Looking to design a fully offgrid van system for full time living. It seems the general consensus is battleborn batteries are the way to go for these setups. But after watching a couple of these videos I'm almost sold on the LI Time 230ah with low temp sensor. Or even an SOK battery. Does anyone have long time experience with the Li Time. Are there any major reasons why you would reccomend battleborn over these other two for 1/5 of the price. Greatly appreciate all the help
12V van setup battery suggestions
- Thread starter rockas9
- Start date
12VoltInstalls
life passes by too quickly to not live in freedom
Battleborn is top shelf expensive but high quality. I’m not sure I’d use them myself. SOK is recognized as quality here and in Will’s vids
NimrodthePixieWrangler
New Member
Unfortunately all these brands are juggling faster than folks can review them. That's not even considering supplier changes for same models/brands. From what I have seen of the reviews going around unless the reviewer buys a battery and you buy it within a few months the review could very well be worthless. Its all a crazy crap shoot imo.
At this moment in time the Battleborn warranty is just too much added cost for me personally. You will have to make that decision. Consider how life threatening a battery failure could be and go from there. If you build the battery such that worst case it burns and vents outside and you wont die without power well then the cheap ones look pretty convincing.
Buy the cheap ones from a place that you know has good return policies or a credit card with good charge backs.
Also, they are approaching lead acid "disposable" pricing levels. Marine deep cycle lead acids get maybe 50-100 full DOD in my experience. If you get 300 cycles out of a poor non-DOA $250 lifepo4 pack you are still winning.
At this moment in time the Battleborn warranty is just too much added cost for me personally. You will have to make that decision. Consider how life threatening a battery failure could be and go from there. If you build the battery such that worst case it burns and vents outside and you wont die without power well then the cheap ones look pretty convincing.
Buy the cheap ones from a place that you know has good return policies or a credit card with good charge backs.
Also, they are approaching lead acid "disposable" pricing levels. Marine deep cycle lead acids get maybe 50-100 full DOD in my experience. If you get 300 cycles out of a poor non-DOA $250 lifepo4 pack you are still winning.
Rednecktek
Solar Wizard
DIY batteries are the way to go IMHO for van & camper builds because you can get 300+Ah of 12v battery capacity in the same footprint as a bog standard 100Ah battery with a better BMS for larger loads. Yes it's more than a 100Ah battery, but about 1/2 the cost of 3 batteries. And you always know who to bitch at if anything goes wrong.
Otherwise, BB is just too expensive for what they are and are more of a wallet flex than anything else at this point.
Otherwise, BB is just too expensive for what they are and are more of a wallet flex than anything else at this point.
Tomthumb62
Solar Wizard
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2022
- Messages
- 1,871
Battleborn still has a high reputation in the van life world.
When Battleborn came into the scene, they had superior technology and better pricing than what was on the market at the time.
Times have changed. Their technology is better, but they are no longer competitive. You can spend $170-275 for a 100 Ah cheap battery or $925 for similar from Battleborn.
When Battleborn came into the scene, they had superior technology and better pricing than what was on the market at the time.
Times have changed. Their technology is better, but they are no longer competitive. You can spend $170-275 for a 100 Ah cheap battery or $925 for similar from Battleborn.
Bluedog225
Texas
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2019
- Messages
- 3,061
I’ve got two BBs. A few years passed. Now I’ve got 5 SOKs. The BBs are fine but were spendy.
And there was a Battle Born fire video that has been disappeared from the interwebs. Wish I’d saved it.
And there was a Battle Born fire video that has been disappeared from the interwebs. Wish I’d saved it.
12VoltInstalls
life passes by too quickly to not live in freedom
Geesssh! I hope my ~$1000/5kWh of LiFePO4 cheapos go 5000 cycles at least ?
(Two 140Ah 12V Btrpower and a 200Ah 12V Chins)
richard cabesa
New Member
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2021
- Messages
- 176
I’m going to suggest that you buy your battery last. Things are changing rapidly. Build your battery box to handle an 8D battery size or 3-4 of the BB-LiTime.. that would give you 300-500 amp hours of storage. Plenty for a van. I had 220AH of AGM in my Sprinter and was able to make it work .
I now have 600AH on Battle Born in my RV. Just spent three days in the rain with very little solar and I am just down to 64%. Induction cooktop, lights, furnace, microwave
Five plus years and they show no sigh of slowing down.
That said, I know they won’t last for ever so I’m keeping my eyes on the field for the future.
There is a good thread here
sprinter-source.com
And a battery here that Will has reviewed and put in a golf cart which should put it to a good test. 460AH in an 8D size package
sprinter-source.com
Hopefully in another 5 or more years some of these new players will have built good reputations
I now have 600AH on Battle Born in my RV. Just spent three days in the rain with very little solar and I am just down to 64%. Induction cooktop, lights, furnace, microwave
Five plus years and they show no sigh of slowing down.
That said, I know they won’t last for ever so I’m keeping my eyes on the field for the future.
There is a good thread here
See an Interesting House Battery For Your Sprinter?
If you’ve found a new and interesting battery that may work well for house power in your Sprinter conversion please post it up here. Questionable batteries as well, it may save someone from getting ripped off or buying something just flat hazardous. By interesting, I mean something uncommon or...
And a battery here that Will has reviewed and put in a golf cart which should put it to a good test. 460AH in an 8D size package
What are your thoughts on the Epoch 460Ah LiFePO4 batteries?
I'm soon to build my electrical system and I'm thinking hard about going with a couple of these Epoch 460Ah LiFePO4 batteries ($4,000) instead of the three Battle Born 270Ah Game Changer LiFePO4 Deep Cycle GC3 Batteries ($7,500). This is my first build and I'm not an electrical engineer ;) so...
Hopefully in another 5 or more years some of these new players will have built good reputations
12VoltInstalls
life passes by too quickly to not live in freedom
That would be nice.
The problem is that other than three? chinport battery ‘brands’ they companies seem exclusively interested in their current product run selling out. Even chins which some were excited about as much as SOK changed what’s going inside some units - maybe even on porpoise.
Some of these cheap LiFePo4’s wouldn’t even need to improve or change anything- just be longterm consistent- to get a cult following and suck up a good market share. They could/can still sell elcheapo batteresiums as long as they just delivered what was expected, and paid a little attention to their warranties.
They come and go in the market maybe on purpose. I bought two Btrpower 140A batteries and when I went to buy two more they had evaporated! I see them back now but I’ve been running the chins200Ah and my gut is telling me it doesn’t hold at 13.4 like the Btrpower ones do which bothers my head a lot. I’m almost ready to pull it and put it on my adjustable voltage-controlled charger a few days and then capacity test it for 200Ah. I know voltage isn’t how to rate LiFePo4 but the Btrpower ones held higher longer until I paralleled in the chins, but my meters are showing the same averages for consumption kWh ?
