Major Battery Sale, Battleborn Batteries

[Gr8ful]

https://battlebornbatteries.com/product-...s/?afmc=28 Up to $1000 off bundles


If

[Wayne49]

Renogy is also having a sale, for example 100AH LiFePo4 for the about the same price, $799.99 for Renogy, $799 BB. Both have free shipping.

[Wayne49]

I have looked for any discussion of Battle Born versus Renogy and had no luck.

Would it be that BB are USA made in my home state?

I have come to the conclusion this summer that I have to use LiFePo4 to get the daily AH that I require. The AGM bank is limited when I'm in temps above mid 90's and the fridge has to work much harder. I can tolerate those temps, but my AGM bank can only do the fridge while the rice cooker has to stay idle, so no hot meal service on those days. I manage to keep it above 70% according to the Rich Solar 40A charger's display.

This sale seems like a good time to order the batteries from either of the two companies.

If BB and Renogy are the same price for the same AH capacity, is there anything that would tip the scales one way or the other? Both offer free shipping.

If I have to view a you tuber, I'll have to do that.

Thanks in advance for helpful and useful practical information.

[Wayne49]

I have reviewed the physical specs on the two offerings.

While evaluating lead batteries, I would look at comparative weights, thinking a heavier battery of the same dimensions (group), will contain more lead. Thinking that nobody would add another dense material just to up the mass, as that would cut into profits. I had to find something consistent and useful as the manufacturers do not post consistent units for capacity to cross check.

The Battleborn battery has a slightly larger case and is five pounds heavier than the Renogy, which leads me to believe that there might be more useful guts to the BB battery. The difference is 31 lbs versus 26 lbs. 31 lbs is a lot lighter than the 64 lb each AGMs that I have now.

[tx2sturgis]

My 100ah BattleBorn is still going strong...not being used in typical RV duty but nevertheless, working well. It is about 3 1/2 years old now and no sign of diminishing capacity...as far as I can tell. It has endured temps over 100 degrees and lived thru some really cold weather, below freezing, without damage.

Yes, they are lighter in weight for a given output compared to lead acid, but one of the things I like about them most is that fact that it will take a high amp charge from a powerful charger. So, assuming you have a large solar array, a large shorepower charger, or both, it wont take long to get a LifePo4 battery back up to full charge.

[Scott7022]

While I can’t give you a in my hands review. I was a very early adopter of the lithium idea. Years before BB was a company. I am a bit of a research pig and have followed BB. Some might accuse me of being a fan boy. The thing I think BB has over Renogy is it is put together in Nevada and the employees take pride in being the Lithium Guys for RV’s. Even though there’re a ton of other companies out there now. They were the drop in replacement fix. To a degree they still are as their BMS is rated very highly and they have a great customer service reputation.

Either way you’ll be happy.


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[sternwake]

I think Renogy is priced to sell, by price alone.

I don't think any of their products really Ooze quality and built with love to go the extra mile.

What's the maximum charge/discharge rate

Ok BB says 100 amp discharge continuous, and 50 amps max charge rate

That's kind of my hang up with Lithium with built in BMS, well, one of them.

I fed my Northstar group 31 AGM 134 amps when new and more recently 96 amps for 15+ minutes.

I'd have to figure out a way to limit my charging sources's potential amperage, basically after striving for the exact opposite.

I'm staying AGM until that limitation is not a concern.

lithium Prices should be significantly less in a few more years when my batteries are nearing end of life

[B and C]

My old AGM's were getting long in the tooth. MFG 12 1/2 years ago (when I retired them). They were telephone deep cycle batteries and weighed 100 Lbs. each with a 125 Ah rating. They were 5 years old with light duty when I got them.

I replaced them with 200 Ah of BB. I don't have to worry about getting them to 100% charge everyday. I have had them as low as 40%. The charging voltage is 14.6 VDC and resting voltage seems to be 13.3 VDC. These are higher voltages than I am used to seeing. At least I have buck/boost regulators on my sensitive electronics. I have only had these batteries since the end of May but am very happy with them so far. Did I mention that I don't have to get them fully charged every day? I keep them inside so haven't had to worry about freezing temps and they are a LOT lighter.

[justjim]

Earlier in the spring when LifeBlue batteries dropped their prices I was told BattleBorn would be following suit to combat the low cost competition. LifeBlue went to $750 per 100 AH. They have a built in bluetooth amp counter that makes all the difference in the world as far as I and my customers feel.

Recently I have seen 200 Ah of lithium for $700 on Amazon. Some of the lower cost Lithium batteries are fairing pretty well when taken apart and analyzed. The people tearing them down are kind of at a loss as to how the cheaper batteries can have any quality when the bigger brands have been so much more expensive. The answer isn't that the bigger brands are that much better but rather that they have been gouging the hell out of us for as long as they could until the competition caught up.

The same thing happened with MPPT. When I started you needed more than $300 to run 20 amps worth of solar panels. Now a top brand 20 amp MPPT controller is half that. Competition is good.

What makes a lithium battery better? First I will say that it is not how much advertising, sponsored events or batteries given away to youtubers so that videos are made because a Chinese company invested 7 million dollars making it possible. Exposure is just that, exposure.

What can make a difference is the quality of the cells. Some of the low cost batteries have grade B cells but even then it may never be noticed by the end user.

The size of the wiring can cost less but again it may only make a difference if you are pushing the battery to the limits all of the time.

The reliability and features of the BMS can be a factor. Some of the lower cost units have no low temp cutoff meaning you need a controller that will do it for you.

Some of the batteries that say that they are 100 amp hours are actually more like 120 amp hours but you will never see the additional capacity. That allows you to get 100 amp hours out of the battery without actually draining it all the way down which is really damaging even done once.

I learned a lot when I was considering selling batteries directly from a manufacture. I was able to specify every level of quality in each area of the battery. Want a buffer in capacity, cha ching. Want heavy wiring, pay for it. Want higher charge and discharge rates, dig deeper. Want more features like bluetooth and heat pads, grab your wallet. Every time something was upgraded it cost a little more. Still I was able to come up with a 100 Ah battery for less than $400 with every bell and whistle the top brands offered. I almost bought a pallet until the Ever Given incident drove shipping cost sky high. Seeing what is happening to the prices makes me glad I didn't.

Last thing is that assembling components made in China in the USA to avoid tariffs is not American made. Don't buy the hype.

[Scott7022]

Good info Jim. But I’ll call you out on the “hype”.
Mercedes used to ship their sprinter vans in three disassembled units to be put together in the USA. That was done to avoid tariffs too. But it was also good paying American jobs

Assembly work done by well paid and in American conditions is different than that done overseas and while the value of that difference is debatable the quality is usually better.

Quality control and assurance and at the end of the day a person on the end of the phone that speaks English and can help troubleshoot.

For you or I and the others that get this, phone support isn’t a big deal. So yeah we can buy SOK or Chinchin specials and sort it out.

But someone creating a work around, making a company and paying American workers a living wage is what is sadly missing in North America. It’s not hype.

Reliance on overseas cheap products, is fine when it’s a T-shirt or running shoes. But it’s not when we end up feeding our pets with toxic plastics, or the other horror stories out of a brutally repressive communist country that politically see the west as pigs to feed, make fat and stupid.

I get the unicorn and rainbows element of my point. We’re very unlikely to ever have grade A cells manufactured in the west. Lack of raw materials and an environmental protection agency. However, American designed, assembled, and supported; is worth 20% in my mind. Add to this politics, green practices, human working conditions... I’ll support that “hype” with my dollars, let them ripoff the American design and make it cheaper, for others that put cost before everything else.


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