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Troubleshooting guide

Low-voltage recovery

When an Epoch battery runs low, its battery management system (BMS) switches it off to protect the cells. This is low-voltage protection. The battery can read 0 volts at its terminals while its cells still hold energy, so a zero reading doesn’t mean it’s dead. Most batteries recover once they take a charge.

Stop, and call us before you charge, if:

  • The battery is hot, swollen, cracked or leaking.
  • There’s smoke, or a burning or chemical smell.
  • It has been dropped, crushed or under water.
  • It has sat flat for weeks or months, or you don’t know how long.
  • Any cell reads below 2.5 V (2500 mV) in the battery’s app.

Call 1-888-501-1846, Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 4 PM Eastern. A battery like this needs a recovery our team walks you through, and trying other chargers or power sources can make it worse.

Have handy

  • A multimeter that reads DC volts.
  • A LiFePO4 charger set for your battery’s voltage. If the battery reads near 0 V, it needs a charger with a wake-up (activation) function: a “lithium” label alone doesn’t mean a charger has one.
  • The battery’s app, if it has Bluetooth.
  • The model and serial number from the battery’s label.

Recover the battery

  1. Step 1: Take every load off

    Turn the inverter fully off, and switch off or disconnect everything the battery powers, including small standby loads: detectors, stereos, USB ports, battery monitors, control modules, heaters and alarms. Turn chargers off for now too.

    Check fuses and breakers while you’re there: a blown fuse can look just like a battery that shut off.

  2. Step 2: Measure at the battery’s terminals

    Set your multimeter to DC volts and touch the probes to the battery’s own terminals: red to +, black to −. A reading under 3.0 V a cell, or near 0 V, means the battery is in low-voltage protection or close to it:

    BatteryLow if it reads under
    12V12 V
    24V24 V
    36V36 V
    48V48 V

    Never put the meter’s amp (current) leads across the battery terminals. That’s a short circuit.

  3. Step 3: Check the cells in the app

    If the app connects, find the lowest cell. If any cell reads below 2.5 V (2500 mV), stop here and call us. If the app won’t connect, carry on: it often connects once the battery wakes up.

    • Epoch Li-ion

      Most Bluetooth models

      • Cells screen: every cell’s voltage.
      • Discharge MOS switched off means the battery shut itself off.

    • Epoch Pro

      GC2 and Pro Series

      • Details tab: a red warning triangle on LV means low-voltage protection is on.
      • Each cell’s voltage is in millivolts: 2500 mV is 2.5 V.

    • Epoch Cloud

      Elite Series

      • Cell Voltages: the Lowest cell.
      • BatteryPackDetails: Discharge MOSFET Status Off means the battery shut itself off.

  4. Step 4: Charge it with a LiFePO4 charger

    • Keep every load off. Connect a charger set to a LiFePO4 profile for your battery’s voltage directly to the battery terminals, with properly sized cables and tight connections.
    • If the charger won’t start because it can’t detect a battery, use its wake-up (activation) function, or a charger that has one. Some chargers need to see a minimum voltage before they will start.
    • Stay nearby at first. If the battery gets warm, the voltage doesn’t rise, or the charger keeps stopping, disconnect it and call us.
    • Charge to 100% before you reconnect anything. A full charge also resets the charge level the app shows.

  5. Step 5: Check that it recovered

    Once it’s full, it has recovered if the app shows no protection alert, discharging is switched back on (or the LV light is a green shield in Epoch Pro), and the cells are close together: within about 0.05 V of each other. Reconnect your loads one at a time and make sure everything runs.

    If it won’t wake up with a suitable LiFePO4 charger, stop and contact us. Don’t try other ways to force it.

Filing a warranty claim?

Go back to the claim form and answer “Did the battery recover?”. If it’s working, we note what happened and you’re done. If it isn’t, carry on with the claim and a technician takes it from there. The form keeps your answers on this device, so you can pick up where you left off.

Back to the claim form

Never do these

  • Bypass the BMS, or connect the battery straight to an unregulated power source to force a charge.
  • Jump-start it from another battery or a vehicle.
  • Open the battery case. Internal service is done only through Epoch.
  • Keep trying different chargers on a battery that won’t wake up.
  • Assume a battery that reads 0 V is dead. Ask us first.

Keep it from happening again

  • Recharge soon after use. A flat battery keeps losing charge while it sits, and the longer it sits, the harder it is to recover.
  • Watch for small loads that drain a battery in storage. RV “Use/Store” switches often leave the LP/CO detector powered; on a boat, keep the bilge pump powered and keep the battery charged instead.
  • Never store a battery empty, and top it up during storage. See the FAQs or ask us for the storage charge level for your battery.
  • Make sure every charging source (shore charger, converter, solar controller, DC-DC charger, inverter/charger) uses a LiFePO4 profile with the settings in your manual.

Damage from over-discharge, or from storing a battery flat, isn’t covered by the warranty. See the warranty terms.

Still not working? We’re here

Have the model and serial number, the voltage you measured at the terminals, what the app shows, and roughly how long the battery sat flat.

Call 1-888-501-1846support@epochbatteries.com

Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 4 PM Eastern