UK Battery Recommendation Fogstar 460ah or Sok 3x100ah or Renogy 3x100ah?

[Sean3007]

Hi,

I'm trying to decide what batteries to go for in my van, for roughly the same price I can get 3 x Sok 100ah, 3 x Renogy 100ah or 1 x Fogstar 460ah.

Does anyone have an opinion on any of these batteries please? Is there a downside to going for one big battery over multiples of a smaller one?

Thanks in advance for any input.

Links to the batteries:

Sok 100ah - https://www.europe.sokbattery.com/p...0ah-lifepo4-battery-bluetooth-built-in-heater
Renogy 100ah - https://uk.renogy.com/12v-100ah-smart-lithium-iron-phosphate-battery-w-self-heating-function/
Fogstar 460ah - https://www.fogstar.co.uk/collectio.../products/fogstar-drift-460ah-leisure-battery

 

[SeaGal]

Welcome!

First, please note that I have no experience of those batteries, or any connection with Fogstar, apart from being a satisfied customer of their raw prismatic cells.

But if I was looking for a battery of that type and, being in the UK, I would have no hesitation in choosing the Fogstar option. They seem a responsive company and @Ben@Fogstar is active on this forum. Others on here seem happy with their rack battery packs and Ben's attention to detail in the design of Fogstar products.

My only concern re "one big battery over multiples of a smaller one" would be a) the weight (but I guess you have bigger muscles than me ?️‍ ) and b) if one fails, you have no power, rather than having _some_ power available. (sorry that's two concerns).

But if either of those is a concern you could also consider several of Fogstar's smaller batteries (e.g. their 105Ah one) which are still cheaper than SOK or Renogy equivalents?

Lithium Leisure Battery - Fogstar Drift 12v 105Ah

105ah 12v Fogstar Drift Lithium Leisure Battery | Grade A LiFePO4 cells, JBD BMS, Bluetooth, Heating | Lowest Prices in the UK. 10 Year Warranty.

www.fogstar.co.uk

 

[Steve Fractals]

Fogstar have been around a fair number of years and have good customer support. If you can get 460Ah for the same price of 300Ah then go with that providing the dimensions and weight are ok for your installation. I have their 100Ah 48V server rack battery and its fab and uses the great Pace BMS.

 

[mikefitz]

Go for 3 off Fogstar 100Ah. Redundancy, ease of install, 300 amp output , if needed. Slightly higher Install cost over a single battery.
There have been issues with SOK and Renogy self-heating batteries.
You are in the UK, Fogstar are in the UK, no contest.

The lower amp hours should not be a significant disadvantage over the larger Fogstar battery.

If battery capacity is important consider the larger battery, or look at others in the Fogstar range.

 

[Sean3007]

Thanks very much for all your replies, most helpful! Looks like i'll be going with Fogstar

A follow up question for those that have suggested the 3 x 105AH battery... looking at the specs it states it has a max continuous discharge of 100A, the larger batteries have a 200A continuous discharge. Could the smaller batteries cause problems if I was running a large inverter?

 

[SeaGal]

A follow up question for those that have suggested the 3 x 105AH battery... looking at the specs it states it has a max continuous discharge of 100A, the larger batteries have a 200A continuous discharge. Could the smaller batteries cause problems if I was running a large inverter?

The difference is expected - but you will be putting the batteries in parallel, so the max discharge of 3 x 100A will be 300A.

Are you needing that large an inverter? 200A will be 2400W @ 12V - if so, maybe better to look at a 24V system - but I'm no expert when best to go from 12V to 24V, so I'll leave that for others to answer.

 

[MisterB1959]

i have been using a 304ah fogstar with a 3000w renogy inverter, not exactly a match made in heaven, but not far from it !!

i can have the microwave and kettle running at the same time, with power to spare. The renogy inverter also has 240v pass through when turned off so that it can easily be incorporated into an on and off grid setup in your camper/motorhome, as i have done!

 

[Sean3007]

Thanks both, I didn't realise the max continuous discharge figure also got added together if running in parallel. It's the Renogy inverter that I'm looking at as I like the pass through feature! Much appreciated.

 

[mikefitz]

It's the Renogy inverter that I'm looking at as I like the pass through feature!

Check that the Renogy inverter with pass through, can operate with a RCD, ( protects against electric shock).
If the inverter does not make a neutral to protective earth bond when in stand alone mode, ( no shore power), any RCD will not function correctly.
Renogy shoud make it clear , ( but they dont), that inverter products sold in the UK for permanent installs to distributed sockets and appliances, ( you would buy a pass through inverter for this type of use ), to meet UK electrical regulations for camper vans, that RCD protection and neutral to earth bond, is a requirement.
The 3000 watt inverter is on sale in the UK from 15 Aug.
The online manual states, " do not connect any AC load that has neutral connected to ground ".
This suggests that the inverter does not have the automatic neutral bond incorporated in the unit, and thus, in my view, is unsafe.

A safe product , correctly engineered for Europe, is the Victrom Multiplus, as well as an auto pass through it incorporated a powerful battery charger.

Sooner or later someone is going to get seriously injured or killed in the UK by unsuitable or incorrectry installed inverters in camper vans.
Almost all of the UK van build you tube videos don't follow UK regulations.

Mike

 

[Sean3007]

Check that the Renogy inverter with pass through, can operate with a RCD, ( protects against electric shock).
If the inverter does not make a neutral to protective earth bond when in stand alone mode, ( no shore power), any RCD will not function correctly.
Renogy shoud make it clear , ( but they dont), that inverter products sold in the UK for permanent installs to distributed sockets and appliances, ( you would buy a pass through inverter for this type of use ), to meet UK electrical regulations for camper vans, that RCD protection and neutral to earth bond, is a requirement.
The 3000 watt inverter is on sale in the UK from 15 Aug.
The online manual states, " do not connect any AC load that has neutral connected to ground ".
This suggests that the inverter does not have the automatic neutral bond incorporated in the unit, and thus, in my view, is unsafe.

A safe product , correctly engineered for Europe, is the Victrom Multiplus, as well as an auto pass through it incorporated a powerful battery charger.

Sooner or later someone is going to get seriously injured or killed in the UK by unsuitable or incorrectry installed inverters in camper vans.
Almost all of the UK van build you tube videos don't follow UK regulations.

Mike

Thanks for the heads up on this Mike. I couldn't afford the 3000W Victron but I'll look into what you've raised and possibly cancel my Renogy order if I can find something else.

Sean

 

[mikefitz]

You could contact Renogy and ask about neutral bonding and the use of RCD protection on the output of their inverter, its possible they have made changes to the product for the 230 volt market.
If you research the UK inverter market you will find the quality European designed inverters intended for permanent install to a distributed
circuit , have neutral to earth bond capability. They also cost more. Sterling Power, Victron, Votronic, supply such units.

 

[SeaGal]

All good info @mikefitz, thanks. Out of curiosity, can you elaborate on the RCD not functioning if there is no N-E bond?

Maybe I'm having a blonde moment here, but if a human touched either Live or Neutral on such a setup and created a path to ground wouldn't one of the following two things happen?
1) The inverter is truly floating so no current would flow; the RCD would not trip but there would be no danger to life (like a bird sat on a power line), or
2) The inverter is not truly floating (maybe due to other equipment having a leakage to ground). In that case a dangerous current could flow, but if that is more than the RCD's trigger, then it would trip due to the imbalance?

TIA.

 

[mikefitz]

Point 1.
Inverter with floating outputs. Connect one appliance , appliance A, direct to the inverter with a standard cable length. A fault in appliance A makes the metal case hot, L1 from the inverter. You are safe touching the appliance since no current will flow. You dont know its'hot' and that its ground wire is broken internally. No ground so no path there.
You add more outlets to the inverter, more cables running around , connect appliance B. Its a mobile RV, things get shaken about, appliance B develops a 'hot' fault, this time its L2 from the inverter. You touch appliance B, no problem.
However if you touch A and B at the same time you get L1 to L2, 230v in Europe.

A fault could develop in a cable, perhaps making the vehicle metal 'hot' L2. You touch A and van metal, 230 volts again.

You get the idea, a single appliance is resionably safe, as soon as you add distributed cable and more appliances, the risk increases .

Point 2.

I don't get 'not fully floating' , I assume L1 and L2 are floating but the inverter ground at it output has a path to RV metal.

If we have the same appliance faults as described above, the the RCD will not trip because your body has completed the circuit L1 to L2. No inbalance, no trip.

 

[SeaGal]

However if you touch A and B at the same time you get L1 to L2, 230v in Europe.

great thanks - very good example.