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Why such a huge difference in price?

myusername134

myusername134

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https://www.amazon.com/LiFePO4-Volt-Deep-Cycle-Battery/dp/B06XX197GJ ( $925) vs https://www.amazon.com/WEIZE-LiFePO4-Lithium-Rechargeable-Applications/dp/B09F2LLMY3 ($310)

1. These have the same specs (12 v, 100Ah), yet one is 3 times the price. Why? Is there any major differences between battery banks, or is this some sort of brand premium? Is a 3x difference justified?

2. Is there any pros / cons for setting up multiple 12v 100Ah batteries in series vs buying a larger battery? Example, you could get four 12v 100Ah batteries WEIZE LiFePO4 batteries (48v at 100Ah, 4.8KWh) for $1240 total OR you could buy a single WEIZE 48V 100Ah LiFePO4 for $1500. Wouldnt multiple smaller batteries be better for versatility be able to modify bank size at will?
 
You’re comparing apples to oranges. On paper they look to have the same specs. But if you watch YouTube videos to look inside these batteries, you’ll see a world of difference. In short, you get what you pay for.

In addition, Will Prowse recently did a new tear down video of the Weize. He raved about them a couple years ago as the cheapest battery with functioning low temp protection. But his new video shows their internal build quality has severely gone down hill. Buy chins if you want cheap but good.

That said, Battleborn are too rich for my taste. There are better deals out there IMO. Take a look at the Powerurus, it’s not the cheapest, but for a little bit more money you get a Bluetooth BMS and much better build quality. Their customer service has been excellent.

 
Tomthumb62 said:
You’re comparing apples to oranges. On paper they look to have the same specs. But if you watch YouTube videos to look inside these batteries, you’ll see a world of difference. In short, you get what you pay for.

In addition, Will Prowse recently did a new tear down video of the Weize. He raved about them a couple years ago as the cheapest battery with functioning low temp protection. But his new video shows their internal build quality has severely gone down hill. Buy chins if you want cheap but good.

That said, Battleborn are too rich for my taste. There are better deals out there IMO. Take a look at the Powerurus, it’s not the cheapest, but for a little bit more money you get a Bluetooth BMS and much better build quality. Their customer service has been excellent.

Click to expand...
Looks like he took it apart and actually recommended it at the end so thats reassuring
, he mentions the circuits can easily hold 48v for series as well.

Would love to hear others opinions as well on my second question, about having 1 big battery or multiple smaller ones in series.
 
If you are making a 48v battery- you really should have a 48v battery and bms - not four 12v batteries in series.

The four 12v’s cannot equalize their cells to other batteries. One thing I learned when running 6v GC2 lead batteries in my MotorHome (in 2s2p) is the batteries can and will get off over time in voltage- so occasionally you need to take the battery apart and recharge each battery separately. I would suspect with four 12v in series you should do that occasionally too (yearly or every other).

Good Luck
 
myusername134 said:
Looks like he took it apart and actually recommended it at the end so thats reassuring
, he mentions the circuits can easily hold 48v for series as well.

Would love to hear others opinions as well on my second question, about having 1 big battery or multiple smaller ones in series.
Click to expand...
Yeah like Sunshine said, he DID recommend the battery originally. In his latest video of the same battery (a new recent purchase) he literally says, “I wouldn’t buy this.”

As for hooking up in series, this battery will have the same problem any 12v lithium battery will have; you’ll need to perform monthly or so maintenance to keep them balanced. Such maintenance will require dismantling the 24v or 48v battery bank and charging each battery separately with a decent 12v battery charger, testing resting voltages of each battery to confirm they are within 0.1v or so, then reassembling the bank back into series. Unless you have four separate 12v chargers to charge them individually all at once, this whole process can take a few days. Once charged, you need to let each battery rest (no loads or charging connected) for about 24 hours to finally reach the true resting voltage. If you don’t wait until resting voltage is reached, your 24 or 48v bank will get out of balance that much quicker. You can also buy balancer devices, but those add to the cost.

Or you can just buy a 48v battery like the eg4 rack mount for about $1500. It’s about the best bang for your buck in terms of batteries right now.

In short, there are far better options out there than the Weize, if you’re willing to stay at a 12v system. Chins, Redodo, Powerurus, SOK are a few brands. I have the Powerurus and think it’sa nice middle of better build quality at a good price. Of those, SOK is the best but the most expensive.
 
Tomthumb62 said:
Yeah like Sunshine said, he DID recommend the battery originally. In his latest video of the same battery (a new recent purchase) he literally says, “I wouldn’t buy this.”

As for hooking up in series, this battery will have the same problem any 12v lithium battery will have; you’ll need to perform monthly or so maintenance to keep them balanced. Such maintenance will require dismantling the 24v or 48v battery bank and charging each battery separately with a decent 12v battery charger, testing resting voltages of each battery to confirm they are within 0.1v or so, then reassembling the bank back into series. Unless you have four separate 12v chargers to charge them individually all at once, this whole process can take a few days. Once charged, you need to let each battery rest (no loads or charging connected) for about 24 hours to finally reach the true resting voltage. If you don’t wait until resting voltage is reached, your 24 or 48v bank will get out of balance that much quicker. You can also buy balancer devices, but those add to the cost.

Or you can just buy a 48v battery like the eg4 rack mount for about $1500. It’s about the best bang for your buck in terms of batteries right now.

In short, there are far better options out there than the Weize, if you’re willing to stay at a 12v system. Chins, Redodo, Powerurus, SOK are a few brands. I have the Powerurus and think it’sa nice middle of better build quality at a good price. Of those, SOK is the best but the most expensive.
Click to expand...
Yeah I wouldnt want to deal with all that. Ive been consuming as much solar content as possible and got the idea from this (
) ... I was curious why he had so many 12v batteries in series and it made sense economically, but learning about the balancing act you describe its not worth it.

If I get two 48v battery racks like this ( https://www.amazon.com/Lithium-Battery-Independent-20-48kWh-Off-Grid/dp/B08RSLP1PQ ) and put in series will it still require the balancing act like you describe with the 12v batteries in series?
 
I have the old original weize batteries (They rock. Great battery) and wanted to buy more but after watching will's recent review on them I'm not buying any more of them.
 
myusername134 said:
Yeah I wouldnt want to deal with all that. Ive been consuming as much solar content as possible and got the idea from this (
) ... I was curious why he had so many 12v batteries in series and it made sense economically, but learning about the balancing act you describe its not worth it.

If I get two 48v battery racks like this ( https://www.amazon.com/Lithium-Battery-Independent-20-48kWh-Off-Grid/dp/B08RSLP1PQ ) and put in series will it still require the balancing act like you describe with the 12v batteries in series?
Click to expand...
Did you notice the part where he says he is sponsored by Battle Born batteries? That means he is getting free or discounted product. 4 server rack batteries would be roughly equal in storage capacity to what he has on the wall and a bit cheaper than buying Battle Born at retail.
 
Last edited:
myusername134 said:
Yeah I wouldnt want to deal with all that. Ive been consuming as much solar content as possible and got the idea from this (
) ... I was curious why he had so many 12v batteries in series and it made sense economically, but learning about the balancing act you describe its not worth it.

If I get two 48v battery racks like this ( https://www.amazon.com/Lithium-Battery-Independent-20-48kWh-Off-Grid/dp/B08RSLP1PQ ) and put in series will it still require the balancing act like you describe with the 12v batteries in series?
Click to expand...
You won’t put those two battery racks in series, that would give you 96v. Put them in parallel to double capacity at 48v. Less balance issues in parallel.
 
There will always be balance issues with BMS controlled batteries in series. Which will require separate balancing. Either manually doing it yourself, periodically. Or by purchasing extra equipment (series battery balancer) to do it for you.
 
Always remember that the stuff you read in print was created by Marketing, the stuff on the inside and what it's actually capable of, is usually different.
The sellers will put anything on the piece of paper you want. That's why the teardowns, capacity tests, etc are so important. To help us separate the truth from the marketing fluff and understand what we can reasonably expect in a purchase.

BB makes a top notch battery, with excellent support and warranty, they charge a premium for it.

As mentioned by others,
If you plan to run 48V, just buy 48V batteries rather than trying to build 12V packs into 48V banks. You don't want to deal with constantly rebalancing the 12V units to keep them all in line, and there is no benefit to starting at 12V if don't have to.

The BMS in the 12V pack is going to limit your pack size, you can't just keep stacking the batteries together without hitting the BMS limits on a per bank level. Those Weize batteries are limited to 4 connections and 48V, so if you start with those 12V packs, you will max out your system and not be able to expand it later.
If you start with 48V Packs, you can expand it up to the limitation of the BMS.
The BB packs can be strung together in multiple ways and don't suffer from the same BMS limitations as the other type, but again you pay a lot for that capability.
 
If you need a 48v system, its going to give you far fewer long term problems if you buy sixteen individual cells, and build up a proper 48v balancing and monitoring system.

If one cell dies, you only need to replace that one particular cell, not four at a time.
 
Tomthumb62 said:
Yeah like Sunshine said, he DID recommend the battery originally. In his latest video of the same battery (a new recent purchase) he literally says, “I wouldn’t buy this.”

As for hooking up in series, this battery will have the same problem any 12v lithium battery will have; you’ll need to perform monthly or so maintenance to keep them balanced. Such maintenance will require dismantling the 24v or 48v battery bank and charging each battery separately with a decent 12v battery charger, testing resting voltages of each battery to confirm they are within 0.1v or so, then reassembling the bank back into series. Unless you have four separate 12v chargers to charge them individually all at once, this whole process can take a few days. Once charged, you need to let each battery rest (no loads or charging connected) for about 24 hours to finally reach the true resting voltage. If you don’t wait until resting voltage is reached, your 24 or 48v bank will get out of balance that much quicker. You can also buy balancer devices, but those add to the cost.

Or you can just buy a 48v battery like the eg4 rack mount for about $1500. It’s about the best bang for your buck in terms of batteries right now.

In short, there are far better options out there than the Weize, if you’re willing to stay at a 12v system. Chins, Redodo, Powerurus, SOK are a few brands. I have the Powerurus and think it’sa nice middle of better build quality at a good price. Of those, SOK is the best but the most expensive.
Click to expand...
The basic SOK rack mount at $1299+shipping seems to be the value leader there.
 
Brucey said:
The basic SOK rack mount at $1299+shipping seems to be the value leader there.
Click to expand...
It’s new and so I’m not sure there’s much real world testing of it yet. Have you seen any tear down reviews of it yet?
 
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