Cheap Lithium Batteries--Do You Have Them, Do You Like Them

[SolarPoweredRV]

There have been several posts about the "Budget Priced"/Cheap Lithium (LiFePo4) batteries that have become available over the last couple of years.

I think it would be helpful to everyone who might be considering purchasing these these batteriess for those who have installed these batteries to tell us about how you like them.

I would especially like to know:
Which brand did you choose?
How and why you chose the batteries you did?
Which other brands did you seriously considered before choosing your brand?
Was having a cold temperature cutoff important in your installation? And, why or why not.
Did you search out a teardown video for the batteries you bought?
And, was the video helpful in making your final decision.?
How large is the battery bank you installed, and, did you plan for future expansion?
How have the batteries performed, and, would you change anything if you were doing it all over again today?

[SolarPoweredRV]

Since I asked this question, I will answer it.

To begin, I don't have the "Cheap" Lithium batteries in my rig, I have two, Tesla Model S, battery modules installed under the stairs in my 5th Wheel. These batteries are not LiFePo4 batteries, they are Lithium Ion chemistry.

Why I have these two Tesla batteries is because we like to boondock, and the electrical system is the biggest limiting factor for extended boondocking when all campers come from the factory.

Several years ago, when I was designing my Solar system and battery bank, the battery options were very limited and very expensive. Consequently, I went looking for a more budget friendly solution. When I came across a video showing a Tesla Model S battery being installed in an RV, I was hooked! First, because Teslas are so cool and having a Tesla battery in my RV would be way cool. Secondly, I could get ten times more energy storage for almost the same price as I could by purchasing a single, 100ah, Battle Born battery. I was also intrigued by the project itself and the challenge of making it work.

I guess you could say that I installed the cheapest of the cheap Lithium batteries.

With this being said, I would not recommend this project to anyone today. Because, Lithium (LiFePo4) batteries are so much more affordable today and the LiFePo4 chemistry is so much safer than Lithium Ion chemistry.

With my system I have over 800ah (equivalent) of energy storage and I have 1,220 Watts of Solar panels on my roof to keep my system charged up and running. We also have a 3,000 Watt Inverter tied into both legs of our electrical system which gives us 120v throughout the coach.

My wife and I love the system and what it allows us to do. We never need to worry about opening the slides when the coach is in storage, nor do we need to connect the truck up to open the slides, like we had to do with our previous camper. We have a large Inverter and can run our air conditioner from our battery bank when we stop on the road for lunch or an afternoon nap. We can run the air conditioner at night to cool down the bedroom before we go to sleep (we can't run the A/C all night). We can also run our furnace without fear of loosing power overnight (this was a compelling reason for the system in the first place).

We can go for long periods without needing to plug into Shore power, the very definition of boondocking, as long as we don't need to run our Air Conditioner (we do carry a generator for A/C if we need it).

Overall, we simply love the system and how much flexibility it gives us when camping. However, if I were building my system today, I would definitely use these "cheap" LiFePo4 batteries as the foundation of my system.

[AZMike]

I upgraded about a year ago to a Sun Fun Kits SFK-260. It has performed very well and they support their products very well. They always answer the phone when I call! They have many videos that they publish and they appear to use quality products. Their BMS is a modified JBD. I don't have solar, and probably will not install in the near future. My intent when I upgraded to LifePO4 was just to be able to boondock for a couple of days at a time. I do carry a briefcase solar panel and generator (if I need it for the trip). We do not go off grid very often. My next upgrade will be a 12V compressor fridge. I am leaning toward the GE. I'm surprised that Sun Fun Kits does not get more attention in these forums.

[FjClay]

I with went 2, 100ah BtrPower batteries. At the time (April 22) they one of the lowest priced out there, around $320 each on amazon. I couldn't find any videos of these particular batteries online but the reviews were good. They don't have a low temp cutoff but I live in southern California and I also moved them inside under the bed. So it's never cold enough when i'm not using the trailer and if we are camping somewhere with below freezing weather it certainly won't be that cold inside the trailer. I looked at many other brands on Amazon and these seemed like the best deal at the time. I installed 200 watts of solar and did not change my converter or install an invertor. I don't disconnect by batteries when not in use because we sometimes use it when guests come over and are constantly borrowing stuff when we run out in the house and i didn't want to leave it plugged in. Before the solar install I killed my flooded batteries by forgetting and letting them run all the way down. Now my batteries are always charged and i have double the capacity. So far they've been great

[Scott'n'Wendy]

I bought a 100ah Ampere time LiFePO4 recently...I'll report back in a few months...

[Victory1]

Spending a couple cold nights after my LA batteries ran low on juice I too was looking for a solution that would run my furnace for a couple nights of boondocking. I do not have any solar nor do I have an inverter.

I am a DYI guy and opted to build my battery with LiFePO4 cells bought from Docan Power. I did look at some other suppliers and batteries but Docan was well reviewed and had a bit of an online following. The cells seemed to be good quality, new and were shipped from a U.S. warehouse. It worked out well.

I put together a 280ah 12v bank with a 150a BMS. The BMS allows temp. protection and current limits for charge and discharge. It also keeps the cells balanced. I felt it important to have the temperature cut offs to protect the batteries as this is a good sized investment and I want them to last and be as efficient as possible.

I left plenty of room for additional batteries and equipment so I could upgrade as time went on. It works exactly how I want it to for the camping we do but I could see doing longer stints without hookups that would have me wanting solar and an inverter.

The whole thing was a bit of work and I can see the benefit of plug and play batteries but I enjoyed the process and gained a fair amount of knowledge along the way. I would do a couple things different on the next build and as it turns out that will be sooner than later. We just purchased a new trailer and i am selling our old trailer with the liFePO4 batteries in it. So, I get to build another battery bank in short order!

[Redapple63]

There have been several posts about the "Budget Priced"/Cheap Lithium (LiFePo4) batteries that have become available over the last couple of years.

I think it would be helpful to everyone who might be considering purchasing these these batteriess for those who have installed these batteries to tell us about how you like them.

I would especially like to know:
Which brand did you choose?
How and why you chose the batteries you did?
Which other brands did you seriously considered before choosing your brand?
Was having a cold temperature cutoff important in your installation? And, why or why not.
Did you search out a teardown video for the batteries you bought?
And, was the video helpful in making your final decision.?
How large is the battery bank you installed, and, did you plan for future expansion?
How have the batteries performed, and, would you change anything if you were doing it all over again today?

These are great questions

1. I chose Ampere Time 300ah
2. I chose them for the balance of size, cost, features and reputation
3. No, cold temp protection is not important to me because cold temp protection is available in the Victron equipment I have selected for my system
4. I watched Will Prowse’s teardown video. Yes the video was helpful.
5. I purchased 2 300 ah batteries for a total of 600ah. I could put in a third if I choose
6. I can’t tell you how they have performed because they are still sitting on my garage floor. I will have to come back once they are installed. I have high hopes for them.

Bill

[xrated]

Spending a couple cold nights after my LA batteries ran low on juice I too was looking for a solution that would run my furnace for a couple nights of boondocking. I do not have any solar nor do I have an inverter.

I am a DYI guy and opted to build my battery with LiFePO4 cells bought from Docan Power. I did look at some other suppliers and batteries but Docan was well reviewed and had a bit of an online following. The cells seemed to be good quality, new and were shipped from a U.S. warehouse. It worked out well.

I put together a 280ah 12v bank with a 150a BMS. The BMS allows temp. protection and current limits for charge and discharge. It also keeps the cells balanced. I felt it important to have the temperature cut offs to protect the batteries as this is a good sized investment and I want them to last and be as efficient as possible.

I left plenty of room for additional batteries and equipment so I could upgrade as time went on. It works exactly how I want it to for the camping we do but I could see doing longer stints without hookups that would have me wanting solar and an inverter.

The whole thing was a bit of work and I can see the benefit of plug and play batteries but I enjoyed the process and gained a fair amount of knowledge along the way. I would do a couple things different on the next build and as it turns out that will be sooner than later. We just purchased a new trailer and i am selling our old trailer with the liFePO4 batteries in it. So, I get to build another battery bank in short order!

I did the exact same thing....DIY. I too chose Docan and dealt with Jenny Wu. I bought 4 of the EVE 302AH cells and they arrived in perfect condition and every cell was within .001 volts of each other. IIRC, at the time of purchase (Dec. last year) the cells were at $148/each. With shipping, it came out to around $630. I went with a Daly BMS, 200A and it has worked flawlessly for me. I also built a heated/insulated box for the battery to live in, as well as adding a Digital Temperature Controller that can be used if needed to heat the cells if temps are too cold to charge them. It was fun, albeit a bit tedious at times, project...and I enjoyed learning about LFP batteries, and the result I got with the build. Once they were done, I fully charged the battery then did a capacity test. I set the low voltage cutoff down to 2.55 volts per cell and let it start drawing the battery down. I finally stopped the test myself right before the cells hit the 2.55V per cell mark and ended up with between 305 and 306 amp hours.

[Riverbug]

I would especially like to know:
Which brand did you choose?
How and why you chose the batteries you did?
Which other brands did you seriously considered before choosing your brand?
Was having a cold temperature cutoff important in your installation? And, why or why not.
Did you search out a teardown video for the batteries you bought?
And, was the video helpful in making your final decision.?
How large is the battery bank you installed, and, did you plan for future expansion?
How have the batteries performed, and, would you change anything if you were doing it all over again today?

1) SOK 206AH, maybe not considered "cheap", but half the price of Battle Born at the time.
2) Saw Will Prowse's tear down. Was afraid of buying cheaper versions due to all the bad tear downs I saw at the time. Happy to see there are getting to be more options out there that even Will likes.
3) Only considered SOK or Battle Born at the time.
4) Low temp shutoff is important to me (MN) and ensuring it is reliable was important - back to Will's teardown.
5) Definitely relied on tear down videos for my decision. Was not going to buy one without a good teardown result.
6) Started with 206AH, need to install one more along with inverter/charger, and DC charger when it warms up in the spring.
7) Battery has performed swimmingly even while using OEM converter/charger for 1.5 years. But do realize I need a lithium charger to balance the cells so looking forward to getting the Victron Multiplus installed. Now that I understand this stuff more, if I could do it over, I would have plunged into installing everything right off the bat. At the time, I just knew I needed to replace the stock battery and wanted lithium for more capacity and longevity. I didn't understand enough at the time to install the other components. I also wanted to use the camper for a season to get a better idea of how we wanted to travel and use it. Now I have a much better idea, and realize our travel and usage methods have changed a lot since we first started RVing 30 years ago. Traveling retired has allowed us to take the long way around, driving rural roads, not relying on campgrounds every night, and enjoying the journey much more rather than blasting to the destination and back because we had limited vacation days.

[Soundsailor]

Which brand did you choose?
How and why you chose the batteries you did?
Which other brands did you seriously considered before choosing your brand?
Was having a cold temperature cutoff important in your installation? And, why or why not.
Did you search out a teardown video for the batteries you bought?
And, was the video helpful in making your final decision.?
How large is the battery bank you installed, and, did you plan for future expansion?
How have the batteries performed, and, would you change anything if you were doing it all over again today?

1. I have 4 Lossigy 200 Ah batteries
2. The Lossigys seemed like a good balance between price and function
3. Looked at Battleborn and some of the other higher priced brands, didn't feel like they were a good fit for me
4. Would have liked low temp protection but it wasn't available at the time. I'm adding heaters to my battery box
5. Saw a teardon video by Will Prowse after I had purchased these, was even more impressed at the quality for the price
6. Didn't use the video in my choice
7. I have 800 Ah right now which holds me for 4 days with no sun or genny. So far no need for expansion.
8. The batteries have performed as well as I had hoped. I installed them with a bus bar system and they've handled everything I've thrown at them including running the AC.