Escapees Members Discount on Battle Born Lithium Batteries

[Al F]

This popped up yesterday in the Escapees newsletter:

Quote

Now available for all Escapees members- special pricing on Battle Born lithium batteries! You can now purchase their 100Ah 12V deep cycle batteries for an exclusive price of $874 per battery, plus a 15% discount on accessories (after the purchase of battery, excludes cable and micro air soft starts). Members also have the ability to upfit their club discounted batteries within the first four years of their purchase, free of charge, with the latest upgrades at Battle Born HQ in Reno, NV.

For information on how to take advantage of this discount, go to this link to log on for discounts info:  http://escapees.acemlnc.com/lt.php?s=f0c2b0f80de1d2a64d67a30b2a0d5518&i=6A18A5A184

[oldjohnt]

I saw that newsletter Al and for sure took notice of the price. I've seen different brands of 12 Volt 100 AH Lifepo's show up in the $900 to over $1200 price range. If I were younger and hadn't just bought three big AGM's I might have considered going that route. While Battle Born is doing a lot of marketing, handing them out to some of the big time You Tubers and drawing a lot of attention in RV circles, there are other good brands out there as well. The nearby "Amish" Solar Energy Company is stocking them now along with their traditional L 16's and huge honkin forklift battery banks used in home systems, they would get a tad heavy in my RV lol 

 Take care now

John T

[Rover]

Sure wish they would have had this discount before we bought our 10 Battle Born batteries!! 🤨

[Lou Schneider]

Doesn't hurt to ask ....

[Alie&Jim's Carrilite]

On 7/10/2019 at 3:58 PM, oldjohnt said:

I saw that newsletter Al and for sure took notice of the price. I've seen different brands of 12 Volt 100 AH Lifepo's show up in the $900 to over $1200 price range. If I were younger and hadn't just bought three big AGM's I might have considered going that route. While Battle Born is doing a lot of marketing, handing them out to some of the big time You Tubers and drawing a lot of attention in RV circles, there are other good brands out there as well. The nearby "Amish" Solar Energy Company is stocking them now along with their traditional L 16's and huge honkin forklift battery banks used in home systems, they would get a tad heavy in my RV lol 

 Take care now

John T

Got a link to the "Amish" Solar Energy Company?

[oldjohnt]

1 hour ago, Alie&Jim's Carrilite said:

Got a link to the "Amish" Solar Energy Company?

Wagler Energy Sales, 8631 E 925 N, Odon IN 47562. (812) 636-8355

 I have four of their panels on my RV rooftop. The last 305 Watt 24 volt panels (around 39 x 76 ) I bought were a bit under 85 cents per watt, they work great. Some in that community are installing 4000 or 5000 watt units for homes. With their cell phones and solar set ups they are GOING MODERN lol

John T

[Ray,IN]

On 7/10/2019 at 8:25 PM, Rover said:

Sure wish they would have had this discount before we bought our 10 Battle Born batteries!! 🤨

As Lou said, it can't hurt to ask about a retroactive deal. The worse that can happen is they say no.

[Al F]

12 hours ago, oldjohnt said:

Wagler Energy Sales, 8631 E 925 N, Odon IN 47562. (812) 636-8355

 I have four of their panels on my RV rooftop. The last 305 Watt 24 volt panels (around 39 x 76 ) I bought were a bit under 85 cents per watt, they work great. Some in that community are installing 4000 or 5000 watt units for homes. With their cell phones and solar set ups they are GOING MODERN lol

John T

I'm guessing there is no website, online prices or shipping?  You need to come to Odon, IN to purchase. 

[oldjohnt]

1 hour ago, Al F said:

I'm guessing there is no website, online prices or shipping?  You need to come to Odon, IN to purchase. 

Right Al, this is strictly an Amish family owned at their farm business. Years ago it was strictly cash no phones etc now they have a phone and accept credit cards lol.  They do a TON of business and installations in the local community. When I first went there (like to never found it) maybe over 10 years ago he had a small bay in a garage now a pretty big stocked warehouse of panels, batteries, chargers, inverters the real deal at fair prices...  I heard him talkin Lifepo's to a customer my last trip there but didn't get info on pricing and brands etc. etc.

 John T

[$ Spot]

15 hours ago, oldjohnt said:

Wagler Energy Sales, 8631 E 925 N, Odon IN 47562. (812) 636-8355

 I have four of their panels on my RV rooftop. The last 305 Watt 24 volt panels (around 39 x 76 ) I bought were a bit under 85 cents per watt, they work great. Some in that community are installing 4000 or 5000 watt units for homes. With their cell phones and solar set ups they are GOING MODERN lol

John T

John, thanks so much for this info as well as the back story in the previous post. Personally, the timing in which you've shared this information is superb.

     Spot

[oldjohnt]

3 hours ago, $Spot said:

John, thanks so much for this info as well as the back story in the previous post

Spot, I consider myself lucky to have a small mom n pop Amish dealer close by where I can get all the parts I need cash n carry and NOT have to order online or drive to a big crowded city. He has two barefoot daughters that tape and wrap the panels in cardboard and load in my truck even, you don't get service like that in the big city...…….They sell fake angle "iron" and channel "iron" that are composite and fiberglass for mountings and never rust. Sorry not related to the OP but its fun to chat about good service.

John T  

[hemsteadc]

On 7/10/2019 at 6:25 PM, Rover said:

Sure wish they would have had this discount before we bought our 10 Battle Born batteries!! 🤨

Wow.. how do you connect all those up?

[Rover]

They all hook together in parallel then into the inverter to power everything in the 5W except the air conditioning and the fireplace. We have 12 solar panels on the roof. Rarely have to run the generator. Love our solar and Battle Born batteries! Have boondocked almost the entire summer in Alaska. 

Vicki

[oldjohnt]

With several batteries wired in parallel if they aren't connected properly the first few may be doing the bulk of the work and the rest not as much. For those who think it makes no difference read the test results linked below and improved methods of configuring multiple batteries for better charging as well as load balance.   SURE it will still "work" if connected in a simple ladder parallel but you will achieve better load and charge balance if done correctly and with such a HUGE battery investment a person might want to at least consider how they are wired to get the most bang (in battery life for the entire bank) for the buck. As the test results indicate even an easy simple method of pulling the POS off one end of the ladder and NEG the other helps. To each their own methods however.

http://www.smartgauge.co.uk/batt_con.html

John T

 

Edited July 14, 2019 by oldjohnt

[Al F]

I am guessing this 

13 hours ago, oldjohnt said:

With several batteries wired in parallel if they aren't connected properly the first few may be doing the bulk of the work and the rest not as much. For those who think it makes no difference read the test results linked below and improved methods of configuring multiple batteries for better charging as well as load balance.   SURE it will still "work" if connected in a simple ladder parallel but you will achieve better load and charge balance if done correctly and with such a HUGE battery investment a person might want to at least consider how they are wired to get the most bang (in battery life for the entire bank) for the buck. As the test results indicate even an easy simple method of pulling the POS off one end of the ladder and NEG the other helps. To each their own methods however.

http://www.smartgauge.co.uk/batt_con.html

John T

 

I am guessing the 10 batteries and solar were professionally installed.  As such the owners may not be looking for an assessment of the installation.  Especially since it is working to their satisfaction.  

[oldjohnt]

1 hour ago, Al F said:

I am guessing the 10 batteries and solar were professionally installed.  As such the owners may not be looking for an assessment of the installation.  Especially since it is working to their satisfaction.

Good point Al, indeed if your guess is correct and they were professionally and CORRECTLY installed NO problem. Of course all may still "appear satisfactory"  (who monitors each individual battery like Smartgauge) even if they were NOT installed correctly (it will still work) its just that charging and load balance can be out of proportion and with such a huge investment its best for the overall life (of all ten batteries) if connections are correct.  Regardless If the owner is looking for or not looking for any assessment, this may still prove good information for the RV Solar community. But hey I support any RV owners to do (and wire) as they please, its their RV their money and their choice, sure none of ours. 

Take care and best wishes, fun and informative thread you started. THANKS Al, for posting the Newsletter article, it could save someone serious bucks !!!!!!!!!!!!!

John T 

Edited July 15, 2019 by oldjohnt

[hemsteadc]

On 7/14/2019 at 3:36 PM, Rover said:

They all hook together in parallel then into the inverter to power everything in the 5W except the air conditioning and the fireplace.

As long as your inverter can handle it,  you could run the air too, that's only 12a-15a each.  And with 1200w of solar (I'm assuming) piece of cake.  You have a monster system there, congrats.  And unlike other mfrs, BB does not specify a limit to the number of parallel batteries.

Of course at 12v you need to watch that cables and connectors don't heat up. That would be my only slightly critical comment.  Higher voltage is usually a good idea when you want to power high amp stuff.

Edited July 16, 2019 by hemsteadc

[Rover]

Our panels are 160W so 1920 watts of solar and we did have it professionally installed except at that time we had 8 Trojan T-105 6v batteries. Mark did the switch over to the Battle Born batteries about a year later. We actually do have small window air conditioner we can use on solar if it gets too warm and able to run it for several hours or overnight. I’ll have Mark look at the article and see if we are hooked up the most efficient way. Definitely want to protect that investment! Thanks.

Vicki

[oldjohnt]

16 hours ago, Rover said:

16 hours ago, Rover said:

I’ll have Mark look at the article and see if we are hooked up the most efficient way. Definitely want to protect that investment! Thanks

 

   Hey don't we all !!! Sounds like you have a professional on your side who likely has all ten batteries load and charge balanced and all will be fine. CONGRATULATIONS on your system.

  John T

Edited July 17, 2019 by oldjohnt

[hemsteadc]

If it were me I'd want them hooked up like this.

Edited July 17, 2019 by hemsteadc