Pulled The Trigger on a 100ah Battery

[gabe1475]

I pulled the trigger on the Rebel 100Ah Lithium battery and am happy with the packaging and the product received, will test capacity over the weekend. I think bad experiences can happen even with a larger company like Aims Corp as one member chimed in, so I figured I would give this one a shot.

From my perspective, liked the blue-tooth functionality to be able to check on the battery every once in a while and get a sense of usage without having to spend additional money on a separate monitor. Time will tell if this monitor will suit my needs, but I can always add to my system later.

My three choices based on company size (largest to smallest) with blue-tooth monitoring:

Aims Corp
FuelZero
Rebel - LiFePO4 12V 100Ah 1280Wh Bluetooth Enabled Rechargeable Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery - reBel Batteries

Usually I would probably go middle of the road and go with FuelZero as they have an excellent reputation on Ebay, but they were sold out on the capacity I was looking for. As tempting as the warranty was for Aims Corp decided to give this battery a shot since I could not even buy those components for that price and would still have to put it all together.

Anything else I should test besides capacity? Not planning on a full tear down as he has one posted on his site.

 

[DThames]

During your test, watch for any cells(s) that goes low before the others.

 

[gabe1475]

Voltage is at at 60% before charging.
3.282
3.282
3.280
3.278

Thinking that is reasonable. Will keep an eye on it as you suggested. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[gabe1475]

Charge is complete.

Voltages after charging:
3.342
3.342
3.341
3.338

thinking that is close enough. I was not really able to put any current through it as this was all done with my panels (10A) max. Actually, decided to borrow a larger inverter to really get to a .6-.7C draw. Shorter test as well.

 

[Texas Aggie]

Thanks for posting this. I want to add a 100 ah LifePo4 battery to my van and am trying to decide b/w the Rebel and SOK. I like the SOK case for the ability to take it apart, but like the Rebel Bluetooth monitor, the fact that it's fairly local to me, and at least for now, in stock. I'm a total newbie when it comes to these batteries, but was wondering what others thought of the build quality in the tear down video for the Rebel. If I don't find any negative feedback on the Rebel I may pull the trigger on one (especially if I can find a discount code that works).

 

[Mike Jordan]

Charge is complete.

Voltages after charging:
3.342
3.342
3.341
3.338

thinking that is close enough. I was not really able to put any current through it as this was all done with my panels (10A) max. Actually, decided to borrow a larger inverter to really get to a .6-.7C draw. Shorter test as well.

Did you ever do any testing?

 

[JoeHam]

Thanks for posting this. I want to add a 100 ah LifePo4 battery to my van and am trying to decide b/w the Rebel and SOK. I like the SOK case for the ability to take it apart, but like the Rebel Bluetooth monitor, the fact that it's fairly local to me, and at least for now, in stock.

Now on backorder

 

[gabe1475]

Did you ever do any testing?

I did do some testing, but am not advanced like some of the other users on this form. Charged battery to 3.57v average per cell, I probably could have pushed a bit more, but not sure what the capacity is so figured I would leave there as bluetooth monitor was showing 100% capacity (keep in mind that is not 100% accurate, although for purposes of this test, close enough). Using a heat gun pulling about 850w I pulled a total of 1235w using a battery monitor/shunt. I know that is not 100% capacity, but I probably could have gone a bit longer on the charging cycle. For my purposes this battery will serve me well assuming no issues for years to come.

as far as cells being balanced. They did get to being off by .12 during the charging process. Once that stopped, the cells balanced out, although I could not find the figure before I started my test. Want to say 3.3-3.4 range.

I will probably do more testing eventually, but getting ready for Christmas and my wife would not be happy if I pulled the inverter out.

 

[Mike Jordan]

Now on backorder

And.... just when I was thinking this might be a no-wait option

 

[Texas Aggie]

And.... just when I was thinking this might be a no-wait option

I'm in the same boat. And to add insult to injury, I missed out on the last Ebay auction for one of the Rebel batteries by 88 cents - at a price that is significantly cheaper than list. Somebody sniped at the last second and exceeded my max bid by that amount, or I would've bid again. Oh well, the search continues.

 

[Love.Sun]

Voltage is at at 60% before charging.
3.282
3.282
3.280
3.278

Thinking that is reasonable. Will keep an eye on it as you suggested. Thanks for the feedback.

Does this mean that the battery has 4 cells in it? You showed 4 values so I am presuming 4 cells?
Sorry.. I am still very new to all of this and can't seem to digest it all!

 

[JoeHam]

Does this mean that the battery has 4 cells in it? You showed 4 values so I am presuming 4 cells?
Sorry.. I am still very new to all of this and can't seem to digest it all!

Yes. Take a look at the tear down video posted and you will see them.

LiFePO4 batteries are made up of individual 3.2v nominal cells so you need 4 to make 12v nominal, 8 to make 24v nominal etc.

And nominal basically means the name we call them since a 3.2v cell can run from 2.5v to 3.65v which can be multiplied out to the battery voltages above.

In reality most of us limit the cell voltage excursions to around 3-3.5v to extend the life of the battery.

Hope that helps.

 

[Love.Sun]

Yes. Take a look at the tear down video posted and you will see them.

LiFePO4 batteries are made up of individual 3.2v nominal cells so you need 4 to make 12v nominal, 8 to make 24v nominal etc.

And nominal basically means the name we call them since a 3.2v cell can run from 2.5v to 3.65v which can be multiplied out to the battery voltages above.

In reality most of us limit the cell voltage excursions to around 3-3.5v to extend the life of the battery.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for sharing that! Its very difficult digesting everything about batteries. There are hundreds of things to understand. Its been a month now and I still trying to learn on and off when I get the time.
I am thinking about trying to make the most basic DIY project where i take either NiMH or Li-ion battery and try and connect it to some small solar charger and add some sort of a control board to see if I can manipulate the current and learn more. Like learn through experience.. probably the best for me

 

[JimmyMac]

I just bought 3 ReBel 100ah steel cased batteries. From the teardown video on the Rebel Battery website they look very solid and well built. I emailed the owner (Aric) a couple of times with questions and he promptly answered with reasonable responses and suggestions for my particular install which was nice. The price was right at $499 (thru Easter weekend). These batteries have been tested by other forum members with success and the features like the built-in bluetooth monitor and serviceable case made these batteries an easy choice for me. I don't understand why they aren't more popular.

 

[unsubscribed]

I don't understand why they aren't more popular.

Well, for one, they can't be connected in series.

Smart LiFePO4 12V 100Ah 1280Wh Bluetooth Enabled Rechargeable Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery

The LiFePO4 12V 100 Ah battery is the preferred drop-in replacement for lead-acid batteries. These batteries have a longer service life, lighter weight, more efficient power, and all-around versatility. Connect multiple batteries in parallel (up to 16) to increase storage capacity. Connect in...

rebelbatteries.com

 

[JimmyMac]

Well, for one, they can't be connected in series.

Smart LiFePO4 12V 100Ah 1280Wh Bluetooth Enabled Rechargeable Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery

The LiFePO4 12V 100 Ah battery is the preferred drop-in replacement for lead-acid batteries. These batteries have a longer service life, lighter weight, more efficient power, and all-around versatility. Connect multiple batteries in parallel (up to 16) to increase storage capacity. Connect in...

rebelbatteries.com

The description from his website (below) says they can: - Is this wrong?

Description​

The LiFePO4 12V 100 Ah battery is our metal-cased 100AH drop-in replacement for lead-acid batteries. These batteries have a longer service life, lighter weight, more efficient power, and all-around versatility. Connect multiple batteries in parallel to increase storage capacity. Connect in Series or Parallel. No special configuration settings for parallel/series operations.

 

[unsubscribed]

Check the bottom left most thumb image and enlarge. "Should not ... connect in series ...."

So, as a minimum, some contradictory information.

For comparison, when you tell Battle Born that you're going to wire two of their batteries in series, they match them for you. And they keep a record, so that, when you buy two more x months later, they can match those two to the first pair.

 

[JimmyMac]

Check the bottom left most thumb image and enlarge. "Should not ... connect in series ...."

So, as a minimum, some contradictory information.

For comparison, when you tell Battle Born that you're going to wire two of their batteries in series, they match them for you. And they keep a record, so that, when you buy two more x months later, they can match those two to the first pair.

View attachment 43196

That thumbnail image you reference is for ReBel Battery's plastic encased battery. The same warning is not on the metal encased battery.

 

[unsubscribed]

Ah... okay. I didn't see them make a big distinction between the batteries. It might be in the metal case battery that they can pick and choose cells.

 

[JimmyMac]

Ah... okay. I didn't see them make a big distinction between the batteries. It might be in the metal case battery that they can pick and choose cells.

I watched Aric's tear down video and he says that they have a more capable BMS which allows these particular batteries to be used in series. I do not plan on wiring mine in series (at least yet) so I wasn't watching for that feature. I was concerned when you bought that up though because the more research I do the more my planned system seems to grow.