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Ark batteries? (not Sol-Ark)

YAMLcase

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Oct 13, 2021
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I'm considering the Ark Batteries (https://arklithium.com) for my sol-ark 12k installation. The price seems good compared to what I've come across but what's the catch? I'm not seeing a whole lot of info and feel I'm not able to do due diligence yet... pretty much Gains and engineer775 are the only youtubers talking about them, would like to hear more stories good or bad. Thanks!
 
I'm considering the Ark Batteries (https://arklithium.com) for my sol-ark 12k installation. The price seems good compared to what I've come across but what's the catch? I'm not seeing a whole lot of info and feel I'm not able to do due diligence yet... pretty much Gains and engineer775 are the only youtubers talking about them, would like to hear more stories good or bad. Thanks!
Why would you want to go with those? They are much more expensive than the GYLL batteries offered by Signature Solar and I doubt they share the same welded terminal construction.

 
Apropos of nothing it makes me laugh when I see Ark Lithium and Miller Tech are both located in Ohio’s Amish country. Where many don’t use electricity.

I’ve been to furniture makers there who use gas lamps and hand tools.
 
Apropos of nothing it makes me laugh when I see Ark Lithium and Miller Tech are both located in Ohio’s Amish country. Where many don’t use electricity.

I’ve been to furniture makers there who use gas lamps and hand tools.
I had an Amish TV stand custom modified. Took forever because my ‘plans’ had to be faxed to a non-Amish guy that drives in once a week to deliver faxes to the Amish shop.

Took over a month just to clarify the plans and get a quote (though it’s a fantastic piece of furniture!).
 
I have 2 of the ARK lithium 48v 100ah batteries. Decent batteries. Could not get the EG4 batteries in a timely manner when I set up my system. Went with the ARK brand. At the time I purchased they were 2400 each. They are higher now, around 2700. Solid built. Very nice display. Built in breakers.

BUT…..
Had an issue develop where the BMS display shows a different SOC and unequal charge/discharge wattage on each battery even at the same voltage. Have been through it with tech support. Tried changing buss bars to cable between batteries then back to buss bars. All different types of testing. Capacity is there but according to tech support their answer is one battery has more resistance than the other OR the BMS display is not calibrated or faulty. This has been ongoing since the summer. Still no offer of replacement battery under warranty. They have offered a new display when they get another shipment in. Can’t do much else to the batteries or void the “warranty” that appears to be worthless.

Side note; Here’s at you James you’ve had months to help me and you haven’t. Now the internet knows.

SO….
That’s my experience. YMMV. Would I buy again? Not unless the company makes it right with my issue. Which they haven’t in almost 6 months. The vendor was no help either. Useless vendor. Not making money, not helping, no after sales support. If capacity was an issue I would be irate. Capacity is there so I’m being calm and patient. Probably going with 12v/200ah lossigy in series for upcoming expansion of my battery bank. Or Tess electric 48v. Would love EG4s but can’t wait that long.
 
Thanks for the heads up, this is what I was half expected.

I've had 2x EG4s on order since 1 week ago and instantly regretted the purchase, wanted something faster. but... Tess is backordered and anything else I find is +$500 so not sure what do do now. Guess I'll have to practice patience
...Probably going with 12v/200ah lossigy in series for upcoming expansion of my battery bank. Or Tess electric 48v. Would love EG4s but can’t wait that long.
 
Thanks for the heads up, this is what I was half expected.

I've had 2x EG4s on order since 1 week ago and instantly regretted the purchase, wanted something faster. but... Tess is backordered and anything else I find is +$500 so not sure what do do now. Guess I'll have to practice patience
The shipping issues and shortages suck. Makes it hard to find an affordable and reliable setup. That’s why I’m going with lossigy/ampertime or other 12v in series. They are “cheap” enough to play around with. Only using the 12v batteries in series until I can get my hands on some pre built 48v batteries.

Then I’m going to break the series set down and use on my 12v backup system. Not really going to be out anything, need batteries eventually for my 12v backup anyways. It’s going in a jobsite box on a trailer with panels and mounts so it’s portable, basically a huge solar generator.

There are some other 16 cell 48v prebuilts readily available out there but are not as cheap as EG4 or Tess.
 
Apropos of nothing it makes me laugh when I see Ark Lithium and Miller Tech are both located in Ohio’s Amish country. Where many don’t use electricity.

I’ve been to furniture makers there who use gas lamps and hand tools.

That actually isn't true. Almost all of them use electricity to some extent, but are not tied to the grid. I don't know all of their beliefs but I know they can use DC based lighting, fans, and other loads and love to install off grid solar systems. That is why Ark, MillerTech, RhinoVoltz, and other brands have popped up catering almost exclusively to the Amish and Mennonite communities. They need lots of batteries and they cycle them at least once a day.

I don't think there is another brand I have worked with that is as battle tested as MillerTech since they get abused on bouncing buggies, deep cycled to zero every day, and used and recharged in freezing cold weather in the midwest.
 
ARK lithium batteries are 100% made in China. The wooden crate they ship in has no English writing on it. My second ARK battery even had all Chinese script on the BMS instead of English.

Unfamiliar with Miller Tech or rhinovoltz. But would bet they are 100% Chinese sourced too. Amish and Mennonite tribes in the Midwest just flipping batteries for a profit just like every other company out there. Folks being mislead, “oh it’s Amish it’s got to be good stuff”. Not really. Marketing geniuses, yes.

FWIW I added some Zooms series sets into my battery bank. 2 sets of 4-100AH with stand alone series balancers. They outperform the ARK batteries, hands down. I load tested my 10kwh worth of Ark vs 10kwh worth of Zooms. I got .75kwh more capacity from the Zooms.

Both sets of Zooms with DC combiner, 1/0 wire, breakers, balancers etc. Were only +/-$200 more than current price of a single ARK 5kwh pack.

Another observation is my ARK batteries have different internal resistance from each other and one pack is 4 pounds heavier than the other. Not consistent on build quality either.
 
ARK lithium batteries are 100% made in China. The wooden crate they ship in has no English writing on it. My second ARK battery even had all Chinese script on the BMS instead of English.

Unfamiliar with Miller Tech or rhinovoltz. But would bet they are 100% Chinese sourced too. Amish and Mennonite tribes in the Midwest just flipping batteries for a profit just like every other company out there. Folks being mislead, “oh it’s Amish it’s got to be good stuff”. Not really. Marketing geniuses, yes.

FWIW I added some Zooms series sets into my battery bank. 2 sets of 4-100AH with stand alone series balancers. They outperform the ARK batteries, hands down. I load tested my 10kwh worth of Ark vs 10kwh worth of Zooms. I got .75kwh more capacity from the Zooms.

Both sets of Zooms with DC combiner, 1/0 wire, breakers, balancers etc. Were only +/-$200 more than current price of a single ARK 5kwh pack.

Another observation is my ARK batteries have different internal resistance from each other and one pack is 4 pounds heavier than the other. Not consistent on build quality either.

Yes they are made in China. No one said they weren't.

Rhinovoltz are all Grade B cells and are aimed at the low end of the Amish market. MillerTech has a premium (Grade A) lineup and an Economy (Grade B) lineup with a really good BMS and a SoC/Volt meter on top.
 
Why would you want to go with those? They are much more expensive than the GYLL batteries offered by Signature Solar and I doubt they share the same welded terminal construction.

Ark batteries are UL Certified and Gyll/EG4LL batteries are not and thus not an option for multiple folk.
 
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Yes they are made in China. No one said they weren't.

Rhinovoltz are all Grade B cells and are aimed at the low end of the Amish market. MillerTech has a premium (Grade A) lineup and an Economy (Grade B) lineup with a really good BMS and a SoC/Volt meter on top.
LDS_Reliance, BTW, I like your videos on YouTube...

Are either Rhinovoltz or MillerTech batteries UL Certified?

MillerTech seems to be only car battery sized units like this:

https://www.mtechlithium.com/collections/lithium-batteries/products/12-volt-100ah-lithium-battery

This kind of form factor (rack mount or at least stackable) and native voltage compatibility (48v) is more in line with what I and at least some others are most interested in right now (but can't tell if it is UL listed):

 
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LDS_Reliance, BTW, I like your videos on YouTube...

Are either Rhinovoltz or MillerTech batteries UL Certified?

MillerTech seems to be only car battery sized units like this:

https://www.mtechlithium.com/collections/lithium-batteries/products/12-volt-100ah-lithium-battery

This kind of form factor (rack mount or at least stackable) and native voltage compatibility (48v) is more in line with what I and at least some others are most interested in right now (but can't tell if it is UL listed):


Thanks! I appreciate that.

MillerTech did have a few models that were UL listed (at great expense for the testing and certification, by the way) but now they are down to only a 50Ah model. I can get my hands on them and resell them for $350 each. That sounds expensive, I know, but I wanna say that UL listing cost them like $30,000 or more. So there are some serious costs they have to recoup on that stuff and that is why not many companies have it.

I can almost guarantee that Rhinovoltz does not have any UL listed models, although I don't carry them and don't communicate with the company.

MillerTech does have a LIFE series of batteries that are rack mountable and aimed at the solar market. I need to add them to my website but if you ping me I can send you a brochure with some pricing. They are pretty awesome, actually.
 
Ark batteries are UL Certified and Gyll/EG4LL batteries are not and thus not an option for multiple folk.
This is exactly the reason that I am considering them. They are between price points of EG4 and something like simpliphi etc. and the entire battery is UL certified unlike all the others that just have UL listed cells so they are a real contender! Unless anyone has any other option I should consider that is?
 
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