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Renogy 200 ah vs SOK 206 ah lithium?

Northstar Chaser

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Hi,
New member of the forum here, new to solar design, and anxious to learn and I'm learning a great deal, thanks to you all. My first question has to do with battery selection.

I have a truck camper that I bought used and it has 160W rooftop panel, a 30 amp Zamp controller, and two 6v golf cart batteries. My understanding is I have about 50 ah of usable storage. I need to get us up to the 175-200 ah range and I'm planning to do pretty much Will's 400w system with alternator charging. I want to go with lithium and was about to pull the trigger on the recommended SOK 206 ah, but then I saw Renogy has a 200 ah battery that can be had for about the same price right now. Will gave the Renogy 100ah battery high marks on build quality and performance last year. Does that carries over to the 200ah battery? I'm wondering if I could get opinions on the Renogy 200ah vs the SOK 206 ah. The SOK can be connected in series and the Renogy can't, but I'm building a 12v system, so that's not an issue. Warranty is 5 years on Renogy vs 7 years on SOK. Any other differences that would make one stand out over the other for my application?

Thanks
 
Agree w the previous comment about Renogy support. I had a Renogy AGM that was completely dead at 2 weeks over the 2 year warranty. Back and forth emails with them for a while, the didn't seem to read or comprehend the previous emails. I think there QC is lacking.
 
Greetings,
I am no expert but here are some thoughts/observations:
When asking opinions on products it would be great if links are included.
Imperfect as they are, Renogy has been around a while, how long has SOK been around?
A warranty is only as good as the company behind it.
The Renogy battery has bluetooth monitoring.
I don’t think the SOK does.

The SOK weighs just 53lbs. Not sure how that’s possible with 200ah. Not doubting, just sayin’. Awesome.
I also like the smaller footprint.

The Renogy weighs 60lbs.
ALSO:
RENOGY
Maximum Continuous Charging Current100 A
Maximum Continuous Discharging Current200 A

SOK
Max Charge Current: 50 A
Max Discharge Current:100 A


 
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The SOK weighs just 53lbs. Not sure how that’s possible with 200ah. Not doubting, just sayin’. Awesome.
I also like the smaller footprint.

The Renogy weighs 60lbs.
ALSO:
RENOGY
Maximum Continuous Charging Current100 A
Maximum Continuous Discharging Current200 A

SOK
Max Charge Current: 50 A
Max Discharge Current:100 A
SOK definitely only 53lbs I have two of them. They use 4 206ah Ganfeng cells and a thin sheetmetal case that keeps size and weight down, its great form factor they are no much bigger than my two old 6v golf cart batteries and was able to put them in the same space. The Renology probably uses 8 100ah cells in a 4s2p config internally which probably weighs more, the plastic case thicker adding bulk, SOK also has a plastic version that is bulkier than the metal.

The SOK seems to be conservatively rated, Have tested a single 206ah at 140 amps discharge and 110amp charge with no cutout, there is info on this forum from SOK that the BMS is actually rated 150 amps continuous, I think they are under selling themselves with the specs.
 
I'm debating the same thing: 200ah SOK v Renogy:

In the past, I had terrible luck with the Renogy BT-2 monitor for a 100ah lithium 12v Renogy, and now I see that Renogy has integrated bluetooth technology into the newer 200ah battery. I wonder if it works? Their app gets terrible reviews and at least one review of the 200ah battery on the Renogy site cries foul. I've had slightly better luck with the Victron Energy BMV-712 Smart Battery Monitor -- not perfect, but something. The SOK amazon site claims 48 pounds. This means -- by my economy -- that a potentially useless Renogy bluetooth battery monitor weighs over 10 pounds.

Leaning toward SOK, but wondering where folks stand in their latest positions?

(Would be nice to see Will rip open the Renogy 200ah bluetooth, and test the bluetooth ! )
 
I have 3 of the Renogy 100ah Bluetooth; presumably similar. I wouldn't buy batteries today without Bluetooth so that left me fewer options. The batteries have been fine if slightly quirky. The Bluetooth app actually works perfectly. I thought it was broken at first but I learned its quirks (like waiting for all 3 batteries to load before clicking on details).

One thing I didn't like is their quirky bms, When a new cell was a little out of balance the whole battery turned off - and stayed off for hours. I figured out for now that just droping the absorption voltage to 13.8 prevents the cell overcharge - and hopefully in time they will balance better.

Their support is bad, but I purchased them off eBay where I knew at least I'd get a 30 day guarantee.

I haven't done any official testing but I have run them at max load with no problems.

So far I'm pleased. $479 each on eBay for 100 ah.

Renogy-Bluetooth-screenshot.jpg
 
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Just looking for an update on this thread.
Has anyone tried the new Renogy 200AH batteries......going threw the specs I see they are rated at half the cycles of the 100AH unit.
I know 2000 cycles is still a lot, but is making me hesitant to pull the trigger on them
 
For many, 2000 cycles is a lifetime. Probably 30 years in my RV. Even if you used 1/2 cycle a day that would still be over 10 years!

And even then, still work pretty well.

So for many use cases I would argue life cycles is not relevant. They will be replaced long before with newer cheaper technology.
 
I have 3 of the Renogy 100ah Bluetooth; presumably similar. I wouldn't buy batteries today without Bluetooth so that left me fewer options. The batteries have been fine if slightly quirky. The Bluetooth app actually works perfectly. I thought it was broken at first but I learned its quirks (like waiting for all 3 batteries to load before clicking on details).

One thing I didn't like is their quirky bms, When a new cell was a little out of balance the whole battery turned off - and stayed off for hours. I figured out for now that just droping the absorption voltage to 13.8 prevents the cell overcharge - and hopefully in time they will balance better.

Their support is bad, but I purchased them off eBay where I knew at least I'd get a 30 day guarantee.

I haven't done any official testing but I have run them at max load with no problems.

So far I'm pleased. $479 each on eBay for 100 ah.

View attachment 83346
for those of us in solar world, charging at 0.07C or less, 13.8V absorb is awfully close to 100% anyway. It doesn't surprise me that the balancer could not keep up when charging above 13.8V at low charge rate because one or more of the cells are in the near-vertical part of their charge curve.
 
very low....i think standard is around 5000
not true, most batteries claim 1,500-3000 cycles but there is variability in what's reported because life cycles depend on depth of discharge and they're not standardized. i believe renogy's 2000 is based on 80% DOD which is way deeper than most of us typically go and you'd likely get many more cycles than that. at $1K for 200Ah that's $0.39/Wh which is very inexpensive. their new smart battery is rated at 4000 cycles but costs about twice as much so you probably end up about the same.
 
for those of us in solar world, charging at 0.07C or less, 13.8V absorb is awfully close to 100% anyway. It doesn't surprise me that the balancer could not keep up when charging above 13.8V at low charge rate because one or more of the cells are in the near-vertical part of their charge curve.
It turned out I had to tweak a little lower for now, down to 13.7 or even 13.6. The Renogy BMS really is bonkers. If a cell gets too high it shuts off the whole battery - for good. (It will turn itself back on the next day). Unlike other batteries I have had, which stop accepting charge but do allow discharge, the Renogy BMS makes no sense.

It tends to get triggered when you are repeatedly starting a charge cycle - for instance if you plug and unplug the RV multiple times to test something.

Its dangerous for Renogy to shut the battery off. When I first installed I didn't notice and hours later the "off" battery was significantly higher voltage than the working ones - which could cause other issues. It doesn't make any sense to me that it prevents discharge. Some hours later I used my master disconnect switch to stop all discharging.

(At that point when I turned the switch back on the battery which was off turned on - at which point its neighbors promptly took on its higher voltage until they all evened out.)

I still like the batteries but have to keep a wary eye on charging. Its a bug in my view, but one I can live with.
 
It turned out I had to tweak a little lower for now, down to 13.7 or even 13.6. The Renogy BMS really is bonkers. If a cell gets too high it shuts off the whole battery - for good. (It will turn itself back on the next day). Unlike other batteries I have had, which stop accepting charge but do allow discharge, the Renogy BMS makes no sense.

It tends to get triggered when you are repeatedly starting a charge cycle - for instance if you plug and unplug the RV multiple times to test something.

Its dangerous for Renogy to shut the battery off. When I first installed I didn't notice and hours later the "off" battery was significantly higher voltage than the working ones - which could cause other issues. It doesn't make any sense to me that it prevents discharge. Some hours later I used my master disconnect switch to stop all discharging.

(At that point when I turned the switch back on the battery which was off turned on - at which point its neighbors promptly took on its higher voltage until they all evened out.)

I still like the batteries but have to keep a wary eye on charging. Its a bug in my view, but one I can live with.
I am glad you posted this because I was on the verge of springing for their $1K 200Ah LFP battery. I understand that it needs to shut off charging to protect a cell but, you're right, it should not shut down for more time than needed to rebalance the cells. That's concerning.
 
I am glad you posted this because I was on the verge of springing for their $1K 200Ah LFP battery. I understand that it needs to shut off charging to protect a cell but, you're right, it should not shut down for more time than needed to rebalance the cells. That's concerning.
I thought it was odd behavior too especially since I was just using Renogy's suggested charge profile. And it's happened on 2 different batteries.

RV is more challenging than home solar because I have 3 different charging systems, but I just set them all to lower absorption voltages.

Problem solved so far and I'm still like 98% charged.
 
I thought it was odd behavior too especially since I was just using Renogy's suggested charge profile. And it's happened on 2 different batteries.

RV is more challenging than home solar because I have 3 different charging systems, but I just set them all to lower absorption voltages.

Problem solved so far and I'm still like 98% charged.
I agree that you've solved it. The battery manufacturers are in a difficult spot because of the wide range of charge rates that are used, especially in RVs. When they spec 14.4 or 14.6V it's totally reasonable for a high charge rate but using that at low (typical solar) charge rates will overcharge the battery, or damage a cell(s) if the balancer can't keep up to prevent runaway cells. On the other hand, if they spec 13.6 or 13.8V, which are optimum for low (solar) charge rates and then somebody has a very high capacity converter or other charge system, the battery will likely be only 70% charged.
 
The Renogy BMS really is bonkers. If a cell gets too high it shuts off the whole battery - for good. (It will turn itself back on the next day).
I got four SOK 206Ah batteries two days ago and am trying to figure out a similar problem, but related to current instead of voltage.

The SOK's have the lowest maximum charge rate I've ever seen - only 25% of capacity (25 amps maximum for a 206Ah battery) and they seem to turn completely off if that is exceeded.

That means having to constantly monitor the batteries and make sure that they don't need to be reset - not exactly what I want in a battery for our RV.
 
I got four SOK 206Ah batteries two days ago and am trying to figure out a similar problem, but related to current instead of voltage.

The SOK's have the lowest maximum charge rate I've ever seen - only 25% of capacity (25 amps maximum for a 206Ah battery) and they seem to turn completely off if that is exceeded.

That means having to constantly monitor the batteries and make sure that they don't need to be reset - not exactly what I want in a battery for our RV.
The new lower overcurrent threshold on the bluetooth version of the BMS is being discussed here: https://diysolarforum.com/threads/new-sok-bluetooth-bms-for-diy.33945/

There are reports its 50 amps or 0.25C, not 25 amps like your are reporting, even 50 amps is much lower than it should be for a 206. My older non-bluetooth version will accept 110+ amps each without shutdown.
 
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