I found Renogy smart 100 amh battery on eBay for $400 … think these are fakes ? Supposed to be new, but half the price … scared.
There was a surplus company here in SoCal selling brand new in sealed box 100 amp Renogy Smart Lithium batteries for 300.00 then 325.00 . I bought two of them and have had zero problems so far. They’ve been installed in my trailer for about 3 months now. A friend of mine picked one up too and has had no problems with his. I actually picked his up the same time I bought mine. So his has been in service as long as mine. He uses his more than I do.
I recently tested it on a trip to the Nevada desert for nine days. I brought a back up genny just in case. Using the Renogy 200watt solar panel suitcase setup with charge controller I never had to pull the genny out of the trailer and run it.
My use model isn’t very high. In the morning I use the coffee maker, microwave and ice machine. During the day I run the microwave occasionally, the ice machine, and rarely the ice box on ac. On top of this I run the stereo and charge my tablet, phone, drone and other 5 volt devices. I did not run the air cond. but did run the blower for it. I think the lowest I saw the batteries SOC was 72 percent. Each day I was back at 96 to 100 percent SOC.
Those batteries are now listed for 450.00. Supply is getting low so he raised his prices.
A side note,
I was concerned about whether or not I needed a dc-dc converter to charge from the tow vehicle. I read a lot of input on this topic on this site. After reading so much information and misinformation I went to another source and was told that as long as I don’t need the batteries at 100 percent SOC once I arrive at my destination I would be fine.
I went for it and after a 15 hour drive I arrived and checked the battery via the BLE app and found them to be at around 90 percent if I remember right. The charge current was quite low during the trip according to the app. So, it appears you don’t need a dc-dc converter for your battery IF you are not running high current devices and you can charge via solar or shore power or etc. at your destination. I don’t run any 12v devices in the trailer while underway.
UPDATE: I just found this interesting piece on YT made by Victron regarding charging Lifepo4 batteries from an auto alternator. It’s got me thinking about it again. However, my previous truck, a 2003 Tundra with towing package never had an issue charging while the trailer was connected and a single LIFEPO4 was installed. I now have a 2017 Tundra with tow package and the same trailer with two 100 amp Renogy Smart Lithium batteries in parallel. As stated above after 15 hours of towing each way I didn’t experience any problems with the electrical system. The Bluetooth app never showed a significant current draw during the times I checked it.
Don.