Where are Australians getting batteries ?????

[Jasno]

Looking for lithium options

 

[April]

Ali express ..no warranty just have to punt. You can buy drop ins here but watch the quality. If you can just get a warranty you will be doing well. Delivery is free and very quick.

https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&initiative_id=SB_20191219010721&origin=y&SearchText=LiFePo4

 

[radial1951]

I'm flying blind (a bit) too. And nervous about warranty and service etc. Couldn't trust no-name chineeze "Lithium 140Ah" products... Looks like I will go with Renogy LiFePO4 12v 100Ah batteries x4, 800W of panels, 60A controller, 3000W inverter. Yes I know it's all made in China but hopefully they have their good name to protect.

 

[Steve_S]

READ UP before buying anything Renogy ! Caveat Emptor

 

[gnubie]

I've done a lot of digging into purchasing lifepo4 batteries in Australia and it's not good. Anything that is on the lower end of the pricing scale has 'optimistic' ratings. Sellers in general don't seem to really know their product, just asking if it's ok to charge their brand batteries in series often gets indefinite answers.

Not a recommendation but I have one of these and the battery does meet the specs. What are they like on the inside? I don't know. Get back to me in a few years once their warranty and the ACCC's reasonable durability has passed and I'll be able to tell you. Offroad isn't a flash in the pan overnight popup and do clearly state what you can and can't do with the battery and publish believable life cycle counts.

You can DIY for less, but you essentially have no warranty. If we use calb cells (link provided by Will) adding the 10% GST and a BMS that can meet similiar specs as in that battery, add in the misc hardware to join it all up etc etc, and apply some figure plucked out of the air as compensation for no warranty, the figure isn't that far off buying one of them.

 

[Scotty]

I'm giving this mob a try, from all their spiel that they put out there they are ideal drop in replacement batteries, probably(hopefully) won't know for a while if they have longevity or not but they certainly leave the old AGM's for dead regarding performance. The one thing which I wonder about is they call it a 120 A/H battery but you can only use 80% of that 120 A/H so in reality it is a little under 100 A/H useable.

I ended up getting a 120 A/H delivered for AU$679.00

 

[gnubie]

Where you'd end up getting $679 from? Same place?

 

[Scotty]

Where you'd end up getting $679 from? Same place?

It was from iTechworld but through eBay who had a 20% discount on top of the normal discounted price.

 

[April]

I'm giving this mob a try, from all their spiel that they put out there they are ideal drop in replacement batteries, probably(hopefully) won't know for a while if they have longevity or not but they certainly leave the old AGM's for dead regarding performance. The one thing which I wonder about is they call it a 120 A/H battery but you can only use 80% of that 120 A/H so in reality it is a little under 100 A/H useable.

I ended up getting a 120 A/H delivered for AU$679.00

I did not see a mention of on;y drawing 80%. Usually you can draw out whatever you want but limiting it to 80%will make it last longer .
I wonder whats inside ? What cells do they have in them do you know?
Guarantee?

 

[Scotty]

April,
I only found out about the 80% draw when I contacted iTechworld directly and asked could I use all of the 120 A/H and they said no and that for longer life they set the BMS to 80%, but because they were so cheap I thought $679.00 for approx 100 A/H was still pretty good.
As for the cells I'm not sure I think they are the 18650 style cells.
Guarantee is 3 years from date of purchase.

 

[gnubie]

That means you get to stare at the battery for the next 3 years wondering what is really inside!

There are several 12v 100ah lifepo4 batteries from Australian sellers on ebay in that price area. The box is pretty much the same, just a different sticker, that's no guarantee of the contents being the same of course.

 

[radial1951]

READ UP before buying anything Renogy ! Caveat Emptor

G'day Steve, can you be more specific please? Is there a problem with Renogy products? A link to any information would be appreciated.
Regards, radial1951.

 

[Steve_S]

I have read over & over about the many problems people have experienced with Renogy. Not only from their sales & delivery but to warranty & support...

 

[Scotty]

I was going to put this in another thread which was talking about drop in lifepo4 batteries but decided this would be a more appropriate place.
I do wonder about drop in replacements and the claims of some manufacturers, this is from iTechworld's page on their 120 A/H drop in LiFepo4 and they claim their battery is a true drop in:

iTECH120 120AH 12 Volt Lithium Battery

Every now and then, a technological breakthrough occurs that has a major impact on the Australian recreational vehicle industry. One such breakthrough that is creating a lot of buzz and excitement is the iTECH120 lithium battery. The iTECH120 is a 120 Amp Hour lithium battery that has been designed and developed by Australian, family owned and operated company iTechworld. Currently, lead acid RV batteries dominate the market in Australia, but there’s a superior alternative to these traditional heavy batteries. That alternative is the iTECH120. Older tech Lithium batteries have been around for years, but the tech has never been up to the standard of the iTECH120. The biggest issue with older lithium being that a specialised charger was required to re-charge. The design and development team at iTechworld have studied the market and have brought together the most advanced battery available anywhere in the world. As iTechworld are proudly Australian they have used lithium sourced in Western Australia for their iTECH120.

The main benefit of the iTECH120 is that it weighs considerably less than your existing lead acid batteries. Most 120 Amp Hour deep cycle batteries weigh upwards of 30kg the iTECH120 lithium battery weighs just 13kg, yes you did read that correctly, just 13kg! Three years of development on the iTECH120 has enabled iTechworld to pre-install advanced battery technology into each unit. This is what sets the iTECH120 in a class of its own, the Redback Lithium Operating System technology has been patent pending and is exclusive to iTechworld The iTECH120 is the only lithium battery suitable for inverter use as it has an extremely large discharge current, you can pull a a massive 280 Amps from the iTECH120, most other lithium batteries only let you take approx 50 Amps making them almost useless. The Redback Lithium Operating System has been designed specifically for the demanding Australian market. This internal technology allows you to hook up to 4 iTECH120 batteries together in parallel or series. The pre-installed internal technology also allows you to use existing charging systems such as battery chargers and solar panels.

No changing of systems, equipment or extensive re-wiring is required. You simply pull your old heavy batteries out (if your back allows it) and put the new lightweight iTECH120 in. It’s as easy as that. The iTECH120 is the only drop-in upgrade for your existing old and heavy batteries, one iTECH120 battery is the equivalent to 200AH in AGM. You are probably already familiar with the tedious process of replacing a lead acid battery once every two or three years. This is a thing of the past as an investment in an iTECH120 battery will give you a much more modern, clean and light weight power source that can do 4 times as many cycles as your lead acid battery. A cycle is how battery life is measured each cycle is measured as one full discharge and then one full re-charge of a battery. A standard lead acid battery can cycle approx. 500 times. The ITECH120 can do approx. 2000 times. The iTECH120 is the only lithium battery with true 280A maximum discharge. The iTECH120 is the only lithium battery in the world with the Redback Lithium Operating System installed as standard. This is the heart beat of the battery and makes it the only true drop-in upgrade lithium battery.

 

[gnubie]

The iTECH120 is the only lithium battery with true 280A maximum discharge.

I'm sure the ACCC would have something to say about that, let alone the sellers that sell batteries that are quite capable of that, and more.

I made an observation in another thread about so called drop-in replacements. If people do simply drop them in in place of their LA batteries and don't make any changes to charging arrangements, good luck getting that 2000 cycles.