SOK vs Renogy Battery Help me choose

[Byrogie]

Replacing my FLA batteries in my RV with lithium. Down to these choices, based on my requirements, location, and budget. Canadian dollars, both are free shipping. I will probably be getting 2 for parallel connection.
SOK 206A/H (SK12V206) @ $1345 and the Renogy 200A/H (RBT200LFP12-BT-CA) @ $1249
Both claim bluetooth monitoring, low/high temp protection and auto cell balancing. Warranty is 7 years on SOK, and 5 years on Renogy.

Biggest differences: SOK @ 48lb, Renogy @ 60lb. Is this significate?
Renogy says 2000 cycles, SOK and most others say 4000 plus.

Oh yeah, right now SOK is offering their heated model for same price, $230 option.

Any experience or input welcome.

 

[Substrate]

Hard to say what is going to fit your actual application or budget.

Lots of experience and input on them in the threads here. Take a gander, because the last thing you want to do is just "bench race" specifications.

 

[Levo]

Last winter I was in the market for a battery for my solar powered travel trailer. I decided I wanted 200Ah or more and deliberated long and hard over which way to go. I seriously considered Alberta Lithium and Renogy and compared both options with building my own battery with imported cells through Ali Express and the like.

At that time, delivery from China was so slow and unpredictable, ordering, paying and praying to get the cells and such delivered in time for spring was dodgy. Also, the savings barely justified the effort of building unless compared to top-shelf high-priced batteries.

I nearly bought a pair of Renogy 100Ah ($600 apiece on sale) with bluetooth, but preferred to stick to one battery rather than having to parallel two.

Alberta Lithium ( https://www.ablithium.ca/ ) at the time had no 280Ah ($1400) in stock, and no bluetooth on the BMS. People on this forum do seem to like their batteries though:https://diysolarforum.com/threads/alberta-lithium.20253/page-4#post-588754

I chose this option $1250 (now ($1300) for a 280 Ah with bluetooth. I paid 30% up front and delivery was within 3 weeks as promised. (+$70 shipping.)
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-buy-sell-other/grande-prairie/lithium-battery-packs/1581996362


After one full season (May-October) including an Alberta-California round trip, I am very satisfied with the performance. I have done no specific capacity test, but I always had plenty of power to run a domestic compressor fridge, the furnace fan and even the microwave oven quite frequently. Yesterday, running the battery down sufficiently for winter storage with a 1Kw heater took an hour. The bluetooth monitoring has worked just fine.

Admittedly, I was uneasy about sending my money off to an unknown advertiser on Kijiji, but he certainly came through and I think it has been a good bang for the buck. I believe the battery builder/vendor (Elias) is a solar system builder in Grande Prairie in Alberta. If you have any questions, fire away and I'll try to answer as well as I can.

 

[timselectric]

Replacing my FLA batteries in my RV with lithium. Down to these choices, based on my requirements, location, and budget. Canadian dollars, both are free shipping. I will probably be getting 2 for parallel connection.
SOK 206A/H (SK12V206) @ $1345 and the Renogy 200A/H (RBT200LFP12-BT-CA) @ $1249
Both claim bluetooth monitoring, low/high temp protection and auto cell balancing. Warranty is 7 years on SOK, and 5 years on Renogy.

Biggest differences: SOK @ 48lb, Renogy @ 60lb. Is this significate?
Renogy says 2000 cycles, SOK and most others say 4000 plus.

Oh yeah, right now SOK is offering their heated model for same price, $230 option.

Any experience or input welcome.

I don't know anything about the Renogy battery.
But, SOK is highly regarded by many members here.

 

[Substrate]

Sorry - I guess I'm grumpy.

Sometimes it feels like all we are asked to be are salesman trying to bounce cost vs features on each other, and fill shopping carts.

Without knowing your requirements really are - maybe just stick with the FLA's.

 

[Byrogie]

Last winter I was in the market for a battery for my solar powered travel trailer. I decided I wanted 200Ah or more and deliberated long and hard over which way to go. I seriously considered Alberta Lithium and Renogy and compared both options with building my own battery with imported cells through Ali Express and the like.

At that time, delivery from China was so slow and unpredictable, ordering, paying and praying to get the cells and such delivered in time for spring was dodgy. Also, the savings barely justified the effort of building unless compared to top-shelf high-priced batteries.

I nearly bought a pair of Renogy 100Ah ($600 apiece on sale) with bluetooth, but preferred to stick to one battery rather than having to parallel two.

Alberta Lithium ( https://www.ablithium.ca/ ) at the time had no 280Ah ($1400) in stock, and no bluetooth on the BMS. People on this forum do seem to like their batteries though:https://diysolarforum.com/threads/alberta-lithium.20253/page-4#post-588754

I chose this option $1250 (now ($1300) for a 280 Ah with bluetooth. I paid 30% up front and delivery was within 3 weeks as promised. (+$70 shipping.)
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-buy-sell-other/grande-prairie/lithium-battery-packs/1581996362


After one full season (May-October) including an Alberta-California round trip, I am very satisfied with the performance. I have done no specific capacity test, but I always had plenty of power to run a domestic compressor fridge, the furnace fan and even the microwave oven quite frequently. Yesterday, running the battery down sufficiently for winter storage with a 1Kw heater took an hour. The bluetooth monitoring has worked just fine.

Admittedly, I was uneasy about sending my money off to an unknown advertiser on Kijiji, but he certainly came through and I think it has been a good bang for the buck. I believe the battery builder/vendor (Elias) is a solar system builder in Grande Prairie in Alberta. If you have any questions, fire away and I'll try to answer as well as I can.

Thanks
Do you have any pics of delivered product? Or know what cells/BMS are used?

 

[Levo]

The BMS is the JBD brand, but I don't know about the cells. My battery looks exactly as pictured in the ad. If you respond to the ad I expect Elias will answer you. He seems to be very knowledgeable.

 

[Browneye]

SOK FTW.
First though, you really need to do a needs assessment. How much power in watts or amp hours do you use in a day or overnight? Then you get battery bank to supply that for a day or two, and a way to charge them back up.

Existing charging appliances generally don't work very well for LFP. And solar is a great way to make it all self sufficient. It's all expensive.

Friends don't let friends buy renogy. LOL

 

[Levo]

Well okay, maybe I have just got lucky with my Renogy charging stuff so far!

 

[Browneye]

I have a renogy wanderer scc for my chassis/starting battery bank, 10A for a 100W solar panel. Works fine. I might even be willing to buy one of their solar panels. A whole bank of them? Uh, no.

Just understand that renogy doesn't make anything themselves, they put their brand on china-sourced products, and generally it is very difficult to get tech support from them. Either they don't know anything about their products, or the ones that do you can't reach, or they just don't answer the phone/emails. It's all fine and good as long as their stuff is working - the problem comes in if it's not. Plenty of discussion here on the forum on their product reliability and reputation. They've done a good job with marketing and advertising, and getting their product out thru amazon, even home depot. I think they used to have a retail store out near here, but that doesn't seem to come up on a search anymore.

If it were me, I wouldn't buy a renogy battery with YOUR money. LOL

 

[iwasforcedtopickausername]

Why do you want 12V? Are you doing heaters? Do you care about user replaceable cells?

If it's just between those two: SOK 206A/H (SK12V206) @ $1345 and the Renogy 200A/H (RBT200LFP12-BT-CA) @ $1249, the SOK is a no-brainer. Marginally higher price for replaceable cells and a superior overall product.

 

[justoneguy]

Friends don't let friends buy renogy.
This^
but not LOL
renogy and their customer service is no laughing matter

 

[MrNatural22]

Agree SOK is a better more trusted product.

 

[Byrogie]

Thanks to those that addressed the direct question I asked and/or offered alternatives.

 

[RF_Burns]

The BMS is the JBD brand, but I don't know about the cells. My battery looks exactly as pictured in the ad. If you respond to the ad I expect Elias will answer you. He seems to be very knowledgeable.

I bought two 100Ahr batteries from Alberta Lithium last year for my motorhome. My only complaint with them so far is if I set the target voltage above 14.2 volts @ 40amp (~20A to each), the BMS will open circuit once it hits above 14.2V. I don't know if one of the cells is out of balance and hits the high voltage limit, or the manufacturer has set the high voltage cut-off at 14.2v to prevent stressing the cells. They are pretty much at the high 90's% charged at 14.2V, so hasn't been an issue.
I like the construction of your pack. I'm an electronics guy so I'd like to be able to check the cell balancing etc. Bluetooth is also nice. The BMS can also be replaced if required.

 

[Byrogie]

I bought two 100Ahr batteries from Alberta Lithium last year for my motorhome. My only complaint with them so far is if I set the target voltage above 14.2 volts @ 40amp (~20A to each), the BMS will open circuit once it hits above 14.2V. I don't know if one of the cells is out of balance and hits the high voltage limit, or the manufacturer has set the high voltage cut-off at 14.2v to prevent stressing the cells. They are pretty much at the high 90's% charged at 14.2V, so hasn't been an issue.
I like the construction of your pack. I'm an electronics guy so I'd like to be able to check the cell balancing etc. Bluetooth is also nice. The BMS can also be replaced if required.

Thx for that info. Yes the Bluetooth monitoring is a distinct advantage. Can alberta lithium confirm your experience?

 

[Alkaline]

Don't buy a metal case battery is all I will say. SOK makes plastic case version get that.

 

[RF_Burns]

Thx for that info. Yes the Bluetooth monitoring is a distinct advantage. Can alberta lithium confirm your experience?

My Samlex EVO Inverter/Charger/Transfer Switch logs the charging progress and any events (errors), so I could see what was happening. I called them about it. They simply stated that the battery was "Charged" and so cut off the charging current. However from my understanding, the BMS over-voltage cut-off is a last resort to protect the battery. The charger should cut-off when the desired end of charge parameters are met.

Their own spec sheet states BMS over voltage cut-off = 15.0V, Charge voltage 14.2-14.6V

I should mention that I was 45 years in electronics, including 40 year of my own business in Public Safety radio communications. We used backup battery systems to power radio systems, mostly in Fire Halls and remote towers. These were all tel-com rated lead-acid batteries, so this is my first experience with LiFePO4. However I did lots of reading before hand.

The ALB batteries were at a price point I could live with and charging to 14.2V puts the SOC well into the high 90's percent and does not stress the battery. They have preformed well in our motorhome where the main load is our all-electric refrigerator.

 

[Aly_Oops]

If you can, go Victron for all solar needs. There are Victron dealers (inventory poor) in your province and also available on Amazon.ca, EcoSolaris has the best inventory with Amazon and they respond directly and online.

Important: As for batteries, get batteries that can be open for service, replacement and upgrades. Don't buy sealed units. You can then catch battery quality status. Verify that their app can access all parameters and edit the one you may want to custom. Bluetooth is a great tool. Heating pad only if you use it in the cold winter RV, vanlife, etc. Your battery exposed to -5 C temperatures, otherwise not needed. Otherwise, the BMS will shut you down from charging. It will allow for colder temperature to discharge, spec can vary.

As of this Date: One thing that I like about SOK 206 marine/bluetooth/heater is the build. One can replace cell and BMS. Also there is room to replace BMS with another brand, like Overkill.

Currently, they have an issue with balancing (result in issue with full charge capacity, failure to saturate cell at least one time requirement) and don't provide password to view Parameters even with their app and no other app can access it. Forget about editing changes. As of this date, local inventory of SOK have the old BMS, so best not to get stuck with it. Unless you are prepared to pay for new BMS (probably $200+ for Canada exchange/customs). Their new BMS does a much better job of balancing, but not perfect and it resist from saturating each cell.

Misc: Check out Sun Fun Kit. I am looking into it, especially ther 307A unit. Haven't bought any or deal with them, So can not tell you much. Overkill seems to get my attention lately. Again, no contact or dealing with them.

 

[LydMekk]

Don't buy a metal case battery is all I will say. SOK makes plastic case version get that.

That is just daft. One use for the metal chassis is to work as a heatsink for the temperatures inside the case due to charge and discharge a lot of amps.
In a plastic case that does not work.
Optimal is alu but steel is also good compared to plastic.

Also have airgaps between batteries to help with the heat.