Inexpensive Chinese Lithium battery worth trying or stick with Battleborn?

[GunninGopher]

I have the Chins 200Ah battery without the heater which was purchased Dec 2000.

It works as advertised. It readily cranks my 6.6kw gasoline genset. I get about 200AH out of it before it cuts off, and it is about 11v when I get it going again. I was worried about it because I started thinking it didn't have the rated capacity, but it is doing just fine. It just need to get used to it.

There is a learning process with these batteries. You can't rely on voltage to let you know when to recharge them like you can with a lead acid battery. I leave an inverter on all the time. Twice we went to bed with the battery over 12v only to have it cut out at night.

I just installed this shunt so now that won't happen again. It put out more than 200AH on my first run with it. I'll be able to see the remaining capacity and make informed decisions about when to recharge it now. I'm a little bummed because they dropped the price $100 1 month after I bought it.

So in summary, I don't have any regrets about buying it. The minor issues I have had with it are related to me being used to looking at voltage, and the voltage graph on these is so flat through most of the discharge cycle, that isn't the right way to go. I recommend getting a shunt with it.

[GunninGopher]

I did 2 full passes with this battery. On the first one I didn't read the shunt instructions that said to set the capacity really high and it stopped at 100% I had to re-run it to measure the full capacity while charging.

So I let it charge over night and ran another one this afternoon. I put a 1350 watt (±110amps at ±12.4 volts) load on it. This is a pretty heavy load, but the way most of the ratings I think are with about a 20a load, so the Peuckert (sp) effect should have put this below its 200amp hour rating. Based on the time it ran until my inverter kicked off calculated to 199.9Ah. That's pretty good.

My inverter's charger is a 4 stage and maxes at 70amps.It pushed 203 amps into it after about 3 hours. I didn't sit there and time it.

I'm stoked. This battery is everything that it claims to be with respect to its capacity and ability to put out power. I didn't test the BMS low voltage cutoff. I do want to make sure that works because I have a habit of leaving something on and forgetting it for weeks. I guess that would be next but I don't feel like doing any more and I know it has been at a decent voltage when I started it back up after cutting off, so I think it works OK.

I'm happy with the purchase and can recommend this product. I definitely am glad I bought this shunt now, too.

[jrollf]

The Peukert is almost non existant for LifePO4 batteries, that's one of the big advantages of this chemistry.

https://shop.gwl.eu/blog/LiFePO4/Wha...PO4-cells.html

[Pappion]

The chins are low quality. Some have had shipping damage. Check for review on DIYSOLARFORUM.
https://diysolarforum.com/threads/ch...-review.17997/

[GunninGopher]

Originally Posted by Pappion

The chins are low quality. Some have had shipping damage. Check for review on DIYSOLARFORUM.
https://diysolarforum.com/threads/ch...-review.17997/

I don't know if low quality is the correct term. You have to equate quality with the price you pay. All of these are low quality when you compare them to ones used in the space program. I'm sure the reviews there are valid but you have to watch out for group think on sites like that.

For half the price of what seemed to be the going rate, I received a battery that seems well built and functions as promised, at least for the parameters I'm interested in and tested. I can confirm that it works well with my Aims inverter/charger. I suppose I could have spent twice as much for the same features, but then, I wouldn't have done it. This price point got me a lithium battery that so far is working great.

I wasn't going to build my own this time for this purpose and I don't think it is right to compare the price of a battery with one that you build yourself. I would have if it were just for me to use. All I need is for something to go wrong and to hear about it all trip from my wife!! Time will tell if it was the right choice, but so far so good.

I don't do freezing cold camping and only camp in the heat where I can plug in, so don't imagine I'll ever know if the high and low temperature features work.

[Flentz56]

I dont consider myself an expert on electrical power systems. I purchased two sets of 280AH LFP cells and battery management controllers from China, actually Singapore but they shipped from China.
I already have one set, I got the pack top balanced pretty well and used a 120 AMP BMS to operate the battery. I still have not installed it yet, I'm waiting on the second set of four cells as I want to install it as one battery rather than two, I have a 250 Amp BMS to connect all the cells, this will fit into the same space where my 2 group 27 12v battery's sit now. I expect to conservatively set it up to operate at 90% capacity to extend its life still I'll have 500AH of power, I expect it will last somewhere between 3000 and 4000 cycles.

[Pappion]

I ordered 120A Overkill Solar BMS and 4 280AH LiFePO4 prismatic cells, from Amazon. The cells were $599 and are due to arrive next month. Prices have gone up to $799, but the shipping is faster.
At least the BMS has features I want, like low temp shutdown, and Blue tooth. And good reputation and reviews on DIYSOLARFORUM.

[JDooley]

You usually get what you pay for. I'd get the BB's

[SLOweather]

Per the OP, "Both offer a 10 year warranty."


Battleborn is US based. How will you enforce a 10 year warranty on a Chinese company on batteries shipped from Asia?

[The_Breeze]

I purchased 4-BB-100ah batts to fit in the same space under the steps that held 4-FLA-100ah batteries.

I'm going to marry that to a 2500w Aims inverter/charger/xfr switch. I need a 8ft cable run between the inverter and batteries. I made up a set of 4AWG for that. I also purchased the external monitor and the 300A fuse.

Is that gauge sufficient for that length? I was previously told it was but read above where 4AWG wasn't enough (volt drop) and there was no mention how long his/her run was. I understand that makes a difference?

I'm new to this. I've read up on it until my eyes bled and I'm still reading and asking questions so TIA for any help you provide.

[757driver]

Originally Posted by The_Breeze

I purchased 4-BB-100ah batts to fit in the same space under the steps that held 4-FLA-100ah batteries.

I'm going to marry that to a 2500w Aims inverter/charger/xfr switch. I need a 8ft cable run between the inverter and batteries. I made up a set of 4AWG for that. I also purchased the external monitor and the 300A fuse.

Is that gauge sufficient for that length? I was previously told it was but read above where 4AWG wasn't enough (volt drop) and there was no mention how long his/her run was. I understand that makes a difference?

I'm new to this. I've read up on it until my eyes bled and I'm still reading and asking questions so TIA for any help you provide.

No, that gauge is not sufficient. You should have 4/0 cable not 4 gauge wire from your batteries to the inverter.

[The_Breeze]

Originally Posted by 757driver

No, that gauge is not sufficient. You should have 4/0 cable not 4 gauge wire from your batteries to the inverter.

Thanks. I burned a perfectly good pair of jumper cables. I looked at 4/0 cable in Lowes and I could barely bend it. I'm sure I wasn't looking at the right stuff.

Will this work?
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Southwire-S...-Foot/50101590

[757driver]

Originally Posted by The_Breeze

Thanks. I burned a perfectly good pair of jumper cables. I looked at 4/0 cable in Lowes and I could barely bend it. I'm sure I wasn't looking at the right stuff.

Will this work?
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Southwire-S...-Foot/50101590

The stuff at Lowe’s would not be the road I would take. Look for finely stranded welding cable 4/0.

Something like this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/292017543927

[The_Breeze]

Originally Posted by 757driver

The stuff at Lowe’s would not be the road I would take. Look for finely stranded welding cable 4/0.

Something like this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/292017543927

Thanks again. May I ask for the rational of one over the other?

And if I follow, 2/0 would be better than 4/0?