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LiFePO4 batteries? Solar panels?


Kirk W

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40 minutes ago, Randyretired said:

At this point China is well ahead of the US and any other country.

To that I say grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr  It comes as no surprise US brands of LiFePo4 batteries aren't totally manufactured in the USA another grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

CONGRATULATIONS on building your own. Will Prowse suggest the same and it can save you some big bucks...

John T

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52 minutes ago, oldjohnt said:

To that I say grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr  It comes as no surprise US brands of LiFePo4 batteries aren't totally manufactured in the USA another grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

CONGRATULATIONS on building your own. Will Prowse suggest the same and it can save you some big bucks...

John T

Even if you build your own batteries, the cells come from China.

2005 Winnebago Voyage 38J

 

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2 hours ago, pjstough said:

Even if you build your own batteries, the cells come from China.

It appears that way grrrrrrrrrrrrrr regardless of any brands one might otherwise consider as being built in America  ............ WELL DRATS 

John T

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13 hours ago, rbertalotto said:

Chad...Thank you for this post...What about "Pouch Cells".....I see this term sometimes describing a particilar Li battery.

Pouch cells are basically prismatic cells in a soft sided covering rather than a hard case cover.

2000 Kenworth T2000 w/ Cummins N14 and autoshift
2017 DRV Mobile Suite 40KSSB4 with factory mods, dealer mods and personal mods - now in the RV graveyard
2022 DRV Full House MX450 with customized floor plan
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2016 Smart Car (fits in the garage or gets flat towed behind the DRV when the RZR is in the garage)
My First Solar Install Thread
My Second Solar Install Thread & Photos and Documents Related to the build
My MX450's solar, battery and inverter system - my biggest system yet!

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13 hours ago, Kirk W said:

Do you have an battery brand preferences to share?  Have you seen any from Amazon that are worth what they cost?

My personal preference is Battle Born.  It is what I have in my personal rig and what I deal with most with other installations.  I probably have to deal with different issues than most in that I use a lot of batteries in many different systems and I need to be able to stand behind what I do and know my supplier will stand with me and make things right if necessary.

I have also worked with Lion Energy and Relion.  Lion Energy are prismatic cell based batteries.  Relion are cylindrical cell based batteries, like Battle Born.  I am aware of many other brands, but these are the only three I have personal experience with.  I am not opposed to using some of the less expensive batteries like SOK or Ampertime and others, I simply prefer the bigger company standing behind the more mainstream (bigger name) batteries for my circumstances.

2000 Kenworth T2000 w/ Cummins N14 and autoshift
2017 DRV Mobile Suite 40KSSB4 with factory mods, dealer mods and personal mods - now in the RV graveyard
2022 DRV Full House MX450 with customized floor plan
2018 Polaris RZR Turbo S (fits in the garage)
2016 Smart Car (fits in the garage or gets flat towed behind the DRV when the RZR is in the garage)
My First Solar Install Thread
My Second Solar Install Thread & Photos and Documents Related to the build
My MX450's solar, battery and inverter system - my biggest system yet!

chadheiser.com      West Coast HDT Rally Website

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AZCACOIDIAKSMNMOMTNENVNMNDOKSDTNTXUTWYxlg.jpg

 

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12 hours ago, oldjohnt said:

I certainly LIKE that, THANKS FOR POSTING. Would you happen know if the cells they use are also USA manufactured ?? WOULD MAKE IT EVEN BETTER yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Currently Battle Born sources their cells from China like everyone else.  This, however, may change in the not too distant future.  Things are in the works.

2000 Kenworth T2000 w/ Cummins N14 and autoshift
2017 DRV Mobile Suite 40KSSB4 with factory mods, dealer mods and personal mods - now in the RV graveyard
2022 DRV Full House MX450 with customized floor plan
2018 Polaris RZR Turbo S (fits in the garage)
2016 Smart Car (fits in the garage or gets flat towed behind the DRV when the RZR is in the garage)
My First Solar Install Thread
My Second Solar Install Thread & Photos and Documents Related to the build
My MX450's solar, battery and inverter system - my biggest system yet!

chadheiser.com      West Coast HDT Rally Website

event.png    

AZCACOIDIAKSMNMOMTNENVNMNDOKSDTNTXUTWYxlg.jpg

 

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On 4/14/2022 at 4:27 PM, Kirk W said:

Even though I am past my peak RVing years, I have been fascinated following the improvement in both solar and batteries in recent years as well as the availability of both. The whole thing makes me with that I could do some of the back country RVing that we did back in the 70's & 80's but now with the latest thing off grid equipment. 

What I have wondered is just how accurate what I read about the lifespan of the new batteries is? Has anyone here yet had one fail due to age/use? With solar expected to last for 25 to 30 years that doesn't seem to be an issue but durability could be. Has anyone experienced a major hail storm with solar panels? None of the RV forums that I follow have had much about either type of failure, which makes me think that such must be pretty rare.

 

battle born. have the longest warranty on the market, ten years. but they have not even been around that long.

there are "better" batteries lower cost --good quality units---. only with 7 or so years warranty and no i am not talking about all the cheap trash units. there only warranty is, they cashed your check before they shipped to you.

but say you have a good 600-800- watts of juice storage. you will need at least 1800 worth of solar on your roof and a good gen to keep them topped off. pending the batteries you buy, it will only need the space of about 4 or 6 led acid units. but half the weight, double the watts usage.

 

and tipple the money to start with, just for the batteries.

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In addition to Lion, Battleborn, SOK etc etc etc that I consider quality brands, I attended a demonstration by Briter, talked to their engineers and they seem to be (no personal experience) a good product. There are more and more players coming online, some good some not so good grrrrrrrrrrr (see what Will Prowse discovered YIKES)  DO YOUR HOMEWORK, STUDY REVIEWS AND MAKE A WELL INFORMED DECISION based on your needs and budget. This reminds me of discussions regarding what brand of oil or spark plus are best, lots of experience, preferences and opinions which are all fun and interesting to read. UNFORTUNATELY  a completely American made battery might not yet be available grrrrrrrrrr 

John T  Lithium and Solar user and never looking back 

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Only need a few years of warrantee and then we will all be switching over to DNB (Diamond Nuclear Batteries)...No more chargeing or worry about discharge, temperature, explosion, or replacement....They output constant voltage for 28-30 THOUSAND years!!!! Amazing technology is here now....

RoyB

South of Boston

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58 minutes ago, rbertalotto said:

Only need a few years of warrantee and then we will all be switching over to DNB (Diamond Nuclear Batteries)...No more chargeing or worry about discharge, temperature, explosion, or replacement....They output constant voltage for 28-30 THOUSAND years!!!! Amazing technology is here now....

I think you'll need more than a few years of warranty if you're waiting on DNBs - there are currently no known prototypes in existence.👽

Rob

2012 F350 CC LB DRW 6.7
2020 Solitude 310GK-R, MORryde IS, disc brakes, solar, DP windows
Full-time since 8/2015

 

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1 hour ago, rbertalotto said:

Only need a few years of warrantee and then we will all be switching over to DNB (Diamond Nuclear Batteries).

Nuclear Diamond Battery: Holy Grail of Energy Storage or Hype?

 

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

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John you are so right. I just posted some more new battery tech over in Other topics you might already know about. Some slow down will happen with companies like Tesla already having one type of battery manufactured and starting to do their own. If a company already is deeply invested in one type it may not be able to stay in biz and change to a newer and better tech. But better batteries than ten years ago are here now and with the investments being made now by traditional companies like Ford in EV tech it can only accelerate.

RV/Derek
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Retired AF 1971-1998


When you see a worthy man, endeavor to emulate him. When you see an unworthy man, look inside yourself. - Confucius

 

“Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.” ... Voltaire

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23 hours ago, RV_ said:

John you are so right. I just posted some more new battery tech over in Other topics you might already know about.

  RV, as an old sparky I follow the technology real close, read about it often, and on You Tube there must be hundreds of related videos as well as tests and reviews (including DIY Solar by Will Prowse) of the different Lithium brands out there currently with more coming online.  It's a wide open competitive market with some good batteries perhaps others not quite so good ??? Mine have performed perfect as well as other brands as noted by some fine gents on here.  Advertising and marketing business decisions come into play I'm sure, with some spending a ton on advertising others very little, which can affect their sales price.

  THE ONE COMMON THREAD among alllllllll the new emerging battery technologies IS ACTUAL PRODUCTION which may be yearssssssssss from now.  At my age I think I will get the benefit from my OLD FASHION lol Lithiums. My daughter bought a Tesla, I can just imagine in maybe 5 years they will have a new and improved battery which may cost thousandsssssssssssss.

 Thanks for the tip, I will look for it 

 John T Old retired still an ever curious engineer.

 

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I always liked the saying we are only as interesting, as we are interested. I am amazed at our energy tech and how fast it could happen beyond either of our expectations or not. I think we are living in the Dickensian best of times and worst of times. Batteries power everything from hand tools to tablets and laptops to mowers and blowers and cars and chainsaws. I believe in a few years our grandkids will forget people handled stored and used fossil fuels like kids today have no clue what a dial phone or incandescent light bulb is, and that yes we really changed them every month or three as they burned out and not last decades as LEDs do. Or that TVs used giant cathode ray tubes and rechargeable batteries would be dead and not hold their charge for a year like NiMH and LiIon AA and AAA batteries do today. The battery banks of RVs will be as radically different in ten years I believe, and with all the money being poured into Battery tech by the major car manufacturers, (ten years later than it could have been) it well may be sooner than we think For cars, planes, boats, motorcycles, and RVs.

RV/Derek
http://www.rvroadie.com Email on the bottom of my website page.
Retired AF 1971-1998


When you see a worthy man, endeavor to emulate him. When you see an unworthy man, look inside yourself. - Confucius

 

“Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.” ... Voltaire

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On 8/30/2022 at 3:02 PM, Kirk W said:

On the same line of thought, how did you choose what battery to buy if you have gone to LiFePO4 batteries?

My setup is 48v, so I was faced with a much different decision.  I could have gone with 4 12v batteries, but Relion makes a 48v steel case pack that seemed a lot less hassle to me.  All that wiring was already done. 

The battery has worked well for over 4 years, and with much heavy use shows no signs of degradation.  In that time I would have easily gone through a set of LAs.   I really hope it's the last battery I ever have to buy.

Edited by hemsteadc
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On 9/1/2022 at 9:02 AM, packnrat said:

battle born. have the longest warranty on the market, ten years. but they have not even been around that long.

there are "better" batteries lower cost --good quality units---. only with 7 or so years warranty and no i am not talking about all the cheap trash units. there only warranty is, they cashed your check before they shipped to you.

but say you have a good 600-800- watts of juice storage. you will need at least 1800 worth of solar on your roof and a good gen to keep them topped off. pending the batteries you buy, it will only need the space of about 4 or 6 led acid units. but half the weight, double the watts usage.

 

and tipple the money to start with, just for the batteries.

https://dakotalithium.com/2020/01/17/built-to-last-11-year-warranty-on-dakota-lithium-batteries/

 

2000 Winnebago Ultimate Freedom USQ40JD, ISC 8.3 Cummins 350, Spartan MM Chassis. USA IN 1SG retired;Good Sam Life member,FMCA ." And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country.  John F. Kennedy 20 Jan 1961

 

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16 hours ago, Ray,IN said:

has will prowse done one of his reviews on this brand? he cuts one open to show what is inside. some brands up there game. and price.  others died out. and a couple of the good brands have trouble keeping them in stock.

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