What Charger Do I Need for a Lithium Battery?
Answer
What charger do I need for a lithium battery?
The short answer
A lithium compatible charger at the same voltage as the pack. Lithium Battery Power recommends its own LBP smart chargers, and a multi-bank charger will charge several batteries at once. If an inverter charger is doing the work, its bulk, absorb and float voltages have to match the lithium profile the company publishes.
Why is the old charger the usual problem?
A lead acid charger finishes with a float stage that holds the battery at a trickle. A lithium pack does not want that, and a charger running a lead acid profile either stops short of full or holds the pack at the wrong voltage. The battery management system protects the cells either way, but the bank never delivers what it was bought for.
So the first question when a lithium pack goes in is not whether the old charger fits the terminals. It is whether it has a lithium profile.
What does the company recommend?
Its own LBP smart chargers, at the voltage matching the battery, which the company describes as rugged and backs with a one year manufacturer’s warranty. For more than one battery, a multi-bank charger charges all of them at once, whatever the configuration.
Every LBP battery has a built-in BMS that prevents overcharge, so a compatible charger and the pack look after each other.
What about inverter chargers?
Most RVs, trailers, motorhomes and solar systems now charge through an inverter charger with a built-in transfer switch to shore power or a generator, and most of those can be programmed. The company’s guidance is to set the charging voltage to the battery’s designated voltage for the setup, and it publishes the profile for a 12V pack:
| Stage | Voltage |
|---|---|
| Bulk | 14.4V |
| Absorb | 14.6V |
| Float | 13.6V |
If the inverter has no custom setting, the company says to choose the profile closest to those figures without going over 15V. Check the manual, or call and the team will walk through it.
What about solar charge controllers?
The same rule. An LBP battery works with a solar charger in most cases, provided the controller is lithium compatible. The solar page covers sizing a bank once the controller is right.
How do I charge a bank?
Up to four LBP batteries can be linked in series or parallel. Two 12V batteries in series are a 24V bank and want a 24V charger; two in parallel are still 12V with double the amp hours. A multi-bank charger handles several at once. Call before wiring, because the charger has to agree with the bank.
How long does a charge take?
It depends on the charger’s type and capacity and the size of the pack, in the company’s words. What lithium changes is that it takes a charge faster than lead acid, and the Bluetooth packs show the charge arriving on the battery apps.
Who builds it?
Lithium Battery Power, in Clearwater, Florida. Call 727-223-9831 with the pack and the charger you have, or the inverter model, and the team will confirm compatibility or recommend a charger.
Questions we get asked
Can I charge a lithium battery with an alternator?
Ask the company about the vehicle and the pack. Alternator charging depends on the alternator, the cable run and whether a DC to DC charger sits between them.
My battery will not take a charge. Is it dead?
Possibly in protection mode: the BMS shuts the pack off on a short, a temperature problem or deep discharge, and it recovers when charging resumes on a compatible charger. If it does not, call.
Can I use the charger that came with my trolling motor?
Only if it is lithium compatible at the pack’s voltage. Many onboard marine chargers have a lithium setting; check for it before relying on it. The 36V trolling motor page covers the pack side.
Where next?
The main lithium battery guide covers what a BMS does and how packs are linked.
Talk to someone who builds these
LBP builds custom packs as well as shipping standard sizes, and the team will size a bank to the boat, the cart or the rig before anything is bought.
Contact the teamCall 727-223-9831
Keep reading
- Choosing a lithium battery, without guessingHow to pick a lithium battery by voltage, amp hours and application, what a BMS actually does, how charging differs from lead acid, and where the limits are.
- Sizing a lithium battery for a trolling motorHow to match voltage and amp hours to a 12V, 24V or 36V trolling motor, what decides a full day on the water, and how lithium changes the sizing maths.
- All guidesEvery guide on lithiumbatterypower.com in one place.
Last reviewed 2026-10-02Lithium Battery Power