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I have the poor connection blues - help me

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Hey guys, as an after thought I did some reading on several forums @bout building the battery yourself like what is being discussed here. My question is why go through that , why not just buy a top tier battery ( batteries) and hook up and roll. What is the incentive ..are they better if you build them ,more safe , last longer, a lot cheaper ….??
there has to be a good reason as so many people are online trying to do it and work out issues ..
maybe I’m missing all the fun or somthing…
so what’s the scoop ..
thank you ,
Jim.
 
The reason I built my battery was to get it in the needed shape (and save money).

I have a MotorHome, In the only space I have, I could get 4 GC2 Battleborn batteries at 400ah or I built my battery with eight 272ah Lishen cells and have what I call a 500ah battery (really 542ah). It was also about half the price.

Since I built my battery, Selection has gone up and pre- built prices down (and it seems cell price are up). So the answer may be different now - but I doubt it - but it would be closer.
 
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The reason I built my battery was to get it in the needed shape (and save money).

I have a MotorHome, In the only space I have, I could get 4 GC2 Battleborn batteries at 400ah or I built my battery with eight 272ah Lishen cells and have what I call a 500ah battery (really 542ah). It was also about half the price.

Since I built my battery, Selection has gone up and pre- built prices down (and it seems cell price are up). So the answer may be different now - but I doubt it - but it would be closer.
Makes sence … a valid point.. it’s hard to know where the tech market will go in the next 5 years concerning batterys… at some point ya just dive in and let go where it goes, I guess…thank you..Jim.
 
The reason I built my battery was to get it in the needed shape (and save money).

I have a MotorHome, In the only space I have, I could get 4 GC2 Battleborn batteries at 400ah or I built my battery with eight 272ah Lishen cells and have what I call a 500ah battery (really 542ah). It was also about half the price.

Since I built my battery, Selection has gone up and pre- built prices down (and it seems cell price are up). So the answer may be different now - but I doubt it - but it would be closer.
I built mine because it was a lot cheaper at the time. The other options were basically $800 battleborn. I am a diy guy by nature, so its possible I would still opt to build diy battery if I was starting today. But I also think that would be the wrong move. The options today are great and when I first started down diy road, I didn't realize how much time and effort it is to diy batteries. Its too much time for too little reward at this point in my opinion for a rational person.
 
I built mine because it was a lot cheaper at the time. The other options were basically $800 battleborn. I am a diy guy by nature, so its possible I would still opt to build diy battery if I was starting today. But I also think that would be the wrong move. The options today are great and when I first started down diy road, I didn't realize how much time and effort it is to diy batteries. Its too much time for too little reward at this point in my opinion for a rational person.
Haaa… I would like to know where to get BB for 800 bucks… all of mine started at 900 … I understand what your saying …. It I think that’s part of the learning curve we all go through in a new frontier of products… think on it like this , you are in the top part of probably less than 1/10th of 1% of the entire world on this topic and now it’s mostly behind you…you don’t have to repeat the things you have had to learn .. this is the future and everyone will adapt at some point to it…and much more too.
most of the cats on this site wont have to pay their dues twice.. the rest of the world will have to.
I would say the people here including me ( and I’m not a big Whig in any conceivable way) are lucky to have addressed this whole concept early on…. For the young ones it may be what makes them very successful In the coming years….they are lucky to be so young with so many tech doors opening up …
good luck to ya…
Jim…..
 
I built my own and ended up with more Ah in less space than four Battleborn batteries. I was very careful with my build and bought cells from a reputable source. Two years in and they are working very well.
 
I built my own and ended up with more Ah in less space than four Battleborn batteries. I was very careful with my build and bought cells from a reputable source. Two years in and they are working very well.
I could see that happening. You seem the type that would do that properly . I wasn’t even aware you could build them when I first bought my equipment. The Covid crap sorta slowed down my progress a bit about the time I started to get going but it did give me a lot of time to learn from scratch about the whole concept…
I think it’s great to do it like your doing .. I think it takes a certain mindset that not all people have.
I don’t know where I will end up ,but it will be after I get my first real solid system rolling and where the world goes in tech advancements in solar over the next few years… my first goal is to simply remove and not depend on the power company in my life… just on principle if nothing else….they don’t have a very good attitude in general about anything except getting their money not a single day late ……..it will be fun to tell them to go away …..a small goal perhaps , but a goal none the less…I look forward to doing that …

good luck sir…
Jim.
 
What is the incentive ...
For me, I abhor the idea of having to build one up myself, but will do it if I have to. I would much rather have a reliable, UL-Listed product with a great support team and solid warranty. But my situation is that I want at least 40kWh of battery in a fairly compact package, so the 48V, 100Ah units become a bit unwieldy if I could go for 280Ah instead (and save myself the cost of a custom rack). Issues people seem to have with what should be reliable units complicate the matter further.
 
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For me, I abhor the idea of having to build one up myself, but will do it if I have to. I would much rather have a reliable, UL-Listed product with a great support team and solid warranty. But my situation is that I want at least 40kWh of battery in a fairly compact package, so the 48V, 100Ah units become a bit unwieldy if I could go for 280Ah instead (and save myself the cost of a custom rack). Issues people seem to have with what should be reliable units complicate the matter further.
I won’t build any… I‘d probably just burn down my trees and sheds learning all the ins and outs… I probably should just buy a few more more of solid name batts to complete my system, with a good warranty that just works…and play with some of the other equipment as it is developed and comes to market…I especially like equipment make odd noises and blurps with blinking lights , moving bar graphs and little blippy signals and things in a darkened room with fitting music and spirits …
It seems you want a lot more power than I’m after.. I can live great off less power than most people in my RV… about 35 ft ,i bought it new 7 years ago…
I have been very closely tracking my daily usage for over a year with several devices and know within about 10 percent fluctuation what I need at what time of year almost any day ..about 10kwh is all I need to do about everything I need in the spring and fall .. 15 Kwh is splurging…..summer is only about 70-75 in the day 50’s at night….but winter can be a beast…cold as hell and much snow..
NOTE.I would love 40 kWh , but will end up with probably a 12kwh bank if I’m lucky..it depends on where prices go in the next years or so.
good luck in your build…
thanks ,Jim.
 
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