Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 11-05-2020, 08:58 AM   #1
Winnebago Master
 
Join Date: Feb 2020
Posts: 887
New lower cost LiFePO4 battery

I originally posted this on the Thor forum because I have a new Axis on order. But there are several knowledgeable Lithium battery folks on this forum so I am also posting it here.

Price is a main factor in my interest in converting from inexpensive flooded lead acid (FLA) batteries to either AGMs or LiFePO4 batteries.

Inexpensive FLAs are available in Group 27 or 31 size with an amp hour rating of 80-100. These can be bought for about $100 each.

AGMs which have several advantages can be bought for about $200 each.

High quality, name Li batteries such as Battle Borns can be bought for about $900 each.

But there is a new sheriff in town, SOK batteries, that offers a 100 Ah Li for $599 and is sold on Amazon. The Li battery geek (don't know his name) evaluates batteries with sophisticated instrumentation and testing and he opens them up and checks out the internal BMS and assembly quality. The SOK got top marks from him. See .

As the geek notes there are lots of low cost Li batteries on the market and many of those that he has evaluated are crap. This is the first one that passes his tests with flying colors. He also evaluates another Li on this video that gets high marks and is even cheaper. But its fabricated aluminum case looks like something assembled in a garage (and like the original Apple I, probably was). I waited for the Apple II to come out and will pass on this one as well.

A pair of the SOKs should easily fit into most modest size MH battery boxes under the steps and should at least double your battery capacity. When our new Axis arrives, depending on what kind of batteries it comes with, I will strongly consider adding these.

Looks like we are finally seeing significant price movement that should make installing Li batteries much easier to swallow for all.

David
DavidM is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-05-2020, 10:40 AM   #2
Winnebago Master
 
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Sarnialabad, Peoples Republik of Canuckistan
Posts: 1,251
His name is Will Prowse. He's a (child prodigy?) prolific youtuber, book writer, and product pitchman (purportedly for himself) mostly on solar and other power options for mobile applications, and has recently branched out into the world of lithium storage media. He appears to be a layman backed by (hopefully) some solid physics, electricity, and chemistry knowledge. If you believe what you see, hear, and read on the internet, that is.
SOK batteries are made in China, but I guess the cells for most of the top end lithium battery builders are, too (73% of the worldwide manufacturing. Only 12% are made in the US). Their warranties look average, and different for different batteries, so maybe have a look at that before you buy.
Let us know how it works out.
__________________
2018 (2017 Sprinter Cab Chassis) Navion24V + 2016 JKU (sold @ ????)
2016 Sunstar 26HE, V10, 3V, 6 Speed (sold @ 4600 miles)
2002 Roadtrek C190P (sold @ 315,000kms)
Winterbagoal is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2020, 07:08 PM   #3
Winnie-Wise
 
Join Date: Nov 2020
Location: California
Posts: 470
There are batteries that are designed for use in wheelchairs and similar applications and they do not need to be as robust in their construction as ones used in automotive applications. I would not buy expensive batteries that do not have a proven track record.
Elkman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-12-2020, 06:38 AM   #4
Winnie-Wise
 
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: Rochester, MN
Posts: 434
Quote:
Originally Posted by Elkman View Post
I would not buy expensive batteries that do not have a proven track record.
And I'm sure you'll agree there are track records of the batteries themselves, as well as the company behind them.

I bought Battle Born batteries recently and have found they usually answer on the first ring. I did discover one of my two batteries was non-functional and it had them puzzled. They sent me an RMA with a fedex label for free return shipping. The jury is still out and I'll report how they finished handling it.

I wasn't expecting a problem right out of the chute, but things happen when building these things (in a hurry, and during covid). I assume they'll "make it right." Amazon, in general, forces their easy return policy on their products, but I'd really wonder about response to phone calls as well as a return two months after purchase. I'd do some serious testing right away and read the warranty info very carefully. I glossed over both due to Battle Born's reputation. Considering the money involved, that was perhaps foolish, but it's what I did.
__________________
Todd
2019 Micro Minnie 2108DS with upgrades and mods here
2020 Toyota Land Cruiser, RedArc TowPro-Elite, Andersen 3380 WDH
tinglett is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-28-2020, 11:08 PM   #5
Winnie-Wise
 
Join Date: Aug 2020
Location: Sandy Eggo
Posts: 298
For those that insist on a more established name, Renogy 100Ah LiFePO4 batteries are currently $630 on Amazon, sold and shipped by Renogy.




Hopefully this battery technology continues to come down in price. I hear Samsung will be introducing a battery soon. The more the merrier.
__________________
2020 Winnebago Minnie 2401RG
2014 Ram 2500 CCSB 4x4 6.7CTD
Old Navy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-29-2020, 07:04 AM   #6
Site Team
 
creativepart's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Spring Branch, TX
Posts: 7,783
I generally trust the Renergy brand, but have head they’ve had LiPo batteries failing and being somewhat difficult to get them replaced under warranty. In fact if you follow your link to Amazon you can see this in their reviews.
__________________
2017 Winnebago Adventurer 37F
2016 Lincoln MKX Toad
creativepart is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-29-2020, 11:00 AM   #7
Winnebago Master
 
Join Date: Feb 2020
Posts: 887
I am suspicious but hopeful with the Renogy brand.

Years ago the only offered relatively cheap solar panels (made by others no doubt) on Amazon. Today they offer a wide variety of solar controllers, DC to DC chargers and other sophisticated DC equipment for the boating and RV world. As noted they also have US based technical support which is one of my fundamental criteria for a quality supplier.

I hope they work through whatever quality problems they had with some Li batteries. I sure like their prices.

David
DavidM is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-29-2020, 03:03 PM   #8
Winnebago Master
 
AJMike's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Apache Junction, AZ
Posts: 1,244
Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidM View Post
As noted they also have US based technical support which is one of my fundamental criteria for a quality supplier.
Have you ever had to deal with their support organization? I have, and it was not pretty. It took me 7 months to get a replacement for my DC-DC charger.
__________________
2020 Regency Ultra Brougham, IB model
2022 Jeep Wrangler Sport S toad
Roadmaster baseplate and tow bar
AJMike is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-29-2020, 04:01 PM   #9
Winnebago Master
 
Join Date: Feb 2020
Posts: 887
Quote:
Originally Posted by AJMike View Post
Have you ever had to deal with their support organization? I have, and it was not pretty. It took me 7 months to get a replacement for my DC-DC charger.
Ah but I bet you were speaking normal English to a rep in a US office .

David
DavidM is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-29-2020, 05:30 PM   #10
Winnie-Wise
 
Join Date: Aug 2020
Location: Sandy Eggo
Posts: 298
Quote:
Originally Posted by creativepart View Post
I generally trust the Renergy brand, but have head they’ve had LiPo batteries failing and being somewhat difficult to get them replaced under warranty. In fact if you follow your link to Amazon you can see this in their reviews.
Yeah, I saw that there were a couple negative reviews, but most were positive. I was surprised to see they are pouch cells, as they are more typically used in smaller, or conformal batteries. This battery uses 16 large pouch cells. By large, I mean large for pouch cells.
__________________
2020 Winnebago Minnie 2401RG
2014 Ram 2500 CCSB 4x4 6.7CTD
Old Navy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-30-2020, 10:38 AM   #11
Winnebago Master
 
AJMike's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Apache Junction, AZ
Posts: 1,244
Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Navy View Post
Yeah, I saw that there were a couple negative reviews, but most were positive. I was surprised to see they are pouch cells, as they are more typically used in smaller, or conformal batteries. This battery uses 16 large pouch cells. By large, I mean large for pouch cells.
My complaint was not about their products per se, but about their support organization. I bought a Renogy 40 amp DC-DC charger and it never worked properly, and that is what took 7 months to replace as they tended to ignore my emails until I got hold of someone who could help, and even then the process was long and protracted. Telephone calls were impossible and when I tried right after they opened the automated system told me I was number 52 in line. When I called in the early afternoon I was number 100+ in line.

Since I needed a charger I ended up buying a second charger, this one a 20 amp, and it worked perfectly, so if the product is not faulty it does seem to work. If it is, I, at least, had a terrible time getting them to give me a return authorization and then getting a replacement.
__________________
2020 Regency Ultra Brougham, IB model
2022 Jeep Wrangler Sport S toad
Roadmaster baseplate and tow bar
AJMike is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-30-2020, 11:41 AM   #12
Site Team
 
creativepart's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Spring Branch, TX
Posts: 7,783
Quote:
Originally Posted by AJMike View Post
at least, had a terrible time getting them to give me a return authorization and then getting a replacement.
Another lifetime ago (1974?) I managed a Sporting Goods dept in a Mall Department Store (remember those?).

We were the largest seller of Converse AllStar Chuck Jordans in Lansing, MI. Selling ~10,000 pair a year.

Every once and a while someone would bring in a shoe with ALL of the sole worn off and they'd produce a fairly recent register receipt and claim the shoe wore out in 30-days or so. Pretty hard to believe, but what are you going to do? Because, honestly, there is virtually no way you could wear out those thick rubber soles in 30-days without taking a belt sander to the bottoms.

So, we had a store policy called the "Old Tennis Shoe Routine." We'd look at the shoe and the receipt and say, "sorry, we can't take those back."

About 1/2 of the time the people would say, "Okay" and leave. The other half of the time they'd put up a fuss, complain and ask to speak to the manager. When this happened we immediately gave them another pair of Converse tennis shoes.

I'm not saying it was an appropriate policy, but other than calling someone a liar about their worn out shoe it seemed the best idea at the time. I was very young at the time.

I've seen this kind of return response from other sellers and manufacturers on a regular basis over the years. So, I always keep after the seller for a return.
__________________
2017 Winnebago Adventurer 37F
2016 Lincoln MKX Toad
creativepart is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-30-2020, 12:14 PM   #13
Winnebago Master
 
AJMike's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Apache Junction, AZ
Posts: 1,244
Quote:
Originally Posted by creativepart View Post
So, I always keep after the seller for a return.
And it is only because I always kept after them that I did get a replacement.

In this case the charger began failing right away, and I sent in photos of the output of the charger as displayed on the Victron BM Trends display, which looked a little like a sawtooth with its up spikes and then flat lining, which I assumed was from over-heating. It was clearly failing but Renogy support kept saying they had no idea what was happening. That was an interesting comment because later in the replacement process they told me that it was probably over-heating and I assume the internal fan was not working properly.
__________________
2020 Regency Ultra Brougham, IB model
2022 Jeep Wrangler Sport S toad
Roadmaster baseplate and tow bar
AJMike is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-30-2020, 03:27 PM   #14
Winnebago Master
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Elk Grove, CA
Posts: 3,574
Quote:
Originally Posted by AJMike View Post
Have you ever had to deal with their support organization? I have, and it was not pretty. It took me 7 months to get a replacement for my DC-DC charger.
I bought a Renogy solar controller through Amazon and had absolutely no problems returning it for a refund after it failed even though I was out of the return window. I explained that I'd had it for a while before installing it and it failed in three days. I was still within the warranty period.
__________________
Bob C
2002 Itasca Suncruiser 35U
Workhorse Chassis
BobC is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-30-2020, 04:06 PM   #15
Winnebago Master
 
AJMike's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Apache Junction, AZ
Posts: 1,244
Quote:
Originally Posted by BobC View Post
I bought a Renogy solar controller through Amazon and had absolutely no problems returning it for a refund after it failed even though I was out of the return window. I explained that I'd had it for a while before installing it and it failed in three days. I was still within the warranty period.
Did you return it to Amazon? Or Renogy?

I would like to think that my experience, with emails repeatedly being ignored for weeks at a time, once for 2 months, was not usual, but it is all of the experience with contacting Renogy that I have had other than the impossibility of contacting their support line by phone.
__________________
2020 Regency Ultra Brougham, IB model
2022 Jeep Wrangler Sport S toad
Roadmaster baseplate and tow bar
AJMike is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-30-2020, 04:41 PM   #16
Winnebago Master
 
Join Date: Feb 2020
Posts: 887
I applaud you for spending 7 months with Renogy working out the problems and getting a replacement.

But Amazon has a million times more stroke with these suppliers than individuals do. I will usually just return anything that I remotely think is defective to Amazon. They always take it back and I am absolutely sure that they make the supplier pay for it.

But no worn out sneakers.

David
DavidM is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-30-2020, 05:06 PM   #17
Winnebago Master
 
AJMike's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Apache Junction, AZ
Posts: 1,244
Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidM View Post
I applaud you for spending 7 months with Renogy working out the problems and getting a replacement.

But Amazon has a million times more stroke with these suppliers than individuals do. I will usually just return anything that I remotely think is defective to Amazon. They always take it back and I am absolutely sure that they make the supplier pay for it.

But no worn out sneakers.

David
The charger itself was bought from Amazon, but since it was installed in an RV we had no idea that something was wrong until we went on a trip, and once we knew that I contacted Renogy to see if there was something I could do. By the time it was all worked out the charger was outside of the 30 day return window.

My problem is that I did not decide to return it immediately, but hoped that I could get it working properly through Renogy support. That was a mistake.
__________________
2020 Regency Ultra Brougham, IB model
2022 Jeep Wrangler Sport S toad
Roadmaster baseplate and tow bar
AJMike is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-04-2020, 12:46 PM   #18
Winnie-Wise
 
Join Date: Nov 2020
Location: California
Posts: 470
Highly recommend the BlueSky products and the company which provides excellent pre and post sale customer support. If I was installing from scratch it would be with Blue Sky components including one of their charge controllers.
Elkman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-04-2020, 03:34 PM   #19
Site Team
 
creativepart's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Spring Branch, TX
Posts: 7,783
Quote:
Originally Posted by Elkman View Post
Highly recommend the BlueSky products and the company which provides excellent pre and post sale customer support. If I was installing from scratch it would be with Blue Sky components including one of their charge controllers.
These appear to be Residential and Commercial products - not RV and or Mobile products. Looking at their website I see only residential/business product categories.
__________________
2017 Winnebago Adventurer 37F
2016 Lincoln MKX Toad
creativepart is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
battery


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Lithium LiFePO4 Upgrade - 2020/21 Navion or View ozon8r Winnebago Class C Motorhomes 142 10-15-2023 10:33 PM
For Sale: LifeBlue 100ah battery (Lithium, LifePo4) tbrady Parking, Parts & Accessories For Sale & Wanted 1 04-22-2022 07:24 PM
Low Cost Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery Options BobC Electrical | Charging, Solar and Electronics 1 11-02-2020 05:09 PM
LiFePO4 Battery Isolation Manager West6550 Electrical | Charging, Solar and Electronics 42 01-01-2019 08:28 AM
Brand New 2001 Suncruiser (no cost). Izzyblueye Winnebago Class A Motorhomes 16 04-17-2008 03:29 PM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Winnebago Industries or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:15 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.