Would you have faith in the chemistry? The Chinese battery may cost one fifth the price, but if it needs to be replaced 3-4 times during the life of the Battleborn it wouldn't be worth it to me.
Not being argumentative - I don't know much at all about these larger lithium batteries. However I have experience over more than a decade buying cheaper Chinese alternatives to expensive lithium batteries for radios and cameras, and buying Chinese radios that come with Chinese lithium batteries, some of those latter ones within the past couple of years. With a few exceptions they've most often underperformed while working and in some cases stopped working sooner than batteries from reputable companies.
That's the bias I'd take into the experiment you propose. Can you talk me out of it?
Unfortunately, you are correct, many Chinese batteries have been marketed with a lot of "Hype" and exaggerated claims about their storage capacity, for example: the best 18650 batteries from Panasonic, LG Chem and Samsung were capable of ~ 3,200 milliamp hours (mAh) of storage however there were dozens of Chinese manufactured 18650 cells that claimed 9,000 mAh of storage capacity.
Knowing the above history, I can tell you that I would be comfortable with buying these new 280 amp hour cells from China. First, because the LiFePo4 chemistry is very safe and stable. Secondly, the LiFePo4 chemistry is very long lasting, especially if you only use the middle 80% of the battery's charge range.
If you viewed the video I linked to in an above post, you may have noticed the presenter mention that there are "A" cells and "B" cells, basically that refers to "First Quality" cells and factory "Seconds". While you want the "A" cells the "B" cells are probably going to perform adequately for an RV installation due to the low draw nature of the 12v electrical system in our coaches. There are ways to avoid receiving the "B" cells and you should definitely get the "A" cells, especially if you are going to be using an Inverter that provides more than 1,000 watts of AC power. First, you want to try to order from the supplier mentioned in any of the videos that received "A" Cells, next, you want to inspect your cells to ensure they do not have any defects and that the "QR" code is intact (manufacturers obliterate the QR codes on factory seconds). Secondly, if you are going to buy more than four cells, I would recommend buying a battery tester that would let you charge each cell and test the amp hours to ensure you are getting exactly what you paid for.
I would also recommend that you oversize your battery bank so that you are not running "Close to Empty" on a regular basis, that way, you will not be constantly worried about running out of power in the middle of a cold night when the furnace quits working (trust me, that is NOT Fun). From experience, I can tell you that it is pure joy to have plenty of battery storage on board the RV and that a large Inverter (3,000 Watts) really makes life aboard the RV very convenient, for example: we can stop for lunch and have hot meals because the Microwave is always available. Besides that, my wife loves having electricity constantly available.
If the above hasn't allayed your fears, let me try to explain how simple the project would be to put together...
Imagine that you had 4 12v batteries that you wanted to install in your coach, you line all 4 in front of you with the Negative post on your left and the Positive post on your right. Now if you want to use these batteries in a 12v configuration you would simply run a cable from one Neg post to the next Neg post to the next Neg post, you do the same with the Pos posts. At the end you will have 12 volts to power your coach, this is called a parallel string. Now imagine that you take your 4 batteries and place them side by side, still with the Neg posts on the left and the Pos post on the right. In this example, you are going to place a cable on the left most battery's Pos post and attach the other end to the Neg post on the battery right next to it, you will then attach a cable to that battery's Pos post and attach the other end to the Neg post of the next battery, at the end, if you measure the voltage between the furthest left Neg post and the furthest right Pos post you will get 48 volts instead of the 12 volts you had in the previous example. This is called a Series string, in a series string the voltages are additive, whereas in a parallel string the voltages remain the same as all the batteries in the string. Now with the LiFePo4 batteries the voltages are 3 volts instead of 12 volts and by wiring 4 batteries together in "Series" that is how you get 12 volts for your coach. The only additional wiring you need to do is to wire the Battery Management System (BMS) to your 4 batteries.
Part of the reason this 280 Ah battery project is so tempting is the simplicity of the project, you could easily build this project in an hour if you understand the wiring process. If you are building a larger battery bank you might need two hours but the project itself is pretty easy.
Let me know if you would now be tempted to tackle this project.
PS: you will need to install these batteries in a structure that keeps them in compression.
PPS: The LiFePo4 battery chemistry I am referring to stands for Lithium (Li) Iron (Fe) Phosphate (Po4) batteries, the same chemistry as used in the Battle Born batteries.
