Battle Born LiFePO4 batteries

[SCOTTinNJ]

Just a quick note to say that I called battle born on the phone. They were extremely helpful.

Haven't purchased yet as I'm still weighing AGM options. But I'm leaning heavily this way. Likely 200 ah for a modest system.

[CDONA]

We had a civil war 1964 with Johnson in office?

[Starstream]

Originally Posted by fran&frank

Anyone know anything about Battle Born Batteries, makers of LiFePO4 batteries for about 2.5 years and from Reno Nevada? The make 100 AH battery with internal BMS that has high/low temp shutoffs and high/low voltage shutoffs and cell balancing. Advertised price is $899 including ground shipping. Seems like one of the more economical alternatives, so I'm curious if anyone knows anything about them or their product? --Frank

Thanks for starting the thread.

I am very impressed with them. Very willing to work with a customer to find the right setup that works now and will meet the needs later down the road.

[SSquared]

Originally Posted by battlebornli

Although the battery management system is inside the pack to make sure that the cells are never operating out of spec, the battery state-of-charge can always be monitored externally. There are a number of battery monitoring systems available that range from simple voltage monitors to charge counters.

Hearing about the work the BMS is constantly doing makes we wonder how much power is consumed. What is the self-discharge rate of these batteries, including the BMS power draw?

[1959newbie]

I just pulled the trigger on one of their 100aH. Guy I talked to at BattleBorn said they've tested them with the exact Progressive Dynamics 4-stage charger I've been using for 10 years, it works fine -- in fact, he says they've "tuned" their batteries to work with its 14.4v boost mode. And I can manually put it into "boost" mode any time with my remote, it appears.

Will update after I have some experience with the new set-up. Even if I have to replace my old converter/charger at some point, it won't be the end of the world.

Weighing 29# instead of 65# is a big factor for this old lady! Same reason I got aluminum propane tanks and wheels -- I need to be able to pick stuff up!

[battlebornli]

Originally Posted by CDONA

We had a civil war 1964 with Johnson in office?

Correction "1864"

You got us. Thanks for your interest in our product and company. If you ever get up here to Reno, please stop by to see us we will give you a tour of the factory.

[battlebornli]

Originally Posted by SSquared

Hearing about the work the BMS is constantly doing makes we wonder how much power is consumed. What is the self-discharge rate of these batteries, including the BMS power draw?

Great question. The power consumption of the BMS is minuscule as compared to the self discharge of the Li-ion cells themselves - which is already quite low compared to other types of rechargeable batteries. The self-discharge of the cells is about 2% per month.

[dschellenger]

So I live in Reno NV and have been planning an LiPo battery upgrade this year. I have read this entire thread, and I am very interested in this battery. I am going to take Sean at Battle Born up on the offer of a factory tour. I eventually want to purchase and install solar panel , charge controller and inverter at some point in the future. We'll see..but the drop in aspect of these batteries has got my attention. I will post my impressions of BB and whether I pull the trigger on these batteries.

[SCOTTinNJ]

Great. Weather is getting better here and I'm itching for a solar/battery project. BB still the frontrunner.

[camperkev]

I just finished the install of one of Battleborn's 100 amp hour batteries. Could not have been easier.

Sean at BB was super helpful and always responded next day to my emails and questions. There was a little hiccup with FedEx delivering to my house and Sean took care of it for me. Great customer service!

A little background. I bought my 1 year used 2015 27FB Twin and the stock flooded batteries were already fried. The previous owner installed the upgraded PD 4655 converter/charger. After confirming with Sean at BB that this worked with their battery BMS, I decided to take the plunge.

I ruled out transitioning to 6v due to the fact that a battery box modification would have made access to my front storage compartment less than ideal. I also store my rig indoors at a facility and I don't have the ability to plug in while in storage. I am not ready to upgrade to solar or a larger inverter. At this point in my life, I am only really able to get out 3-4 days at a time to enjoy camping with my kids and wife. I have a generator. A large outlay of money for the electrical system is not in the cards right now.

I priced out a couple of options for upgrading from flooded to AGM and in the end it would have cost in the neighborhood of $650 all said and done. The BB battery didn't cost much more, and I'm getting more amp hours than I would have with either two group 24 or 27 agm replacements, and I don't have to worry about discharging below 50%.

I've attached 3 pics: the before, the after, and the battery monitor read-out. The only thing I have left to do is install a couple of L-brackets on two sides of the battery on the bottom of the battery box to prevent it from moving around. The battery barely covers a small portion of the stock battery holder threaded rod, so I only have it in there temporarily b/c it's at an angle. Two of the BB batteries would easily fit in my battery box.

I'll give an update after this summer season on how it performs both in and out of storage.

[Troutboy]

Looks good Kev, keep us posted on how well the drop in works.....

[camperkev]

will do!

[wulfraat]

I though Lithiums put out ~12.8 volts. is your trailer plugged into shore power? Perhaps your battery monitor is picking up the voltage output from your charger while it is attempting to float your batteries?

[camperkev]

Nope, not on shore power, just the new battery.

[lewster]

Originally Posted by wulfraat

I though Lithiums put out ~12.8 volts. is your trailer plugged into shore power? Perhaps your battery monitor is picking up the voltage output from your charger while it is attempting to float your batteries?

Most lithium resting voltages are 13.5VDC.

[wulfraat]

Cool thanks! Learning my lifelines rest at 12.8 - had a serious lapse there!

[NoResults]

Other than weight saving I cannot see what the advantage of 1 100 amp battle born battery. If discharged to 20% you would use 80 amps. The same as a safe discharge of 2 standard batteries of 81 amp hrs each.

I can understand going to 200 amp hrs of Battle Born batteries but $200 vs $900. for the same useful discharge?

I think the batteries look great just would be great if there was a 160 amp or something in between.

Dave

[fran&frank]

I agree most people go to lithium for increased capacity, but at a similar capacity they will offer substantial weight savings and some have suggested they are cost effective because they last for more charge cycles.--Frank

[BoldAdventure]

Originally Posted by NoResults

Other than weight saving I cannot see what the advantage of 1 100 amp battle born battery. If discharged to 20% you would use 80 amps. The same as a safe discharge of 2 standard batteries of 81 amp hrs each.

I can understand going to 200 amp hrs of Battle Born batteries but $200 vs $900. for the same useful discharge?

I think the batteries look great just would be great if there was a 160 amp or something in between.

Dave

Your standard batteries won't last long if you discharge all the way down to 20%. Generally you shouldn't discharge them past 50%.

So that's one advantage. Another advantage is rapid recharge time. If you can supply the power, you can charge a lithium very fast since most will take bulk charge all the way to 99% (can't speak for the Battleborn, but my GBS lithiums will). This is really great for taking advantage of solar.

Also, like Frank stated, the number of cycles reduces the cost if you do the math. I don't know about these batteries, but when I built my setup, I did the cycles and capacity, to determine while the upfront cost was more, the overall cost per amp hour was cheaper. Becuase I'd be replacing my AGM's before the lithiums.

Technomadia bought GBS cells back in 2011 if memory serves me correctly. They're still running that battery bank. And last time I read an update they'd only lost about 18% of capacity.

Those are all great advantages over traditional and AGM.

[SCOTTinNJ]

If I recall correctly technomadia was postulating that the loss of capacity was due to running the batteries at high temps, i.e. outside ambient in summer. If that's true you may want to move that battery inside. Also would help with charging while freezing.