They have had them, then not, so in and out of stock. It is a relatively new product for them, I think seeing a lot of demand.
Time for Lithium House
- Thread starter dhays
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Delta Riverat
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You could get a 3 pack of 280 AH Li Time with 200A continuous BMS and low temp protection for $1536
That would give 600A continuous.
That would give 600A continuous.
Barking Sands
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One thing to consider, I have had drop in lifepo4 with and without bluetooth. IMO bluetooth is a must.
****edit** As a matter of fact bluetooth and an on/off switch somewhere.
The reason for that is these batteries have a ton of electronics inside. They also have many parameters for shut down and protection modes and they also occasionally malfunction. Troubleshooting is SOO much easier with bluetooth. You can see if charge and discharge mosfets are on or off, if there are any codes or warnings etc and sometimes cycling power resolves things. And lastly, with no on/off button the basic batteries can "go to sleep" and must be woken up by either applying a charge or a load. And sometimes that may not work due to various conditions.
****edit** As a matter of fact bluetooth and an on/off switch somewhere.
The reason for that is these batteries have a ton of electronics inside. They also have many parameters for shut down and protection modes and they also occasionally malfunction. Troubleshooting is SOO much easier with bluetooth. You can see if charge and discharge mosfets are on or off, if there are any codes or warnings etc and sometimes cycling power resolves things. And lastly, with no on/off button the basic batteries can "go to sleep" and must be woken up by either applying a charge or a load. And sometimes that may not work due to various conditions.
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Iggy
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I wish my batteries talked to each other. Now ending the 3rd season with them, each of the BMSs is going a good job. This is where a good BMS also comes in. What I mean is, that all 4 batteries when I Bluetooth into them are 1 to 2% of SOC of each other.
Iggy
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This really depends on the software and hardware of the BMS. So this is important in the buying process. I would try to get a battery with the best BMS that I could. Which is not a easy task in researching.
Iggy
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I found this battery thru Panbo. Very interesting! Sun Fun Kits SFK-275EX 3.6 kWh 12v Endurance Dual Mode Heating Smart Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery, 6000 Cycle rated, dual heating mode (standby & automatic).
Barking Sands
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Panbo just came out with an article on them today and these batteries look great. Cost is good too,
OP
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dhays
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I just happened to see that today. It is a solid review. However, I don't know who the author is. He may be the smartest guy in the industry, but it isn't my industry so I'm clueless.
Another consideration for me is the prospective longevity of the company. A 10 year warrantee is useless unless the company issuing it is still in business 10 years on. For example, who is going to make good on your bad KiloVault battery? Unfortunately it is difficult to judge, as few of these companies have been in business even 5 years and quite a few have exited in that time. SunFun was started in 2021 (Epoch also), 3 years old and offering 10 year warrantees. They are becoming cheap enough that you may not need to depend on the warrantee, but if periodic replacement is contemplated, then the installation should be generic, rather than specific to a brand.
This is also true of the "serviceability" claimed for some brands. The cells will probably be available 6 or 8 years on, the BMS almost certainly not.
For those technically capable, those are good arguments for rolling your own.
This is also true of the "serviceability" claimed for some brands. The cells will probably be available 6 or 8 years on, the BMS almost certainly not.
For those technically capable, those are good arguments for rolling your own.
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dhays
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Agreed. Which is why I'm definitely not going to ever attempt that.
SteveK
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Iggy
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Its hard to look at a company and say it will be here in 5 or 10 years. That part I will never get into, since I will not fully understand it. I would focus on reviews, specs and what ever I can get my hands on.
Panbo and Marine How To did a review on KiloVault. Both give that battery high reviews and I liked the specs. I even talked tech people. All was good and 2 years later, gone........... Who knew?
If I get 3 more years out of them. I will be happy. As DDW said " They are becoming cheap enough that you may not need to depend on the warrantee,"
Keep in mind, under warranty some what you to pay for shipping. But buy new, shipping could be free. A minor plus, but true. All part of the game............
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About Panbo
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Barking Sands
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Good points and I tend to view warranty the same. Don't get me wrong, if you receive a faulty battery they should warranty it out ASAP. But if my current lithium batts crap the bed in 3 or 4 years...I am almost guaranteed to look into a different direction since I am pretty certain in 3 or 4 years there will be some incredible options for less money. The cost of shipping a 100lb lithium product would probably go a long way towards something new and better.
As for Epoch, they are the other half of the 18650 battery store, which has been in business for quite some time as a supplier of cells. And they partnered with Roypow on their flagship brands such as the 460 Marine. Roypow is a global company that predominately supplies to governments and hospitals and industrial applications as well as Golf Carts. You can tell the difference in the engineering of the entire 460ah battery from the various teardowns. It is a complete engineering effort from the case to the BMS to plugs, all integrated in design. Where as many other batt suppliers purchase large quantities of generic cases, JBD or JK BMS's, and even cells, then hand assemble with bits of foam and glue. . Roypow has been in business for some time. But of course that's not a guarantee either but they aren't exactly a newcomer.
The 18650 battery store goes back to 2018, so 6 years. But I agree that 5 or 6 years on, you probably are better off buying then available tech, than replacing with now available tech. This is the thing that keeps me from investing in say a full on Victron lithium solution, you are then tied into those components, which is a snapshot in time of a very rapidly evolving market. So called "drops ins" are self contained for tech, and a replacement updates everything.
A roll your own is like the old component stereos, when the speakers or receiver go bad or get outdated, just replace that piece.
A roll your own is like the old component stereos, when the speakers or receiver go bad or get outdated, just replace that piece.
Iggy
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I don't trust the "drop ins". But thats me...
The prices are general lower than than the brand names and don't come with some things like Bluetooth, heater, comm ports and more.
The prices are general lower than than the brand names and don't come with some things like Bluetooth, heater, comm ports and more.
