Cheapo LiFePO4 Batteries.

[jondrew55]

Been running down the solar/Lithium battery rabbit hole both for the camper and home use lately. I know people have been sticking with the Battleborn Batteries but there seem to be some reasonable cheaper alternatives out there. Maybe old news to some here, but this guy's YouTube channel seems pretty good as he not only tests things but rips them apart to see what's on the inside. Here he pulls a Chins $379 battery apart and give his opinion on the construction and features.
https://youtu.be/xBonGQe363g

He also does a different video on a $279 battery (different manufacturer) which was pretty good as they are obviously selling used and "B-Grade" batteries in a unique case.
https://youtu.be/-albFj1Mqf0

[SuperTrouper]

I bought a Chins 300AH smart battery and so far, so good after 9 months. Will's only ding on Chins is that the BMS doesn't shut down the charge circuit when below freezing. The battery I bought has an automatic heating element in it and I brought it inside so I'm not worried about it. I'm currently in the middle of a week dry camping on the Pacific Coast with 400W of solar and the 300AH Battery is running between 80 and 96 % charge even with coastal marine layer overcast. It's so nice not having to haul out the generator. I like the built in blue tooth IOS Apps to check on the battery and the over voltage protection seems to work well. The voltage over time image is another $30 gizmo that hangs across my battery terminals and keeps track of voltage over time and is not part of the Chins BMS. Your mileage may vary. The 300AH Smart battery was $1500 on Amazon - Brad

[SHaley]

I bought the Weize 12V 100Ah and tested it for capacity between 14.4 and 10.8 in delivered 110 ah my draw was mostly a 30A I did try a few 150A loads for 30 sec intervals. Seem to work fine. Thought I buy a second when I get the wiring upgraded

[jondrew55]

I think I'm going to DIY some sort of backup system for the house and I'll probably start with something in the 100 AH range to keep the cost down. We've lost power for more than a day at my house due to hurricanes over the years maybe 4 or 5 times over the years. I think 10 days was the worst. My dream solar back up would keep a wall AC unit running overnight to keep our bedroom cool and our fridge running for several days without having to resort to the backup generator. I have not sized what that would require battery and panel wise, and of course it would make some assumptions about sunlight during stormy days. I'd defiantly go with off-brands for this use if I ever do it.

[swat2]

Originally Posted by jondrew55

I think I'm going to DIY some sort of backup system for the house and I'll probably start with something in the 100 AH range to keep the cost down. We've lost power for more than a day at my house due to hurricanes over the years maybe 4 or 5 times over the years. I think 10 days was the worst. My dream solar back up would keep a wall AC unit running overnight to keep our bedroom cool and our fridge running for several days without having to resort to the backup generator. I have not sized what that would require battery and panel wise, and of course it would make some assumptions about sunlight during stormy days. I'd defiantly go with off-brands for this use if I ever do it.

Reading about the Weise 100Ah battery on Amazon today and noticed that the manufacturer recommends no more than four of these connected in series or parallel.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

There are an unfortunate lot of ways for an RV battery to go wrong. Back in the "bad old days", some folks had their RV's catch fire when something went tilt a few years down the road. I very much would not want that to happen to *my* trailer or van .....

Bob

[gamakai]

I replaced my (2) 6 volt batteries with a single Power Queen 100 AH Lithium. In theory I should get the same useable amp hours along with an almost 100 lb. weight reduction. I'm sure Battle Born makes excellent batteries but the Power Queen was $273 with free next day shipping versus $800+. It's been 5 months and all has been good.

[SuperTrouper]

Reporting back in. 2year years on the Chins with no issues. I leave my system powered BTW. My battery app says that the battery is in perfect health with 40 charge cycles. I removed the TV antenna and added another 110 Watt solar panel for a total of 510 watts of solar in July.

[Tyler2you]

Almost 11 months here with 4 100 AH Chins under the curbside twin. It did give me pause thinking about having offshore batteries under my bed, but no issues so far. They're working perfectly with 410 watts of solar on the roof keeping them fed. I also see the price has come down from $329 ea. when I bought to $229 today.

[G8trwood]

Good info. I had forgotten about that channel.

Do the airstreams still need rewired for a bigger inverter or did they start putting larger wire in at factory.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Just a note:

The only way to really *know* how any battery (lithium or lead acid) is doing is to run a proper capacity test. You charge it up for (say) 24 hours. You then put it on a calibrated load (say 10A). Fire up the data logger and monitor the voltage. If it stays above the spec sheet's rated minimum for 20 hours, you have 200AH capacity.

No, this isn't a test gets run on a regular basis. Indeed it rarely is run by "normal folks". However without it, you are flying blind. Your current shunt based monitor (if you have one) isn't going to help you in this case. A voltage monitor, even less so.

Bob

[Zachary M.]

Originally Posted by jondrew55

I know people have been sticking with the Battleborn Batteries but there seem to be some reasonable cheaper alternatives out there.

For whatever it's worth, I'd be cautious going with Battleborn these days. I just had 2 of their batteries fail almost simultaneously and my warranty claim was denied because the batteries were 'water damaged'. They were installed in a stock 2021 Airstream battery box, not submerged under water. The customer service rep straight up told me they recently changed their warranty process and are now denying most claims because they have been losing too much money fixing old batteries. They wanted me to pay $908 for repair and shipping on two 2 year old batteries. Ridiculous.

I'm going to replace them with some budget Chinese lithium batteries since it seems the vaunted Battleborn warranty isn't worth much anymore, and apparently the budget batteries (LiTime, Weize, Redodo, PowerQueen) are pretty good now.

[JeffKim]

I've had one season with 4x100ah bargain basement HQST batteries (currently $220 ea.) installed in our million-dollar camper. So far, no issues. They are low-temperature protected and have a 10-year warranty (I know, probably not worth anything). I had them in our dearly departed Bambi and had an issue with one (older model) and after a little back and forth they sent a replacement. I can't say I did any extensive testing for actual capacity per Bob but they seem to be in the ball park. I rationalized that they are used maybe 60 days a year, so not a lot of cycles. For the price, if I can get five years or so out of them then I will be well ahead over BBs and in five years the price of batteries should be even lower.

[FMSports]

Moving my battery install report to this thread. 2023 GT 27FBT
I got these compact LiTimes 100aH 6"x10"x9" high. $700 pr. arriving next week then dropping the 2 of them in the battery box. 19lbs each. No heating or low temp charging cut.

I'm going to EVA foam-line the battery box, and if it drops well below freezing (ie a cold snap) will just open the breaker for the converter and shutdown the solar. However, I don't think the low current from the solar should be an issue. 0DegC is not hard stop, & from what I read the batteries just can't do significant charging rates at low temps.

Bluetooth module for the Victron takes place of the BMV display. I see that Victron does make a smart BMV if you want both. A BT smart battery sensor from Victron will allow the controller to support low temp cutoff. The stock module can do reduced charging at lower temps as well, using the internal sensor in the 150/35 controller.

Also these batteries store a lot of energy. I personally would not install under where someone sleeps

[SallyForth]

The thought of Cheapo LiFePO4 Batteries brings this quote to mind:

“I guess the question I'm asked the most often is: "When you were sitting in that capsule listening to the count-down, how did you feel?" Well, the answer to that one is easy. I felt exactly how you would feel if you were getting ready to launch and knew you were sitting on top of two million parts -- all built by the lowest bidder on a government contract.”

-- John Glenn

[FMSports]

3000 Reviews 4.7 by Amazon standards is top rung. And there's a kid who cuts them apart and build of LiTime, Queen etc is pretty good. Battle Born-agains are heavy duty for sure but for part-time use should be OK with these.


5 star 81% 4 star 12% 3 star 3% 2 star 3% 1 star 2%

[uncle_bob]

Hi

If you dig into the Amazon (or any other site's) rating process, it's a pretty limited thing. Most of the input is relating to shipping damage and "worked out of the box". If you are after long term reliability ... probably not the best resource.

Anybody doing a tear down has limited resources. They most certainly do find bogus mechanical construction details. They do find wiring techniques that are sub standard. Dumping the firmware in the BMS and analyzing the code ... likely not going to happen as part of a tear down. Could they dive into further BMS analysis without code dumps? Probably, still it is well beyond what they typically do.

Yes, it's useful information. Buying anything that gets 2 stars is probably not a good idea. That battery that the tear down guy goes thumbs down on ... again not a good idea. Still, it's not the whole story.

Bob

[ITSNO60]

Originally Posted by jondrew55

He also does a different video on a $279 battery (different manufacturer) which was pretty good as they are obviously selling used and "B-Grade" batteries in a unique case.
https://youtu.be/-albFj1Mqf0

In all fairness the 95ah units seem to be made from B grade cells but the "Pro" 100ah seems to be a pretty good unit with at least one "advanced" reviewer saying these are "A grade" cells. No low temp cutoff but for those of us who travel and camp in weather over 32F shouldn't be a problem. They have actually come down in price since you started this thread over a year ago and now only $215. Someone I know on the Sprinter forum is using multiple 200ah versions with no issues.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BBZL5BPR...lig_dp_it&th=1

Here's a video of a test on one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e--zPavv2z0

[ITSNO60]

Question for those who camp with hookups, do you think 200ah of LiFePO4 is un-necessary for those who camp with electric hookup every night and absorption fridge?

[Bunker]

Originally Posted by ITSNO60

Question for those who camp with hookups, do you think 200ah of LiFePO4 is un-necessary for those who camp with electric hookup every night and absorption fridge?

I don’t. My fridge will eat 50-80ah a day. If I had left the lead acid batteries in that would be just enough power to last one long days drive, maybe. Lithium will charge faster and double your useable ah and weigh half as much. Any one or all 3 of those are probably reasons to switch. Then you’d have the option to skip hookups once or twice when moving around to new camp spots.

My point of view is from no solar either. I have a f150 poweboost with 7.2kw generator. I can mostly charge anywhere, and really appreciate how fast the lithium charge when using the truck. We prefer hookups, but can go a few days without.