12V 100Ah Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery LiFePO4 Rechargeable Camping RV
Save $100+ 15%off, the final price is only $254.
No Idea on quality but Outbax is a big company and i have had a good experience with the voltx battery they also carry.
Jack's back.
Actually, nah $100 discount applied automatically in cart
Yep. It works! apologies!
Price down to $248.17
Ordered one for $254.15, thanks OP. would not mind too much if the battery works for the price.
Can't guarantee this one will be that same but I bought their 110Ah for $217 and happy with that one. I capacity tested to 120Ah, not sure how long it will maintain that capacity but can't argue for the money.
The BMS is usually the limiting factor as they are 50A at this price so ~600W max draw. Fine for running a camp fridge and a few other things, just not going to be able to run a big inverter or anything like that.
(Just saw comment below, hadn't actually checked but this has 100A BMS, even better.)
Good deal. 100amp charge current is nice, I think they were 50amp previously.
That's pretty good, hadn't bothered to check as they are usually 50A at this price point.
Was keen until I saw this in the specs:
Battery Cells: Pouch Cells
Series Connection: No
Parallel Connection: No
Good catch, seems not very nice battery cells or seller just don't want take the responsibility. I am only use it as single unit to power the boat anchor (that's why looking higher amp) and fridge. So would be ok in my case. Hopefully
Keep it out of direct sunlight and don't push it above 80 Amps draw for too long and should be fine,
especially for the price. They are giving a two year warranty on this, so must be made reasonably well.
Might only get 4-6+ years out of it instead of Maybe longer for double/tripple the price or more.
That warranty lacks detail - not unusal. Probably a good idea to get written clarification AND know your rights under ACL (statutory warranty, return freight costs etc).
Low voltage cutoff is very poor, although not rare for cheap LFPs, so as suggested elsewhere you should be careful not to drain the battery until cutout.
Also be aware that the BMS appears to have no temperature sensor/cutout, so you will have to be careful when charging (the battery cells should be above 0°C).
@Igaf: Yeah, warranty always a risk with cheap electronics, especially anything with rechargeable batteries.
These are half price of most or even up to a quarter for some, so as long as it works within the
bounds of claims and expectations for a month or two, good enough for me and worth the risk if
using correctly. Most of these cheaper batteries don't have a low temp disconnect and most people
would not charge below 0 c I would think in Oz, certainly not me lol.Where did you read about the l
poor low voltage cutoff? I use these mostly with a power monitor that shows % charge and have a
buffer reserve and alarm, and have learned that these shunt units need to be re calibrated back to
100% every so many charges or months to avoid false readings (usually lower than real capacity).
@ozhunter68: Sorry, didn't mean that to be a response to your comment. Was a general observation.
Don't disagree with you.
The low volatge cutoff is 10V, in the specs. Quite common in cheap LFPs but who knows what the ACTUAL cutoff voltage is in any if them. Pouch cell depletion voltage can be lower than cylindrical/prismatic according to some specs so it might be okay.Sorry, didn't mean that to
@Igaf: All good. Have only had experience with using one LiPo4 battery pretty much 24/7 for over 2 years
powering a fridge and got caught out twice running it down overnight to 00 and that cut off twice
nicely at 10V. This brand was reviewed well at the time for build, 100Amp BMS, but was let down
by lower capacity than advertised by close to 20Ah. I complained and threatened them so got the
100Ah swapped for a 125Ah ( which really is only around 104Ah+- apparently ). They have since
fixed that but price went up. Going strong 2 1/2 years on, so happy for around $300 delivered.
Where are those specs? - cant see them
Darn… Was looking to do 48v
Where did you see this? I must be going blind. I can't find any ref to parallel or series
wow after seeing those slides I'll never go with Other Brand.
Yeah! They use white people in the r&d labs! 😲
Must be a Chinese company. Only they are brave enough to be non-DEI
Hahaha, you're right!
WHYTE MAELS AR BHED
The irony is, this does not even have a brand.
Thanks OP, hopefully a good deal if performs as advertised, reliable and lasting for over 5 years (hopefully).
Still sold me though at this price as a cheap back up haha
Thinking of wiring this in to my next campervan set up, with two quality 100Ah in parallel, and having this as a
complete sepperate standalone with a master switch in case others are too. Might be tricky to wire it up
safely and correctly as it needs to all be able to charge (via dc-dc as well as solar) and discharge,….hmmmm
Yes, very funny. Simple answer is to ask what THEIR brand is. Outbax has been quite dodgy in the past but may have improved judging by ebay feedback.
As many know, a lot of cheap Chinese LFPs likely come from the same factory. You can order with your own brand/exterior labelling.
performs as advertised, reliable and lasting for over 5 years (hopefully).
Even though it only has a 2 year warranty they're claiming over 80% capacity after 5 years, so that would be good grounds for an ACL warranty claim if it does drop off much faster than that… (Outbax in the past was pretty dodgy with specs and warranties so I suspect it would take a bit of effort to make a claim with them)
What's the approximate weight?
Edit - Looks like its 9.5 kg if it is Gentrax brand? Not entirely clear if it is or not.
What can I use this for at home with more day-to-day applications?
?
Use the wall socket at home, battery when camping or there is a blackout.
I don't camp. 😪 And I already have 2 other unopened ones, I think the Allpower and a LifeJump. But I've always wondered what people are using these different ones for as they don't have the display or any ports (that I can see). 😅 Can I literally replace my car battery with this?
Powering 12V appliances or an (in this case a small..) inverter.
Tempted to get one with a 1000W Renogy inverter for a whopper of a UPS for <$500
No, this won't start your car and even if it could, it wouldn't like sitting near your hot engine.
@XeKToReX: Thanks for that! Hopefully you grab one!
If I wasn't moving overseas and getting it all containered over, I'd probably research this and grab one as a backup too.
Car batteries are much lower capacity, with much higher max-current in order to turn over (start) the heavy car engine. Take a look at car battery CCA, or "Cold Cranking Amps" - the amount of current the battery can output for 30+ seconds in freezing temperatures to start your car. It's usually hundreds of Amps, 500+ CCA maybe.
@Alzori: What you say is absolutely correct. Only LiFePO4 batteries specifically designed to provide lots of amps can provide enough to start an engine, and the ones that are are more expensive.
The way I've seen to use them as a car battery is in conjunction with a supercapacitor pack. The LiFePO4 battery charges the supercapacitor pack, and the supercapacitor pack provides the amps needed to start the engine. And the combination is lighter than a lead-acid battery, lasts a lot longer, but is more expensive.
For most people and use case, best to get a suitable battery box which has the connections and specs you want/need,
then usage such as usb, Anderson connections, 12V Cig out for fridge and many other accessories become easy to
connect, as well as able to easily charge or permanently connect to main terminals. If you want the ability to charge via
solar or dc-dc charger (whilst driving vehicle), then can fit a small solar charge controller/dc-dc charger/inverter inside or
on top/side of box. You can make yourself a really decent large capacity power station, even adding a decent
volt/amp/watts power meter with shunt such as this
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B08Y5DRB7C/ref=ppx_yo_d…
Awesome! Thanks for the information!
That's cool you can go directly to the mains. Everyone running something like this as a backup for power outages are soo smart.. 😪 I'm a dumbass.
You definitely don't want to connect this battery directly to your power point.
Unless you're looking to destroy lots of things surrounding the battery, of course..
Could get a 60W USB C PD Cig car charger, or like me swap the round included 12 V cig female plug
(usually only 10A) for a 15A or 20A unit and get a Basues 100W or 140W USB C PD charger and
you are cracking if that is something handy for laptops or larhe/fast powerbanks etc.
I used the term "main terminal" maybe in an ambiguous way. Not the 240V mains power terminals, I meant the main
two large positive and negative terminals on the battery box which is still 12 V.
You can only connect to mains to charge via a lithium compatible battery charger when obviously the power
is on. This battery would become a standalone 12V (and usb and/or 240V if you have it inside a compatible
battery box with or without 240V Inverter) in the need of a power outage and/or away from the mains
ie rural property or camping etc.
Appreciate the detailed write up! What battery box do you recommend? My use case is to power a fridge on our 2-3 day camping trip without the need of solar
Most of the cheaper below $100 ones should do, as long as the box fits the battery.
Most Ozbargainers like to mainly buy when things are on sale, saw one for $54 at Jaycar today.
Personally I like one with Anderson plugs as that is a nice secure way to connect high draw stuff,
and works well for fridges if you have that lead as will not come loose and dissconect with bumping,
then in morning find out your food and drinks are not as cold as could be. Most will have a female 12 V
Cig connection and as long as your careful that also should do the job for fridge if that's all you have.
Even the ones sold at Kmart and Aldi were decent, there are only a few designs anyway below $100,
mostly older or upgraded models with slightly different wiring and connections.
https://www.jaycar.com.au/battery-box-with-voltmeter-and-usb…?
https://www.jaycar.com.au/powertech-battery-box-with-power-a…
@ozhunter68: Repco have the one with the Anderson plugs on special for $69 at the moment:
https://www.repco.com.au/globes-batteries-electrical/battery…
Depending on what size fridge you have, the ambient temp etc, your fridge will draw around 35Ah per day (very approx number).. First day should be minimal draw if you run it on 240V and pack it with cold/frozen goods overnight before you leave. 100Ah with no solar top up should generally be okay for 3 days, beyond that you'd need a top up. Lots of variables though so in moderate temps, assuming the fridge isn't being constantly opened and shut ….you might easily do 4 days.
It's a good idea to keep track of your usage with a 12v battery monitor eg There are plenty of options so shop around.
Jaycar has their one with Andersons on sale at the moment for $43
I'd also strongly recommend a battery monitor with shunt. (Here's a link to an old post with my setup)
OK going to pass despite wanting this. Pouch cells are not looking good, based on a quick read up.
thanks to Sunny84 for pointing this out
Pouch cells can be fine. Tesla used them in cars and Renogy LFPs are typically pouch iirc. You could ask who makes the pouches but I doubt Outbax will know. At this price it's probably a moot point depending on your use case etc.
U don't get anything but pouches at this price point, and they can be fine.
What kind of inverter are people using? was thinking 100W should be enough. need to power a fridge in trailer (about 300w on 240v plug) and some 12v led lighting.
There are two types of 240V products, some a steady constant W/A draw, others with electric motors
and/or inverters/coffee machines that require a start up spike of double to tripple the amount,
dropping down lower after a second or so. Some inverters can handle a bigger spike than others.
The other thing to consider is that even at idle, thse inverters also use power to run, and the bigger the
inverter the more power. Choose wisely, but sounds like you are close with a decent 1000W.
This Australian brand (Chinese made) are great value and made pretty well for the price.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/231544077381?epid=28034148026&it…
I think it odd that they have edited all the images to remove the branding from the battery, except for 1 image. Was this a slip-up?
Seems like a dodgy thing they are doing here.
Still … seems like a reasonable price.
Just at a guess, I'd say they are protecting their own online store where they are being sold for more.
I'm hoping anyone who ordered will get exactly the same new, non refurbished or returned and branded Gentrax
battery with the same 2 year warranty and service. Here's hoping haha.
If this is the same battery, it is made by GenTrax who have been making great value decent petrol inverter generators
( No 1 sellers on ebay and sold at Amazon for years ).
Weight: 9.5 Kg.
Size: 306 x 169 x 215 cm.
https://outbax.com.au/products/gentrax-12v-100ah-lithium-iro…
Edit: the above measurements are mm. of course, my bad.
Hmm, so these are their dodge ones they're trying to offload . . but how dodge is the Q 🤔
Not sure about dodgy. Could be just sales tactics often employed by retailers who have shopfronts and different online seller/sales.
In saying that the "might be dodgy"?
Heads up: shit tier batteries which you can't setup in a larger battery bank and usually have a much lower capacity than what is advertised.
Do you have evidence of this? Usually it's pretty easy for manufacturers to meet capacity for these cheap lifepo4's. Differentiating factors are typically bms design and thermal management.
Obviously, no support for series/parallel is a downer - but you know, look at the price…
I'm not a fan of cheap crap but for the money they appear ok… You wouldn't buy something like this if you were planning big overland trips, big lap of Aus, the CSR, or the likes, where if your battery fails you lose a couple of weeks worth of meat in your fridge or such, but for short weekender trips where it's not a big deal if it fails you cant really go wrong… Just think of it as an inbetweener, by time this dies better quality ones will have come down in price…
That's what I thought 2 1/2 years ago when installing a cheap Atempower 100Ah (100Amp continues BMS),
after watching decent reviews on youtube, been running my 40 Lt $250 Big W Campmaster fridge close to
24/7,laptop and 3 phones as well as lights and occasional small inverter no problems at all. Has not skipped
a beat.I rarely let it get below 50% charge, only going to 00% twice times unexpectedly in hot overnighters
when I needed to re calibrate my shunt meter. It cut out both times at 10V and charged up fine.
Seems to still work like new, for now.
Will my solar panel kit need a new lithium capable solar controller if i change to this in my camper?
Are you talking about just your solar regulator feisty or your whole camper auxiliary battery charging system? I've assumed the latter.
I'm not advising you - you need to read up yourself - but the very short answer is probably YES. They use different charging/maintenance algorithms.
Couple of key points of difference. LFPs should be charged to a higher voltage than LA deep cycle batteries (~13.4V at rest versus ~12.8V give or take), and should not be put on auto float unless you can amend the float voltage to about 13.6V.
Your system might however allow you to change/set your charging parameters to fit an LFP.
Some good info here: https://battlebornbatteries.com/charging-battleborn-lifepo4-…
There's a whole lot more general info if you search but before you upgrade it's best to search for owner/user advice using the exact make and model of your system..
Cheers.
I havent used the camper in years so it will need both batteries replaced. I think my projecta dc to dc charger has a solar input and that the charger is lithium compatable. Time to start checking some manuals. I might be alright. Thanks for the input.
Good luck.
Find out what the recommended charging profile is for the battery and then you will get a fair idea of whether the seller/manufacturer operates with reasonable standards.
Most people charge these between 5A to 40A for a large dc-dc charger. This should happily take that,
maybe even up to 50Amps.
Edit: Up to 100Amps if these specs are right
https://www.amazon.com.au/Gentrax-LiFePO4-Battery-Rechargeab…
Is there a proper case with AC DC USB output for this thing?
As long as it fits (including any extras you may want to fit inside such as Solar Charge controller etc),
most brands will work. Up to you what features and connections you want, keep in mind that some are wired
up and fused much more heavy duty capacity than others. You can swap out the usb for similar usb c pd and/or
QC3 or 15A/20A Cig sockets. The 50A Andersons are usually wired and fused to only 30A each,
as well as if it has a volt meter that is not so useful for lithium batteries. Something like this could work….
https://www.4wdsupacentre.com.au/adventure-kings-battery-box…
Bluetti and other similar brands seem more appealing which give a complete power station with all Input and output ports, of course, with a higher price…
True. With a 100Ah battery $300 or below and basic battery box can end up half price and suitable for
most outdoor camping needs. Sure, does not look as slick with less features, but can add those to make
it just as functional and sometimes surpasses depending on parts chosen. The other advantage is that if
one part fails, you can easily swap out and replace, even upgrade. This option to put together yourself
is usually suited to the enthusast admitadly, or people with skills staying within their budget.
Thanks mate :-) Just bought one for $254.15 …and then immediately canceled my today order on Kogan for $309 :-)
That looks interesting tonyg.
See Dick Smith puts weight of his battery at 11.4 Kg. but reviews say around 15 Kg ? Hmmmm
I'm away from my delivery address, so have not had chance to look or test this battery.
Can anyone chime in their thoughts of this battery so far?
It says here $339 and with FEB17 it will go down to $331.17