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diy solar

Is this 12V battery better than Battle Born?

Still getting over 100Ah. But the BMS didn't cut out until ~9.2volts (which I'm emailing them about). Video if you want (can skip to 7 minutes to get past the intro stuff):
 
This battery is tested and disassembled on the Love Your RV YouTube channel:

Looks new and nice inside:

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I am not impressed by the fact that there is a large Al heatsink for the BMS that is on the INSIDE rather than being touching the outside case to help dissipation. Yes, there may be one on the outside too, but the one on the inside? Useless without ventilation.
 
I was ready to drop $2,000+ to buy two 100h BB's until I saw the SOK and corresponded with them. Very responsive and answered every question. I was still hesitant because not many reviews yet. However, I ordered the 200ah SOK battery based off Cinergi's video that was impressive to me. Min said the lead time was about 16 days yet I got the FEDX ticket yesterday and it will be delivered in 9 days. Saved over $950 from going with BB so time will tell if the decision was a good one. 200ah is overkill for what I need so I figured if it was a mistake I still have $950 left to go ahead and buy the BB 100ah. Some times life is a gamble....
BTW - Great video Cinergi!
 
That didn't prove to be a problem under full load.
It's part of the reason why lithium batteries have short time high discharge rates and a relaxation period before you can do it again. The BMS is in a pretty bad environment for getting rid of heat. A high mass heatsink let's the transistors in the BMS dump a fair amount of heat into it before there needs to be any convective cooling going on so quick burst then let the heat slowly seep out of the case, and for that matter into the cells too!
 
I recently purchased two SOK 100 Ah batteries...haven't fully tested the battery, but the capacity test appears to be good (1300 watts each on initial test). I haven't conducted a full Current Load test to see how hard I can pull amps out. Charging seems to be good with 40amps going in, but I'm using an EPEVER 40A, and the SOK recommends 50A charging. I just received a 50A/60A charge controller today, and will test tomorrow on the SOKs. I believe Amazon just raised the price to $640, so going to the SOK site or eBay is probably the best price. SOK I believe will not charge tax (depending on where it is delivered). I'm not saying that these batteries will beat others, just letting folks know what I'm doing, and will let you know if I run into issues. So far no issues. I doubt I'll do a teardown (for now) since these are perfectly good LiFePo4. I've seen the YouTube teardown review, and am satisfied with the construction and configuration. I also have seen a YouTuber change two old SLA in his RV for two SOK 100Ah, and it seems to be operating sufficiently.
 

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Monitoring the cell temperatures under charge would give you an idea of how well matched they are to that 50A charge rating too, ie 'we like this' or 'OMG STOP'
 
I ran my RV off two of them as a test for a while, no issues. I've done many more thorough tests on the bench ... and all is well (and on my YT channel, such as post 61 above).
 
These batteries look interesting, but I see their spec sheet says they're rated "IP50" meaning limited protection against dust, no protection against water ingress. The batteries on my RV mount under the entry step which is partially open to the road below. Should I be concerned about using these in that application?
 
Mine has not arrived yet but it is in what looks like a metal case. You could just add some sealant around the rim edge of the top of the battery box to protect it even better from water and dust from getting in.

These batteries look interesting, but I see their spec sheet says they're rated "IP50" meaning limited protection against dust, no protection against water ingress. The batteries on my RV mount under the entry step which is partially open to the road below. Should I be concerned about using these in that application?
 
With any never heard of company you might be considering, try contacting their tech support with a question. Do you get an answer?
I ordered two batteries and on the day they arrived I sent an email with a question. 5 minutes later the phone rang, I looked at the caller information (because I don't answer usually if they are not on my contact list) and it was China. Min spoke with me and got me straightened out right away. That's what I call customer service. Does Battleborn do that?
 
For everyone who is wondering about these batteries, let me share my experience. I ordered two for my camper to be used with my MPP 2424LV-MSD. It took about 3 weeks to receive them from China via FedEx. I have had them for about a month and just finished a ten day camping trip in various situations. The first night I used my generator because there was no power and I was in the shade. I did however run off only battery power for the first 4 or 5 hours which included my 5000 BTU A/C, fan, music and lights. No issues and the A/C starts right up, just like shore power. The next few nights were at a State Park with power and I was in the shade. Then I moved to primitive camping for 4 days using a mix of solar and generator to keep the batteries charged. Typically I could easily get 4-6 hours running all the fore mentioned items and I was not letting the batteries go below 25.6v (24v system in series) which I think is ultra conservative. They do tout a discharge rate that is much lower, but so what, doesn't mean you have to. BTW, I have read all sorts of opinions on how low you can discharge a 4 cell LiFePo4. What's yours? I am using the stated voltage of the battery at 12.8v as previously mentioned and I think that is conservative. I am so happy with the performance of these batteries that I got two more so I should be able to run my A/C all night without using a generator (in Florida). Only time will tell, but so far I think they are well worth the price. The customer service has been above and beyond as Min contacted me just to let me know that he was having trouble getting shipping info to PayPal. FedEx did get the info to me so no issues there. So far I am very satisfied. I will post updates as they age.
 
For everyone who is wondering about these batteries, let me share my experience. I ordered two for my camper to be used with my MPP 2424LV-MSD. It took about 3 weeks to receive them from China via FedEx. I have had them for about a month and just finished a ten day camping trip in various situations. The first night I used my generator because there was no power and I was in the shade. I did however run off only battery power for the first 4 or 5 hours which included my 5000 BTU A/C, fan, music and lights. No issues and the A/C starts right up, just like shore power. The next few nights were at a State Park with power and I was in the shade. Then I moved to primitive camping for 4 days using a mix of solar and generator to keep the batteries charged. Typically I could easily get 4-6 hours running all the fore mentioned items and I was not letting the batteries go below 25.6v (24v system in series) which I think is ultra conservative. They do tout a discharge rate that is much lower, but so what, doesn't mean you have to. BTW, I have read all sorts of opinions on how low you can discharge a 4 cell LiFePo4. What's yours? I am using the stated voltage of the battery at 12.8v as previously mentioned and I think that is conservative. I am so happy with the performance of these batteries that I got two more so I should be able to run my A/C all night without using a generator (in Florida). Only time will tell, but so far I think they are well worth the price. The customer service has been above and beyond as Min contacted me just to let me know that he was having trouble getting shipping info to PayPal. FedEx did get the info to me so no issues there. So far I am very satisfied. I will post updates as they age.
Oh, I forgot to mention I am also running a chest type fridge.
 
Mine has not arrived yet but it is in what looks like a metal case. You could just add some sealant around the rim edge of the top of the battery box to protect it even better from water and dust from getting in.
Correct...they are metal cases...very nice...but I do carry each battery with both of my hands....not entirely sure the handle can always carry the weight...that is just my fear...I'm sure they are sturdy enough though.
 

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Monitoring the cell temperatures under charge would give you an idea of how well matched they are to that 50A charge rating too, ie 'we like this' or 'OMG STOP'
I haven't done a true temperature test, but I do have a Bluetooth thermometer on top of the battery that gathers data throughout the day, and I have to say that the highest it reached was 91F at 12v, 40Amps with 6AWG cable. Although, my batteries do have it easy since I store them indoors. Also, I kept feeling all terminals everyday, and one day I notice one of the negative terminals was warmer that normal. I twisted the 6AWG (I plan on changing to AWG soon) cable a little to make sure it was on tight, and realized it was loose...once I tightened it the heat went away.....just sharing my info. Not saying my tests are definitive, or exhaustive. More testing in progress.

Thanks,
David
 

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Oh, I forgot to mention I am also running a chest type fridge.
I wanted to do a full discharge capacity test on each battery. While I don't have a very finely tuned battery indicator/monitor setup yet (i.e. shunt), I did order a Hall Effect meter (see pic), and discharged my first battery down to 12.04v with 1297 watts/101 Ah (see pic) using my flat screen TV (plus PSW inverter) which pulls about 150watts per hour. My second battery (which I don't have proof) went over 1300 watts (I forget the volts). However those tests were using 10awg wire, and I now have 6 awg at my disposal. I noticed the 6 awg tends to show less amps being pushed through on the same testing device than the 10 awg, appearing to be more efficient. Not sure if that is entirely accurate, but it is an observation. I'm not afraid to discharge down to the wire, but do not make a practice of it. I have seen my SOKs go as low as 10.5v, and bounce back to 11.1v when I turn off the load. At the moment I tend to keep it between 12.5v and 13.8v. I do purposely run load against the solar panels and the SOK at the same time with a push of 1 to 600 watts during the day with sun. And go pure battery in the evening. So far my Days of Autonomy is about two, but I intend to stretch that out by adding additional batteries, and solar panels.

Again, I don't advocate products, I only report objective findings and facts. Rest assure, if anything crappy happens with the SOK batteries I'll let everyone know my experience, good or bad.

Questions, feel free to ask.

Thanks,
David
 

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I just opened the box on the 200ah version and it says recommended max charge current up to 50amps. The sinopoly dataset shows continuous 66amps for the cells.
I can't really make out the wording on the pic for the 200Ah battery...does it say 66A Max Charge?
 
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I can't really make out the wording on the pic for the 200Ah battery...does it say 66A Max Charge?

The case shows max charge rate is 50A. Min recommends 40A. The GFB datasheet shows standard charge current is 1/3C which is 68.6A.
 

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The case shows max charge rate is 50A. Min recommends 40A. The GFB datasheet shows standard charge current is 1/3C which is 68.6A.
That's good to know...but is sort of low for my needs. 40A for two batteries is 5 sun hours. My panels produces way more than 40A per hours...so I'm sorta loosing quick charging...I do have the batteries on my EPEVER 40A CC…I would say this is the first negative that I see with these SOK batteries....but for now it does fit my needs and I'm still very happy to have these at this price. I've been running my entire office off these two SOK 100Ah (x2) batteries without having to tap into Shore Power.
 
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