Iota IQ-LIFEPO Lithium-Iron Batteries Automatic Charge Controller for DLS Charger

Working as described

Definitely a must to elevate your converter/charger to charge lithium batteries. If it had a battery monitor with it it would be even better.

11/24:I’ve upgraded to an Eg4-LL 12/400 which has an absorb setpoint of 14-14.2v which conveniently is exactly what the DLS series chargers revert to if there is no controller module plugged in (at least the DLS45 and DLS55 ones do). If the battery is demanding it the charger will produce nameplate power at ~14v and as the current tapers off so does the voltage. This does not affect me at all, I’m using this only on generator for bad solar days and that’s about the point where I shut it off anyway.Original:This controller drives your DLS charger to 14.7v, holds that for 15 minutes and then drops to 13.6v float.It will hold float for 15 days if not unplugged or if the battery stays above 12.8v. It will also go to float if the absorb setpoint is not reached within 240 minutes.I used this on a single SOK 12/200ah 12v battery, and later on a pair of them, and although the battery is spec’d at 14.6v I feel 14.7v is not too much especially given how rarely the charger is needed and the fact that I never need to let it run THAT long anyhow. I’ve used this controller with a DLS-45 and a DLS-55 and both ran exactly as I expected.I am fully offgrid and the Iota charger is only for our long periods of bad winter weather when solar can’t hack it. I drive the DLS with a 20+ year old Honda eu2000 generator and a 50ft 12ga extension cord.

Your LIFEPO4 batteries probably required being charged at 14.6 volts or less, but most people use these little adapters while charging their battery bank with a Generator. I always just stop charging at about 14.5 volts and they are over 95% charged at that point anyway. I noticed with this adapter that the AC to DC conversion is about 95% efficient, which I am more than satisfied with.

Recently, I changed the batteries in my stand-by power bank from lead acid to LiFePo4.This device permitted me to reuse my existing Iota DLS chargers with the new batteries, saving money and the trouble of rewiring the charging circuit.

This is a terrible product, and I don't recommend anyone using it on a LiFePO4 battery. The voltage it could run up to is way too high, but on the flip side it might cut out early because the voltage it sees is sensed internal to the power supply, before fuses, before cabling, etc. As a result, at high output current any voltage drop across those components will be observed as high voltage by the LIFEPO4. Maybe that's why the voltage triggers on it are so high, but if it actually DOES run up to 14.7V, that's just too high for a LIFEPO4 battery, at least, for my preference.Frankly, the float voltage of my DLS at 13.6-13.7V was really just fine (AND THAT'S WHAT THE IQ4-LIFEPO floats at ANYWAY). It's high enough to allow my BMS to balance, and not so high that it will damage the lifepo cells if left on for a while. It's also well above the resting voltage of the cells, so that it will charge to full charge, and really not that much slower than they would if the voltage is pulled higher for the last few minutes of charge. What I'm saying here is, you're almost certainly better off with nothing at all than using this half-baked product.

I bought the IOTA DLS-45 charger for charging my LifePO4 batteries. This additional module takes all of the guess work out of super accurate charge voltages. The module is optimized for taking over the charging process specifically for LifePO4 batteries.Simply plug this module into the chargers port, and it tests the batteries state, sets the charging voltage for the two step charging stages. It has a LED indicator light that lets you know what stage the charger is in, and when it is done.This module is a must in my opinion, and it does a great job keeping my batteries running at optimal performance. This module with the charger will also ensure a very long life for my batteries. It is a super value for what it does and for it price. It gets 5 stars from me.

My hat is off to the folks at Iota for making this retrofit item. I had recently purchased some Lifepo4 batteries, and remembered I had an older DLS-55 Iota power supply/charger. This product saved me from having to buy a new charger. All you have to do is plug it in and mount it with two screws, and it controls the DLS for proper charging of Lifepo4 batteries. Want to charge standard lead acid or sealed lead acid batteries? Just unplug the unit, and it's a standard charger again. Couldn't be happier!