d understand if it’s just not enough amps to get the BMS out of sleep mode. Should I try using jumper cables hooked up to a vehicle?
Hi! Our technical sales team would be happy to assist you in troubleshooting. You can reach them at (855) 292-2831 (M-F 8:00am – 4:30pm (PST)).