Ampere Time batteries (2)200ah vs 400ah

[stu]

I asked Ampere Time why their 400ah was so much more money than getting (2) 200ah batteries and wiring in parallel and this is their response. I need help in the translation

The reason why a single 400Ah battery is a little more expensive than 2*200Ah connected in parallel, that because there are subtle voltage differences between different battery modules, and the battery cells voltage difference in a single battery will be smaller 2 200Ah batteries connection.
That means the single battery's consistency of cells will be better than two 200Ah batteries in parallel.
In addition, you don't need to buy much more extra wires to connect more batteries.
Furthermore, a single battery can save much more space and less weight than 2 batteries connected in parallel.

 

[50ShadesOfDirt]

I use AmpereTime (now LiTime) batteries ... the higher up you go in amp-hour ratings, the bigger/better the BMS board inside them, which correlates to supporting your effort to run high-draw appliances or not.

If you already know your battery-bank configuration (12v, 24v, etc.) needed for your scenario, then you can choose the AmpereTime set of batteries that meet the configuration, at the price you want to pay, AND that has the best BMS values (for example, a 200amp BMS board vs a 100amp) inside of it. On top of that, add up the cables needed to implement your choice of battery-bank design.

Hope this helps ...

 

[The Good Package]

Larger capacity batteries are more expensive per amp hour because of the "convenience" factor, but they are also a bigger point of failure because you cannot service them. I especially avoid server rack batteries. After trying many different battery configurations and sizes, I've settled on using individual inexpensive (and easy to swap out) 12v | 100ah batteries in various series configurations or just building a DIY battery with cells. You can pick up 12v | 100ah batteries for around $250/each out the door if you shop around.

LiTime batteries are overpriced in general, but they do have a (way overpiced) small form factor 12v | 100ah battery coming out soon. I'm curious to see what it looks like on the inside (pouch cells, lack of padding, etc.), but it could be game changer for energy density in mobile / portable builds or for applications with weight limitations like boats / e-bikes / etc. In particular, their 48v server rack battery is piece of crap. It's a 15s config with 100a max draw. Total garbage.

 

[50ShadesOfDirt]

Agreed that the make-up of your battery-bank is important ... a single battery (12v or 24v individuals, or 48v rack-mount style) or a mix of them. Depending on what you choose, you get some possible fallback (reconfiguration) if you have a multiple component battery-bank. By choosing larger amp-hour batteries, you tend to get beefier BMS boards.

AmpereTime (LiTime) has 3 local to the US shipping/servicing facilities. The batteries I chose got to me within a week; you pay the money, you get a battery, fast. Well-packed. When one gave me grief (bms issue), they swapped it out on their shipping dime; sent me a pre-paid shipping label, didn't cost me a thing, other than some time/effort to repackage it (I saved the boxes). That's good service, locally to me. Battery-bank has been in service for upwards of two years now. One set of AmpereTime, and one set of LiTime ... both sets are working great for me, and can get more at any time (they always have stock). Also have one set of SOK batteries, but I can't ever get more from them ... they are always out of stock.

For OP, the AmpereTime batteries are sealed, so we don't really know what cells are being used ... just go by the datasheet numbers to see differences between batteries. At the end of the day, its good to get (sales) service capabilities as well as capacity numbers when you buy batteries from a vendor ...

 

[SupraSPL]

The 400ah makes more efficient use of the space in the battery case and the 200ah wastes almost half of it. Even a 300ah leaves a lot of empty space in the case but the 300ah is the best $ value.

Also a 300ah at 60 lbs is more realistic for people to carry than a 400ah at 80 lbs so I've been stacking 300s

 

[The Good Package]

The 400ah makes more efficient use of the space in the battery case and the 200ah wastes almost half of it. Even a 300ah leaves a lot of empty space in the case but the 300ah is the best $ value.

Also a 300ah at 60 lbs is more realistic for people to carry than a 400ah at 80 lbs so I've been stacking 300s

The best part about the battery market right now is all of the flexibility with regard to durability, capacity, footprint, etc. My specific needs are geared toward mobile applications so water / humidity resistance and the extra padding protection in the case for vibration are beneficial to me.

 

[The Good Package]

Agreed that the make-up of your battery-bank is important ... a single battery (12v or 24v individuals, or 48v rack-mount style) or a mix of them. Depending on what you choose, you get some possible fallback (reconfiguration) if you have a multiple component battery-bank. By choosing larger amp-hour batteries, you tend to get beefier BMS boards.

AmpereTime (LiTime) has 3 local to the US shipping/servicing facilities. The batteries I chose got to me within a week; you pay the money, you get a battery, fast. Well-packed. When one gave me grief (bms issue), they swapped it out on their shipping dime; sent me a pre-paid shipping label, didn't cost me a thing, other than some time/effort to repackage it (I saved the boxes). That's good service, locally to me. Battery-bank has been in service for upwards of two years now. One set of AmpereTime, and one set of LiTime ... both sets are working great for me, and can get more at any time (they always have stock). Also have one set of SOK batteries, but I can't ever get more from them ... they are always out of stock.

For OP, the AmpereTime batteries are sealed, so we don't really know what cells are being used ... just go by the datasheet numbers to see differences between batteries. At the end of the day, its good to get (sales) service capabilities as well as capacity numbers when you buy batteries from a vendor ...

For a while we were using AmpereTime / LiTime exclusively but their prices kept going up and just aren't reasonable anymore. $350 for a 12v | 100ah is absurd. Their quality is good with the exception of their server rack batteries.

I recently negotiated a deal with another vendor (with positive YT teardown video) for 32 batteries (12v | 100ah) for $250/each out the door. Every battery was perfect and I had them in two business days. Many of these players have US based warehouses now and I wouldn't be surprised if many of these batteries are made in the same factories in China and share US warehouse space. It's gotten to the point where most of them are well built and the bugs are worked out. You do still see stupid stuff like Redodo putting the BMS / cells sideways, so I avoid them. YT teardown videos are really valuable.

 

[stu]

Thanks all for the input. Good Package, who is YT? Sorry if that is a stupid question. And what other vendor are you speaking of.

 

[The Good Package]

YT = YouTube

I don't want to risk future deals by spilling the beans, but I will say that this particular vendor sells on Amazon.

 

[MarcoWasRight]

YT = YouTube

I don't want to risk future deals by spilling the beans, but I will say that this particular vendor sells on Amazon.

$250 out the door (for some quantity)? Can you tell us the brand of the BMS and its specs? This is very interesting